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ILLINOIS 


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COMBINED    HISTORY 


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Schuyler  and  Brown 


COUNTIES,  ILL  I NOIS. 


WITH 


ILLUSTRATIONS  DESCRIPTIVE  OF  THEIR-  SCENERY, 


anp 
Biographical  Sketches  op  some  op  their  Prominent   Men  and   Pioneers. 


BY 

"W".     n..     BR.I1VXS.     cfc     CO., 

PHILADELPHIA. 


CORRESPONDING  OFFICE,  EDWARDSVILLE,  ILL. 


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PREFACE. 


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«1 


B^S^^^JB///?   publishers    desire    to    return 
their  sincere  thanks  to  those  who 
have  aided  in  making  this  work 
thorough  and  complete.     For  the 
incidents  relative  to  the  early  settle- 
ments of  the  two  counties,  we  are 
ifidebted  to  a  few  early  pioneers,  who  have  seen  a 
wild,  frontier  country  develop  into  a  wealthy  and 
populous  community,  and  for  other  facts,  we  are  un- 
der obligations  to  a  class  of  intelligent  men,  who, 
amid  the   ordinary  pursuits  of  life,  have  taken 
pains  to  thoroughly  inform  themselves  on  the  his- 
tory and  resources  of  their  county.     Among  those 
who  have  especially  contributed  to  the  completeness 
of  tlie  history  of  Schuyler  County,  are,  the 
Chadseys,  Judge  Pinckney  H.  Walker,  Hon  John 
C.  Dagby,  Joel  Tullis,  Mrs.  Sarah  Brown,  Rev. 
William  Gain,  William  Anderson,  William  P. 
Sapp,    William  T.  Black,   Charles   Hatfield,  Dr. 
Hosea   Davis,    John    S.    Vance,    George   Little, 
James    G.  McCreery,    Thomas    Wilson.      Valu- 
able letters  were  also  received  from  Rev.  Chauncey 
Hobart,  of  Red  Wing,  Minn. ,  and  Jonathan  D. 
Manlove,  of  Fort  Scott,  Kansas. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  history  of  Brown 
County,  we  Jiave  been  materially  assisted  by  Rob- 
ert N.  Curry,  Dr.  Saul  Vandeventer,  the  Six  fam- 
ily, Eliliu  Vandeventer,  Elisha  Adams,  letters  of 
A.  A.  Glenn,  Peter  Rigg,  Thomas  B.  Dehart,  John 
Teefey,  Moses  Black,  John  Harper,  Judge  Taylor, 
T  '  L.  Vandeventer,  John  R.  Briggs,  Dr.  Wm. 
.  V,    Bower,   William   Lee  and  Luke    W.  Perry. 

^54551 


The  articles  on  Common  Schools  have  been  pre- 
pared by  gentlemen  thoroughly   acquainted  with 
their  subject,  whose  names  appear  at  the  head  of  the 
sketches  in  the  body  of  the  work.       To  the  Clergy- 
men of  the  different  denominations  and  others 
whose  articles  appear  in  the  work,  we  are  indebted 
for  much  valuable  information  ;  and  to  the  County 
Officials  of  both  counties,  we  return   our  sincere 
thanks  for  the  many  courtesies  extended  to  us.    The 
Editors  of  the  several  newspapers  have  also  ren- 
dered assistance  in  that  prompt  and  cheerful  man- 
ner so  characteristic  of  the  journalistic  profession. 

We  have  endeavored,  with  all  diligence  and  care- 
fulness, to  make  the  best  of  the  material  at  our  com- 
mand, but  we  <by  no  means  claim  to  have  produced 
a   work   beyond  criticism.     It   is   almost  an  im- 
possibility  to  publish   a  work  free  from   errors 
where  the  facts    are  gathered  from  a   hundred 
different  sources,  and  depend  largely,  nut  on  exact 
written  records,  but  on  the  uncertain  and  conflict- 
ing recollections  of  different    individuals.      We 
have   tried  to  preserve  the    incidents   of  pioneer 
history,  to  accurately  present  the  natural  features 
and  material  resourses  of  this  portion  of  the  state, 
and  to  gather  the  facts  likely  to  be  of  most  interest 
to  our  present  readers,  and  of  greatest  importance 
to  coming  generations.     If  our  readers  zaill  take 
into  consideration  the   difficulties  of  the   task,  we 
feel  assured  of  a  favorable  verdict  on  our  under- 
taking. 

The  Publishers. 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS. 


COUNTY  HISTORY. 

hap.  Page. 

I— Brief    Sketch    of    the 

North-West  Territory, 

Early       explorations, 

etc.   etc 9 

II — Brief  historical  Sketch 
of  Illinois,  Physical 
Features  of  the  State, 
Civil  Organization, 
Official  Roster  from 
1809  to  1882,  Popula- 
tion, etc 25 

III — Geography,  Agricultu- 
ral Resources,  and 
Railroad  Facilities, 
Names  of  townships, 
Land  Surfaces,  ...    44 

IV — Geology 47 

V — Fauna,  Schuyler  and 
Brown    Counties.  .   .    53 

VI — Flora,    Schuyler     and 

Brown  Counties  ...  55 
VII — Pioneers  and  Early  Set- 
tlers, Incidents  and  An- 
ecdotes, Deep  snow, 
Habits  and  modes  of 
Living  of  the  first  set- 
tlers  56 

VIII— Civil  History,  Public 
Buildings,  County  Gov- 
ernment, early  roads, 
Mill  seats,  Revolution- 
ary Pensioners,  etc.        78 


PAGE 

IX— Bench  and   Bar  ...  144 

X— The    Press 153 

XI — Patriotism  of  Schuyler 

and  Brown  Counties  .  158 

XII — Common     Schools  .    .  194 

XIII — Ecclesiastical  History  .  203 


BIOGRAPHIES. 

Baker,  N.    W 288 

Barnes,  R.  M,  M.   D 293 

Baxter,  WiH.  W.,  M.  D.  .    .    .  259 

Black,    Moses 264 

Black,  Win.  T 333 

Bogue,    Mark 241 

Bowe,  Thomas 324 

Bowe,  John  H 325 

Bowman,  Hiram,  M.  D.   .   .   .  342 

Bratten,  Robert  T 347 

Brockman,  E.  C 260 

Brown,  Hon.  Robert    ....  333 

Brown,  J 372 

Campbell,  Alexander  ....  279 

Clark,   W.  A 278 

Clark,  Elias 327 

Cox,  James  A 327 

Cox,  Stephen   D .    .  328 

Crane,  Elias  F 256 

Curry,   George   W 257 

Curry,  Robert  N.  .   •.    .    .    .    .255 

Darnell,  Jesse 283 

Darnell,  John  M -284 

Davis,  Henry  K 264 

Dehart,  Thomas  B 349 

Dyson,  Edwin 242 


PAGE 

Ferguson,  John 350 

Flattery,   John    A 307 

Frank,  E.  S 362 

Garrison   George 317 

Givins,  John    A 266 

Glass,  John  B 263 

Glaze,   Wm.    W 304 

Gristy,  Benjamin  D 372 

Hambaugh,  Stephen  D.  dee'd.  304 

Hammond,    Jacob 240 

Harper,    John 266 

Henry,   George   N 262 

Henry,  H.  E 329 

Hershman,  Jacob 263 

Hershman,  George 265 

Hinman,  Gideon,  dee'd.  .    .    .  326 
Horney,  Col.    Leonidas  .    .    .  315 

Howell,  Ira     328 

Howes,    Philip    A 259 

Keith,  Charles  W 312 

Kerley,  King 361 

Jones,  Thomas 258 

Lee,  William 358 

Long,  J.  M 372 

Lowry,  Alex  K 261 

Lucas,  D.  R.  .    .  M.  D.    ...  359 

Martin,  Adam    E 341 

McDannold,  T.   1 373 

McPhail,  Angus   M 362 

McPhail,  Cape.  E.  P.  (Dee'd.)  .  276 

McCreery,  James    G 243 

Means,  George   W 261 

Mehl,  Andrew 288 

Mills,  Franklin,  Sr 288 

Moore,  John  W. 361 


PAGE 

Nell,  Augustus 243 

Nokes,  Capt.  S.  D 360 

Orr  Frank 260 

Parks,  Absalom,   dee'd.  .    .    .  326 
Rader,  Wm.  H.  H.  .    .    .    .    .243 

Rash,  David  J 280 

Ratcliff,  A.  B 371 

Ravenscroft,  A.  D.  dee'd  .    .    .  305 
Ray,   Wm.   H.  .    .    .  ■ .    .    .    .239 

Razey,    Rufus     G 349 

Reger,  .Casper    .......  326 

Rigg,   Abner    C 278 

Rigg,  Wm.  T 277 

Ritter,  H.  D 287 

Roberts,   John 275 

Root,  Stephen  C 303 

Root,  Thomas  E.  .    .    .    .    .    .306 

Rottger,  Fred  W 266 

Seckman,   J.  W 323 

Six,   Daniel 265 

Six,  Alex  D 307 

Shineharger,  G 348 

Snyder,  Jacob  H 325 

Speed,  Dr.  J.  N.  ." 240 

Stout,  Francis  M 328 

Taylor,  John   J 303 

Tebo,  George  H.,  M.  D.   .   .   .  260 

Teefey,    John  J 259 

Vandeventer,  E 301 

Vandeventer,  Saul,  M.  D.  .    .  302 

Watson,  D  K 370 

Weigand  Adam 280 

Webb,  Allen 361 

Williams,  G.  W 349 

Zimmerman,  G 289 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


TOWNSHIP  HISTORIES 

PAGE 

Bainbridge 267 

Birmingham 373 

Brooklyn 351 

Browning 308 

Buckhorn 345 

Buena  Vista 334 

Camden 342 

Cooporstown 318 

Elkhorn , ...  285 

Frederick 281 

Hickory 269 

Hnntsville 363 

Leo •  354 

Littleton 311 

Missouri 271 

Mount  Sterling .*  245 

Oakland 289 


PAGE 

Pea  Ridgo 366 

Ripley 337 

Rushville 231 

Versailles 294 

Woodstock    • 330 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Brown,  Co  Buildings,  .  facing  118 

Bowe,  J.  H "    324 

County  Map facing    9 

Clark,  Elias "328 

Frank,  Ed.   S "     362 

Garrison,  Geo.  .  bet.  316  4  317 
Kirkham,  George  H.    .   facing  314 

Potts,  John "362 

Ravenscroft,  A.  D.  .    .      "       306 
Reger,  Casper "     314 


PAGE 

Ritter,  H.  D facing  362 

Schuyler,  Co.  Buildings,    "      82 

Snyder,  J.  H "    326 

Taylor,  John  J  .  .  .  "  304 
Teal,  James  A.  .  .  bet.  244  &  245 
Vandeventer,  E.  .    .    .  facing  306 

PORTRAITS. 

Bogue,  Mark 241 

Barnes,  R.  M.  M.D 293 

Curry,  Robert  N 255 

Dyson,  Edward 242 

Darnell,  Jesse 283 

Darnell,  John  M 284 

Garrison,  George 317 

Garrison,  Mrs.  Sarah  ....  317 
Homey,  Col.  Leonidas  ....  315 


PAGE 

Henry,  George  N 262 

Lee,  William 358 

Nokes,  Capt.  S.  D 360 

Ray,  Wm.  H 239 

Roberts,  John 275 

Rigg,  William  T 277 

Ravenscroft,  A.  D.,  dec'd   .  .  .  305 

Vanderventer,  C 301 

Vanderventer,  E 301 

Wateon,  D.  K 370 


Partial  List  of  Patrons  .  .  .  377 
Constitution  of  Illinois ....  395 
Declaration  of  Independence  .  413 
Constitution     of   the    United 

States 414 

Amendments  to  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States    .  417 


INTRODUCTION. 


is  but  the  life  and  career  of 
people  and  nations  ;  and  the  historian, 
in  rescuing  from  oblivion  the  life  of  a 
nation  or  a  particular  people,  should' 
"  nothing  extenuate,  nor  set  down  aught 
in  malice  ; "  myths,  however  beautiful, 
are  at  their  best  but  fanciful  ;  traditions, 
however  pleasing,  are  uncertain  ;  and 
legends,  though  the  very  essense  of  poesy,  are  unauthentic. 
The  novelist  will  take  the  most  fragile  thread  of  vivid 
imagination,  and  from  it  weave  a  fabric  of  surpassing  beauty. 
But  the  historian  should  place  his  feet  upon  the  solid  basis 
of  fact,  and,  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  allurements  of  fancy, 
sift  with  careful  and  painstaking  scrutiny,  the  evidence 
brought  before  him,  and  upon  which  he  is  to  give  the 
record  of  what  has  been.  Standing,  as  he  docs,  down  the 
stream  of  time,  far  removed  from  its  source,  he  must  retrace, 
with  patience  and  care,  its  meanderings,  guided  by  the 
relics  of  the  past  which  lie  upon  its  shores,  growing  fainter 
and  still  more  faint  and  uncertain  as  he  nears  its  fountain, 
ofttimes  concealed  in  the  debris  of  ages,  and  in  mists  and 
darkness  impenetrable.  Written  records  grow  less  and  less 
explicit,  and  finally  fail  altogether,  as  he  approaches  the 
beginning  of  the  community,  whose  life  he  is  seeking  to 
rescue   from   the  gloom  of  a   rapidly   receeding  past. 

Memory,  wonderful  as  are  it3  powers,  is  yet  frequently 
at  fault  ;  and  only  by  a  comparison  of  its  many  aggrega- 
tions, can  he  be  satisfied  that  he  is  pursuing  stable-footed 
truth  in  his  researches  amid  the  early  paths  of  his  subject. 
It  cannot,  then,  be  unimportant  or  uninteresting  to 
trace  the  progress  of  Schuyler  and  Brown's  gratifying  de- 
velopment, from  their  crude  beginnings  to  their  present 
proud  position  among  their  sister  counties.  And  therefore  we 
were  to  gather  the  scattered  and  loosening  threads  of  the 
past  into  a  compact  web  of  the  present,  ere  they  become 
hopelessly  broken  and  lost,  and  with  a  trust  that  the  har- 
mony of  our  work  may  speak  with  no  uncertain  sound  to 
the  future.  Records  will  be  traced  as  far  as  they  may  yield 
the  information  sought  ;  the  memories  of  the  pioneers  will 
be  laid  under  tribute  ;  the  manuscripts  of  the  provident  will 

give    their   contributions,  and    all     sources    will    be    called    into 


requisition   to  furnish  material,   reliable  and   certain,  to   bring 
forth   a   truthful   history   of  these   counties.  • 

Individual  success  is  a  proof  of  triumphant  energy,  and 
pledges  a  like  career  to  corresponding  enterprises  ;  therefore, 
biographies  of  earnest,  successful,  representative  lives,  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  development  of  these  counties, 
will  illustrate  what  energy,  determination,  and  indomitable 
will  have  hitherto  accomplished,  and  can  yet  accomplish. 
To  foster  local  ties,  to  furnish  examples  of  heroism,  to 
exhibit  the  results  of  well-applied  industry,  and  to  mark 
the  progress  of  the  community,  literature,  art,  and  topogra- 
phy (an  attractive  trio)  are  freely  employed  to  embellish 
and  render  invaluable   a   practical   and   interesting   work. 

In  prosecuting  our  enterprise,  we  shall  essay,  first,  some- 
thing of  the  history  of  the  north-west  territory,  and  of  the 
state  of  Illinois  in  its  early  settlement,  with  a  brief  sketch 
of  the  title  to  the  fee  of  the  millions  of  acres  of  prolific 
soil  within  its  splendid  domain.  Then  will  follow  in  their 
regular  order,  an  account  of  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties 
up  to,  and  including,  the  present ;  showing  their  develop- 
ment in  agriculture,  trade,  manufactures,  political  influence, 
population  and  wealth ;  not  forgetting  to  do  honor  to  the 
brave  men,  of  all  political  faiths,  who  rallied  to  the  common 
defense  of  the  country  when  armed  treason  raised  its  bloody 
hand  against  the  national  life,  and  who  bore  the  banner  of 
the  "  Prairie  State  "  through  the  carnage  of  many  hard- 
fought  fields,  onward   to   ultimate  triumph. 

Brief  histories  of  the  several  townships  and  villages  com- 
posing the  respective  counties  will  follow,  wherein  will  appear 
the  names  of  the  early  settlers,  and  the  more  important 
events,  interspersed  with  incidents,  humorous  and  sad,  which 
invariably  attach  to  border  life,  but  which,  however  graphi- 
cally they  may  be  told,  cannot  give  to  us  of  the  present 
day,  who  have  come  to  our  pleasant  places  through  the  toils 
and  privations  of  the  pioneers,  any  realizing  sense  of  the 
rugged,  thorny  path  those  heroes  and  heroines  patiently 
and   hopefully  trod   for  many  long  weary  years. 

Now,  kind  reader,  we  leave  ourselves  in  your  hands. 
Read  our  work  carefully,  judge  it  charitably,  and  pronounce 
not  against  it,  until  time  shall  afford  an  opportunity  of  test- 
ing  its    merits. 


HISTORY 


OF 


SCHUYLER  AND  BROWN  COUNTIES,  ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER    I. 


A  BRIEF  SKETCn  OF  THE  XORTII-WEST  TERRITORY. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    POSITION. 

N  1784  the  North  Western  Territory  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States  by  Virginia. 
It  embraced  only  the  territory  lying  be- 
tween the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers; 
and  north,  to  the  northern  limits  of  the 
United  States.  It  coincided  with  the  area 
now  embraced  in  the  states  of  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Ohio,  and 
that  portion  of  Minnesota-  lying  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Mississippi  river.  On  the  first  day  of  March, 
1784,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Samuel  Hardy,  Arthur  Lee,  and 
James  Monroe,  delegates  in  Congress  on  the  part  of  Vir- 
ginia, executed  a  deed  of  cession,  by  which  they  transferred 
to  the  United  States,  on  certain  conditions,  all  right,  title 
and  claim  of  Virginia  to  the  country  known  as  the  North- 
western Territory.  But  by  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  in 
1803,  the  western  boundary  of  the  United  States  was  ex- 
tended to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Northern  Pacific 
Ocean.  It  includes  an  area  of  1,887,850  square  miles, 
being  greater  than  the  united  areas  of  the  Middle  and 
Southern  states,  including  Texas.  Out  of  this  magnificent 
territory  have  been  erected  eleven  sovereign  states  and  eight 
territories,  with  an  aggregate  population  at  the  present  time 
of  13,000,000  inhabitants,  or  nearly  one-third  of  the  entire 
population  of  the  United  States. 

Its  rivers  are  the  largest  on  the  continent,  flowing  thous- 
ands of  miles  through  its  rich  alluvial  valleys  and  broad, 
fertile  prairies. 

Its  lakes  are  fresh-water  seas,  upon  whose  bosom  floats 
the  commerce  of  many  states.  Its  far-stretching  prairies 
have  more  acres  that  are  arable  and  productive  than  any 
other  area  of  like  extent  on  the  globe. 

For  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  the  increase  of  popula- 


tion and  wealth  in  the  north-west  has  been  about  as  three  to 
one  in  any  other  portion  of  the  United  States. 

EARLY   EXPLORATIONS. 

In  the  year  1512,  on  Easter  Sunday,  the  Spanish  name 
for  which  is  Pascua  Florida,*  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  an  old 
comrade  of  Columbus,  discovered  the  coast  of  the  American 
continent,  near  St.  Augustine,  and  in  honor  of  the  day  and 
of  the  blossoms  which  covered  the  trees  along  the  shore, 
named  the  new-found  country  Florida.  Juan  had  been  led 
to  undertake  the  discovery  of  strange  lands  partly  by  the 
hope  of  finding  endless  stores  of  gold,  and  partly  by  the 
wish  to  reach  a  fountain  that  was  said  to  exist  deep  within 
the  forests  of  North  America,  which  possessed  the  power  of 
renovating  the  life  of  those  who  drank  of  or  bathed  in  its 
waters.  He  was  made  governor  of  the  region  he  had  visited 
but  circumstances  prevented  his  return  thither  until  1521 ; 
and  then  he  went  only  to  meet  death  at  the  hands  of  the 
Indians. 

In  the  meantime,  in  1516,  a  Spanish  sea-captain,  Diego 
Miruelo,  had  visited  the  coast  first  reached  by  Ponce  de 
Leon,  and  in  his  barters  with  the  natives  had  received  con- 
siderable quantities  of  gold,  with  which  he  returned  home 
and  spread  abroad  new  stories  of  the  wealth  hidden  in  the 
interior. 

Ten  years,  however,  passed  before  Pamphilo  de  Narvaez 
undertook  to  proseoute  the  examination  of  the  lands  north 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Narvaez  was  excited  to  action  by 
the  late  astonishing  success  of  the  conqueror  of  Montezuma, 
but  he  found  the  gold  for  which  he  sought  constantly  flying 
before  him ;  each  tribe  of  Indians  referred  him  to  those 
living  farther  in  the  interior.  And  from  tribe  to  tribe  he 
and  his  companions  wandered.  They  suflered  untold  priva- 
tions in  the  swamps  and  forests  ;  and  out  of  three  hundred 
followers  only  four  or  five  at  length  reached  Mexico.  And 
still  these  disappointed  wanderers  persisted  in  their  original 
fancy,  that  Florida  was  as  wealthy  as  Mexico  or  Peru. 

•Pascum,  the  old  English  "Push"  or  Passover;  "Pascua  Florida" 
is  the  "Holyday  of  Flowers." 


10 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Among  those  who  had  faith  in  that  report  was  Ferdinand 
de  Soto,  who  had  been  with  Pizarro  in  the  conquests  of  Peru. 
He  asked  and  obtained  leave  of  the  King  of  Spain  to  con- 
quer Florida  at  his  own  cost  It  was  given  in  the  year  1538. 
With  a  brilliant  and  noble  band  of  followers  he  left  Europe 
and  in  May,  1538,  after  a  stay  in  Cuba,  anchored  his  vessels 
near  the  coast  of  the  Peninsula  of  Florida,  in  the  bay  of 
Spiritu-  Santa,  or  Tampa  bay. 

De  Soto  entered  upon  his  march  into  the  interior  with  a 
determination  to  succeed.     From  June  till  November  of 

1539,  the  Spaniards  toiled  along  until  they  reached  the 
neighborhood  of  Appalachee  bay.     During  the  next  season, 

1540,  they  followed  the  course  suggested  by  the  Florida 
Indians,  who  wished  them  out  of  their  country,  and  going 
to  the  north-east,  crossed  the  rivers  and  climbed  the  moun- 
tains of  Georgia.  De  Soto  was  a  stern,  severe  man,  and 
none  dared  to  murmur.  De  Soto  passed  the  winter  with  his 
little  baud  near  the  Yazoo.  In  April,  1541,  the  resolute 
Spaniard  set  forward,  and  upon  the  first  of  May  reached 
the  banks  of  the  great  river  of  the  West,  not  far  from  the 
35th  parallel  of  latitude,* 

A  month  was  spent  in  preparing  barges  to  convey  the 
horses,  many  of  which  still  lived,  across  the  rapid  stream. 
Having  successfully  passed  it,  the  explorers  pursued  their 
way  northward,  into  the  neighborhood  of  New  Madrid ; 
then  turning  westward  again,  marched  more  than  two  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  highlands  of  White 
river;  and  still  no  gold,  no  gems,  no  cities — only  bare  prai- 
ries, and  tangled  forests,  and  deep  morasses  To  the  south 
again  they  toiled  on,  and  passed  their  third  winter  of  wander- 
ing upon  the  Washita.  In  the  following  spring  (1542),  De 
Soto,  weary  with  hope  long  deferred,  descended  the  Washita 
to  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi.  He  heard,  when  he 
reached  the  mighty  stream  of  the  west,  that  its  lower  portion 
flowed  through  endless  and  uninhabitable  swamps. 

The  news  sank  deep  into  the  stout  heart  of  the  disap- 
pointed warrior.  His  health  yielded  to  the  contests  of  his 
mind  and  the  influence  of  the  climate.  He  appointed  a 
successor,  and  on  the  21st  of  May  died.  His  body  was  sunk 
in  the  stream  of  the  Mississippi.  Deprived  of  their  ener- 
getic leader,  the  Spaniards  determined  to  try  to  reach  Mexico 
by  land.  After  some  time  spent  in  wandering  through  the 
forests,  despairing  of  success  in  the  attempt  to  rescue  them- 
selves by  land,  they  proceeded  to  prepare  such  vessels  as 
they  could  to  take  them  to  sea.  From  January  to  July 
1543,  the  weak,  sickly  band  of  gold-seekers  labored  at  the 
doleful  task,  and  in  July  reached,  in  the  vessels  thus  built, 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  by  September  entered  the  river 
Paunco.  Oae-half  of  the  six  hundred  f  who  had  disem- 
barked with  De  Soto,  so  gay  in  steel  and  silk,  left  their  bones 
among  the  mountains  and  in  the  morasses  of  the  South,  from 
Georgia  to  Arkansas. 

De  Soto  founded  no  settlements,  produced  no  results,  and 
left  no  traces,  unless  it  were  that  he  awakened  the  hostility 
of  the  red  man  against  the  white  man,  and  disheartened 

•  De  Soto  probably  was  at  the  lower  Chickasaw  bluffs.  The  Spaniards 
callod  the  Mississippi  Rio  Grande,  Great  River,  which  is  the  literal 
meaning  of  the  aboriginal  name. 

t  De  Biedna  says  there  landed  620  men. 

H 


such  as  might  desire  to  follow  up  the  career  of  discovery  for 
better  purposes.  The  French  nation  were  eager  and  ready 
to  seize  upon  any  news  from  this  extensive  domain,  and 
were  the  first  to  profit  by  De  Soto's  defeat  As  it  was,  for 
more  than  a  century  after  the  expedition,  the  west  remained 
utterly  unknown  to  the  whites. 

The  French  were  the  first  Europeans  to  make  settlements 
on  the  St.  Lawrence  river  and  along  the  great  lakes.  Quebec 
was  founded  by  Sir  Samuel  Champlain  in  1608,*  and  in  1609 
when  Sir  Henry  Hudson  was  exploring  the  noble  river 
which  bears  his  name,  Champlain  ascended  the  Sorrelle 
river,  and  discovered,  embosomed  between  the  Green  moun- 
tains, or  "  Verdmont,"  as  the  chivalrous  and  poetic  French- 
man called  them,  and  the  Adirondacks,  the  beautiful  sheet 
of  water  to  which  his  name  is  indissolubly  attached.  In 
1613  he  founded  Montreal. 

During  the  period  elapsing  between  the  years  1607  and 
1664,  the  English,  Dutch,  and  Swedes  alternately  held  pos- 
session of  portions  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  jealously  watching 
one  another,  and  often  involved  in  bitter  controversy,  and 
not  seldom  in  open  battle,  until,  in  the  latter  year,  the 
English  became  the  sole  rulers,  and  maintained  their  rights 
until  the  era  of  the  Revolution,  when  they  in  turn  were 
compelled  to  yield  to  the  growing  power  of  their  colonies, 
and  retire  from  the  field. 

The  French  movements,  from  the  first  settlement  at 
Quebec,  and  thence  westward,  were  led  by  the  Catholic 
missionaries.  Le  Caron,  a  Franciscan  friar,  who  had  been 
the  companion  and  friend  of  Champlain,  was  the  first  to 
penetrate  the  western  wilds,  which  he  did  in  1616*  in  a 
birch  canoe,  exploring  lake  Huron  and  its  tributaries. 
This  was  four  years  before  the  Pilgrims 

"  Moored  their  bark  on  the  wild  New  England  shore." 

Under  the  patronage  of  Louis  XIII,  the  Jesuits  took  the 
advance,  and  began  vigorously  the  work  of  Christianizing 
the  savages  in  1632. 

In  1634,  three  Jesuit  missionaries,  Brebeuf,  Daniel,  and 
Lallemand,  planted  a  mission  on  the  shores  of  the  lake  of 
the  Iroquois,  (probably  the  modern  Lake  Simcoe),  and  also 
established  others  along  the  eastern  border  of  Lake  Huron. 

From  a  map  published  in  1660,  it  would  appear  that  the 
French  had  at  that  date,  become  quite  familiar  with  the 
region  from  Niagara  to  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  includ- 
ing considerable  portions  of  Lake  Michigan. 

In  1641,  Fathers  Jogues  and  Raymbault  embarked  on 
the  Penetanguishine  Bay  for  the  Sault  St.  Marie,  where 
they  arrived  after  a  passage  of  seventeen  days.  A  crowd 
of  two  thousand  natives  met  them,  and  a  great  council  was 
held.  At  this  meeting  the  French  first  heard  of  many 
nations  dwelling  beyond  the   great  lakes. 

Father  Raymbault  died  in  the  wilderness  in  1642,  while 
enthusiastically  pursuing  his  discoveries.  The  same  year, 
Jogues  and  Bressani  were  captured  by  the  Indians  and 
tortured,  and  in  1648  the  mission  which  had  been  founded 
at  St  Joseph  was  taken  and  destroyed,  and  Father  Daniel 
slain.     In  1649,  the  missions  St    Louis  and   St  Ignatius 

•  Western  Aunals. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


11 


•were  also  destroyed,  and  Fathers  Brebeuf  and  Lallemand 
barbarously  tortured  by  the  same  terrible  and  unrelenting 
enemy.  Literally  did  those  zealous  missionaries  of  the 
Romish  Church  "take  their  lives  in  their  hands,"  and  lay 
them  a  willing  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  their  faith. 

•It  is  stated  by  some  writer  that,  in  1654,  two  fur  traders 
accompanied  a  band  of  Ottawas  on  a  journey  of  five  hun- 
dred leagues  to  the  west.  They  were  absent  two  years,  and 
on  their  return  brought  with  them  fifty  canoes  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  Indians  to  the  French  trading  posts. 

They  related  wonderful  tales  of  the  countries  they  had 
seen,  and  the  various  red  nations  they  had  visited,  and 
described  the  lofty  mountains  and  mighty  rivers  in  glowing 
terms.  A  new  impulse  was  given  to  the  spirit  of  adventure, 
and  scouts  and  traders  swarmed  the  frontiers  and  explored 
the  great  lakes  and  adjacent  country,  and  a  party  wintered 
in  1659-GO  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Superior. 

In  1660  Father  Mesnard  was  sent  out  by  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec,  and  visited  Lake  Superior  in  October  of  that  year. 
While  crossing  the  Keeweenaw  Point  he  was  lost  in  the  wilder- 
ness and  never  afterwards  heard  from,  though  his  cassock 
and  breviary  were  found  long  afterwards  among  the  Sioux. 

A  change  was  made  in  the  government  of  New  France  in 
1663.  The  Company  of  the  Hundred  Associates,  who  had 
ruled  it  since  1632,  resigned  its  charter.  Tracy  was  made 
Viceroy,  Courcclles  Governor,  and  Talon  Intendent.*  Thi3 
was  called  the  Government  of  the  West  Indies. 

The  Jesuit  missions  were  taken  under  the  care  of  the  new 
govenment,  and  thenceforward  became  the  leaders  in  the 
movement  to  Christianize  the  savages. 

In  the  same  year  (1665)  Pierre  Claude  Alloiiez  was  sent 
out  by  way  of  the  Ottawa  river  to  the  far  west,  via  the  Sault 
St  Mario  and  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  where  he 
landed  at  the  bay  of  Chegoimegon.  Here  he  found  the 
chief  village  of  the  Chippewas,  and  established  a  mission. 
He  also  made  an  alliance  with  them  and  the  Sacs,  Foxes  and 
Illinois,^  against  the  formidable  Iroquois.  Alloiiez,  the  next 
year  (1666)  visited  the  western  end  of  the  great  lake,  where 
he  met  the  Sioux,  and  from  them  first  learned  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river  which  they  called  "Mcssipi."  From  thence  he 
returned  to  Quebec. 

In  1668  Claude  Dablon  and  Jacques  Marquette  estab- 
lished the  mission  at  the  Sault  called  St.  Marie,  and  during 
the  next  five  years  Alloiiez,  Dablon  and  Marquette  explored 
the  region  of  Lake  Superior  on  the  south  shore,  and  ex- 
tending to  Lake  Michigan.  They  also  established  the  mis- 
sions of  Chegoimegon,  St.  Marie,  Mackinaw  and  Green  Bay. 

The  plan  of  exploring  the  Mississippi  probably  originated 
with  Marquette.  It  was  at  once  sanctioned  by  the  Inten- 
dent, Talon,  who  was  ambitious  to  extend  the  dominion  of 
France  over  the  whole  West. 

In  1670  Nicholas  Perot  was  sent  to  the  West  to  propose  a 
congress  of  all  the  nations  and  tribes  living  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  lakes ;  and,  in  1671,  a  great  council  was  held  at  Sault 
St.  Marie,  at  which  the  Cross  was  set  up,  and  the  nations  of 

•The  duties  of  Intendent  included  a  supervision  of  the  policy,  justice, 
and  finance  of  the  province. 

f  The  meaning  of  this  word  h  said  to  be  "  Men." 


the  great  North-west  were  taken  into  an  alliance,  with  much 
pomp  and  ceremony. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  1673,  Marquette,  Joliet,  and  five 
voyageurs,  embarked  in  two  birch  canoes  at  Mackinaw  and 
entered  Lake  Michigan.  The  first  nation  they  visited  was 
the  "  Folles-Avoines,"  or  nation  of  Wild  Oats,  since  known 
as  the  Menomonies,  living  around  the  "  Baie  des  Puans,"  or 
Green  Bay.  These  people,  with  whom  Marquette  was  some- 
what acquainted,  endeavored  to  persuade  the  adventurers 
from  visiting  the  Mississippi.  They  represented  the  Indians 
on  the  great  river  as  being  blood-thirsly  and  savage  in  the 
extreme,  and  the  river  itself  as  being  inhabited  by  monsters 
which  would  devour  them  and  their  canoes  together.* 

Marquette  thanked  them  for  their  advice,  but  declined  to 
be  guided  by  it.  Passing  through  Green  Bay,  they  ascended 
the  Fox  River,  dragging  their  canoes  over  the  strong  rapids 
and  visited  the  village,  where  they  found  living  in  harmony 
together  tribes  of  the  Miamis,  Mascoutens  f  and  Kikabeaux 
or  Kichapoos.  Leaving  this  point  on  the  10th  of  June,  they 
made  the  portage  to  the  "  Ouisconsin,"  and  descended  that 
stream  to  the  Mississippi,  which  they  entered  on  the  17th 
with  a  joy,  as  Marquette  says,  which  he  could  not  express."! 

Sailing  down  the  Mississippi,  the  party  reached  the  Des 
Moines  River,  and,  according  to  some,  visited  an  Indian 
village  6ome  two  leagues  up  the  stream.  Here  the  people 
again  tried  to  persuade  them  from  prosecuting  their  voyage 
down  the  river.  After  a  great  feast  and  a  dance,  and  a 
night  passed  with  this  hospitable  people,  they  proceeded  on 
their  way,  escorted  by  six  hundred  persons  to  their  canoes. 
These  people  called  themselves  Illinois,  or  Mini.  The  name 
of  their  tribe  was  Peruaca,  and  their  language  a  dialect  of 
the  Algonquin. 

Leaving  these  savages,  they  proceeded  down  the  river. 
Passing  the  wonderful  rocks,  which  still  excite  the  admira- 
tion of  the  traveller,  they  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  another 
great  river,  the  Pelcilawmi,  or  Missouri  of  the  present  day. 
They  noticed  the  condition  of  its  waters,  which  they  described 
as  "  muddy,  rushing  and  noisy." 

Passing  a  great  rock,  §  they  came  to  the  Ouabouskigon,  or 
Ohio.  Marquette  shows  this  river  very  small, even  as  com- 
pared with  the  Illinois.  From  the  Ohio  they  passed  as  far 
down  as  the  Alcamsca,  or  Arkansas,  where  they  came  very 
near  being  destroyed  by  the  natives;  but  they  finally  paci- 
fied them,  and,  on  the  17th  of  July,  they  commenced  their 
return  voyage. 

The  party  reached  Green  Bay  in  September  without  loss 
or  injury,  and  reported  their  discoveries,  which  were  among 
the  most  important  of  that  age.  Marquette  afterwards 
returned  to  Illinois,  and  preached  to  the  natives  until  1675. 

On  the  18th  of  May  of  that  year,  while  cruising  up  the 
eastern  coast  of  Lake  Michigan  with  a  party  of  boatmen, 
he  landed  at  the  mouth  of  a  stream  putting  into  the  lake 
from  the  east,  since  known  as  the  river  Marquette.  He 
performed  mass,  and  went  a  little  apart  to  pray,  and  being 

•See  legend  of  the  great  bird,  the  terrible  "  Piasa,"  that  devoured  men 
and  was  only  overcome  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  brave  young  chief.  The 
rocks  above  Alton,  Illinois,  have  some  rude  representations  of  this 
monster. 

f  Prairie  Indians.  J  Marquette's  journal.        J  The  grand  tDwer. 


12  HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


gone  longer  than  his  companions  deemed  necessary,  they 
■went  in  search  of  him,  and  found  him  dead  where  he  had 
knelt.     They  buried  him  in  the  sand. 

"While  this  distinguished  adventurer  was  pursuing  his 
labors,  two  other  men  were  preparing  to  follow  in  his  foot- 
step, and  make  still  further  explorations,  and,  if  possible, 
more  important  discoveries.  These  were  the  Chevalier 
Robert  de  la  Salle  and  Louis  Hennepin. 

La  Salle  was  a  native  of  Rouen,  in  Normandy.  He  was 
educated  at  a  seminary  of  the  Jesuits,  and  designed  for  the 
ministry,  but,  for  reasons  unknown,  he  left  the  seminary  and 
came  to  Canada,  in  1667,  where  he  engaged  in  the  fur  trade. 

Like  nearly  every  intelligent  man,  he  became  intensely 
interested  in  the  new  discoveries  of  the  West,  and  conceived 
the  idea  of  exploring  the  passage  to  the  great  South  Sea, 
which  by  many  was  believed  to  exist.  He  made  known  his 
ideas  to  the  Governor-General,  Count  Frontenac,  and  de- 
sired his  co-operation.  The  Governor  at  once  fell  in  with 
his  views,  which  were  strengthened  by  the  reports  brought 
back  by  Marquette  and  Joliet,  and  advised  La  Salle  to 
apply  to  the  King  of  France  in  person,  and  gave  him  letters 
of  introduction  to  the  great  Colbert,  then  Minister  of 
Finance  and  Marine.  Accordingly,  in  1675,  he  returned 
to  France,  where  he  was  warmly  received  by  the  King  and 
nobility,  and  his  ideas  were  at  once  listened  to,  and  every 
possible  favor  shown  to  him. 

He  was  made  a  Chevalier,  and  invested  with  the  seigniory 
of  Fort  Catarocouy,  or  Frontenac  (now  known  as  Kingston) 
upon  condition  that  he  would  rebuild  it,  as  he  proposed,  of 
stone. 

Returning  to  Canada,  he  wrought  diligently  upon  the  fort 
until  1677,  when  he  again  visited  France  to  report  progress. 
He  was  received,  as  before,  with  favor,  and,  at  the  instance 
of  Colbert  and  his  son,  the  King  granted  him  new  letters 
patent  and  new  privileges.  On  the  14th  of  July,  1678,  he 
sailed  from  Rochelle,  accompanied  by  thirty  men,  and  with 
Tonti,  an  Italian,  for  his  lieutenant.  They  arrived  at 
Quebec  on  the  13th  of  September,  and  after  a  few  days' 
delay,  proceeded  to  Frontenac.  Father  Lewis  Hennepin,  a 
Franciscan  friar,  of  the  Recollet  sect,  was  quietly  working 
in  Canada  on  La  Salle's  arrival.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
ambition,  and  much  interested  in  the  discoveries  of  the  day. 
He  was  appointed  by  his  religious  superiors  to  accompany 
the  expedition  fitting  out  for  La  Salle. 

Sending  agents  forward  to  prepare  the  Indians  for  his 
coming,  and  to  open  trade  with  them,  La  Salle  himself  em- 
barked, on  the  18th  of  November,  in  a  little  brigantine  of 
ten  tons,  to  cross  Lake  Ontario.  This  was  the  first  ship  of 
European  build  that  ever  sailed  upon  this  fresh-water  sea. 
Contrary  winds  made  the  voyage  long  and  troublesome,  and 
a  month  was  consumed  in  beating  up  the  lake  to  the  Niagara 
River.  Near  the  mouth  of  this  river  the  Iroquois  had  a 
village,  and  here  La  Salle  constructed  the  first  fortification, 
which  afterwards  grew  into  the  famous  Fort  Niagara.  On 
the  26th  of  January,  1679,  the  keel  of  the  first  vessel  built 
on  Lake  Erie  was  laid  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cayuga  Creek, 
on  the  American  side,  about  six  miles  above  the  falls. 
"  In  the  meantime  La  Salle  had  returned  to  Fort  Frontenac 

12 


to  forward  supplies  for  his  forthcoming  vessel.  The  little 
barque  on  Lake  Ontario  was  wrecked  by  carelessness,  and  a 
large  amount  of  the  supplies  she  carried  was  lost.  On  the 
7th  of  August,  the  new  vessel  was  launched,  and  made  ready 
to  sail.     She  was  about  seven  tons'  burden. 

La  Salle  christened  his  vessel  the  "  Griffin,"  in  honor  of 
the  arms  of  Count  Frontenac.  Passing  across  Lake  Erie, 
and  into  the  small  lake,  which  they  named  St.  Clair,  they 
entered  the  broad  waters  of  Lake  Huron.  Here  they  en- 
countered heavy  storms,  as  dreadful  as  those  upon  the  ocean 
and  after  a  most  tempestuous  passage  they  took  refuge  in 
the  roadstead  of  Michillimackinac  (Mackinaw),  on  the  27th 
of  August  La  Salle  remained  at  this  point  until  the  middle 
of  September,  busy  in  founding  a  fort  and  constructing  a 
trading-house,  when  he  went  forward  upon  the  deep  waters 
of  Lake  Michigan,  and  soon  after  cast  anchor  in  Green  Bay. 
Finding  here  a  large  quantity  of  furs  and  peltries,  he  deter- 
mined to  load  his  vessel  and  send  her  back  to  Niagara.  On 
the  18th  of  September,  she  was  sent  under  charge  of  a  pilot 
while  La  Salle  himself,  with  fourteen  men,*  proceeded  up 
Lake  Michigan,  leisurely  examining  its  shores  and  noting 
everything  of  interest.  Tonti,  who  had  been  sent  to  look 
after  stragglers,  was  to  join  him  at  the  head  of  the  lake. 
From  the  19ih  of  September  to  the  1st  of  November,  the 
time  was  occupied  in  the  voyage  up  this  inland  sea.  On  the 
last-named  day,  La  Salle  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Miamis,  now  St.  Joseph.  Here  he  constructed  a  fort,  and 
remained  nearly  a  month  waiting  for  tidings  of  his  vessel ; 
but,  hearing  nothing,  he  determined  to  push  on  before  the 
winter  should  prevent  him.  On  the  3d  of  December,  leaving 
ten  men  to  garrison  the  fort,  he  started  overland  towards  the 
head-waters  of  the  Illinois,  accompanied  by  three  monks 
and  twenty  men.  Ascending  the  St.  Joseph  River,  he 
crossed  a  short  portage  and  reached  the  The-a-ki-ki,  since 
corrupted  into  Kankakee.  Embarking  on  this  sluggish 
stream,  they  came  shortly  to  the  Illinois,  and  soon  after 
found  a  village  of  the  Illinois  Indians,  probably  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  rocky  bluffs,  a  few  miles  above  the  present 
city  of  La  Salle,  Illinois.  They  found  it  deserted,  but  the 
Indians  had  quite  a  quantity  of  maize  stored  here,  and  La 
Salle,  being  short  of  provisions,  helped  himself  to  what  he 
required.  Passing  down  the  stream,  the  party,  on  the  4th  of 
January,  came  to  a  lake,  probably  the  Lake  Peoria,  as  there 
is  no  other  upon  this  stream.  Here  they  found  a  great 
number  of  natives,  who  were  gentle  and  kind,  and  La  Salle 
determined  to  construct  a  fort.  It  stood  on  a  rise  of  ground 
near  the  river,  and  was  named  Creve-  Coeur  f  (broken-heart;, 
most  probably  on  account  of  the  low  spirits  of  the  com- 
mander, from  anxiety  for  his  vessel  and  the  uncertainty  of 
the  future.  Possibly  he  had  heard  of  the  loss  of  the  "  Griffin," 
which  occurred  on  her  downward  trip  from  Green  Bay ; 
most  probably  on  Lake  Huron.  He  remained  at  the  Lake 
Peoria  through  the  winter,  but  no  good  tidings  came,  and 
no  supplies.  His  men  were  discontented,  but  the  brave 
adventurer  never  gave  up  hope.  He  resolved  to  send  a 
party  on  a  voyage  of  exploration  up  the  Mississippi,  under 

*  Annals  of  the  Wot 
t  The  site  of  the  work  is  at  present  unknown. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


13 


the  lead  of  Father  Hennepin,  and  he  himself  would  proceed 
on  foot  to  Niagara  and  Frontenac,  to  raise  more  means  and 
enlist  new  men ;  while  Tonti,  his  lieutenant,  should  stay  at 
the  fort,  which  they  were  to  strengthen  in  the  meantime,  and 
extend  their  intercourse  with  the  Indians. 

Hennepin  started  on  his  voyage  on  the  last  day  of  Febru- 
ary, 1680,  and  La  Salle  soon  after,  with  a  few  attendants, 
started  on  his  perilous  journey  of  twelve  hundred  miles  by 
the  way  of  the  Illinois  River,  the  Miami,  and  Lakes  Erie 
and  Ontario,  to  Frontenac,  which  he  finally  reached  in 
safety.  He  found  his  worst  fears  realized.  The  "Griffin" 
waa  lost,  his  agents  had  taken  advantage  of  his  absence,  and 
his  creditors  had  seized  his  goods.  But  he  knew  no  such 
word  as  fail,  and  by  the  middle  of  summer  he  was  again  on 
his  way  with  men  and  supplies  for  his  band  in  Illinois.  A 
sad  disappointment  awaited  him.  He  found  his  fort  deserted 
and  no  tidings  of  Tonti  and  his  men.  During  La  Salle's 
absence  the  Indians  had  become  jealous  of  the  French,  and 
they  had  been  attacked  and  harassed  even  by  the  Iroquois, 
who  came  the  long  distance  between  the  shores  of  Lake 
Ontario  and  the  Illinois  River  to  make  war  upon  the  more 
peaceable  tribes  dwelling  on  the  prairies.  Uncertain  of  any 
assistance  from  La  Salle,  and  apprehensive  of  a  general 
war  with  the  savages,  Tonti,  in  September,  1680,  abandoned 
his  position  and  returned  to  the  shores  of  the  lakes.  La 
Salle  reached  the  post  on  the  Illinois  in  December,  1680,  or 
January,  1681.  Again  bitterly  disappointed,  La  Salle  did 
not  succumb,  but  resolved  to  return  to  Canada  and  start 
anew.  This  he  did,  and  in  June  met  his  lieutenant,  Tonti, 
at  Mackinaw. 

Hennepin  in  the  meanwhile  had  met  with  strange  adven- 
tures. After  leaving  Creve-Coeur,  he  reached  the  Missis- 
sippi in  seven  days  ;  but  his  way  was  so  obstructed  by  ice 
that  he  was  until  the  11th  of  April  reaching  the  Wisconsin 
line.  Here  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  some  northern  Indians, 
who,  however,  treated  him  kindly  and  took  him  and  his 
companions  to  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony,  which  they  reached 
on  the  first  of  May.  These  falls  Hennepin  named  in  honor 
of  his  patron  saint.  Hennepin  and  his  companions  remained 
here  for  three  months,  treated  very  kindly  by  their  captors. 
At  the  end  of  this  time  they  met  with  a  band  of  French, 
led  by  one  Sieur  de  Luth,*  who,  in  pursuit  of  game  and 
trade,  had  penetrated  to  this  country  by  way  of  Lake  Su- 
perior. With  his  band  Hennepin  and  his  companions  re- 
turned to  the  borders  of  civilized  life  in  November,  1G80, 
just  after  La  Salle  had  gone  back  to  the  wilderness.  Hen- 
nepin returned  to  France,  where,  in  1684,  he  published  a 
narrative  of  his  wonderful  adventures. 

Robert  De  La  Salle,  whose  name  is  more  closely  connected 
with  the  explorations  of  the  Mississippi  than  that  of  any 
other,  was  the  next  to  descend  the  river  in  the  year  1682. 
Formal  possession  was  taken  of  the  great  river  and  all  the 
countries  bordering  upon  it  or  its  tributaries  in  the  name  of 
the  King. 

La  Salle  and  his  party  now  retraced  their  steps  towards 
the  north.  They  met  with  no  serious  trouble  until  they 
reached  the  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  where  they  had  erected  a  fort 

*  From  tlii.i  man  undoubtedly  comes  the  name  of  Duluth. 


on"  their  downward  voyage,  and  named  it  Prudhomme. 
Here  La  Salle  was  taken  violently  sick.  Unable  to  proceed, 
he  sent  forward  Tonti  to  communicate  with  Count  Fronte- 
nac. La  Salle  himself  reached  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph 
the  latter  part  of  September.  From  that  point  he  sent 
Father  Zenobe  with  his  dispatches  to  represent  him  at  court, 
while  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  fur  trade  and  to  the 
project  of  completing  a  fort,  which  he  named  St.  Louis, 
upon  the  Illinois  River.  The  precise  location  of  this  work 
is  not  known.  It  was  said  to  be  upon  a  rocky  bluff  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  and  only  accessible  upon  one 
side.  There  are  no  bluffs  of  such  a  height  on  the  Illinois 
River  answering  the  description.  It  may  have  been  on 
the  rocky  bluff  above  La  Salle,  where  the  rocks  are  perhaps 
one  hundred  feet  in  height. 

Upon  the  completion  of  this  work  La  Salle  again  sailed 
for  France,  which  he  reached  on  the  13th  of  December, 
1683.  A  new  man,  La  Barre,  had  now  succeeded  Fronte- 
nac as  Governor  of  Canada.  This  man  was  unfriendly 
towards  La  Salle,  and  this,  with  other  untoward  circum- 
stances, no  doubt  led  him  to  attempt  the  colonization  of  the 
Mississippi  country  by  way  of  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Not- 
withstanding many  obstacles  were  in  his  path,  he  succeeded 
in  obtaining  the  grant  of  a  fleet  from  the  King,  and  on  the 
24th  of  July,  1684,  a  fleet  of  twenty-four  vessels  sailed  from 
Rochelle  to  America,  four  of  which  were  destined  for  Lou- 
isiana, and  carried  a  body  of  two  hundred  and  eighty 
people,  including  the  crews.  There  were  soldiers,  artificers, 
and  volunteers,  and  also  "  some  young  women."  Discord 
soon  broke  out  between  M.  de  Beaujeu  and  La  Salle,  and 
grew  from  bad  to  worse.  On  the  20th  of  December  they 
reached  the  island  of  St.  Domingo. 

Joutel*  was  sent  out  with  this  party,  which  left  on  the 
5th  of  February,  and  traveled  eastward  three  days,  when 
they  came  to  a  great  stream  which  they  could  not  cross. 
Here  they  made  signals  by  building  great  fires,  and  on  the 
13th  two  of  the  vessels  came  in  sight.  The  stream  was 
sounded  and  the  vessels  were  anchored  under  shelter.  But 
again  misfortume  overtook  La  Salle,  and  the  vessel  was 
wrecked,  and  the  bulk  of  supplies  was  lost.  At  this  junc- 
ture M.  de  Beaujeu,  his  second  in  command,  set  sail  and 
returned  to  France.  La  Salle  now  constructed  a  rude 
shelter  from  the  timbers  of  his  wrecked  vessel,  placed  his 
people  inside  of  it,  and  set  out  to  explore  the  surrounding 
country  in  hope  of  finding  the  Mississippi.  He  was,  of 
course,  disappointed  :  but  found  on  a  stream,  which  is 
named  the  Vaches,  a  good  site  for  a  fort.  He  at  once  re- 
moved his  camp,  and,  after  incredible  exertions,  constructed 
a  fortification  sufficient  to  protect  them  from  the  Indians. 
This  fort  was  situated  on  Matagorda  Bay,  within  the  present 
limits  of  Texas,  and  was  called  by  La  Salle  Fort  St.  Louis. 

Leaving  Joutel  to  complete  the  work  with  one  hundred 
men,  La  Salle  took  the  remainder  of  the  company  and  em- 
barked on  the  river,  with  the  intention  of  proceeding  as  far 
up  as  he  could.    The  savages  soon  became  troublesome,  and 

*  Joutel,  historian  of  the  voyage,  accompanied  La  Salle,  and  subse- 
quently wrote  his  "  Journal  Ilistorique,"  which  was  published  in  Paris, 

1713. 

13 


14 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


on  the  14th  of  July  La  Salle  ordered  Joutel  to  join  him 
with  his  whole  force.  They  had  already  lost  several  of  their 
best  men,  and  dangers  threatened  them  on  every  side.  It 
would  seem  from  the  historian's  account  of  the  expedition 
that  La  Salle  began  to  erect  another  fort,  and  also  that  he 
became  morose  and  severe  in  his  discipline,  so  much  so  as  to 
get  the  ill  will  of  many  of  his  people.  He  finally  resolved 
to  advance  into  the  country,  but  whether  with  the  view  of 
returning  to  Canada  by  way  of  Illinois,  or  only  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  further  discoveries,  Joutel  leaves  in  doubt. 
Giving  his  last  instructions,  he  left  the  fort  on  the  12th  day 
of  January,  1687,  with  a  company  of  about  a  dozen  men, 
including  his  brother,  two'nephews,  Father  Anastasius,  a 
Franciscan  friar,  Joutel,  and  others,  and  moved  north-east- 
ward, as  is  supposed,  until  the  17th  of  March,  when  some 
of  his  men,  who  had  been  cherishing  revengeful  feelings  for 
some  time,  waylaid  the  Chevalier  and  shot  him  dead. 
They  also  slew  one  of  his  nephews  and  two  of  his  servants. 

This  deed  occurred  on  the  20th  of  March,  on  a  stream 
called  Cenis. 

In  1687,  France  was  involved  in  a  long  and  bloody  war. 
The  League  of  Augsburg  was  formed  by  the  Princes  of  the 
Empire  against  Louis  XIV.,  and  England,  Spain,  Holland, 
Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Savoy  took  up  arms,  and  Louis 
found  himself  battling  with  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe,  and 
only  Turkey  for  an  ally.  This  war  ended  with  the  peace  of 
Eyswick  in  1697. 

No  material  change  took  place  in  America,  but  the  colo- 
nists were  harassed  and  many  of  their  people  killed  or  car- 
ried captives  to  the  Canadas.  In  1688,  the  French  posses- 
sions in  North  America  included  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
continent  north  of  the  St  Lawrence,  and  the  entire  valley 
of  the  Mississippi ;  and  they  had  begun  to  establish  a  line 
of  fortifications  extending  from  Quebec  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  between  which  points  they  had  three  great  lines 
of  communication,  to  wit :  by  way  of  Mackinaw,  Green 
Bay,  and  the  Wisconsin  River ;  by  way  of  Lake  Michigan, 
the  Kankakee  and  Illinois  Rivers ;  and  by  way  of  Lake 
Erie,  the  Maumee  and  Wabash  Rivers,  and  were  preparing 
to  explore  the  Ohio  as  a  fourth  route. 

In  1699,  D'Iberville,  under  the  authority  of  the  crown, 
discovered,  on  the  second  of  March,  by  way  of  the  sea,  the 
mouth  of  the  "  Hidden  River."  This  majestic  stream  was 
called  by  the  natives  "  Malbouchia,"  and  by  the  Spaniards, 
'  La  Palissade,"  from  the  great  number  of  trees  about  its 
mouth.  After  traversing  the  several  outlets,  and  satisfying 
himself  as  to  its  certainty,  he  erected  a  fort  near  its  western 
outlet,  and  returned  to  France.  An  avenue  of  trade  was 
now  opened  out,  which  was  fully  improved. 

At  this  time  a  census  of  New  France  thowed  a  total 
population  of  eleven  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-nine 
Europeans.  War  again  broke  out  in  1701,  and  extended 
over  a  period  of  twelve  years,  ending  with  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht,  in  1713.  This  also  extended  to  the  American  Colo- 
nies, and  its  close  left  everything  as  before,  with  the  excep- 
tion that  Nova  Scotia  was  captured  in  1710. 

In  1718,  New  Orleans  was  laid  out  and  settled  by  some 
European  colonists.     In  1762,  the  colony  was  made  ever  to 


14 


Spain,  to  be  regained  by  France,  under  the  consulate  of 
Napoleon. 

In  1803,  it  was  purchased  by  the  United  States,  for  the 
sum  of  fifteen  million  dollars,  and  the  territory  of  Louisiana 
and  the  commerce  of  the  Mississippi  river,  came  under  the 
charge  of  the  United  States.  Although  La  Salle's  labors 
ended  in  defeat  and  death,  he  had  not  worked  and  suffered 
in  vain.  He  had  thrown  open  to  France  and  the  world  an 
immense  and  most  valuable  country.  Had  established 
several  ports,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  more  than  one 
settlement  there.  "  Peoria,  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia  are  to 
this  day  monuments  of  La  Salle's  labors;  for,  th'-ugh  he 
had  founded  neither  of  them  (unless  Peoria,  which  was  built 
nearly  upon  the  site  of  Fort  Crevecceur),  it  was  by  those  he 
led  into  the  west  that  these  places  were  peopled  and  civil- 
ized. He  was,  if  not  the  discoverer,  the  first  settler  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  and  as  such  deserves  to  be  known  and 
honored."* 

The  French  early  improved  the  opening  made  for  them, 
and  before  1693,  the  Reverend  Father  Gravier  began  a 
mission  among  the  Illinois,  and  became  the  founder  of  Kas- 
kaskia. For  some  time  it  was  merely  a  missionary  station, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  consisted  entirely  of 
natives ;  it  being  one  of  three  such  villages,  the  other  two 
being  Cahokia  and  Peoria,  This  we  learn  from  a  letter 
written  by  Father  Gabriel  Marest,  dated  "  Aux  Cascaskias, 
Autrement  dit  de  l'lmmaculee  concepcion  de  la  Sainte 
Vierge,  le  9  Novembre,  1712."  In  this  letter,  the  writer 
tells  us  that  Gravier  must  be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the 
Illinois  mi  sions.  Soon  after  the  founding  of  Kaskaskia,  the 
missionary,  Pinet,  gathered  a  flock  at  Cahokia,!  while 
Peoria  arose  near  the  remains  of  Fort  Crevecoeur  % 

An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  also  made  to  found  a  colony 
on  the  Ohio.    It  failed  in  consequence  of  sickness.§ 

In  the  north,  De  La  Motte  Cadillac,  in  June,  1701,  laid 
the  foundation  of  Fort  Pontchartrain,  on  the  strait,  (le  De- 
troit), |[  while  in  the  southwest  efforts  were  making  to  realize 
the  dreams  of  La  Salle.  The  leader  in  the  last  named  en- 
terprise was  Lemoine  D'Iberville,  a  Canadian  officer,  who 
from  1694  to  1697  distinguished  himself  not  a  little  by 
battles  and  conquests  among  the  icebergs  of  the  "  Baye 
D'Udson  or  Hudson  Bay." 

The  post  at  Vincennes,  on  theOubache  river,  (pronounced 
Wa-ba,  meaning  summer  cloud  moving  swiftly),  was  estab- 
lished in  1702.  It  is  quite  probable  that  on  La  Salle's  last 
trip  he  established  the  stations  at  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia. 
Until  the  year  1750,  but  little  is  known  of  the  settlements 
in  the  northwest,  as  it  was  not  until  this  time  that  the  atten- 

*  The  authorities  in  relation  to  La  Salle  are  Hennepin :  a  narrative  pub- 
lished in  the  name  of  Tonti,  in  1697,  but  disclaimed  by  him  (Charlevoix 
III,  365.    Lettres  Edifiantes. 

t  Bancroft,  iii.     196. 

\  There  was  an  Old  Peoria  on  the  northwest  shore  of  the  lake  of  that 
name,  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the  outlet.  From  1778  to  1796  the  inhabi- 
tants left  this  for  New  Peoria,  (Fort  Clark)  at  the  outlet.    American 

State  Papers,  xviii.    476. 

I  Watern  Annals. 

I  Charlevoix,  ii.  284.  Le  Detroit  was  the  whole  strait  from  Erie  to 
Huron.  The  first  grants  of  land  at  Detroit,  i.  «.,  Fort  Pontchartrain, 
were  made  in  1707. 


HIS10RY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


15 


tion  of  tne  English  was  called  to  the  occupation  of  this  por- 
tion of  the  new  world,  which  they  then  supposed  they 
owned.  Vivier,  a  missionary  among  the  Illinois,  writing 
"  Aux  Illinois,"  six  leagues  from  Fort  Chartres,  June  8th, 
1750,  says :  "  We  have  here  whites,  negroes,  and  Indians,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  cross-breeds.  Thore  are  five  French 
villages,  and  three  villages  of  the  natives  within  a  space  of 
twenty-one  leagues,  tituated  between  the  Mississippi  and 
another  river,  called  the  Karkadiad,  (Kaskaskia).  In  the 
five  French  villages  are,  perhaps,  eleven  hundred  whites, 
three  hundred  blacks,  and  some  sixty  red  slaves  or  savages. 
The  three  Illinois  towns  do  not  contain  more  than  eight 
hundred  souls  all  told.*  Most  of  the  French  till  the  soil. 
They  raise  wheat,  cattle,  pigs  and  horses,  and  live  like 
princes.  Three  times  as  much  is  produced  as  can  be  con- 
sumed, and  great  quantities  of  grain  and  flour  are  sent  to 
New  Orleans." 

Again,  in  an  epistle  dated  November  17th,  1750,  Vivier 
says  :  "  For  fifteen  leagues  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, one  sees  no  dwellings  *  *  *  *  New  Orleans  contains 
black,  white  and  red,  not  more,  I  think,  than  twelve  hun- 
dred persons.  To  this  point  come  all  kinds  of  lumber, 
bricks,  salt-beef,  .tallow,  tar,  skins,  and  bear's  grease ;  and 
above  all  pork  and  flour  from  the  Illinois.  These  things 
create  some  commerce,  as  forty  vessels  and  more  have  come 
hither  this  year.  Above  New  Orleans  plantations  are  again 
met  with ;  the  most  considerable  is  a  colony  of  Germans, 
some  ten  leagues  up  the  river.  At  point  Coupee,  thirty-five 
leagues  above  the  German  settlement,  is  a  fort.  Along  here, 
within  five  or  six  leagues,  are  not  less  than  sixty  habitations. 
Fifty  leagues  farther  up  is  the  Natchez  post,  where  we  have 
a  garrison." 

Father  Marest,  witing  from  the  post  at  Vincennes,  makes 
the  same  observation.  Vivier  also  says,  "  Some  individuals 
dig  lead  near  the  surface,  and  supply  the  Indians  and  Can- 
ada. Two  Spaniards,  now  here,  who  claim  to  be  adepts, 
say  that  our  mines  are  like  those  of  Mexico,  and  that  if  we 
would  dig  deeper  we  would  find  silver  under  the  lead;  at 
any  rate  the  lead  is  excellent.  There  are  also  in  this  coun- 
try, beyond  doubt,  copper  mines,  as  from  time  to  time,  large 
pieces  have  been  found  in  the  streams."  f 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1750,  the  French  occupied  in  ad- 
dition to  the  lower  Mississippi  posts  and  those  in  Illinois, 
one  at  Du  Quesne,  one  at  the  Maumee,  in  the  country  of  the 
Kiamis,  and  one  at  Sandusky,  in  what  may  be  termed  the 
Ohio  Valley.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  north-west,  they 
had  stations  at  St.  Joseph's  on  the  St.  Joseph's  of  Lake 
Michigan,  at  Fort  Pontchartrain  (Detroit),  at  Michilli- 
mackinac  or  Massillimacinac,  Fox  River  of  Green  Bay,  and 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  The  fondest  dreams  of  La  Salle  were 
now  fully  realized.  The  French  alone  were  possessors  of 
this  va3t  realm,  basing  their  claim  on  discovery  and  settle- 
ment. Another  nation,  however,  was  now  turning  its 
attention  to  this  extensive  country,  and  learning  of  its 
wealth  began  to  lay  plans  for  occupying  it  and  for  securing 
the  great  profits  arising  therefrom. 

*  Lcttre^  Eiliffantes  (Paris,  1781),  vii.  97-106. 
f  Western  Annals. 


The  French,  however,  had  another  claim  to  this  country, 
namely,  the 

DISCOVERY   OP  THE   OHIO. 

The  largest  branch  of  the  Mississippi  river  from  the  east, 
known  to  the  early  French  settlers  as  la  belie  riviere,  called 
"  beautiful "  river,  was  discovered  by  Robert  Cavalier  de 
La  Salle,  in  1669.  While  La  Salle  was  at  his  trading-post 
on  the  St.  Lawrence,  he  found  leisure  to  study  nine  Indian 
dialects,  the  chief  of  which  was  the  Iroquois.  While  con- 
versing with  some  Senecas,  he  learned  of  a  river  called  the 
Ohio,  which  rose  in  their  country  and  flowed  to  the  sea. 

In  this  statement  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  were 
considered  as  one  stream.  La  Salle,  believing  as  most  of 
the  French  at  that  period  did,  that  the  great  rivers  flowing 
west  emptied  into  the  Sea  of  California,  was  anxious  to  em- 
bark in  the  enterprise  of  discovering  a  route  across  the 
continent  He  repaired  at  once  to  Quebec  to  obtain  the 
approval  of  the  Governor  and  the  Intendent,  Talon.  They 
issued  letters  patent,  authorizing  the  enterprise,  but  made 
no  provisions  to  defray  the  expenses. 

At  this  juncture  the  seminary  St.  Sulpice  decided  to  send 
out  missionaries  in  connection  with  the  expedition,  and  La 
Salle  offering  to  sell  his  improvements  at  La  Chive  to  raise 
the  money,  the  offer  was.  accepted  by  the  Superior,  and  two 
thousand  eight  hundred  dollars  were  raised,  with  which  La 
Salle  purchased  four  canoes  and  the  necessary  supplies  for 
the  outfit. 

On  the  6th  of  July,  1669,  the  party,  numbering  twenty- 
four  persons,  embarked  in  seven  canoes  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Two  additional  canoes  carried  the  Indian  guides. 

In  three  days  they  were  gliding  over  the  bosom  of  Lake 
Ontario.  Their  guides  conducted  them  directly  to  the 
Seneca  village  on  the  bank  of  the  Genesee,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  present  city  of  Rochester,  New  York.  Here  they 
expected  to  procure  guides  to  conduct  them  to  the  Ohio,  but 
in  this  they  were  disappointed.  After  waiting  a  month  in 
the  hope  of  gaining  their  object,  they  met  an  Indian  from  the 
Iroquois  colony,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario,  who  assured 
them  they  could  find  guides,  and  offered  to  conduct  them 
thence.  On  their  way  they  passed  the  mouth  of  Niagara 
river,  when  they  heard  for  the  first  time  the  distant  thunder 
of  the  cataract.  Arriving  among  the  Iroquois  they  met 
with  a  friendly  reception,  and  learned  from  a  Shawnee 
prisoner  that  they  could  reach  the  Ohio  in  six  weeks.  *  De- 
lighted with  the  unexpected  good  fortune,  they  made  ready 
to  resume  their  journey,  and  as  they  were  about  to  start  they 
heard  of  the  arrival  of  two  Frenchmen  in  a  neighboring 
village.  One  of  them  proved  to  be  Louis  Joliet,  afterwards 
famous  as  an  explorer  in  the  west.  He  had  been  sent  by 
the  Canadian  government  to  explore  the  copper  mines  on 
Lake  Superior,  but  had  failed  and  was  on  his  way  back  to 
Quebec. 

On  arriving  at  Lake  Superior,  they  found,  as  La  Salle 
had  predicted,  the  Jesuit  fathers,  Marquette  and  Dablon, 
occupying  the  field.  After  parting  with  the  priests,  La 
Salle  went  to  the  chief  Iroquois  village  at  Onondago,  where 
he  obtained  guides  and  passing  thence  to  a  tributary  of  the 
Ohio  south  of  Lake  Erie,  he  descended  the  latter  as  far  as 

15 


16 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS 


the  falls  of  Louisville.  Thus  was  the  Ohio  discovered  by 
La  Salle,  the  persevering  and  successful  French  explorer  of 
the  west  in  1669. 

When  Washington  was  sent  out  by  the  colony  of  Virginia 
in  1753,  to  demand  of  Gordeur  de  St.  Pierre  why  the  French 
had  built  a  fort  on  the  Monongahela,  the  haughty  com- 
mandant at  Quebec  replied :  "We  claim  the  country  on  the 
Ohio  by  virtue  of  the  discoveries  of  La  Salle,  and  will  not 
give  it  up  to  the  English.  Our  orders  are  to  make  prisoners 
of  every  Englishman  found  trading  in  the  Ohio  valley." 

ENGLISH   EXPLORATIONS  AND  SETTLEMENTS. 

We  have  sketched  the  progress  of  French  discovery  in 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  first  travelers  reached 
that  river  iu  1673,  and  when  the  year  1750  broke  in  upon 
the  father  of  waters  and  the  great  north-west,  all  was  still 
except  those  little  spots  upon  the  prairies  of  Illinois  and 
among  the  marshes  of  Louisiana. 

Volney,  by  conjecture,  fixes  the  settlement  of  Vincennes 
about  1735.*  Bishop  Brute,  of  Indiana,  speaks  of  a  mis- 
sionary station  there  in  1700,  and  adds :  "  The  friendly 
tribes  and  traders  called  to  Canada  for  protection,  and  then 
M.  De  Vincennes  came  with  a  detachment,  I  think,  of 
Carignan,  and  was  killed  in  1735. ''f  Bancroft  says  a  mili- 
tary establishment  was  formed  there  in  1716,  and  in  1742  a 
settlement  of  herdsmen  took  plaee.J  In  a  petition  of  the 
old  inhabitants  at  Vincennes,  dated  in  November,  1793,  we 
find  the  settlement  spoken  of  as  having  been  made  before 
1742.§  And  such  is  the  general  voice  of  tradition.  On  the 
other  hand,  Charlevoix,  who  records  the  death  of  Vincennes, 
which  took  place  among  the  Chickasaws,  in  1736,  makes  no 
mention  of  any  post  on  the  Wabash,  or  any  missionary 
station  there.  Neither  does  he  mark  any  upon  his  map, 
although  he  gives  even  the  British  forts  upon  the  Tennessee 
and  elsewhere.  Such  is  the  character  of  the  proof  relative 
to  the  settlement  of  Vincennes. 

Hennepin,  in  1663-4,  had  heard  of  the  "  Hohio."  The 
route  from  the  lakes  to  the  Mississippi,  by  the  Wabash,  was 
explored  1676,[|  and  in  Hennepin's  volume  of  1698,  is  a 
journal,  said  to  be  that  sent  by  La  Salle  to  Count  Frontenac 
in  1682  or  '83,  which  mentions  the  route  by  the  Maumee^f 
and  Wabash  as  the  most  direct  to  the  great  western  river. 

In  1749,  when  the  English  first  began  to  think  seriously 
of  sending  men  into  the  west,  the  greater  portions  of  the 
states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and 
Minnesota  were  yet  under  the  dominion  of  the  red  men. 
The  English  knew,  however,  of  the  nature  of  the  vast 
wealth  of  these  wilds. 

In  the  year  1710,  Governor  Spotswdod,  of  Virginia,  had 
matured  a  plan  and  commenced  movements,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  secure  the  country  beyond  the  Alleghenies  to 
the  English  crown.  In  Pennsylvania,  also,  Governor  Keith 
and  James  Logan,  Secretary  of  the  Province  from  1719  to 

•  Volncy's  View,  p.  336. 

t  Butler's  Kentucky. 

J  History  U.  S.  iii.  340. 

|  American  State  Papers,  xvi.  32. 

|  Histoire  General  Des  Voyages  xiv.,  758. 

1[Now  called  Miami. 


1731,  represented  to  the  powers  of  England  the  necessity  of 
taking  steps  to  secure  the  western  lands.  Nothing,  however, 
was  done  by  the  mother  country,  except  to  take  certain 
diplomatic  steps  to  secure  the  claim  of  Britain  to  this  unex- 
plored wilderness.  England  had  from  the  outset  claimed 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  on  the  ground  that  the  dis- 
covery and  possession  of  the  sea  coast  was  a  discovery  and 
possession  of  the  country  ;  and  as  is  well  known,  her  grants 
to  Virginia,  Connecticut,  and  other  colonies,  were  through 
from  "  sea  to  sea."  This  was  not  all  her  claims ;  she  had 
purchased  from  the  Indian  tribes  large  tracts  of  land.  This 
was  also  a  strong  argument. 

In  the  year  1684,  Lord  Howard,  Governor  of  Virginia, 
held  a  treaty  with  the  five  nations  at  Albany.  These  were 
the  great  Northern  Confederacy,  and  comprised  at  first  the 
Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  and  Senecas. 
Afterward  the  Tuscaroras  were  taken  into  the  confederacy, 
and  it  became  known  as  the  six  nations.  They  came  under 
the  protection  of  the  mother  country,  and  again  in  1701  they 
repeated  the  agreement.  Another  formal  deed  was  drawn 
up  and  signed  by  the  chiefs  of  the  National  Confederacy  in 
1726,  by  which  their  lands  were  conveyed  in  trust  to  Eng- 
land, "  to  be  protected  and  defended  by  his  majesty,  to  and 
for  the  use  of  the  grantors  and  their  heirs."  The  validity 
of  this  claim  has  often  been  disputed,  but  never  successfully. 
Iu  1774,  a  purchase  was  made  at  Lancaster  of  certain  lands 
within  the  "  colony  of  Virginia,"  for  which  the  Indians 
received  £200  in  gold  and  a  like  sum  in  goods,  with  a 
promise  that  as  settlements  increased,  more  should  be  paid. 
The  commissioners  from  Virginia  at  the  treaty  were  Col. 
Thomas  Lee  and  Col.  William  Beverly. 

As  settlements  extended,  and  the  Indians  _.egan  to  com- 
plain, the  promise  of  further  pay  was  called  to  mind,  and 
Mr.  Conrad  Weiser  was  sent  across  the  Alleghenies  to  Logs- 
town.  In  1784,*  Col.  Lee  and  some  Virginians  accom- 
panied him,  with  the  intention  of  ascertaining  the  feelings 
of  the  Indians  with  regard  to  further  settlements  in  the  west, 
which  Col.  Lee  and  others  were  contemplating.  The  object 
of  these  proposed  settlements  was  not  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  but  the  monopoly  of  the  Indian  trade.  Accordingly 
after  Weiser's  conference  with  the  Indians  at  Logstown, 
which  was  favorable  to  their  views,  Thomas  Lee,  with 
twelve  other  Virginians,  among  whom  were  Lawrence  and 
Augustine,  brothers  of  George  Washington,  and  also  Mr. 
Hanbury,  of  London,  formed  an  association  which  they 
called  the  "Ohio  Company,"  and  in  1748  petitioned  the 
king  for  a  grant  beyond  the  mountains.  This  petition  was 
approved  by  the  English  government,  and  the  government 
of  Virginia  was  ordered  to  grant  to  the  petitioners  half  a 
million  of  acres  within  the  bounds  of  that  colony  beyond 
the  Alleghenies,  two  hundred  thousand  of  which  were  to  be 
located  at  once.  This  portion  was  to  be  held  for  ten  years 
free  of  quit-rent,  provided  the  company  would  put  there  one 
hundred  families  within  seven  years,  and  build  a  fort  suffi- 
cient to  protect  the  settlement.  The  company  accepted  the 
proposition,  and  sent  to  London  for  a  cargo  suited  to  the 
Indian   trade,  which  should   arrive  in   November,    1749. 

•  Plain  Facts,  pp.  40,  120. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS 


17 


Other  companies  were  also  formed  about  this  time  iu  Vir- 
ginia to  colonize  the  west.  On  the  12th  of  June,  1749,  a 
grant  of  800,000  acres  from  the  line  of  Canada,  on  the 
north  and  west,  was  made  to  the  Loyal  Company,  and  on 
the  29th  of  October,  1751,  another  of  100,000  acres  to  the 
Greenbriar  Company.  * 

The  French  were  not  blind  all  this  time.  They  saw  that 
if  the  British  once  obtained  a  stronghold  upon  the  Ohio, 
they  might  not  only  prevent  their  settlements  upon  it,  but 
in  time  would  come  to  the  lower  posts,  and  so  gain,  posses- 
sion of  the  whole  country.  Upon  the  10th  of  May,  1744, 
Vandreuil,  the  French  governor,  well  knowing  the  conse- 
quences that  must  arise  from  allowing  the  English  to  build 
trading  posts  iu  the  north-west,  seized  some  of  their  frontier 
posts,  to  further  secure  the  claims  of  the  French  to  the 
west.  Having  these  fears,  and  seeing  the  danger  of  the 
late  movements  of  the  British,  Gallisoniere,  then  Governor 
of  Canada,  determined  to  place  along  the  Ohio  evidences  of 
the  French  claim  to,  and  possession  of,  the  country.  For 
that  purpose  he  sent,  in  the  summer  of  1749,  Louis  Celeron, 
with  a  party  of  soldiers,  to  place  plates  of  lead,  on  which 
were  written  out  the  claims  of  the  French,  in  the  mounds 
and  at  the  mouths  of  the  rivers.  These  were  heard  of  by 
Willliam  Trent,  an  Indian  commissioner,  sent  out  by  Vir- 
ginia in  1752,  to  treat  with  and  conciliate  the  Indians, 
while  upon  the  Ohio,  and  mentioned  in  his  journal.  One  of 
these  plates  was  found  with  the  inscription  partly  defaced. 
It  bears  date  August  16th,  1749,  and  a  copy  of  the  inscrip- 
tion, with  particular  account,  was  sent  by  De  Witt  Clinton 
to  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  among  whose  journals 
it  may  now  be  found.  These  measures  did  not,  however, 
deter  the  English  from  going  on  with  their  explorations. 

In  February,  1751,  Christopher  Gist  was  sent  by  the 
Ohio  Company  to  examine  its  lands.  He  went  to  a  village 
of  the  Twigtwees,  on  the  Miami,  about  150  miles  above  its 
mouth.  From  there  he  went  down  the  Ohio  River  nearly 
to  the  falls,  at  the  present  city  of  Louisville,  and  in  Novem- 
ber ha  commenced  a  survey  of  the  company's  lands.  In 
1751,  General  Andrew  Lewis  commenced  some  surveys  in 
the  Greenbrier  country,  on  behalf  of  the  company  already 
mentioned.  Meanwhile  the  French  were  busy  iu  preparing 
their  forts  for  defence,  and  in  opening  roads.  In  1752 
having  heard  of  the  trading  houses  on  the  Miami  River, 
they,  assisted  by  the  Ottawas  and  Chippewas,  attacked  it, 
and,  after  a  severe  battle,  in  which  fourteen  of  the  natives 
were  killed  and  others  wouuded,  captured  the  garrison. 
The  traders  were  carried  away  to  Canada,  and  one  account 
says  several  were  burned.  This  fort,  or  trading  house  was 
called  by  the  English  writers  Pickawillany.  A  memorial 
of  the  king's  ministers  refers  to  it  as  "  Pickawellanes,  in  the 
centre  of  the  territory  between  Ohio  and  the  Wabash." 
This  was  the  first  blood  shed  bstween  the  French  and 
English,  and  occurred  near  the  present  city  of  Piqua,  Ohio. 
The  English  were  determined  on  their  part  to  purchase  a 
title  from  the  Indians  of  lands  which  they  wished  to  occupy, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1752,  Messrs.  Fry.f  Lomax  and  Pat  on 

■  Revised  Statutes  of  Virginia. 

I  Afterwards  Commander-in-chief  over  Washington,  at  the  commence- 
meut  of  t'.ie  Frcncli  War  of  1775. 


were  sent  from  Virginia  to  hold  a  conference  «ith  the 
natives  at  Logstown,  to  learn  what  they  objected  t.>  in  the 
treaty  at  Lancaster,  and  to  settle  all  difficulties  On  the 
9th  of  June  the  commissioners  met  the  red  men  at  Logs- 
town.  This  was  a  village  seventeen  miles  below  Pittsburgh, 
upon  the  north  side  of  the  Ohio.  Here  had  been  a  trading 
post  for  many  years,  but  it  was  abandoned  by  the  Indians 
in  1750.  At  first  the  Indians  declined  to  recognize  the 
treaty  of  Lancaster,  but  the  commissioners  taking  aside 
Montour,  the  interpreter,  who  was  a  son  of  the  famous 
Catherine  Montour,  and  a  chief  among  the  six  nations, 
being  three-fourths  of  Indian  blood,  through  his  influence 
an  agreement  was  effected,  and  upon  the  13th  of  June  they 
all  united  in  signing  a  deed,  confirming  the  Lancaster  treaty 
in  it3  fullest  extent.  Meanwhile  the  powers  beyond  the  seas 
were  trying  to  out-manoeuver  each  other,  and  were  professing 
to  be  at  peace.  The  English  generally  outwitted  the  Indians, 
and  secured  themselves,  as  they  thought,  by  their  polite 
conduct.  But  the  French,  in  this  as  iu  all  cases,  proved  that 
they  knew  best  how  to  manage  the  natives.  While  these 
measures  were  taken,  another  treaty  with  the  wild  men  of 
the  debatable  land  was  also  in  contemplation.  And  in  Sep- 
tember, 1753,  William  Fairfax  met  their  deputies  at  Win- 
chester, Virginia,  where  he  concluded  a  treaty.  In  the 
month  following,  however,  a  more  satisfactory  interview  took 
place  at  Carlisle,  between  the  representatives  of  the  Iroquois, 
Delawares,  Shawnees,  Twigtwees,  and  Wyandots,  and  the 
commissioners  of  Pennsylvania,  Richard  Peters,  Isaac  Norris, 
and  Benjamin  Franklin.  Soon  after  this,  no  satisfaction 
being  obtained  from  the  Ohio,  either  as  to  the  force,  position, 
or  purposes  of  the  French,  Robert  Dinwiddie,  then  Governor 
of  Virginia,  determined  to  send  to  them  another  messenger, 
and  learn  if  possible  their  intentions.  For  this  purpose  he 
selected  a  young  surveyor,  who,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  had 
attained  the  rank  of  major,  and  whose  previous  life  had 
inured  him  to  hardships  and  woodland  ways ;  while  his 
courage,  cool  judgment,  and  firm  will,  all  fitted  him  for  such 
a  mission.  This  personage  was  no  other  than  the  illustrious 
George  Washington,  who  then  held  considerable  interest  in 
western  lands.  He  was  twenty-one  years  old  at  the  time  of 
the  appointment.*  Taking  Gist  as  a  guide,  the  two,  accom- 
panied by  four  servitors,  set  out  on  their  perilous  march. 
They  left  Will's  Creek,  where  Cumberland  now  is,  on  the 
15th  of  November,  and  on  the  22d  reached  the  Monongahela, 
about  ten  miles  above  the  fork.  From  there  they  went  to 
Logstown,  where  Washington  had  a  long  conference  with 
the  chiefs  of  the  six  nations.  Here  he  learned  the  position 
of  the  French,  and  also  that  they  had  determined  not  to  come 
down  the  river  until  the  following  spring.  The  Indians  were 
non-committal,  they  deeming  a  neutral  position  the  safest. 
Washington,  finding  nothing  could  be  done,  went  on  to  Ve 
nango,  an  old  Indian  town  at  the  mouth  of  the  French 
Creek.  Here  the  French  had  a  fort  called  Fort  Machault. 
On  the  1 1th  of  Djcember  he  reached  the  fort  at  the  head  of 
French  Creek.  Here  he  delivered  Governor  Dinwiddie's 
letter,  received  his  answer,  and  upon  the  16th  set  out  upon 
his  retura  j  mrn  >y  with  no  one  but  Gist,  hii  guide,  aud  a  few 

•3parks>'  Washington,  Vol.  ii.,  pp.  428-447. 


IS 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Indians,  who  still  remained  true  to  him.  They  reached  home 
in  safety  oa  the  6th  of  January,  1754.  From  the  letter  of 
St.  Pierre,  Commander  of  the  French  fort,  sent  by  Washing- 
ton to  Governor  Dinwiddie,  it  was  perfectly  clear  that  the 
French  would  not  yield  the  West  without  a  struggle.  Active 
preparations  were  at  once  made  in  all  the  English  colonies 
for  the  coming  conflict,  while  the  French  finished  their  fort 
at  Venango  and  strengthened  their  lines  of  fortifications  to 
be  in  readiness.  The  Old  Dominion  was  alive.  Virginia 
was  the  center  of  great  activities.  Volunteers  were  called 
for,  and  from  neighboring  colonies  men  rallied  to  the  conflict, 
and  everywhere  along  the  Potomac  men  were  enlisting  under 
Governor's  proclamation, — which  promised  two  hundred 
thousand  acres  on  the  Ohio.  Along  th:s  river  they  were 
gathering  as  far  as  Will's  Creek,  and  far  beyond  this  point, 
whither  Trent  had  come  for  assistance,  for  his  little  band  of 
fjrty-one  men,  who  were  working  away  in  hunger  and  want, 
to  fortify  that  point  at  the  fork  of  the  Ohio,  to  which  both 
parties  were  looking  with  deep  interest.  The  first  birds  of 
spring  filled  the  f  jrest  with  their  songs.  The  swift  river 
rolled  by  the  Allegheny  hillsides,  swollen  by  the  melting 
snows  of  spring  and  April  showers.  The  leaves  were  appear- 
ing, a  few  Indian  Scouts  were  seen,  but  no  enemy  seemed 
near  at  hand,  and  all  was  so  quiet  that  Frazier,  an  old  In- 
dian trader,  who  had  been  left  by  Trent  in  command  of  the 
new  fort,  ventured  to  his  home  at  the  mouth  of  Turtle  Creek, 
ten  miles  up  the  Monongahela.  Bat  though  all  was  so  quiet 
in  that  wilderness,  keen  eyes  had  seen  the  low  entrenchment 
that  was  rising  at  the  fork,  and  swift  feet  had  borne  the  news 
of  it  up  the  valley,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  17th  of  April, 
Ensign  Ward,  who  then  had  charge  of  it,  saw  upon  the 
Allegheny  a  sight  that  made  his  heart  sink ; — sixty  batteaux 
and  three  hundred  canoes,  filled  with  men,  and  laden  deep 
with  cannon  and  stores.  The  fort  was  called  on  to  surren- 
der: by  the  advice  of  the  Half-King,  Ward  tried  to  evade 
the  act,  but  it  would  not  do.  Contrecoeur,  with  a  thousand 
men  about  him,  said  '  Evacuate,'  and  the  ensign  dared  not 
refuse.  That  evening  he  supped  with  his  captor,  and  the 
next  day  was  bowed  off  by  the  Frenchman,  and,  with  his 
men  and  tools,  marched  up  the  Monongahela."  The  French 
and  Indian  war  had  begun.  The  treaty  of  Aix  la  Chapelle, 
in  1748,  had  left  the  boundaries  between  the  French  and 
English  possessions  unsettled,  and  the  events  already  narra- 
ted show  that  the  French  were  determined  to  hold  the  coun- 
try watered  by  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries :  while  the 
English  laid  claim  to  the  country  by  virtue  of  the  discoveries 
by  the  Cabote,  and  claimed  all  the  country  from  New  Found- 
land  to  Florida,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  The 
first  decisive  blow  had  been  struck,  and  the  first  attempt  of 
the  English,  through  the  Ohio  Company,  to  occupy  these 
lands  had  resulted  disastrously  to  them.  The  French  and 
Indians  immediately  completed  the  fortifications  begun  at 
the  fork,  which  they  had  so  easily  captured,  and  when  com- 
pleted gave  to  the  fort  the  name  of  Du  Quesne.  Washing- 
ton was  at  Will's  Creek,  when  the  news  of  the  capture  of  the 
fort  arrived.  He  at  once  departed  to  recapture  it  On  his 
way  he  entrenched  himself  at  a  place  called  the  "  Meadows," 
where  he  erected  a  fort  called  by  him  Fort  Necessity.    From 

■ 


there  he  surprised  and  captured  a  force  of  French  and  Indi- 
ans marching  against  him,  but  was  soon  after  attacked  by  a 
much  superior  force,  and  was  obliged  to  yield  on  the  morn- 
ing of  July  4th.     He  was  allowed  to  return  to  Virginia. 

The  English  Government  immediately  planned  for  cam- 
paigns, one  against  Fort  Du  Quesne,  one  against  Nova  Sco- 
tia, one  against  Fort  Niagara,  and  one  against  Crown  Point. 
These  occurred  during  1755-6,  and  were  not  successful  in 
driving  the  French  from  their  possessions.  The  expedition 
against  Fort  Du  Quesne  was  led  by  the  famous  Braddock, 
who,  refusing  to  listen  to  the  advice  of  Washington  and  those 
acquainted  with  Indian  warfare,  suffered  an  inglorious  de- 
feat. This  occurred  on  the  morning  of  July  9th,  and  is  gen- 
erally known  as  the  battle  of  Monongahela  or  "  Braddock's 
defeat"  The  war  continued  through  various  vicissitudes 
through  the  years  1756-7,  when,  at  the  commencement  of 
1758,  in  accordance  with  the  plans  of  William  Pitt,  then 
secretary  of  state,  afterwards  Lord  Chatham,  active  prepa- 
rations were  made  to  carry  on  the  war.  Three  expeditions 
were  planned  for  this  year:  one  under  General  Amherst, 
against  Louisburg;  another  under  Abercrombie,  against 
Fort  Ticonderoga ;  and  a  third  under  General  Forbes,  against 
Fort  Du  Quesne.  On  the  26th  of  July,  Louisburg  surren- 
dered after  a  desperate  resistance  of  more  than  forty  days, 
and  the  eastern  part  of  the  Canadian  possessions  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  British.  Abercrombie  captu  red  Fort  Fronte- 
nac,  and  when  the  expedition  against  Fort  Du  Quesne,  of 
which  Washington  had  the  active  command,  arrived  there, 
it  was  found  in  flames  and  deserted.  The  English  at  once 
took  possession,  rebuilt  the  fort,  and  in  honor  of  their  illus- 
trious statesman,  changed  the  name  to  Fort  Pitt 

The  great  object  of  the  campaign  of  1759,  was  the  reduc- 
tion of  Canada.  General  Wolfe  was  to  lay  siege  to  Quebec ; 
Amherst  was  to  reduce  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point ;  and 
General  Prideaux  was  to  capture  Niagara.  This  latter  place 
was  taken  in  July,  but  the  gallant  Prideaux  lost  his  life. 
Amherst  captured  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  without  a 
blow ;  and  Wolfe,  afcer  making  the  memorable  ascent  to  the 
plains  of  Abraham,  on  September  13th,  defeated  Montcalm, 
and  on  the  ISth  the  city  capitulated.  In  this  engagement, 
Montcalm  and  Wolfe  both  lost  their  lives.  De  Levi,  Mont- 
calm's successor,  marched  tt  Sillery,  three  miles  above  the 
city,  with  the  purpose  of  defeating  the  English,  and  there, 
on  the  28th  of  the  following  April,  was  fought  one  of  the 
bloodiest  battles  of  the  French  and  Indian  war.  It  resulted 
in  the  defeat  of  the  French,  and  the  fall  of  the  city  of  Mon- 
treal. The  Governor  signed  a  capitulation  by  which  the 
whole  of  Canada  was  surrendered  to  the  English.  This 
practically  concluded  the  war,  but  it  was  not  until  1763 
that  the  treaties  of  peace  between  France  and  England 
were  signed.  This  was  done  on  the  10th  of  February  of  that 
year,  and  under  its  provisions  all  the  country  east  of  the 
Mississippi  and  north  of  the  Ibervill  river  in  Louisiana,  were 
ceded  to  England.  At  the  same  time,  Spain  ceded  Florida 
to  Great  Britain. 

On  the  13th  September,  1760,  Major  Robert  Rogers  was 
sent  from  Montreal  to  take  charge  of  Detroit,  the  only  re- 
maining French  post  ia  the  territory.     He  arrived  there  on 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


19 


the  9th  of  November,  and  summoned  the  place  to  surrender. 
At  first  the  commander  of  the  post,  Beletre,  refused,  but  on 
the  29th,  hearing  of  the  continued  defeat  of  the  French  army, 
surrendered.  The  North-west  Territory  was  now  entirely 
under  the  English  rule.  In  1762,  France,  by  a  secret  treaty, 
ceded  Louisiana  to  Spain,  to  prevent  it  falling  into  the  hands 
of  the  English,  who  were  becoming  masters  of  the  entire 
West.  The  next  year  the  treaty  of  Paris,  signed  at  Fon- 
tainbleau,  gave  to  the  English  the  dominion  in  question. 
Twenty  years  after,  by  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  England,  that  part  of  Canada  lying  south  and 
west  of  the  great  lakes,  comprising  a  large  territory,  was 
acknowledged  to  be  a  portion  of  the  United  States.  In 
1803  Louisiana  was  ceded  by  Spain  back  to  France,  and  by 
France  sold  to  the  United  States.  By  the  treaty  of  Paris, 
the  regions  east  of  the  Mississippi,  including  all  these  and 
other  towns  of  the  north-west,  were  given  over  to  England ; 
but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been  taken  possession  of  until 
1765,  when  Captain  Stirling,  in  the  name  of  the  Majesty  in 
England,  established  himself  at  Fort  Chartres,  bearing  with 
him  the  proclamation  of  General  Gage,  dated  December 
30th,  1761,  which  promised  religious  freedom  to  all  Catho- 
lics who  worshiped  here  and  the  right  to  leave  the  country 
with  their  effects  if  they  wished,  or  to  remain  with  the  priv- 
ileges of  Englishmen.  ^During  the  years  1775  tnd  1776,  by 
the  operations  of  land  companies  and  the  perseverance  of 
individuals,  several  settlements  were  firmly  established  be- 
tween the  Alleghenies  and  the  Ohio  river,  and  western  land 
speculators  were  busy  in  Illinois  and  on  the  Wabash.  At  a 
council  held  in  Kaskaskia,  on  July  5th,  1773,  an  association 
of  English  traders,  calling  themselves  the  "  Illinois  Land 
Company,"  obtained  from  the  chiefs  of  the  Kaskaskia,  Ca- 
hokia,  and  Peoria  tribes  two  large  tracts  of  land  lying  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Mississippi  river  south  of  the  Illinois.  In 
1775  a  merchant  from  the  Illinois  country,  named  Viviat, 
came  to  Post  Vincennes  as  the  agent  of  the  association  called 
the  "  Wabash  Land  Company."  On  the  8th  of  October  he 
obtained  from  eleven  Piaukeshaw  chiefs  a  deed  for  37,497, 
600  acres  of  land.  This  deed  was  signed  by  the  grantors, 
attested  by  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Vincennes,  and 
afterward  recorded  in  the  office  of  a  Notary  Public  at  Kas- 
kaskia. This  and  other  land  companies  had  extensive 
schemes  for  the  colonization  of  the  West ;  but  all  were  frus- 
trated by  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  On 
the  20th  of  April,  1780,  the  two  companies  named  consoli- 
dated under  the  name  of  the  "  United  Illinois  and  Wabash 
Land  Company  ;  "  they  afterwards  made  strenuous  efforts  to 
have  these  grants  sanctioned  by  Congress,  but  all  signally 
failed.  When  the  war  of  the  Revolution  commenced,  Ken- 
tucky was  an  unorganized  country,  though  there  were  several 
settlements  within  her  borders. 

In  Ilutchins'  Topography  of  Virginia,  it  is  stated  that  at 
that  time  Kaskaskia  contained  80  houses,  and  nearly  1,000 
white  and  black  inhabitants,  the  whites  being  a  little  the 
more  numerous.  Cahokia  contained  fifty  houses,  300  white 
inhabitants,  and  80  negroes.  There  were  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river,  about  the  year  1771 — when  these  observations 
wcro  made — "  300  white  men  capable  cf  bearing  arms,  and 


238  negroes."  From  1775  until  the  expedition  of  Clark, 
nothing  is  recorded  and  nothing  known  of  these  settlements, 
save  what  is  contained  in  a  report  made  by  a  committee  to 
Congress  in  June,  1778.  From  it  the  following  extract  is 
made :  "  Near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Kaskaskia,  there  is  a 
village  which  appears  to  have  contained  nearly  eighty  fam- 
ilies from  the  beginning  of  the  late  Revolution ;  there  are 
twelve  families  at  a  small  village  at  La  Prairie  Du  Rochers, 
and  nearly  fifty  families  at  the  Cahokia  village.  There  are 
also  four  or  five  families  at  Fort  Chartres  and  St.  Philip's, 
which  is  five  miles  further  up  the  river."  St.  Louis  had  been 
settled  in  February,  1764,  and  at  this  time  contained,  inclu- 
ding its  neighboring  towns,  over  six  hundred  white  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  negroes.  It  must  be  remembered  that  all 
the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  under  French  rule, 
and  remained  so  until  ceded  back  to  Spain,  its  original  owner, 
who  afterwards  sold  it  and  the  country  including  New  Or- 
leans to  the  United  States.  At  Detroit,  there  were,  accord- 
ing to  Captain  Carver,  who  was  in  the  north-west  from  1768 
to  1776,  more  than  one  hundred  houses,  and  the  river  was 
settled  for  more  than  twenty  miles,  although  poorly  cultiva- 
ted, the  people  being  engaged  in  the  Indian  trade. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  the  British  held 
every  post  of  importance  in  the  West.  Kentucky  was 
formed  as  a  component  part  of  Virginia,  and  the  sturdy 
pioneers  of  the  West,  alive  to  their  interests,  and  recog- 
nizing the  great  benefits  of  obtaining  the  control  of  the 
trade  in  this  part  of  the  New  World,  held  steadily  to  their 
purposes,  and  those  within  the  commonwealth  of  Ken- 
tucky proceeded  to  exercise  their  civil  privileges  of  electing 
John  Todd  and  Richard  Gallaway  burgesses,  to  represent 
them  in  the  assembly  of  the  present  state.  The  chief  spirit 
in  this  far-out  colony,  who  had  represented  her  the  year 
previous  east  of  the  mountains,  was  now  meditating  a  move 
of  unequalled  boldness.  He  had  been  watching  the  move- 
ments of  the  British  throughout  the  north-west,  and  under- 
stood their  whole  plan.  He  saw  it  was  through  their 
possession  of  the  post  at  Detroit,  Vincennes,  Kaskaskia,  and 
other  places,  which  would  give  them  easy  access  to  the  vari- 
ous Indian  tribes  in  the  north-west,  that  the  British  intended 
to  penetrate  the  country  from  the  north  and  south,  and 
annihilate  the  frontier  fortresses.  This  moving,  energetic 
man  was  Colonel,  afterwards  General  George  Rodgers  Clark. 
He  knew  that  the  Indians  were  not  unanimously  in  accord 
with  the  English,  and  he  was  convinced  that,  could  the 
British  be  defeated  and  expelled  from  the  north-west,  the 
natives  might  be  easily  awed  iuto  neutrality ;  by  spies  sent  for 
the  purpose,  he  satisfied  himself  that  the  enterprise  against 
the  Illinois  settlements  might  easily  succeed.  Patrick  Henry 
was  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  at  once  entered  heartily  into 
Clark's  plans.  The  same  plan  had  before  been  agitated  in 
the  Colonial  Assemblies ;  but  there  was  no  one  until  Clark 
came  who  was  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  condition  of 
affairs  at  the  scene  of  action  to  be  able  to  guide  them. 

Clark,  having  satisfied  the  Virginia  leaders  of  the  feasibility 
of  his  plan,  received  on  the  second  of  January  two  sets  of 
instructions :  one  secret,  the  other  open.  The  latter  authoriz- 
ed him  to  proceed  to  enlist  seven  companies  to  go  to   Ken- 

19 


20 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN-  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


tucky,  subject  to  his  orders,  and  to  serve  three  months  from 
their  arrival  in  the  west.  The  secret  order  authorized  him 
to  arm  the  troops,  to  procure  his  powder  and  lead  of  General 
Hand,  at  Pittsburg,  and  to  proceed  at  once  to  subjugate  the 
country. 

With  these  instructions  Clark  repaired  to  Pittsburg,  choos- 
ing rather  to  raise  his  mep  west  of  the  mountains.  Here  he 
raised  three  companies  and  several  private  volunteers. 
Clark  at  length  commenced  his  descent  of  the  Ohio,  which 
he  navigated  as  far  as  the  falls,  where  he  took  possession  of 
and  fortified  Corn  Island,  between  the  present  sites  of  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  and  New  Albany,  Indiana.  Remains  of 
this  fortification  may  yet  be  found.  At  this  place  he  ap- 
pointed Col.  Bowman  to  meet  him  with  such  recruits  as  had 
reached  Kentucky  by  the  southern  route.  Here  he  an- 
nounced to  the  men  their  real  destination.     On  the  24th  of 

^June  he  embarked  on  the  river,  his  destination  being  Fort 
Massac  or  Massacre,  and  then  marched  direct  to  Kaskaskia. 
The  march  was  accomplished  and  the  town  reached  on  the 
evening  of  July  4.  He  captured  the  fort  near  the  village, 
and  soon  after  the  village  itself,  by  surprise,  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  man  or  killing  any  of  the  enemy.    Clark 

.  told  the  natives  that  they  were  at  perfect  liberty  to  worship 
as  they  pleased,  and  to  take  whichever  side  of  the  conflict 
they  would,  and  he  would  protect  them  from  any  barbarity 
from  British  or  Indian  foes.  This  had  the  desired  effect> 
and  the  inhabitants  at  once  swore  allegiance  to  the  Ameri" 
can  arms,  and  when  Clark  desired  to  go  to  Cahokia  on  the 
6th  of  July,  they  accompanied  him,  and  through  their  in- 
fluence the  inhabitants  of  the  place  surrendered.  Thus  two 
important  posts  in  Illinois  passed  from  the  hands  of  the  Eng- 
lish into  the  possession  of  Virginia.  During  the  year 
(1779)  the  famous  "  Land  Laws  "  of  Virginia  were  passed- 
The  passage  of  these  laws  was 'of  more  consequence  to  the 
pioneers  of  Kentucky  and  the  north-west  than  the  gaining 
of  a  few  Indian  conflicts.  These  grants  confirmed  in  the 
main  all  grants  made,  and  guaranteed  to  actual  settlers  their 
rights  and  privileges. 

After  providing  for  the  settlers,  the  laws  provided  for  sell- 
ing the  balance  of  the  public  lands  at  forty  cents  per  acre. 
To  carry  the  Land  Laws  into  effect,  the  Legislature  sent 
four  Virginians  westward  to  attend  to  the  various  claims 
over  many  of  which  great  confusion  prevailed  concerning 
their  validity  vote.*  These  gentlemen  opened  their  court  on 
October,  13,  1779,  at  St.  Asaphs,  and  continued  until  April 
26,  1780,  when  they  adjourned,  having  decided  three  thou- 
sand clai  ms.  They  were  succeeded  by  the  surveyor, — George 
May,  who  assumed  the  duties  on  the  10th  day  of  the  month 
whose  name  he  bore.  With  the  opening  of  the  next  year 
(1781)  the  troubles  concerning  the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi commenced.  The  Government  of  Spain  exacted  such 
measures  in  rt  lation  to  its  trade  as  to  cause  the  overtures 
made  to  the  United  States  to  be  rejected.  The  American 
Government  considered  they  had  a  right  to  navigate  its 
channel.  To  enforce  their  claims,  a  fort  was  erected  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  river,  f 

•  Butler's  Kentucky. 

t  American  State  Papers. 


The  settlements  in  Kentucky  were  being  rapidly  filled  by 
emigrants.  It  was  during  this  year  that  the  first  seminary 
of  learning  was  established  in  the  West  in  this  young  and 
enterprising  commonwealth. 

The  settlers  did  not  look  upon  the  building  of  the  fort  in 
a  friendly  manner  as  it  aroused  the  hostility  of  the  Indians. 
Spain  had  been  friendly  to  the  colonies  during  their  struggle 
for  independence,  and  though  for  a  while  this  friendship  ap- 
peared in  danger  from  the  refusal  of  the  free  navigation  of 
the  river,  yet  it  was  finally  settled  to  the  satisfaction  of  both 
nations.  The  winter  of  1779-80  was  one  of  the  most  unusu- 
ally severe  ones  ever  experienced  in  the  West.  The  Indians 
always  refered  to  it  as  the  "  Great  Cold."  Numbers  of  wild 
animals  perished,  and  not  a  few  pioneers  lost  their  lives. 
The  following  summer  a  party  of  Canadians  and  Indians, 
attacked  St.  Louis,  and  attempted  to  take  possesion  of  it  in 
consequence  of  the  friendly  disposition  of  Spain  to  the  revolt- 
ing colonies.  They  met  with  such  a  determined  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants,  even  the  women  taking  part 
in  the  battle,  that  they  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  con- 
test. They  also  made  an  attack  on  the  settlements  in  Ken- 
tucky, but,  becoming  alarmed  in  some  unaccountable  man- 
ner, they  fled  the  country  in  great  haste.  About  thU  time 
arose  the  question  in  the  Colonial  Congress  concerning  the 
western  lands  claimed  by  Virginia,  New  York,  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut.  The  agitation  concerning  this  sub- 
ject finally  led  New  York,  on  the  19th  of  February,  1730,  to 
pass  a  law  giving  to  the  delegates  of  that  State  in  Congress 
the  power  to  cede  her  western  lands  for  the  benefit  of  the 
United  States.  This  law  was  laid  before  Congress  during 
the  next  month,  but  no  steps  were  taken  concerning  it  until 
September  6th,  when  a  resolution  passed  that  body  calling 
upon  the  states  claiming  western  lands  to  release  their  claims 
in  favor  of  the  whole  body.  This  basis  formed  the  Union, 
and  was  the  first  after  all  of  those  legislative  measures, 
which  resulted  in  the  creation  of  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,Michigan,Wisconsin  and  Minnesota  In  December  of 
the  same  year,  the  plan  of  conquering  Detroit  again  arose.  The 
conquest  might  easily  have  been  effected  by  Clark,  had  the 
necessary  aid  been  furnished  him.  Nothing  decisive  was  ' 
done,  yet  the  heads  of  the  Government  knew  that  the  safety 
of  the  North-West  from  British  invasion  lay  in  the  capture 
and  retention  of  that  important  post,  the  only  unconquered 
one  in  the  territory. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year,  Kentucky  was  divided  into 
the  counties  of  Lincoln,  Fayette,  and  Jefferson,  and  the  act 
establishirg  the  town  of  Louisville  was  passed.  Virginia  in 
accordance  with  the  resolution  of  Congress,  on  the  2d  day 
of  January,  1781,  agreed  to  yield  her  western  lands  to  the 
United  States  upon  certain  conditions,  which  Congress  would 
not  accede  to,*  and  the  Act  of  Cession,  on  the  part  of  the  Old 
Dominion,  failed,  nor  was  anything  farther  done  until  1783. 
During  all  that  time  the  colonies  were  busily  engaged  in  the 
struggle  with  the  mother  country,  and  in  consequence  thereof 
but  little  heed  was  given  to  the  western  settlements.  Upon 
the  16th  of  April,  1781,  the  first  birth  north  of  the  Ohio 
River  of  American  parentage  occurred,  being  that  of  Mary 

*  American  State  Tapers. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


21 


Heekewelder,  daughter  of  the  widely  known  Moravian  Mis- 
sionary, whose  band  of  Christian  Indians  suffered  in  after 
years  a  horrible  massacre  by  the  hands  of  the  frontier  settlers, 
who  had  been  exasperated  by  the  murder  of  several  of  their 
neighbors,  and  in  their  rage  committed,  without  regard  to 
humanity,  a  deed  which  forever  afterwards  cast  a  shade  of 
shame  upon  their  lives.  For  this  and  kindred  outrages  on 
the  part  of  the  whites,  the  Indians  committed  many  deeds  of 
cruelty  which  darken  the  years  of  1781  and  1782  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  North-west.  During  the  year  1782  a  number  of 
battles  among  the  Indians  and  frontiersmen  occurred,  and 
between  the  Moravian  Indians  and  the  Wyandots.  In  these, 
horrible  acts  of  cruelty  were  practiced  on  the  captives,  many 
of  such  dark  deeds  transpiring  under  the  leadership  of  fron- 
tier outlaws.  These  occurred  chiefly  in  the  Ohio  Valleys. 
Contemporary  with  them  were  several  engagements  in  Ken- 
tucky, in  which  the  famous  Daniel  Boone  engaged,  and  who, 
often  by  his  skill  and  knowledge  of  Indian  warfare,  saved 
the  outposts  from  cruel  destruction.  By  the  close  of  the 
year  victory  had  perched  upon  the  American  banner, 
and  on  the  30th  of  November,  provisional  articles  of 
peace  had  been  arranged  between  the  Commissioners  of 
England  and  her  unconquerable  colonies ;  Cornwallis  had 
been  defeated  on  the  19th  of  October  preceding,  and  the  lib- 
erty of  America  was  assured.  On  the  19th  of  April  follow- 
ing, the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  peace  was 
proclaimed  to  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  and  on  the  3d 
of  the  next  September,  the  definite  treaty  which  ended  our 
revolutionary  struggle  was  concluded.  By  the  terms  of  that 
treaty,  the  boundaries  of  the  West  were  a?  follows :  On  the 
north  the  line  was  to  extend  along  the  centre  of  the  Great 
Lakes ;  from  the  western  point  of  Lake  Superior  to  Long 
Lake,  thence  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods ;  thence  to  the  head  of 
the  Mississippi  River;  down  its  center  to  the  31st  parallel  of 
latitude,  then  on  that  line  east  to  the  head  of  the  Appalach- 
icola  River ;  down  its  center  to  its  junction  with  the  Flint ; 
thence  straight  to  the  head  of  St.  Mary's  River,  and  thenca 
down  along  its  center  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

Following  the  cessation  of  hostilities  with  England,  several 
posts  were  still  occupied  by  the  British  in  the  North  and 
West.  Among  these  was  Detroit,  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  Numerous  engagements  with  the  Indians  through- 
out Ohio  and  Indiana  occurred,  upon  wh'  se  lands  adventur- 
ous whites  would  settle  ere  the  title  had  been  acquired  by  the 
proper  treaty.  To  remedy  this  evil,  Congress  appointed 
Commissioners  to  treat  with  the  natives  and  purchase  their 
lands,  and  prohibited  the  settlement  of  the  territory  until 
this  could  be  done.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  another 
attempt  was  made  to  capture  Detroit,  which  was,  however, 
not  pushed,  and  Virginia,  no  longer  feeling  the  interest  in 
the  North-west  she  had  formerly  done,  withdrew  her  troops, 
having  on  the  20th  of  December  preceding,  authorized  the 
whole  of  her  possessions  to  be  deeded  to  the  United  States. 
This  was  done  on  the  1st  of  March  following,  and  the  North- 
west Territory  passed  from  the  control  of  the  Old  Dominion. 
To  General  Clark  and  his  soldiers,  however,  she  gave  a  tract 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land,  to  be  situ- 
ated anywhere  north  of  the  Ohio  wherever  they  chose  to 


locate  them.  They  selected  the  region  opposite  the  falls  of 
the  Ohio,  where  is  now  the  village  of  Clarksville,  about  mid- 
way between  the  cities  of  New  Albany  and  Jeffersonville, 
Indiana. 

While  the  frontier  remained  thus,  and  General  Haldi- 
mand  at  Detroit  refused  to  evacuate,  alleging  that  he  had  no 
orders  from  his  king  to  do  so,  settlers  were  rapidly  gather- 
ing about  the  inland  forts.  In  the  spring  of  1784,  Pittsburg 
was  regularly  laid  out,  and  from  the  journal  of  Arthur  Lee, 
who  passed  through  the  town  soon  after  on  his  way  to  the 
Indian  council  at  Fort  Mcintosh,  we  suppose  it  was  not  very 
prepossessing  in  appearance.  He  says,  "  Pittsburg  is  in- 
habited almost  entirely  by  Scots  and  Irish,  who  live  in  paltry 
log  houses,  and  are  as  dirty  as  if  in  the  North  of  Ireland,  or 
even  Scotland.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  trade  carried  on, 
the  goods  being  brought  at  the  vast  expense  of  forty-five 
shillings  per  hundred  lbs.  from  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore. 
They  take  in  the  shops  flour,  wheat,  skins  and  money.  There 
are  in  the  town,  four  attorneys,  two  doctors,  and  not  a  priest 
of  any  persuasion,  nor  church  nor  chapel." 

Kentucky  at  this  time  contained  thirty  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, and  was  beginning  to  discuss  measures  for  a  separation 
from  Virginia.  A  land  office  was  opened  at  Louisville,  and 
measures  were  adopted  to  take  defensive  precaution  against 
the  Indians,  who  were  yet,  in  some  instances,  incited  to  deeds 
of  violence  by  the  British.  Before  the  close  of  this  year, 
1784,  the  military  claimants  of  land  began  to  occupy  them, 
although  no  entries  were  recorded  until  1787.  The  Indian 
title  to  the  Northwest  was  not  yet  extinguished,  they  held 
large  tracts  of  lands,  and  in  order  to  prevent  bloodshed  Con- 
gress adopted  means  for  treaties  with  the  original  owners 
and  provided  for  the  surveys  of  the  lands  gained  thereby,  as 
well  as  for  those  north  of  the  Ohio,  now  in  its  possession. 
On  January  31,  1786,  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Wabash 
Indians.  The  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  had  been  made  in 
1781,  that  at  Fort  Mcintosh  in  1785,  and  through  these 
vast  tracts  of  land  were  gained.  The  Wabash  Indians,  how- 
ever, afterwards  refused  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of 
the  treaty  made  with  them,  and  in  order  to  compel  their 
adherence  to  its  provisions,  force  was  used. 

During  the  year  1786,  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi came  up  in  Congress,  and  caused  various  discussions, 
which  resulted  in  no  definite  action,  only  serving  to  excite 
speculation  in  regard  to  the  Western  lands.  Congress  had 
promised  bounties  of  land  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution, 
but  owing  to  the  unsettled  condition  of  affairs  along  the 
Mississippi  respecting  its  navigation,  and  the  trade  of  the 
Northwest,  that  body,  had  in  1783  declared  its  inability  to 
fulfill  these  promises  until  a  treaty  could  be  concluded  be- 
tween the  two  governments.  Before  the  close  of  the  year, 
1786,  however,  it  was  able,  through  the  treaties  with  the 
Indians,  to  allow  some  grants  and  settlements  thereon,  and 
on  the  14th  of  September  Connecticut  ceded  to  the  general 
government  the  tract  of  land  known  as  the  ''  Connecticut 
Reserve,"  and  before  the  close  of  the  year  a  large  tract  of 
land  was  sold  to  a  company,  who  at  once  took  measures  to 
settle  it.  By  the  provisions  of  this  grant,  the  company  were  to 
pay  the  United  States  one  dollar  per  acre,  subject  to  a  de- 

21 


•22 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


duction  of  one-third  for  bad  lands  and  other  contingencies, 
they  received  750,000  acres  bounded  on  the  south  by  the 
Ohio,  on  the  east  by  the  Seventh  range  of  townships,  on  the 
west  by  the  Sixteenth  range,  and  on  the  north  by  a  line  so 
drawn  as  to  make  the  grant  complete  without  the  reservation. 
In  addition  to  this  Congress  afterward  granted  100,000  acres 
to  actual  settlers,  and  214,285  acres  as  army  bounties  under 
the  resolutions  of  1789  and  1790.  While  Dr.  Cutler,  one  of 
the  agents  of  the  company,  was  pressing  its  claims  before 
Congress,  that  body  was  bringing  into  form  an  ordinance 
for  the  political  and  social  organization  of  this  Territory. 
When  the  cession  was  made  by  Virginia,  1784,  a  plan  was 
offered,  but  rejected.  A  motion  had  been  made  to  strike  from 
the  proposed  plan  the  prohibition  of  slavery,  which  prevail- 
ed. The  plan  was  then  discussed  and  altered,  and  finally 
passed  unanimously,  with  the  exception  of  South  Carolina. 
By  this  proposition  the  Territory  was  to  have  been  divided 
into  ten  States  by  parallels  and  meridian  lines.  There  were, 
however,  serious  objections  to  this  plan  ;  the  root  of  the  diffi- 
culty was  in  the  resolution  of  Congress  passed  in  October, 
17S0,  which  fixed  the  boundaries  of  the  ceded  lands  to  be 
from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  square. 
These  resolutions  being  presented  to  the  Legislatures  of  Vir- 
ginia and  Massachusetts  they  desired  a  change,  and  in  July 
1786,  the  subject  was  taken  up  in  Congress  and  changed  to 
favor  a  division  into  not  more  than  five  States,  and  not  less 
than  three ;  this  was  approved  by  the  Legislature  of  Virginia. 
The  subject  was  again  taken  up  by  Congress  in  17S6,  and 
discussed  throughout  that  year,  and  until  July  1787  when 
the  famous  "  compact  of  1787  "  was  passed,  and  the  founda- 
tion of  the  government  of  the  Northwest  laid.  This  compact 
is  fully  discussed  and  explained  in  the  sketch  on  Illinois  in 
this  book,  and  to  it  the  reader  is  referred.  The  passage  of  this 
act  and  the  grant  to  the  New  England  Company  was  soon 
followed  by  an  application  to  the  Government  by  John  Cleves 
Symmes,  of  New  Jersey,  for  a  grant  of  land  between  the 
Miamis.  This  gentleman  had  visited  these  lands  soon  after 
the  treaty  of  1786,  and  being  greatly  pleased  with  them, 
offered  similar  terms  to  those  given  to  the  New  England 
Company.  The  petition  was  referred  to  the  Treasury  Board 
with  power  to  act,  and  a  contract  was  concluded  the  follow- 
ing year.  During  the  autumn  the  directors  of  the  New 
England  Company  were  preparing  to  occupy  their  grant 
the  following  spring,  and  upon  the  23d  of  November  made 
arrangements  for  a  party  of  forty-seven  men,  under  the 
superintendency  of  General  Rufus  Putnam,  to  set  forward. 
Six  boat-builders  were  to  leave  at  once,  and  on  the  first  of 
January  the  surveyors  and  their  assistant3,  twenty-six  in 
number,  were  to  meet  at  Hartford  and  proceed  on  their 
journey  westward,  the  remainder  to  follow  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble. Congress  in  the  meantime,  upon  the  3d  of  October, 
had  ordered  seven  hundred  troops  for  defense  of  the  western 
settlers,  and  to  prevent  unauthorized  intrusions,  and  two 
days  later  appointed  Arthur  St  Clair  Governor  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  the  Northwest 

AMERICAN    SETTLEMENTS. 

The  civil  organization  of  the  Northwest  Territory  was 

now  complete,  and  notwithstanding  the  uncertainty  of  In- 

■ 


dian  affairs,  settlers  from  the  east  began  to  come  into  the 
country  rapidly.  The  New  England  Company  sent  their 
men  during  the  winter  of  1787-8,  pressing  on  over  the  Alle- 
ghenies  by  the  old  Indian  path  which  had  been  opened  into 
Braddock's  road,  and  which  has  since  been  made  a  national 
turnpike  from  Cumberland,  westward.  Through  the  weary 
winter  days  they  toiled  on,  and  by  April  were  all  gathered 
on  the  Youghiogheny,  where  boats  had  been  built  and  a 
once  started  for  the  Muskingum.  Here  they  arrived  on  the 
7th  of  that  month,  and  unless  the  Moravian  missionaries  be 
regarded  as  the  pioneers  of  Ohio,  this  little  band  can  justly 
claim  that  honor. 

General  St  Clair,  the  appointed  Governor  of  the  North 
west  not  having  yet  arrived,  a  set  of  laws  were  passed,  writ- 
ten out  and  published  by  being  nailed  to  a  tree  in  the 
embryo  town,  and  Jonathan  Meigs  appointed  to  administer 
them.  Washington  in  writing  of  this,  the  first  American 
settlement  in  the  Northwest  said :  "  No  colony  in  America 
was  ever  settled  under  such  favorable  au  spices  as  that  which 
has  just  commenced  at  Muskingum.  I  know  many  of  its  set- 
tlers personally,  and  there  were  never  men  better  calculated 
to  promote  the  welfare  of  such  a  community."  On  the  2d 
of  July  a  meeting  of  the  directors  and  agents  was  held  on 
the  banks  of  the  Muskingum,  "for  the  purpose  of  naming 
the  new  born  city  and  its  squares."  As  yet  the  settlement 
was  known  as  the  "  Muskingum,"  but  was  afterwards  changed 
to  the  name,  Marietta,  in  honor  of  Marie  Antoinette. 
Two  days  after,  an  oration  was  delivered  by  James  M.  Var- 
num,  who  with  S.  H.  Parsons  and  John  Armstrong  had  been 
appointed  to  the  judicial  bench  of  the  territory  on  the  ICth 
of  October  1787.  On  July  9,  Governor  St.  Clair  arrived 
and  the  colony  began  to  assume  form.  The  act  of  1787  pro- 
vided two  distinct  grades  of  government  for  the  Northwest, 
under  the  first  of  which  the  whole  power  was  invested  in  tho 
hands  of  a  governor  and  three  district  judges.  This  was 
immediately  formed  on  the  governor's  arrival,  and  the  first 
laws  of  the  colony  passed  on  the  25th  of  July :  these  provid* 
ed  for  the  organization  of  the  militia,  and  on  the  next  day 
appeared  the  Governor's  proclamation,  erecting  all  that 
country  that  had  been  ceded  by  the  Indians  east  of  the 
Scioto  River  into  the  county  of  Washington.  From  that 
time  forward,  notwithstanding  the  doubts  yet  existing  as  to 
the  Indians,  all  Marietta  prospered,  and  on  the  second  of 
September  the  first  court  was  held  with  imposing  ceremonies. 

The  emigration  westward  at  this  time  was  very  great. 
The  commander  at  Fort  Harmer,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Musk- 
ingum reported  four  thousand  five  hundred  persons  as  having 
passed  that  post  between  February  and  June  17S8,  many  of 
whom  would  have  purchased  of  the  "  Associates,"  as  the 
New  England  Company  was  called,  had  they  been  ready  to 
receive  them.  On  the  26th  of  November  1787  Symmes 
issued  a  pamphlet  stating  the  terms  of  his  contract  and  the 
plan  of  sale  he  intended  to  adopt  In  January  1 788,  Mat- 
thias Denman,  of  New  Jersey,  took  an  active  interest  in 
Symmes'  purchase,  and  located  among  other  tracts  the  sec- 
tions upon  which  Cincinnati  has  been  built  Retaining  one- 
third  of  this  locality,  he  sold  Ihe  other  two-thirds  to  Robert 
Patterson  and  John  Filson,  and  the  three  about  August 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND  -BROWN    COUNTIES,  ILLINOIS. 


23 


commenced  to  lay  out  a  town  on  the  spot,  which  was  desig- 
nated as  being  Licking  River,  to  the  mouth  of  which  they 
proposed  to  have  a  road  cut  from  Lexington  ;  these  settle- 
ments* prospered  but  suffered  greatly  from  the  flood  of  1789. 
On  the  4th  of  March  1789,  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  went  into  operation,  and  on  April  30th,  George 
Washington  was  inaugurated  President,  and  during  the  next 
summer  an  Indian  war  was  commenced  by  the  tribes  north 
of  the  Ohio.  The  President  at  first  used  pacific  means,  but 
these  failing,  he  sent  General  Harmer  against  the  hostile 
tribes.  He  destroyed  several  villages,  but  was  defeated  in 
two  battles,  near  the  present  city  of  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana. 
From  this  time  till  the  close  of  1795,  the  principal  events 
were  the  wars  with  the  various  Indian  tribes.  In  1796, 
General  St.  Clair  was  appointed  in  command,  and  marched 
against  the  Indians ;  but  while  he  was  encamped  on  a  stream, 
the  St  Mary,  a  branch  of  the  Maumee,  he  was  attacked  and 
defeated  with  a  loss  of  six  hundred  men.  General  Wayne 
was  then  sent  against  the  savages.  In  August,  1794,  he  met 
them  near  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee,  and  gained  a  compltte 
victory.  This  success,  followed  by  vigorous  measures,  com- 
pelled the  Indians  to  sue  for  peace,  and  on  the  30th  of  July, 
the  following  year,  the  treaty  of  Greenville  was  signed  by 
the  principal  chiefs,  by  which  a  large  tract  of  country  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States.  Before  proceeding  in  our  nar- 
rative, we  will  pause  to  notice  Fort  Washington,  erected  in 
the  early  part  of  this  war  on  the  site  of  Cincinnati.  Nearly 
all  the  great  cities  of  the  North-west,  and  indeed  of  the  whole 
country,  have  had  their  nuclei  in  those  rude  pioneer  struc- 
tures, known  as  forts  or  stockades.  Thus  Forts  Dearborn, 
Washington,  Ponchartrain,  mark  the  original  sites  of  the 
now  proud  cities  of  Chicago,  Cincinnati  and  Detroit.  So  of 
most  of  the  flourishing  cities  east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
Fort  Washington,  erected  by  Doughty  in  1790,  was  a  rude 
but  highly  interesting  structure.  It  was  composed  of  a  num- 
ber of  strong'y-built  hewed  log  cabins.  Those  designed  for 
soldiers'  barracks  were  a  story  and  a  half  high,  while  those 
composing  the  officers'  quarters  were  more  imposing  and  more 
conveniently  arranged  and  furnished.  The  whole  was  so 
placed  as  to  form  a  hollow  square,  enclosing  about  an  acre 
of  ground,  with  a  block  house  at  each  of  the  four  angles. 
Fort  Washington  was  for  some  time  the  headquarters  of  both 
the  Civil  and  Military  governments  of  the  North-western 
Territory.  Following  the  consummation  of  the  treaty  vari- 
ous gigantic  land  speculations  were  entered  into  by  different 
persons*  who  hoped  to  obtain  from  the  Indians  in  Michigan 
and  northern  Indiana,  large  tracts  of  lands.  These  were 
generally  discovered  in  time  to  prevent  the  schemes  from 
being  carried  out,  and  from  involving  the  settlers  in  war. 
On  October  27, 1795,  the  treaty  between  the  United  States 
and  Spain  was  signed,  whereby  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  wa3  secured.  No  sooner  had  the  treaty  of  1795 
been  ratified  than  settlers  began  to  pour  rapidly  into  the 
west.  The  great  event  of  the  year  1796,  was  the  occupa'ion 
of  that  part  of  the  North-west  including  Michigan,  which 
was  this  year,  under  the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  evacuated 
by  the  British  forces.  The  United  States  owing  to  certain 
conditions,  did  not  feel  justified  in  addressing  the  authorities 


in  Canada  in  relation  to  Detroit  and  other  frontier  posts. 
When  at  last  the  British  authorities  were  called  upon  to  give 
them  up,  they  at  once  complied,  and  General  Wayne  who 
had  done  so  much  to  preserve  the  frontier  settlements,  and 
who  before  the  year's  close,  sickened  and  died  near  Erie, 
transferred  his  headquarters  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  lakes, 
where  a  county  named  after  him  was  formed,  which  included 
the  north-west  of  Ohio,  all  of  Michigan,  and  the  north-east 
of  Indiana.  During  this  same  year  settlements  were  formed 
at  the  present  city  of  Chillicothe,  along  the  Miami  from 
Middleto^vn  to  Piqua,  while  in  the  more  distant  West,  settlers 
and  speculators  began  to  appear  in  great  numbers.  In  Sep- 
tember the  city  of  Cleveland  was  laid  out,  and  during  the 
summer  and  autumn,  Samuel  Jackson  and  Jonathan  Sharp- 
less,  erected  the  first  manufactory  of  paper — the  "  Redstone 
Paper  Mills" — in  the  West.  St.  Louis  contained  some 
seventy  houses,  and  Detroit  over  three  hundred,  and  along 
the  river,  contiguous  to  it,  were  more  than  three  thousand 
inhabitants,  mostly  French  Canadians,  Indians  and  half- 
breeds,  scarcely  any  Americans  venturing  yet  into  that  part 
of  the  North-west.  The  election  of  representatives  for  the 
territory  had  taken  place,  and  on  the  4th  of  February,  1799, 
they  convened  at  Losantiville — now  known  as  Cincinnati, 
having  been  named  so  by  Gov.  St.  Clair,  and  considered  the 
capital  of  the  territory, — to  nominate  persons  from  whom  the 
members  of  the  Legislature  were  to  be  chosen  in  accordance 
with  a  previous  ordinance.  This  nomination  being  made, 
the  Assembly  adjourned  until  the  16. h  of  the  following  Sep- 
tember. From  those  named  the  President  selected  as  mem- 
bers of  the  council,  Henry  Vandenburg,  of  Viucennes,  Robert 
Oliver,  of  Marietta,  James  Findley,  and  Jacob  Burnett,  of 
Cincinnati,  and  David  Vance,  of  Vanceville.  On  the  16th 
of  September,  the  Territorial  Legislature  met,  and  on  the 
24th,  the  two  houses  were  duly  organized,  Henry  Vanden- 
burg being  elected  President  of  the  Council.  The  message 
of  Gov.  St.  Clair,  was  addressed  to  the  Legislature  Septem- 
ber 20th,  and  on  October  13th,  that  body  elected  as  a  dele- 
gate to  Congress,  General  Wm.  Henry  Harrison,  who  re- 
ceived eleven  of  the  votes  cast,  being  a  majority  of  one  over 
his  opponent,  Arthur  St.  Clair,  son  of  General  St.  Clair. 
The  whole  number  of  acts  passed  at  this  session  and  approved 
by  the  Governor,  were  thirty-seven — eleven  others  were 
passed  but  received  his  veto.  The  most  important  of  those 
passed  related  to  the  militia,  to  the  administration,  and  to 
taxation.  On  the  19th  of  December  this  protracted  session 
of  the  first  Legislature  in  the  West  closed,  and  on  the  30th 
of  December  the  President  nominated  Charles  Willing  By  id, 
to  the  office  of  secretary  of  the  Territory,  vice  Wm.  Henry 
Harrison,  elected  to  Congress.  The  Senate  confirmed  his 
nomination  the  next  day. 

DIVISION  OF   THE   NORTH-WEST  TERRITORY. 

The  increased  emigration  to  the  north-west,  and  extent  of 
the  domain,  made  it  very  difficult  to  conduct  the  ordinary 
operations  of  government,  and  rendered  the  efficient  action 
of  courts  almost  impossible  ;  to  remedy  this  it  was  deemed 
advisable  to  divide  the  territory  for  civil  purposes.     Con- 

23 


24 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


gress,  in  1800,  appointed  a  committee  to  examine  the  ques- 
tion and  report  some  means  for  iu  solution. 

This  committee  on  the  3d  of  March  reported :  "  In  the 
■western  countries  there  had  been  but  one  court  having  cog- 
nizance of  crimes,  iu  five  years,  and  the  immunity  which 
offenders  experience  attracts,  as  to  an  asylum,  the  most  vile 
and  abandoned  criminals,  and  at  the  same  time  deters  useful 
citizens  from  making  settlements  in.  such  society.  The 
extreme  necessity  of  judiciary  attention  and  assistance  is 
experienced  in  civil  as  well  as  in  criminal  cases.  *  *  *  * 
To  remedy  this  evil  it  is  expedient  to  the  committfe  that  a 
division  of  said  territory  into,  two  distinct  and  separate 
governments  should  be  made,  and  that  such  division  be 
made  by  beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  river, 
running  directly  north  until  it  intersects  the  boundary 
between  the  United  States  and  Canada." 

The  report  was  accepted  by  Congress,  and,  in  accordance 
■with  its  suggestions,  that  body  passed  an  act  extinguishing 
the  north-west  territory,  which  act  was  approved  May  7th. 
Among  its  provisions  were  these: 

"  That  from  and  after  July  4  next  all  that  part  of  -the 
territory  of  the  United  States  north-west  of  the  Ohio  river, 
which  lies  to  the  westward  of  a  line  beginning  at  a  point 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  river,  and  running 
thence  to  Fort  Recovery,  and  thence  North  until  it  shall 
intersect  the  territorial  line  between  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  shall  for  the  purpose  of  temporary  government, 
constitute  a  separate  territory  and  be  called  the  Indian 
Territory." 

Gen.  Harrison  (afterwards  President),  was  appointed 
governor  of  the  Indiana  Territory,  and  during  his  residence 
at  Vincennes,  he  made  several  important  treaties  with  the 
Indians,  thereby  gaining  large  tracts  of  land.  The  next 
year  is  memorable  in  the  history  of  the  west  for  the  purchase 
of  Louisiana  from  France  by  the  United  States  for  $15,000,- 
000.  Thus  by  a  peaceful  manner  the  domain  of  the  United 
States  was  extended  over  a  large  tract  of  country  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  was  for  a  time  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  north-western  government.  The  next  year  Gen.  Harri- 
son obtained  additi  nal  grants  of  land  from  the  various 
Indian  nations  in  Indiana  and  the  present  limits  of  Illinois, 
and  on  the  18th  of  August,  1804,  completed  a  treaty  at  St. 
Louis,  whereby  over  51,000,000  acres  of  land  were  obtained. 

During  this  year,  Congress  granted  a  township  of  land 
for  the  support  of  a  college  and  began  to  offer  inducements 
for  settlers  in  these  wilds,  and  the  country  now  comprising 
the  state  of  Michigan  began  to  fill  rapidly  with  settlers 
along  its  southern  borders.  This  same  year  a  law  was 
passed  organizing  the  south-west  territory,  dividing  it  into 
two  portions, — the  territory  of  New  Orleans,  which  city  was 
made  the  seat  of  government,  and  the  district  of  Louisiana, 
which  was  annexed  to  the  domain  by  General  Harrison. 

On  the  11th  of  January,  1805,  the  territory  of  Michigan 
was  formed,  and  Win.  Hull  appointed  governor,  with  head- 
quarters at  Detroit,  the  change  to  take  effect  Jun9  30th. 
On  the  11th  of  that  month,  a  fire  occurred  at  Detroit,  which 
d  stroyed  most  every  building  in  the  place.  When  the 
officers  of  the  new  territory  reached  the  post,  thev  found  it 


"in  ruins,  and  the  inhabitants  scattered  throughout  the  coun- 
try. Rebuilding,  however,  was  commenced  at  once.  While 
this  was  being  done,  Indiana  passed  to  the  second  grade  of 
government.  In  1809,  Indiana  territory  was  divided,  and 
the  territory  of  Illinois  was  formed,  the  seat  of  government 
being  fixed  at  Kaskaskia,  and  through  her  General  Assem- 
bly had  obtained  large  tracts  of  land  from  the  Indian  tribes. 
To  all  this  the  celebrated  Indian  Tecumthe,  or  Tecumseh, 
vigorously  protested,*  and  it  was  the  main  cause  of  his 
attempts  to  unite  the  various  Indian  tribes  in  a  conflict  with 
the  settlers.  He  visited  the  principal  tribes,  and  succeeded 
in  forming  an  alliance  with  most  of  the  tribes,  and  then 
joined  the  cause  of  the  British  in  the  memorable  war  of  1812. 
Tecumseh  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames.  Tecum- 
seh was,  in  many  respects,  a  noble  character, — frank  and 
honest  iu  his  intercourse  with  General  Harrison  and  the 
settlers ;  in  war,  brave  and  chivalrous.  His  treatment  of 
prisoners  was  humane.  In  the  summer  of  1812,  Perry's  vic- 
tory on  Lake  Erie  occurred,  and  shortly  after,  active  pre- 
parations were  made  to  capture  Fort  Maiden.  On  the  27th 
of  September,  the  American  army  under  command  of 
General  Harrison,  set  sail  for  the  shores  of  Canada,  and,  in 
a  few  hours,  stood  around  the  ruins  of  Maiden,  from  which 
the  British  army  under  Proctor  had  retreated  to  Sandwich, 
intending  to  make  its  way  to  the  heart  of  Canada  by  the 
valley  of  the  Thames.  On  the  29th,  General  Harrison  was 
at  Sandwich,  and  General  McArthur  took  possession  of 
Detroit  and  the  territory  of  Michigan.  On  the  2d  of  Octo- 
ber following,  the  American  army  began  their  pursuit  of 
Proctor,  whom  they  overtook  on  the  5th,  and  the  battle  of 
the  Thames  followed.  The  victory  wa3  decisive,  and  practi- 
cally closed  the  war  in  the  north-west.  In  1806,  occurred 
Burr's  insurrection.  He  took  possession  of  an  island  in  the 
Ohio,  and  was  charged  with  treasonable  intentions  against 
the  Federal  government.  His  capture  was  effected  by 
General  Wilkinson,  acting  under  instruction  of  President 
Jefferson.  Burr  was  brought  to  trial  on  a  charge  of  treason, 
and,  after  a  prolonged  trial,  during  which  he  defended  him- 
self with  great  ability,  he  was  acquitted  of  the  charge  of 
treason.  His  subsequent  career  was  obscure,  and  he  died 
in  1836.  Had  his  scheme  succeeded,  it  would  be  interesting 
to  know  what  effect  it  would  have  had  on  the  north-we  tern 
territory.  The  battle  of  the  Thames  was  fought  October 
6th,  1813.  It  effectually  closed  hostilities  in  the  north-west, 
although  peace  was  not  restored  until  July  22d,  1814,  when 
a  treaty  was  made  at  Greenville,  by  General  Harrison,  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  the  Indian  tribes.  On  the  24th 
of  December,  the  treaty  of  Ghent  was  signed  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  England  and  the  United  States.  This  treaty 
was  followed  the  next  year  by  treaties  with  various  Indian 
tribes  throughout  the  north-west,  and  quiet  was  again 
restored. 

PRESENT  CONDITION   OF   THE   NORTH-WEST. 

In  former  chapters  we  have  traced  briefly  the  discoveries, 
settlements,  wars,  and  most  important  events  which  have 
occurred   in  the  large   area   of  country   denominated   the 

*  American  State  Papers 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


25 


north-west,  and  we  now  turn  to  the  contemplation  of  its 
growth  and  prosperity.  Its  people  are  among  the  most 
intelligent  and  enterprising  in  the  Union.  The  population 
is  steadily  increasing,  the  arts  and  sciences  are  gaining  a 
stronger  foothold,  the  trade  area  of  the  region  is  becoming 
daily  more  extended,  and  we  have  been  largely  exempt  from 
the  financial  calamities  which  have  nearly  wrecked  com 
munitSes  on  the  seaboard,  dependent  wholly  on  foreign  com- 
merce or  domestic  manufacture.  Agriculture  is  the  leading 
feature  in  our  industries.  This  vast  domain  has  a  sort  of 
natural  geographical  border,  save  where  it  melts  away  to 
the  southward  in  the  cattle- raising  districts  of  the  south- 
west. The  leading  interests  will  be  the  growth  of  the  food 
of  the  world,  in  which  branch  it  has  already  outstripped  all 
competitors,  and  our  great  rival  will,  be  the  fertile  fields  of 
Kansas,  Nebraska,  Colorado,  Texas  a"nd  New  Mexico. 

To  attempt  to  give  statistics  of  grain  productions  for  1880 
would  require  more  space  than  our  work  would  permit  of. 
Manufacturing  has  now  attained  in  the  chief  cities  a  foot- 
hold that  bids  fair  to  render  the  north-west  independent  of 
the  outside  world.  Nearly  our  whole  region  has  a  distribu- 
tion of  coal  measure  which  will  in  time  support  the  manu- 
factures necessary  to  our  comfort  and  prosperity.  As  to 
transportation,  the  chief  factor  in  the  production  of  all  articles 
except  food,  no  section  is  so  magnificently  endowed,  and 
our  facilities  are  yearly  increasing  beyond  those  of  any 
other  region. 

The  principal  tradeand  manufacturing  centres  of  the  great 
north-west  are  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Indianapolis, 
Detroit,  Cleveland  and  Toledo,  with  any  number  of  minor 
cities  and  towns  doing  a  large  and  growing  business.  The 
intelligence  and  enterprise  of  its  people ;  the  great  wealth  of 
its  soil  and  minerals ;  its  vast  inland  seas  and  navigable 
rivsrs;  its  magnificent  railroad  system  ;  its  patriotism  and 
love  of  country  will  render  it  ever  loyal  in  the  future  as  in 
the  past.  Thepeople  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  are  the  key- 
stone of  the  national  union  and  national  prosperity. 


CHAPTER    II. 


BRIEF  HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  ILLINOIS. 


EGINNING  the  history  of   this  great  State 

we   direct  attention  briefly  to  the   discovery 

and  exploration  of  the  Mississippi.    Hernando 

De  Soto,  cutting  his  way  through  the  wildcr- 

,  Jj     ness  from  Florida,  had  discovered  the  Missis- 

•^fpCyf\      S'PP*  *n  tne  year  1542.     Wasted  with  disease 
^-J    -v.  "        and  privation,  he  only  reached  the   stream 
J    J  to  die  upon  its   banks,  and   the  remains  of 

the  ambitious  and  iron-willed  Spaniard  found 
a  fitting  resting-place  beneath  the  waters  of  the  great  river. 
The  chief  incitement  to  Spanish  discoveries  in  America  was 
a  thirst  for  gold  and  treasure.  The  discovery  and  settle- 
ment of  the  Mississippi  Valley  on  the  part  of  the  French 


must,  on  the  other  hand,  be  ascribed  to  religious  zeal. 
Jesuit  missionaries,  from  the  French  settlements  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  early  penetrated  to  the  region  of  Lake  Huron. 
It  was  from  the  tribes  of  Indians  living  in  the  West,  that 
intelligence  came  of  a  noble  river  flowing  south.  Marquette, 
who  had  visited  the  Chippewas  in  1G68,  and  established 
the  mission  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  now  the  oldest  settlement 
within  the  present  commonwealth  of  Michigan,  formed  the 
purpose  of  its  exploration. 

The  following  year  he  moved  to  La  Poiute,  in  Lake 
Superior,  where  he  instructed  a  branch  of  the  Hurons  till 
1G70,  when  he  removed  south  and  founded  the  mission  at 
St.  Ignace,  on  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw.  In  company  with 
Joliet,  a  fur-trader  of  Quebec,  who  had  been  designated  by 
M.  Talon,  Intendent  of  Canada,  as  chieftain  of  the  explor- 
ing party,  and  five  French  voyageurs,  Marquette,  on  the 
10th  of  June,  1G73,  set  out  on  the  expedition.  Crossing 
the  water-shed  dividing  the  Fox  from  the  Wisconsin  rivers, 
their  two  canoes  were  soon  launched  on  the  waters  of  the 
latter.  Seven  days  after,  on  the  17th  of  June,  they  joy- 
fully entered  the  broad  current  of  the  Mississippi.  Stopping 
six  days  on  the  western  bank,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Des 
Moines  River,  to  enjoy  the  hospitalities  of  the  Illinois 
Indians,  the  voyage  was  resumed,  and  after  passing  the 
perpendicular  rocks  above  Alton,  on  whose  lofty  limestone 
front  were  painted  frightful  representations  of  monsters, 
they  suddenly  came  upon  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  known 
by  its  Algonquin  name  of  Pekitanoni,  whose  swift  and 
turbid  current  threatened  to  engulf  their  frail  canoes.  The 
site  of  St.  Louis  was  an  unbroken  forest,  and  further  down 
the  fertile  plain  bordering  the  river  reposed  in  peaceful 
solitude,  as,  early  in  July,  the  adventurers  glided  past  it. 
They  continued  their  voyage  to  a  point  some  distance  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  and  then  retraced  their  course 
up  the  river,  arriving  at  their  Jesuit  Mission  at  the  head  of 
Green  Bay,  late  in  September. 

Robert  Cavalier  de  La  Salle,  whose  illustrious  name  is 
more  intimately  connected  with  the  exploration  of  the 
Mississippi  than  that  of  any  other,  was  the  next  to  descend 
the  river,  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1682.  La  Salle  was  a 
man  of  remarkable  genius,  possessing  the  power  of  originating 
the  vastest  schemes,  and  endowed  with  a  will  and  abridgment 
capable  of  carrying  them  to  successful  results.  Had  ample 
facilities  been  placed  by  the  king  of  France  at  his  disposal, 
the  result  of  the  "colonization  of  this  continent  might  have 
been  far  different  from  what  we  now  behold.  He  was  born 
in  Rouen,  France,  in  1G43,  of  wealthy  parentage,  but  ho 
renounced  his  patrimony  on  entering  a  college  of  the  Jesuits 
from  which  he  separated  and  came  to  Canada  a  poor  man 
in  1666.  The  priests  of  St.  Sulpice,  among  whom  he  had  a 
brother,  were  then  the  proprietors  of  Montreal,  the  nucleus 
of  which  was  a  seminary  or  convent  founded  by  that  order. 
The  Superior  granted  to  La  Salle  a  large  tract  of  land  at 
La  Chine,  where  he  established  himself  in  the  fur  trade. 
He  was  a  man  of  daring  genius,  and  outstripped  all  his 
competitors  in  exploits  of  travel  and  commerce  with  the 
Indians.  In  1669  he  visited  the  headquarters  of  the  great 
Iroquois  Confederacy,  at  Onondaga,  in  the  heart  of  New 

25 


26 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


York,  and  obtaining  guides,  explored  the  Ohio  River  to  the 
falls  at  Louisville. 

In  order  to  understand  the  intrepid  genius  of  La  Salle, 
it  niUft  be  remembered  that  for  many  years  prior  to  his 
time  the  missionaries  and  traders  were  obliged  to  make  their 
way  to  the  North  west  by  the  Ottaway  River  (of  Canada), 
on  account  of  the  fierce  hostility  of  the  Iroquois  along  the 
lower  lakes  and  Niagara  River,  which  entirely  closed  this 
latter  route  to  the  Upper  Lakes.  They  carried  on  their 
commerce  chiefly  by  canvas,  paddling  them  through  the 
Ottaway  to  Lake  Nipissing,  carrying  them  across  the  port- 
age to  French  River,  and  descending  that  to  Lake  Huron. 
This  being  the  route  by  which  they  reached  the  North-west, 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  all  the  earliest  Jesuit  missions 
were  established  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Upper  Lakes- 
La  Salle  conceived  the  grand  idea  of  opening  the  route  by 
Niagara  River  and  the  Lower  Lakes  to  Canadian  commerce 
by  sail  vessels,  connecting  it  with  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  thus  opening  a  magnificent  water  communi- 
cation from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
This  truly  grand  and  comprehensive  purpose  seems  to 
have  animated  him  in  all  his  wonderful  achievements  and 
the  matchless  difficulties  and  hardships  he  surmounted. 

As  the  first  step  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  object  he 
established  himself  on  Lake  Ontario,  and  built  and  gar- 
risoned Fort  Frontenac,  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Kingston,  Canada.  Here  he  obtained  a  grant  of  land  from 
the  French  crown  and  a  body  of  troops  by  which  he  beat 
back  the  invading  Iroquois  and  cleared  the  passage  to 
Niagara  Falls.  Having  by  this  masterly  stroke  made  it 
safe  to  attempt  a  hitherto  untried  expedition,  his  next  step 
as  we  have  seen,  was  to  advance  to  the  falls  with  all  his 
outfit  for  building  a  ship  with  which  to  sail  the  lakes.  He 
was  successful  in  this  undertaking,  though  his  ultimate  pur- 
pose was  defeated  by  a  strange  combination  of  untoward 
circumstances.  The  Jesuits  evidently  hated  La  Salle  and 
plotted  against  him,  because  he  had  abandoned  them  and 
co-operated  with  a  rival  order.  The  fur  traders  were  also 
jealous  of  his  superior  success  in  opening  new  channels  of 
commerce.  At  La  Chine  he  had  taken  the  trade  of  Lake 
Ontario,  w,hich  but  for  his  presence  there  would  have  gone 
to  Quebec.  While  they  were  plodding  with  their  bark 
canoes  through  the  Ottaway  he  was  constructing  vessels  to 
command  the  trade  of  the  lakes  and  the  Mississippi.  These 
great  plans  excited  the  jealousy  and  envy  of  the  small 
traders,  introduced  treason  and  revolt  into  the  ranks  of  his 
own  companions,  and  finally  led  to  the  foul  assassination  by 
which  his  great  achievements  were  prematurely  ended.  In 
1C82,  La  Salle,  having  completed  his  vessel  at  Peoria, 
descended  the  Mississippi  to  its  confluence  with  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  At  its  mouth  he  erected  a  column,  and  decorating 
it  with  the  arms  of  France,  placed  upon  it  the  following 
inscription  : 

LOUIS  LE  GRAND,  KOI  DE  FRANCE  ET  DE  NAVARRE  REGNE  ; 
LE  XEUVIEME  AVIUL,  1G82. 

Thus  France,  by  right  of  discovery,  lay  claim  to  the 
Mississippi   Valley,  the   fairest   portion   of  the   globe,   an 


empire  in  extent,  stretching  from  the  Gulf  to  the  Lakes, 
and  from  the  farthest  sources  of  the  Ohio  to  where  the  head 
waters  of  the  Missouri  are  lost  in  the  wild  solitudes  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  La  Salle  bestowed  upon  the  territory 
the  name  of  Louisiana,  in  honor  of  the  King  of  France, 
Louis  XIV. 

The  assertion  has  been  made  that  on  La  Salle's  return  up 
the  river,  in  the  summer  of  1682,  a  portion  of  the  party 
were  left  behind,  who  founded  the  village  of  Kaskaskia  and 
Cahokia,  but  the  statement  rests  on  no  substantial  foun- 
dation. 

THE   FIRST   SETTLEMENTS   IN    ILLINOIS. 

The  gentle  and  pious  Marquette,  devoted  to  his  purpose 
of  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  Indians,  had  established  a 
mission  among  the  Illinois,  in  1675,  at  their  principal  town 
on  the  river  which  still  bear  stheir  name.  This  was  at  the 
present  town  of  Utica,  in  La  Salle  County.  In  the  presence 
of  the  whole  tribe,  by  whom,  it  is  recorded,  he  was  received 
as  a  celestial  visitor,  he  displayed  the  sacred  pictures  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  raised  an  altar,  and  said  mass.  On  Easter 
Sunday,  after  celebrating  the  mystery  of  the  Eucharist,  he 
took  possession  of  the  land  in  the  name  of  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  and  founded  the  "Mission  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception."  The  town  was  called  Kaskaskia,  a  name 
afterwards  transferred  to  another  locality.  The  founding 
of  this  mission  was  the  last  act  of  Marquette's  life.  He 
died  in  Michigan,  on  his  way  back  to  Green  Bay,  May  18, 
1675. 

La  Salle,  while  making  preparations  to  descend  the 
Mississippi,  built  a  fort,  on  the  Illinois  River,  below  the 
Lake  of  Peoria,  in  February,  1680,  and  in  commemoration 
of  his  misfortunes,  bestowed  upon  it  the  name  of  Crcvecceur, 
"  broken-hearted."  Traces  of  its  embankments  are  yet  dis- 
cernible. This  was  the  first  military  occupation  of  Illinois. 
There  is  no  evidence,  however,  that  settlement  was  begun 
there  at  that  early  date. 

On  La  Salle's  return  from  this  exploration  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, in  1682,  he  fortified  "  Starved  Rock,"  whose  military 
advantages  had  previously  attracted  his  attention.  From 
its  summit,  which  rises  125  feet  above  the  waters  of  the 
river,  the  valley  of  the  Illinois  speeds  out  before  the  eye  in 
landscape  of  rarest  beauty.  From  three  sides  it  is  inacces- 
sible. This  stronghold  received  the  name  of  the  Fort  of 
St.  Louis.  Twenty  thousand  allied  Indians  gathered  round 
it  on  the  fertile  plains.  The  fort  seems  to  have  been  aban- 
doned soon  after  the  year  1 700. 

Marquette's  mission  (1675),  Creveceeur  (1680),  and  the 
Fort  of  St.  Louij  (1682),  embrace,  so  far,  all  the  attempts 
made  towards  effecting  anything  like  a  permanent  settle- 
ment in  the  Illinois  country.  Of  the  second  few  traces 
remain.  A  line  of  fortifications  may  be  faintly  traced,  and 
that  is  all.  The  seed  of  civilization  planted  by  the  Jesuit, 
Marquette,  among  the  Illinois  Indians,  was  destined  to  pro- 
duce more  enduring  fruit.  It  was  the  germ  of  Kaskaskia, 
during  the  succeeding  years  of  the  French  occupation— the 
metropolis  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  southern  Kas- 
kaskia is  merely  the  northern  one  transplanted.  The 
Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  is  the  tame. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


27 


FOUNDING   OF   KASKASKIA. 

On  the  death  of  Marquette,  he  was  succeeded  by  Alloiicz, 
and  he  by  Father  Gravier,  who  respectively  had  charge  of 
the  Mission  on  the  Illinois  River  Gravier  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  to  reduce  the  principles  of  the  Illinois  lan- 
guage to  rules.  It  was  also  he  who  succeeded  in  trans- 
ferring Marquette's  Mission  from  the  banks  of  the  Illinois 
south  to  the  spot  where  stands  the  modern  town  of  Kas- 
kaskia,  and  where  it  was  destined  to  endure.  The  exact 
date  is  not  known,  but  the  removal  was  accomplished  some 
time  prior  to  the  year  1685,  though  probably  not  earlier 
than  1082. 

Father  Gravier  was  subsequently  recalled  to  Mackinaw, 
and  his  place  was  supplied  by  Bineteau  and  Pinet.  Pinet 
proved  an  eloquent  and  successful  minister,  and  his  chapel 
was  often  insufficient  to  hold  the  crowds  of  savages  who 
gathered  to  hear  his  words.  Bineteau  met  with  a  fate 
similar  to  that  which  befell  many  another  devoted  priest  in 
his  heroic  labors  for  the  conversion  of  the  savages.  He 
accompanied  the  Kaskaskias  on  one  of  their  annual  hunts 
to  the  upper  Mississippi,  that  his  pastoral  relations  might 
not  suffer  intermission.  His  frame  was  poorly  fittfd  to 
stand  the  exposure.  Parched  by  day  on  the  burning 
prairie,  chilled  by  heavy  dews  at  night,  now  panting  with 
thirst  and  again  aching  with  cold,  he  at  length  fell  a 
victim  to  a  violent  fever,  and  "  left  his  bones  on  the  wilder" 
ness  range  of  the  buffaloes."  Pinet  shortly  after  followed 
his  comrade. 

Father  Gabriel  Morrest*  had  previously  arrived  at  Kas- 
kaskia.  He  was  a  Jesuit.  He  had  carried  the  emblem  of 
his  faith  to  the  frozen  regions  of  Hudson's  Bay,  and  had 
been  taken  prisoner  by  the  English,  and  upon  his  liberation 
returned  to  America,  and  joined  the  Kaskaskia  Mission. 
After  the  deaths  of  Bineteau  and  Pinet,  he  had  sole  charge 
until  joined  by  Father  Mermet  shortly  after  the  opening  of 
the  eighteenth  century. 

The  devotion  and  piety  of  Mermet  fully  equalled  those  of 
his  companion.  He  had  assisted  in  collecting  a  village  of 
Indians  and  Canadians,  and  had  thus  founded  the  first 
French  port  on  the  Ohio,  or,  as  the  lower  part  of  the  river 
was  then  called,  the  Wabash.  At  the  Kaskaskia  Mission 
his  gentle  virtues  and  fervid  eloquence  seem  not  to  have  been 
without  their  influence.  "At  early  dawn  his  pupils  came 
to  church  dressed  neatly  and  modestly,  each  in  a  large  deer- 
skin, or  in  a  robe  stitched  together  from  several  skins. 
After  receiving  lessons  they  chanted  canticles ;  mass  was 
then  said  in  presence  of  all  the  Christians  in  the  place,  the 
French  and  the  converts — the  women  on  one  side  and  the 
men  on  the  other.  From  prayer  and  instruction  the  mis- 
sionaries proceeded  to  visit  the  sick  and  administer  medicine, 
and  their  skill  as  physicians  did  more  than  all  the  rest  to 
win  confidence.  In  the  afternoon  the  catechism  was  taught 
in  the  presence  of  the  young  and  the  old,  when  every  one, 
without  distinction  of  rank  or  age,  answered  the  questions  of 
the  missionary.  At  evening  all  would  assemble  at  the 
chapel  for  instruction,  for  prayer,  and  to  chant  the  hymns 
of  the  church.  On  Sundays  and  festivals,  even  after  vespers 
a  homily  was  pronounced  ;  at  the  close  of  the  day  parties 


would  meet  in  houses  to  recite  the  chaplet  in  alternate 
choirs,  and  sing  psalms  until  late  at  night.  These  psalms 
were  often  homilies  with  words  set  to  familiar  tunes.  Satur- 
day and  Sunday  were  days  appointed  for  confession  and 
communion,  and  every  convert  confessed  once  in  a  fortnight. 
The  success  of  the  mission  was  such  that  marriages  of 
French  immigrants  were  sometimes  solemnized  with  the 
daughters  of  the  Illinois  according  to  the  rites  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  The  occupation  of  the  country  was  a 
cantonment  of  Europeans  among  the  native  proprietors  of 
the  forests  and  the  prairies.*  A  court  of  law  was  unknown 
for  nearly  a  century,  and  up  to  the  time  of  Boisbriant  there 
was  no  local  government.  The  priests  possessed  the  entire 
confidence  of  the  community,  and  their  authority  happily 
settled,  without  the  tardy  delays  and  vexations  of  the  courts, 
the  minor  difficulties  which  threatened  the  peace  of  the 
settlement.  Of  the  families  which  formed  part  of  the 
French  population  in  the  early  history  of  Kaskaskia,  there 
is  some  uncertainty.  There  is,  however,  authority  for 
believing  that  the  following  were  among  the  principal 
settlers:  Bazyl  La  Chapelle,  Michael  Derouse,  (called  St. 
Pierre),  Jean  Baptiste  St.  Genime  Beauvais,  Baptiste  Mon- 
treal, Boucher  de  Montbrun,  Charles  Danie,  Francois 
Charlesville,  Antoine  Bienvenu,  Louis  Bruyat,  Alexis  Doza, 
Joseph  Paget,  Prix  Pagi,  Michael  Antoyen,  Langlois  Do 
Lisle,  La  Derrou  te  and  NovaL 

AS   PART   OF   LOUISIANA. 

The  settlements  of  Illinois  had  been  a  separate  depend- 
ency of  Canada.  In  1711,  together  with  the  settlements  on 
the  Lower  Mississippi,  which  had  been  founded  by  DTher- 
ville  and  Bienville,  they  became  united  in  a  single  province 
under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  with  the  capital  at  Mobile. 

The  exclusive  control  of  the  commerce  of  this  region, 
whose  boundless  resources,  it  was  believed,  were  to  enrich 
France,  was  granted  to  Anthony  Crozat,  a  merchant  of 
great  wealth.  "We  permit  him,"  says  the  king  in  his 
letters  patent,  "  to  search,  open,  and  dig  all  mines,  veins, 
minerals,  precious  stone3  and  pearls,  and  to  transport  the 
proceeds  thereof  into  any  part  of  France  for  fifteen  years." 
La  Motte  Cadillac,  who  had  now  becomo  royal  Governor  of 
Louisiana,  was  his  partner.  Hopes  of  obtaining  great 
quantities  of  gold  and  silver  animated  the  proprietors,  as 
well  as  agitated  France.  Two  pieces  of  silver  ore,  left  at 
Kaskaskia  by  a  traveler  from  Mexico,  were  exhibited  to 
Cadillac  as  the  produce  of  a  mine  in  Illinois.  Elated  by 
this  prospect  of  wealth,  the  Governor  hurried  up  the  river 
to  find  his  anticipations  fade  away  in  disappointment.  'Iron 
ore  and  the  purest  lead  were  discovered  in  large  quantities 
in  Missouri,  but  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  precious  stones  not 
a  trace  was  found.  After  Crozat  had  expended  425,000 
livres,  and  realized  only  300,000,  he,  in  1717,  petitioned  the 
king  for  the  revocation  of  his  charter.  The  white  popula- 
tion had  slowly  increased ;  and  at  the  time  of  his  departure 
it  was  estimated  that  the  families  comprising  the  Illinois 
settlements,  now  including  those  on  the  Wabash,  numbered 
three  hundred  and  twenty  souls. 

*  Bancroft. 
n 


28 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


The  commerce  of  Louisiana  was  next  transferred  to  the 
Mississippi  Company,  instituted  under  the  auspices  of  the 
notorious  John  Law.  The  wild  excitement  and  visionary 
schemes  which  agitated  France  during  Law's  connection 
with  the  Company  of  the  West,  and  while  at  the  head  of 
the  Bank  of  France,  form  the  most  curious  chapter  in  the 
annals  of  commercial  speculations.  These  delusive  dreams 
of  wealth  were  based  mainly  upon  the  reports  of  the  fabu- 
lous riches  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Attempts  to  colonize 
the  country  were  conducted  with  careless  prodigality. 
Three  ships  landed  eight  hundred  emigrants  in  August, 
1718,  near  Mjbile,  whence  they  were  to  make  their  way 
overland  to  the  Mississippi.  Bienville,  on  the  banks  of  that 
river,  had  already  selected  the  spot  for  the  Capital  of  the 
new  Empire,  which,  after  the  Regent  of  France,  was  named 
New  Orleans.  From  among  the  emigrants,  eighty  convicts 
from  the  prisons  of  France  were  sent  to  clear  away  the 
coppices  which  thickly  studded  the  site.  Three  years  after 
in  1721,  the  place  was  yet  a  wilderness,  overgrown  with 
canebrakes,  among  which  two  hundred  persons  had  en- 
camped. 

Phillip  Renault  was  created  Director-General  of  the 
mines  of  the  new  country,  and  an  expedition  was  organized 
to  work  them.  Renault  left  France,  in  1719,  with  two 
hundred  mechanics  and  laborers.  Touching  at  San  Domingo 
he  bought  five  hundred  negro  slaves  for  working  the  mines. 
On  reaching  the  Mississippi,  he  sailed  to  Illinois,  the  region 
in  which  gold  and  silver  were  supposed  to  abound.  A  few 
miles  from  Kaskaskia,  in  what  is  now  the  south-west  corner 
of  Monroe  County,  was  the  seat  of  his  colony.  The  village 
which  he  founded  received  the  name  of  St.  Phillip's.  From 
this  point  variou3  expeditions  were  sent  out  in  search  of  the 
precious  metals.  Drewry's  Creek,  in  Jackson  County,  was 
explored ;  St.  Mary's,  in  Randolph ;  Silver  Creek,  in 
Monroe ;  and  various  parts  of  St.  Clair  County,  and  other 
districts  of  Illinois.  On  Silver  Creek,  tradition  has  it  that 
considerable  quantities  of  silver  were  discovered  and  sent  to 
France,  and  from  this  the  stream  has  its  name.  By  the 
retrocession  of  the  territory  to  the  crown,  Renault  was  left 
to  prosecute  the  business  of  mining  without  means.  His 
operations  proved  a  disastrous  failure. 

.  FORT  CHARTRES. 

Meanwhile  war  had  sprung  up  between  France  and  Spain 
and  to  protect  the  Illinois  settlements  from  incursions  of 
Spanish  cavalry  across  the  Great  Desert,  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  establish  a  fort  in  the  neighborhood  of  Kas- 
kaskia. A  Spanish  expedition  had,  indeed,  been  fitted*  out 
at  Santa  Fe,  but  their  guides,  leading  it  by  mistake  to  the 
Missouri  Indians,  instead  of  (he  Osages,  enemies  instead  of 
friends,  the  whole  party  was  massacred,  with  the  exception 
of  a  priest  who  escaped  to  relate  the  fate  of  his  unfortunate 
comrades.  Previous  to  this  La  Salle,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
visit  to  Paris,  had  shown  the  necessity  of  building  a  chain 
of  forts  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf,  in  order  to  secure  the 
territory  to  the  crown  of  France.  In  1718,  Boisbriant  was 
despatched  to  Illinois.  He  began  the  building  of  Fort 
Chartres,  long  the  strongest  fortress  on  the  Western  Conti- 


nent, and  of  wide  celebrity  in  the  subsequent  history   of 
Illinois. 

Fort  Chartres  stood  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
.  seventeen  miles  north-west  of  Kaskaskia,  and  between  three 
and  four  miles  from  the  location  of  the  present  village  of 
Prairie  du  Rocher.  The  Company  of  the  West  finally  built 
their  warehouses  here.  In  1721,  on  the  division  of  Louisi- 
ana into  seven  districts,  it  became  the  headquarters  of  Bois- 
briant, the  first  local  Governor  of  Illinois.  Fort  Chartres 
was  the  seat  of  the  Government  of  Illinois,  not  only  while 
the  French  retained  possession  of  the  country,  but  after  it 
passed  under  English  control.  When  the  fort  was  built,  it 
stood  about  one  mile  distant  from  the  river.  In  the  year  172-1 
an  inundation  of  the  Mississippi  washed  away  a  portion  of 
bank  in  front  of  the  fort. 

Captain  Philip  Pitman  visited  Illinois  in  1766.  He  was 
an  engineer  in  the  British  army,  and  was  sent  to  Illinois  to 
make  a  survey  of  the  forts,  and  report  the  condition  of  the 
country,  which  had  recently  passed  under  British  control. 
He  published  in  London,  in  1770,  a  work  entitled,  "  The 
present  State  of  the  European  Settlements  on  the  Missis- 
sippi," in  which  he  gives  an  accurate  description  of  Fort 
Chartres : 

"  Fort  Chartres,  when  it  belonged  to  France,  was  the  seat 
of  the  government  of  the  Illinois.  The  headquarters  of  the 
English  commanding  officer  is  now  here,  who,  in  fact,  is  the 
arbitrary  governor  of  the  country.  The  fort  is  an  irregular 
quadrangle.  The  sides  of  the  exterior  polygon  are  four  hun- 
dred and  ninety  feet.  It  is  built  Of  stone,  and  plastered  over, 
and  is  only  designed  for  defence  against  the  Indians.  The 
walls  are  two  feet  two  inches  thick,  and  are  pierced  with 
loopholes  at  regular  distances,  and  with  two  port  holes  for 
cannon  in  the  facies,  and  two  in  the  flanks  of  each  bastion. 
The  ditch  has  never  been  finished.  The  entrance  to  the  fort 
is  through  a  very  handsome  rustic  gate.  Within  the  walls 
is  a  banquette  raised  three  feet,  for  the  men  to  stand  on  when 
they  fire  through  the  loopholes.  The  buildings  within  the 
fort  are,  a  commandant's  and  a  commissary's  house,  the 
magazine  of  stores,  corps  de  garde,  and  two  barracks.  >These 
occupy  the  square.  Within  the  gorges  of  the  bastion  are  a 
powder-magazine,  a  bake-house,  and  a  prison,  in  the  floor  of 
which  are  four  dungeons,  and  in  the  upper,  two  rooms  and 
an  out-house  belongingto  the  commandant.  The  command- 
ant's house  is  thirty-two  yards  long  and  ten  broad,  and  con- 
tains a  kitchen,  a  dining-room,  a  bed-chamber,  one  small 
room,  five  closets  for  servants,  and  a  cellar.  The  commis- 
sary's house  is  built  on  the  same  line  as  this,  and  its  propor- 
tion and  the  distribution  of  its  apartments  are  the  same. 
Opposite  these  are  the  store-house,  and  the  guard-house,  each 
thirty  yards  long  and  eight  broad.  The  former  consists  of 
two  large  store  rooms,  (under  which  is  a  large  vaulted  cellar), 
a  large  room,  a  bed-chamber,  and  a  closet  for  the  storekeeper. 
The  latter  of  a  soldiers'  and  officers'  guard-room,  a  chapel, 
a  bed-chamber,  a  closet  for  the  chaplain,  and  an  artillery 
store-room.  The  lines  of  barracks  have  never  been  finished. 
They  at  present  consist  of  two  rooms  each  for  officers,  and 
three  for  soldiers.  They  are  each  twenty-five  feet  square, 
and  have  betwixt  a  small  passage." 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


29 


Such  was  Fort  Chartres,  believed  at.  the  time  to  be  the 
most  convenient  and  best  built  stronghold  in  North  America ! 
Just  before  the  French  surrender,  forty  families  lived  in  the 
neighboring  village,  in  which  stood  a  parish  church,  under 
the  care  of  a  Franciscan  friar,  and  dedicated  to  St.  Anne. 
At  the  time  of  the  surrender  to  the  English,  all,  with  the 
exception  of  three  or  four  families,  abandoned  their  homes, 
and  removed  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  preferring 
the  government  of  La  Belle  France  to  the  hated  English 
rule,  ignorant  that  by  secret  treaty  the  territory  west 
of  the  Mississippi  had  been  ceded  to  Spain,  even  before 
the  transfer  of  the  region  eastward  was  made  to  the 
English. 

But  the  glory  of  the  old  fortress  soon  departed!  In  1756 
nearly  half  a  mile  intervened  between  Fort  Chartres  and  the 
bank  of  the  Mississippi.  A  sand  bar,  however,  was  forming 
opposite,  to  which  the  river  was  fordable.  Ten  years  later 
the  current  had  cut  the  bank  away  to  within  eighty  yards  of 
the  fort.  The  sand-bar  had  become  an  island,  covered  with 
a  thick  growth  of  cottonwoods.  The  channel  between  it 
and  the  eastern  bank  was  forty  feet  in  depth.  In  the  great 
freshet  six  years  after,  in  1772,  in  which  the  American  Bot- 
tom was  inundated,  the  west  walls  and  two  of  the  bastions 
were  swept  away  in  the  flood.  It  was  abandoned  by  the 
British  garrison,  which  took  up  its  quarters  in  Fort  Gage, 
on  the  bluff  opposite  Kaskaskia,  which  then  became  the  seat 
of  government.  From  this  date  its  demolition  proceeded 
rapidly.  In  1820  the  south-east  angle  was  still  remaining. 
Only  vestiges  of  the  old  Fortress  can  now  be  traced.  Much 
of  the  stone  was  carried  away,  and  used  for  building  pur- 
poses elsewhere.  Trees  of  stately  growth  cover  the  founda- 
tions. The  river  has  retreated  to  its  original  channel,  and 
is  now  a  mile  distant  from  the  ruins.  A  growth  of  timber 
covers  the  intervening  land,  where  less  than  a  century  ago 
swept  the  mighty  current  of  the  Father  of  Waters. 

UNDER  FRENCH   RULE. 

During  the  few  years  immediately  succeeding  the  comple- 
tion of  Fort  Chartres,  prosperity  prerailed  in  the  settlements 
between  the  Kaskaskia  and  the  Miss:ssippi  rivers.  Prairie 
du  Rocher,  founded  about  the  year  1722,  received  consider- 
able accessions  to  its  population.  Among  the  earliest  French 
settlers  to  make  their  homes  here  were  Etienne  Langlois, 
Jean  Baptiste  Blais,  Jean  Baptiste  Barbeaux,  Antoine 
Louvier,  and  the  La  Compte  and  other  families,  whose  de- 
scendants are  still  found  in  that  locality.  New  settlements 
sprang  up,  and  the  older  ones  increased  in  population.  At 
Kaskaskia,  the  Jesuits  established  a  monastery,  and  founded 
a  college.  In  1725  the  village  became  an  incorporated  town, 
and  the  king,  Louis  XV.,  granted  the  inhabitants  a  com- 
mons. The  Bottom  land,  extending  upward  along  the  Mis- 
sissippi, unsurpassed  for  the  richness  of  its  soil,  was  in  the 
process  of  being  rapidly  settled  by  the  larger  number  of  new 
arrivals  in  the  colony.  Fort  Chartres,  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment and  the  headquarters  of  the  commandment  of  Upper 
Louisiana,  attracted  a  wealthy,  and  for  Illinois,  a  fashionable 
population. 

After  having  been  fourteen  years  under  the  government 


of  the  Western  Company,  in  April,  1732,  the  king  issued  a 
proclamation  by  which  Louisiana  was  declared  free  to  all  his 
subjects,  and  all  restrictions  on  commerce  were  removed. 
At  this  time  many  flourishing  settlements  had  sprung  up  in 
Illinois,  centering  about  Kaskaskia, and  the  inhabitants  were 
said  to  be  more  exclusively  devoted  to  agriculture  than  iu 
any  other  of  the  French  settlements  in  the  West. 

M.  D'Artaguette,  in  1732,  became  commandant  of  Fort 
Chartres,  and  Governor  of  Upper  Louisiana.  Between  New 
Orleans  and  Kaskaskia  the  country  was  yet  a  wilderness. 
Communication  by  way  of  the  Mississippi  was  interrupted 
by  the  Chickasaws,  allies  of  the  English  and  enemies  of 
France,  whose  cedar  barks  shooting  boldly  out  into  the  cur- 
rent of  the  Mississippi,  cut  off  the  connection  between  the 
two  colonies.  It  was  in  an  attempt  to  subdue  these  that 
M.  D'Artaguette,  the  commandant,  lost  h:s  life.  An  officer 
arrived  at  Fort  Chartres  from  M.  Prerrier,  Governor-General 
at  New  Orleans,  in  the  year  1736,  summoning  M.  D'Arta- 
guette, with  his  French  soldiers,  and  all  the  Indians  whom 
he  could  induce  to  join  him,  to  unite  in  an  expedition  against 
the  enemy.  With  an  army  of  fifty  Frenchmen,  and  more 
than  one  thousand  Indians  accompanied  by  Father  Senat 
and  the  gallant  Vincennes,  commandant  of  the  post  on  the 
Wabash,  where  now  stands  the  city  bearing  his  name, 
D'Artaguette  stole  cautiously  in  the  Chickasaw  country. 
His  Indian  allies  were  impatient,  and  the  commander  con- 
sented, against  his  better  judgment,  to  an  immediate  attack. 
One  fort  was  carried — another — and  then  in  making  the  as- 
sault on  the  third,  the  young  and  intrepid  D'Artaguette  fell 
at  the  head  of  his  forces,  pierced  with  wounds.  The  Indian 
allies  made  this  reverse  the  signal  for  their  flight.  The 
Jesuit  Senat  might  have  fled,  Vincennes  might  have  saved 
his  life,  but  both  preferred  to  share  the  fate  of  their  leader. 
The  captives  afterward  met  death  at  the  stake  under  the  slow 
torments  of  fire. 

La  Buissoniere  succeeded  as  commandant  at  Fort  Chartres. 
In  1739  a  second  expedition  was  undertaken  against  the 
Chickasaw  country.  La  Buissoniere  joined  Bienville,  then 
Governor-General  of  Louisiana,  with  a  force  of  two  hundred 
Frenchmen  and  three  hundred  Indians.  The  whole  force 
under  Bienville  was  twelve  hundred  French  and  five  hun- 
dred Indians  and  negroes.  His  men  suffered  greatly  from 
malarial  fevers  and  famine,  and  returned  the  following 
spring  without  conquering  the  Chickasaws,  with  whom  after- 
ward, however,  amicable  relations  were  established. 

The  period  from  1740  to  1750  was  one  of  great  prosperity 
for  the  colonies.  Cotton  was  introduced  and  cultivated. 
Regular  cargoes  of  pork,  flour,  bacon,  tallow,  hides  and 
leather,  were  floated  down  the  Mississippi,  and  exported 
thence  to  France.  French  emigrants  poured  rapidly  into 
the  settlements.  Canadians  exchanged  the  cold  rigors  of 
their  climate  for  the  sunny  atmosphere  and  rich  soil  of  the 
new  country.     Peace  and  plenty  blessed  the  settlements. 

La  Buissoniere  was  followed,  in  1750,  by  Chevalier  Ma- 
carty  as  Governor  of  Upper  Louisiana,  and  Commandant  of 
Fort  Chartres.  Peace  was  soon  to  be  broken.  The  French 
and  English  war,  which  terminated  in  1759  with  the  defeat 
of  Montcalm  on  the  plains  of  Abraham,  and  the  capture  of 


30 


.HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Quebec,  began  with  a  struggle  for  the  territory  on  the  Upper 
Ohio.  Fort  Chartres  was  the  depot  of  supplies  and  the  place 
of  rendezvous  for  the  united  forces  of  Louisiana,  and  several 
expeditions  were  fitted  out  and  dispatched  to  the  scene  of  con- 
flict on  the  borJer  between  the  French  and  English  settle- 
ments. But  France  was  vanquished  in  the  struggle,  and  its 
result  deprived  her  of  her  princely  possessions  east  of  the 
Mississippi. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE   EARLY   FRENCTI   SETTLERS. 

The  early  French  inhabitants  were  well  adapted  by  their 
peculiar  traits  of  character  for  intercourse  with  their  savage 
neighbors  of  the  forest,  with  whom  they  lived  on  terms  of 
peace  and  friendship.  For  this  reason,  the  French  colonists 
almost  entirely  escaped  the  Indian  hostilities  by  which  the 
English  settlements  were  repressed  and  weakened.  The 
freest  communication  existed  between  the  two  races.  They 
stood  on  a  footing  of  equality.  The  Indian  was  cordially 
received  in  the  French  village,  and  the  Frenchman  found  a 
safe  resting-place  in  the  lodga  of  the  savaga.  In  scenes  of 
social  pleasure,  in  expeditions  to  remote  rivers  and  distant 
forests,  in  the  ceremonies  and  exercises  of  the  church,  the 
red  men  were  treated  as  brothers,  and  the  accident  of  race 
and  color  was  made  as  little  a  mark  of  distinction  as  possi- 
ble. Frequent  intermarriages  of  the  French  with  the  In- 
dians strongly  cemented  this  union.  For  nearly  a  hundred 
years  the  French  colonists  enjoyed  continual  peace,  while  the 
English  settlements  on  the  Atlantic  coast  were  in  a  state  of 
almost  constant  danger  from  savage  depredations. 

It  was  doubtless  greatly  owing  to  the  peculiar  facility  with 
which  the  French  temperament  adapted  itself  to  surround- 
ings, and  the  natural  address  with  which  Frenchmen  ingra- 
tiated themselves  in  the  favor  of  the  savages,  that  this  happy 
condition  of  affairs  existed.  But  something  must  be  ascribed 
to  the  differences  of  character  between  the  French  and  Eng- 
lish in  regard  to  their  aggressiveness.  The  English  colonists 
excited  the  jealousy  and  fear  of  the  Indians  by  their  rapid 
occupation  of  the  country.  New  settlements  were  constantly 
being  projected,  and  the  white  population  pushed  farther 
and  farther  into  the  wilderness.  When  the  Indians  saw 
their  favorite  haunts  broken  up,  and  their  hunting  grounds 
invaded,  a  natural  feeling  of  distrust  and  jealousy  led  them 
to  warfare  against  the  English.  With  the  French  it  was 
different.  There  was  but  little  disposition  to  found  new 
settlements,  or  occupy  the  wilderness.  They  were  essentially 
a  social  people,  and  the  solitary  life  of  a  pioneer  in  the  forest 
was  repugnant  to  their  disposition.  They  lived  in  compact 
villages.  Their  houses  were  in  close  proximity.  With 
abundant  room  for  spacious  streets,  they  yet  made  them  so 
narrow  that  the  merry  villagers  could  converse  with  ease 
across  the  street,  each  from  his  own  cottage.  Hunting  was 
a  favorite  pursuit,  and  the  chief  means  of  support.  With 
this  mode  of  life  the  French  were  content  Ambition  failed 
to  incite  them  to  conquer  the  wilderness,  and  push  their  set- 
tlements to  unknown  regions,  and  avarice  was  wanting  to 
lead  them  to  grasp  after  great  possessions.  The  development 
of  the  "territorial  paradise,"  as  La  Salle  had  called  the  re- 
gion through  which  he  passed  on  his  first  voyage  down  the 
Mississippi,  was  to  be  accomplished  by  another  race. 

80 


A    POSSESSION   OF   GREAT   BRITAIN. 

By  the  treaty  of  Fountainbleau,  1762,  the  vast  possessions 
of  France,  east  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  exception  of  the 
island  of  New  Orleans,  passed  under  British  control.  P\)rt 
Chartres  and  the  other  Illinois  posts  were  surrounded  by  an 
impenetrable  barrier  of  hostile  savages,  friends  to  the  French 
and  enemies  to  the  English,  and  the  French  officers  were 
authorized  to  retain  command  until  it  was  found  possible  for 
the  English  to  take  possession.  M.  Neyon  de  Villiers  was 
commandant  of  Fort  Chartres,  and  upon  his  retiring  in  1764, 
St.  Ange  d'Bellerive  took  upon  himself  the  duties  of  that 
position/  It  was  the  time  of  Pontiac's  conspiracy,  when  the 
Indian  tribes,  inflamed  by  the  savage  spirit  of  that  warrior, 
were  precipitating  themselves  on  the  English  settlements 
from  Canada  to  Carolina.  The  French  commandant  of  Fort 
Chartres  was  besieged  for  arms  and  ammunition  to  be  used 
against  the  English.  The  French  flag  was  still  flying  over 
the  Fort,  and  the  fact  of  the  territory  having  beeu  ceded  to 
Great  Britain  was  not  generally  known  except  to  those  in 
authority.  The  commandant  was  visited  by  embassies  from 
the  Illinois,  the  Delawares,  Shawneea  and  Miamis,  and 
finally  Pontiac  himself,  at  the  head  of  four  hundred  warriors, 
entered  the  council  hall.  St.  Ange  d  Bellerive,  unable  to 
furnish  arm?,  offered  instead  his  good  will.  Tbe  reply  was 
received  with  dissatisfaction.  The  Indians  pitched  their 
lodges  about  the  Fort,  and  for  a  time  an  attack  was  seriously 
apprehended.  Finally  Pontiac  dispatched  a  chosen  band  of 
warriors  to  New  Orleans  to  obtain  from  the  Governor  there 
the  assistance  St.  Ange  refused  to  grant. 

Pontiac  was  killed  a  few  years  after.  Disappointed  by 
the  failure  of  his  plans  against  the  English,  he  retired  to  the 
solitude  of  the  forests.  In  the  year  1769,  he  suddenly  made 
his  appearance  in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis.  Arrayed 
in  the  French  uniform  given  him  by  the  Marquis  Montcalm 
a  short  time  previous  to  the  latter*s  death  on  the  Plains  of 
Abraham,  he  visited  St.  Ange  d'Bellerive,  who  at  that  time 
had  removed  from  Fort  Chartres  to  St  Louis,  where  he  had 
become  one  of  the  principal  inhabitants  and  commandant  of 
the  Spanish  garrison.  While  at  St  Liuis,  he  crossed  the 
Mississippi  to  attend  asocial  gathering  of  Indians  at  Cahokia. 
Becoming  intoxicated  he  started  to  the  neighboring  woods, 
when  an  Indian  of  the  Easkaskia  tribe,  bribed  by  an  Eng- 
lish trader  with  a  barrel  of  whiskey,  stole  up  behind  him  and 
buried  a  tomahawk  in  the  brain  of  the  renowned  warrior. 
St.  Ange  procured  the  body,  and  buried  it  with  all  the  honors 
of  war  near  the  fort  under  his  command  in  St.  Louis.  The 
tramp  of  a  great  city  now  sweeps  over  his  grave. 

Two  attempts,  on  the  part  of  the  English,  to  take  posses- 
sion of  Illinois  and  Fort  Cbartres,  had  been  made  by  way  of 
the  Mississippi,  but  hostile  Indians  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
had  driven  back  the  expeditions.  Meantime  a  hundred 
Highlanders  of  the  Forty-second  Regiment,  those  veterans 
"  whose  battle  cry  had  echoed  over  the  bloodiest  fields  of 
America,"  had  left  Fort  Pitt,  now  Pittsburg,  and  descending 
the  Ohio,  appeared  before  Fort  Chartres  while  the  forests 
were  yet  rich  with  the  varied  hues  of  autumn.  St.  Ange 
yielded  up  the  citadel.  It  was  on  the  tenth  day  of  October, 
1765,  that  the  ensign  of  France  on  the  ramparts  of  the  Fort 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS., 


31 


gave  place  to  the  flag  of  Great  Britain.     Kaskaskia  had  now 
been  founded  more  than  three-fourths  of  a  century. 

On  the  surrender  of  Fort  Chartres,  St.  Ange  with  his  gar- 
rison of  twenty-one  soldiers  retired  from  the  country,  and 
became  commandant  at  St.  Louis,  an  infant  settlement  just 
founded.  A  large  number  of  the  French  residents  of  Kas- 
kaskia and  other  settlements  refused  to  live  under  English 
rule.  Many  of  the  wealthiest  families  left  the  country ;  some 
removed  across  the  Mississippi,  to  the  small  village  of  Ste. 
Genevieve,  under  the  impression  that  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  they  would  still  find  a  home  under  the  govern- 
ment of  France,  wfiile  in  truth  that  territory  had  been  ceded 
to  Spain  by  a  secret  treaty  in  1762.  Others  joined  in  found- 
ing the  city  of  St.  Louis.  The  French  settlements  in  Illinois, 
at  a  period  immediately  preceding  this  date,  were  at  the 
zenith  of  their  prosperity.  From  that  day  the  French  in- 
habitants have  declined  in  numbers  and  influence.  In  1765, 
the  population  of  the  Illinois  settlements  was  computed  as 
follows:  White  men  able  to  bear  arms,  seven  hundred;  white 
women,  five  hundred  ;  white  children,  eight  hundred  and 
fifty ;  negroes,  nine  hundred  ;  total,  two  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred and  fifty.  One-third  of  the  whites,  and  a  still  larger 
proportion  of  the  blacks,  removed  on  the  British  taking  pos- 
session. A  population  of  less  than  two  thousand  remained. 
Few  English,  or  Americans,  with  the  exception  of  the  British 
troops,  were  in  the  country. 

Captain  Stirling,  who  now  had  command  of  the  Fort,  issued 
a  proclamation  guaranteeing  the  inhabitants  the  liberty  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  permission  to  retire  from  the  country,  and 
enjoyment  of  their  full  rights  and  privileges,  only  requiring 
an  oath  of  fidelity  and  obedience  to  His  Majesty,  the  English 
King.  Captain  Stirling  died  some  three  months  after  his 
arrival.  In  the  period  that  elapsed  before  the  coming  of  his 
successor,  St.  Ange  d'Bellerive  returned  from  St.  Louis,  and 
discharged  the  duties  of  commandant.  Major  Frazier,  from 
Fort  Pitt,  exercised  for  a  time  an  arbitrary  power,  and  his 
successor,  Col.  Reed,  proved  still  worse.  lie  held  the  office 
eighteen  months,  and  during  that  time  aroused  the  hatred  of 
the  settlements  by  his  oppressive  measures.  Lieutenant  Colo- 
nel Wilkins  assumed  command  in  1768. 

Captain  Pitman,  to  whose  book  on  "  The  Present  State  of 
the  European  Settlements  on  the  Mississippi"  reference  has 
already  been  made,  gives  the  following  descriptijn  of  Kas- 
kaskia, as  it  appeared  in  1766. 

The  village  of  Notre  Dame  de  Cascasquias  is  by  far  the 
most  considerable  settlement  in  the  country  of  the  I  linois, 
as  well  from  its  number  of  inhabitants  as  from  its  advan- 
tageous situation. 

"  Mons.  Paget  was  the  first  who  introduced  water  mills  in 
this  country,  and  he  constructed  a  very  fine  one  on  the  river 
Cascasquias,  which  was  both  for  grinding  corn  and  sawing 
boards.  It  lies  about  one  mile  from  the  village.  The  mill 
proved  fatal  to  him,  being  killed  as  he  was  working 
.it,  with  two  negroes,  by  a  party  of  Cherokees,  in  the 
year  1764. 

"  The  principal  buildings  era  the  church  and  the  Jesuits' 
house,  which  has  a  small  chapel  adjoining  it;  these,  as  well 
as  some  of  the  other  houses  in  the  village,  are  built  of  stone, 


and,  considering  thi3  part  of  ths  world,  make  a  very  good 
appearance.  The  Jesuits'  plantation  consisted  of  240  arpents 
(an  arpent  is  85-100  of  an  acre)  of  cultivated  land,  a  very 
good  stock  of  cattle,  and  a  brewery  which  was  sold  by  the 
French  commandant,  after  the  country  was  ceded  to  the 
English,  for  the  crown,  in  consequence  of  the  suppression  of 
the  order. 

"  Mons.  Beauvais  wa  i  the  purchaser,  who  is  the  richest  of 
the  English  subjects  in  this  country;  he  keeps  eighty  slaves; 
he  furnishes  86,000  weight  of  flour  to  the  King's  magazine, 
which  was  only  part  of  the  harvest  he  reaped  in  one  year. 
Sixty-five  families  reside  in  this  village,  besides  merchants, 
other  casual  people,  and  slaves.  The  fort  which  was  burnt 
down  in  October,  1766,  stood  on  the  summit  of  a  high  rock 
opposite  the  village  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river. 
It  was  an  oblong  quadrangle,  of  which  the  extreme  polygon 
measured  290  by  251  feet.  It  was  built  of  very  thick  square 
timber,  and  dove-tailed  at  the  angles.  An  officer  and  twenty 
soldiers  are  quartered  in  the  village.  The  officer  governs 
the  inhabitants  under  the  direction  of  the  commandant  at 
Fort  Chartres.     Here  are  also  two  companies  of  militia." 

Of  Prairie  du  Eocher,  Pitman  writes  that  "  it  is  a  small 
village,  consisting  of  twenty-two  dwelling-houses,  all  of  which 
are  inhabited  by  as  many  families.  Here  is  a  little  chapel, 
formerly  a  chapel  of  ease  to  the  church  at  Fort  Chartres, 
The  inhabitants  are  very  industrious,  and  raise  a  great  deal 
of  corn  and  every  kind  of  stock.  The  village  is  two  miles 
from  Fort  Chartres.  It  takes  its  name  from  its  situation, 
being  built  under  a  rock  that  runs  parallel  with  the  Missis- 
sippi river  at  a  league  distance,  fjr  forty  miles  up.  Here  u 
a  company  of  militia,  the  captain  of  which  regulates  the 
police  of  the  village." 

In  describing  the  distance  from  Fort  Chartres,  the  author, 
doubtless,  refers  to  Little  Village,  which  was  a  mile  or  more 
nearer  than  Prairie  du  Bocher.  The  writer  goes  on  to  de- 
scribe "Saint  Philippe"  as  a  "small  village  about  five  miles 
from  Fort  Chartres  on  the  road  to  Kaoquias.  There  are 
about  sixteen  houses  and  a  small  church  standing ;  all  of  the 
inhabitants,  except  the  captain  of  the  militia,  deserted  in 
1765,  and  went  to  the  French  side  (Missouri  )  The  captain 
of  the  militia  has  about  twenty  slaves,  a  good  stock  of  cattle, 
and  a  water  mill  for  corn  and  planks.  The  village  stands 
on  a  very  fine  meadow  about  one  mile  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

From  the  same  authority  wo  learn  that  the  soil  of  the 
country  is  in  general  rich  and  luxuriant.  It  was  favorably 
adapted  to  the  production  of  all  kin  Is  of  European  grains 
which  grew  side  by  side  wit'i  hops,  hemp,  flax,  cotton  and 
tobacco.  European  fruits  arrived  to  great  perfection.  Of 
the  wild  grapes  a  wine  was  made,  very  inebriating,  and  in 
color  and  taste  much  like  the  red  wine  of  Provencs.  In  the 
late  wars,  New-Orleans  and  the  lower  parts  of  Louisiana 
were  supplied  with  flour,  beef,  wine3,  ham3,  and  other  pro- 
visions, from  this  country.  At  present,  its  commerce  is 
mostly  confined  to  the  peltry  and  furs  which  are  got  in  traf- 
fic from  the  Indians ;  for  which  are  received  in  turn  such 
European  commodities  as  are  necessary  to  carry  on  that  c  jm- 
merce  and  the  support  of  its  inhabitants." 

31 


32 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


CONQUEST  BY   CLARKE. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  it  is 
probable  that  the  British  garrison  (removed  in  1772  from 
Fort  Chartres  to  Fort  Gage,  opposite  Kaskaskia,)  had  been 
withdrawn.  Illinois  was  remote  from  the  theatre  of  action, 
and  the  colonists  were  little  disturbed  by  the  rumors  of  war 
which  came  from  the  Atlantic  coast  The  French  inhabitants 
were  rather  in  sympathy  with  the  Americans  than  the  Eng- 
lish, but  probably  understood  little  of  "the  nature  of  the 
struggle.  Illinois  belonged  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Virginia. 
George  Rogers  Clarke,  who  visited  Kentucky  in  1775,  seems 
to  have  been  the  first  to  comprehend  the  advantages  which 
would  result  from  the  occupation  of  Illinois  by  the  Ameri- 
cans. He  visited  Virginia,  where  he  laid  his  plans  before 
Patrick  Henry,  the  Governor  of  the  State.  Clarke  received 
his  instructions,  January,  1778,  and  the  following  month  set 
out  for  Pittsburg  His  instructions  were  to  raise  seven  com- 
panies of  men,  but  he  could  only  succeed  in  enlisting  four 
commanded  by  Captains  Montgomery,  Bowman,  Helm,  and 
Harrod.  On  Corn  Island,  opposite  Louisville,  on  the  Ohio, 
Clarke  announced  his  destination  to  the  men.  At  the  mouth 
of  the  Tennessee,  a  man  named  John  Duff  was  encountered, 
with  a  party  of  hunters,  who  had  recently  visited  Kaskaskia, 
and  also  brought  the  intelligence  that  one  Rocheblave,  a 
French  Canadian,  was  in  command  at  that  point,  that  he 
kept  the  militia  well  drilled,  and  that  sentinels  were  posted 
to  watch  for  the  "Long  Knives,"  as  the  Virginians  were 
called,  of  whom  the  inhabitants  were  in  terror.  Securing  his 
boats  near  Fort  Massacre  (or  Massac,)  Clarke  undertook  the 
journey  across  the  country,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles, 
to  Kaskaskia.  It  was  accomplished  with  difficulty.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  fourth  of  July,  1778,  the  exhausted  band  of 
invaders  came  to  the  vicinity  of  Kaskaskia,  and  concealed 
themselves  in  the  hills  to  the  east  of  the  town.  After  dark 
Clarke  proceeded  to  the  old  ferry-house,  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  above  the  village,  and  at  midnight  addressed  his  troops 
on  the  banks  of  the  river.  He  divided  his  force  into  three 
parties.  Two  were  to  cross  to  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and 
enter  the  town  from  different  quarters.  The  third,  under  the 
direction  of  Clarke  himself,  was  to  capture  the  fort  on  the 
east  side.  Kaskaskia  at  that  time  was  a  village  of  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  houses.  The  British  commander  last  in 
charge  had  instilled  in  the  mind*  of  the  people  the  impres- 
sion that  the  Virginians,  otherwise  the  "  Long  Knives,"  were 
a  ferocious  band  of  murderers,  plundering  houses,  slaughter- 
ing women  and  children,  and  committing  acts  of  great  atro- 
city. Clarke  determined  to  take  advantage  of  this,  and  so 
surprise  the  inhabitants  by  fear  as  to  induce  them  to  submit 
without  resistance.  Clarke  effected  an  entrance  to  the  fort 
without  difficulty.  The  other  parties  at  a  given  signal  en- 
tered Kaskaskia  at  the  opposite  extremities,  and  with  terri- 
ble outcries  and  hideous  noises,  aroused  the  terrified  inhabi- 
tants, who  shrieked  in  their  alarm,  "The  Long  Knives!' 
"The  Long  Knives  are  here!"  The  panic  stricken  towns- 
men delivered  up  their  arms,  and  the  victory  was  accom- 
plished without  the  shedding  of  a  drop  of  blood.  M.  Roche- 
blave, the  British  commandant,  was  unconscious  of  the  pres- 
ence of  the  enemy,  till  an  officer  of  the  detachment  entered 

as 


his  bed-chamber,  and  claimed  him  as  a  prisoner.  y  In  accord- 
ance with  his  original  plan  of  conquering  the  inhabitants  by 
terror,  and  then  afterward  winning  their  regard  and  grati- 
tude by  his  clemency,  Clarke,  the  next  day,  withdrew  his 
forces  from  the  town,  and  sternly  forbade  all  communication 
between  it  and  his  soldiers.  Some  of  the  principal  militia 
officers,  citizens  of  the  town,  were  next  put  in  irons.  The 
terror  now  reached  its  height.  The  priest,  and  a  deputation 
of  five  or  six  elderly  men  of  the  village,  called  on  Clarke, 
and  humbly  requested  permission  to  assemble  in  t!.e«hurch, 
to  take  leave  of  each  other  and  commend  their  future  lives 
to  the  protection  of  a  merciful  God,  since  they  expected  to 
be  separated,  perhaps  never  to  meet  again.  Clarke  gruffly 
granted  the  privilege.  The  whole  population  convened  at 
the  church,  and  after  remaining  together  a  long  time,  the 
priest  and  a  few  others  again  waited  upon  the  commander  of 
the  American  forces,  presenting  thanks  for  the  privilege  they 
had  enjoyed,  and  desiring  to  know  what  fate  awaited 
them. 

Clarke  now  determined  to  lift  them  from  their  despair,  and 
win  their  gratitude  by  a  show  of  mercy.  "  What!"  said  he; 
"  do  you  take  us  for  savages  ?  Do  you  think  Americans  will 
strip  women  and  children,  and  take  bread  from  their  mouths? 
My  countrymen  disdain  to  make  war  on  helpless  innocents." 
He  further  reminded  them  that  the  King  of  France,  their 
former  ruler,  was  an  ally  of  the  Americans,  and  now  fighting 
their  cause.  He  told  them  to  embrace  the  side  they  deemed 
best,  and  they  should  be  respected  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
liberty  and  the  rights  of  property. 

The  revulsion  of  feeling  was  complete.  The  good  news 
spread  throughout  the  village.  The  church-bell  rang  a 
merry  peal,  and  the  delighted  inhabitants  gathered  at  the 
chapel,  where  thanks  were  offered  to  God  for  their  happy 
and  unexpected  deliverance.  The  loyalty  of  the  inhabitants 
was  assured,  and  ever  after  they  remained  faithful  to  the 
American  cause.  The  French  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia 
were  readily  reconciled  to  a  change  of  government.  In 
October,  1778,  the  Virginia  Assembly  erected  the  conquered 
territory  into  the  County  of  Illinois.  This  County  embraced 
all  the  region  north-west  of  Ohio,  and  five  large  states  have 
since  been  formed  from  it.  Colonel  Clarke  was  appointed 
military  commander  of  all  the  western  territory  north  and 
south  of  the  Ohio,  and  Colonel  John  Todd,  one  of  Clarke's 
soldiers,  who  next  to  Clarke  had  been  the  first  man  to  enter 
Fort  Gage,  was  appointed  lieutenant-commander  of  Illinois. 
In  the  spring  of  1779,  Colonel  Todd  visited  Kaskaskia,  and 
made  arrangements  for  the  organization  of  a  temporary 
government.  Many  of  the  French  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia, 
Prairie  du  Rocher,  and  the  other  settlements-,  readily  took 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Virginia.  Colonel  Todd  was  killed 
at  the  famous  battle  of  Blue  Licks,  in  Kentucky,  August, 
1782,  and  Timothy  deMontbrun,  a  Frenchman,  succeeded 
him  as  commandant  of  Illinois  County.  Of  his  administra- 
tion but  little  is  known. 

the  "compact  of  1787." 

In  1632  Illinois  became  a  possession  of  the  French  crown, 
a  dependency  of  Canada,  and  a  part  of  Louisiana.  In  1765 
the  English  flag  was  run  up  on  old   Fort  Chartres,   and 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


33 


Illinois  was  counted  among  the  treasures  of  Great  Britain. 
In  1779  it  was  taken  from  the  English  by  Col.  George 
Rogers  Clark:  this  man  was  resolute  in  nature,  wise  in  coun- 
cil, prudent  in  policy,  bold  in  action,  and  heroic  in  danger. 
Few  men  who  have  figured  in  the  early  history  of  America 
are  more  deserving  than  he.  Nothing  short  of  first-class 
ability  could  have  rescued  "  Vincins"  and  all  Illinois  from 
the  English,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  over-estimate  the  in- 
fluence of  this  achievement  upon  the  republic.  In  1779, 
Illinois  became  a  part  of  Virginia.  It  was  soon  known  as 
Illinois  county.  In  1784  Virginia  ceded  all  this  territory 
to  the  general  government  to  be  cut  into  states,  to  be  republi- 
can in  form,  with  "  the  same  right  of  sovereignty,  freedom 
and  independence  as  the  other  states." 

In  1787  it  was  the  object  of  the  wisest  and  ablest  legisla- 
tion found  in  any  merely  human  records.  No  man  can 
study  the  secret  history  of  The  Compact  of  1787  and  not 
feel  that  Providence  was  guiding  with  sleepless  eyes  these 
unborn  states.  The  ordinance  that  on  July  13, 1787,  finally 
became  the  incorporating  act,  has  a  most  marvelous  history. 
Jefferson  had  vainly  tried  to  secure  a  system  of  government 
for  the  north-western  territory.  He  was  an  emancipationist 
of  that  day,  and  favored  the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  the 
territory  Virginia  had  ceded  to  the  general  government, 
but  the  south  voted  him  down  as  often  as  it  came  up.  In 
1787,  as  late  as  July  10,  an  organizing  act  without  the 
anti-slavery  clause  was  pending.  This  concession  to  the  south 
was  expected  to  carry  it  Congress  was  in  session  in  New 
York  city.  O.i  July  5,  Rev.  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler,  of 
Massachusetts,  came  into  New  York  to  lobby  on  the  north- 
western territory.  Everything  seemed  to  fall  into  his  hands. 
Events  were  ripe :  the  state  of  the  public  credit,  the  growing  of 
southern  prejudice,  the  basis  of  his  mission,  his  personal 
character,  all  combined  to  complete  one  of  those  sudden  and 
marvelous  revolutions  of  public  sentiment  that  once  in  five 
or  ten  centuries  are  seen  to  sweep  over  a  country  like  the 
breath  of  the  Almighty.  Cutler  was  a  remarkable  man  ;  a 
graduate  of  Yale,  he  had  studied  and  taken  degrees  in  the 
three  learned  professions,  law,  divinity  and  medicine,  Har- 
vard had  given  him  his  A.  M.,  and  Yale  had  honored  herself 
by  adding  his  D.  D.  He  had  thus  America's  best  literary 
indorsement.  He  had  published  a  scientific  examination  of 
the  plants  of  New  England.  His  name  stood  second  only  to 
that  of  Franklin  as  a  scientist  in  America.  He  was  a  courtly 
gentleman  of  the  old  style,  a  man  of  commanding  presence, 
and  of  inviting  face.  Thesouthern  members  were  captivated 
by  his  genial  manners,  rare  and  profound  abilities.  He 
came  representing  a  company  that  desired  to  purchase  a 
tract  of  land  now  included  in  Ohio,  for  the  purpose  of  plant- 
ing a  colony.  Government  money  was  worth  eighteen  cents 
on  the  dollar.  This  Massachusetts  company  had  collected 
enough  to  purchase  1,500,000  acres  of  land.  Other  specu- 
lators in  New  York  made  Dr.  Cutler  their  agent ;  on  the 
12th  he  represented  a  demand  for  5,500,000  acres.  This 
would  reduce  the  national  debt.  Jefferson  and  Virginia 
were  regarded  as  authority  concerning  the  land  Virginia 
had  just  ceded.  Jefferson's  policy  wanted  to  provide  for  the 
public  credit,  and  this  was  a  good  opportunity  to  do  some- 


thing. Massachusetts  then  owned  the  territory  of  Maine, 
which  she  was  crowding  on  the  market.  She  was  opposed 
to  opening  the  north-western  region.  This  fired  the  zeal  of 
Virginia.  The  South  caught  the  inspiration,  and  all  exalted 
Dr.  Cutler.  The  English  Minister  invited  him  to  dine  with 
some  of  the  Southern  gentlemen.  He  was  the  centre  of  in- 
terest; the  entire  South  rallied  around  him.  Massachusetts 
could  not  vote  against  him,  because  many  of  the  constituent* 
of  her  members  were  interested  personally  in  the  western 
speculation  ;  thus  Cutler,  making  friends  with  the  south,  and 
doubtless  using  all  the  arts  of  the  lobby,  was  enabled  to 
command  the  situation.  True  to  deeper  conviction,  he 
dictated  one  of  the  most  compact  and  finished  documents  of 
wise  statesmanship  that  ever  adorned  any  human  law  book ; 
he  borrowed  from  Jefferson  the  term  "  Articles  of  Compact," 
which  preceding  the  federal  constitution,  rose  into  the  most 
sacred  character.  He  then  followed  very  closely  the  constitu- 
tion of  Massachusetts,  adopted  three  years  before, — its  most 
marked  points  were : 

1st:  The  exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  territory  forever. 

2d.  Provision  for  public  schools,  giving  one  township  for 
a  seminary,  and  every  section  numbered  16  in- each  town- 
ship ;  that  is,  one  thirty-sixth  of  all  the  land  for  public 
schools. 

3d.  A  provision  prohibiting  the  adoption  of  any  consti- 
tution, or  the  enactment  of  any  law  that  should  nullify 
pre-existing  contracts. 

Be  it  forever  remembered  that  this  compact  declared 
that  "  Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge  being  necessary 
to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools 
and  means  of  education  shall  always  be  encouraged,"  Dr. 
Cutler  planted  himself  on  this  platform  and  would  not  yield. 
Giving  his  unqualified  declaration  that  it  was  that  or  nothing 
— that  unless  they  could  make  the  land  desirable  they  did 
not  want  it — he  took  his  horse  and  gig  and  started  for  the 
Constitutional  Convention  in  Philadelphia.  On  July  13, 
1787,  the  bill  was  put  upon  its  passage,  and  was  unanimously 
adopted,  every  Southern  member  voting  for  it,  and  only  one 
man,  Mr.  Yates  of  New  York,  voting  against  it,  but  as  the 
States  voted  as  States,  Yates  lost  his  vote,  and  the  compact 
was  put  beyond  repeal.  Then  the  great  States  of  Ohio,  In- 
diana, Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin — a  vast  empire, 
the  heart  of  the  great  valley — were  consecrated  to  freedom, 
intelligence,  and  honesty.  In  the  light  of  these  ninety-five 
years,  it  is  evident  to  all  that  this  act  was  the  salvation  of 
the  republic  and  the  destruction  of  slavery.  Soon  the  south 
saw  their  great  blunder,  and  tried  to  repeal  the  compact. 
In  1803  Congress  referred  it  to  a  committee,  of  which  John 
Randolph  was  chairman.  He  reported  that  this  ordinance 
was  a  compact,  and  opposed  repeal.  Thus  it  stood  a  rock 
in  the  way  of  the  on-rushing  sea  of  slavery.  With  all  this 
timely  aid  it  was,  after  all,  a  most  desperate  and  protracted 
struggle  to  keep  the  soil  of  Illinois  sacred  to  freedom.  It 
was  the  natural  battle  field  for  the  irrepressible  conflict,  In. 
the  southern  end  of  the  State  Blavery  preceded  the  compact. 
It  existed  among  the  old  French  settlers,  and  was  hard  to 
eradicate.  The  southern  part  of  the  State  was  settled  from 
the  slave  States ;  and  this  population  brought  their  laws, 


M 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


custom",  and  institutions  with  them.  A  stream  of  popula- 
tion from  the  North  poured  into  the  northern  part  of  the 
State  These  sections  misunderstood  and  hated  each  other 
perfectly.  The-Southerners  regarded  the  Yankees  as  a  skin- 
ning, tricky,  penurious  race  of  peddlers,  filling  the  country 
with  tinware,  brass  clocks,  and  wooden  nutmegs.  The 
Northerner  thought  of  the  Southerner  as  a  lean,  lank,  lazy 
creature,  burrowing  in  a  hut,  and  rioting  in  whisky,  dirt 
and  ignorance.  These  causes  aided  in  making  the  struggle 
long  and  bitter.  So  strong  was  the  sympathy  with  slavery 
that  in  spite  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  and  in  spite  of  the 
deed  of  cession,  it  was  determined  to  allow  the  old  French 
settlers  to  retain  their  slaves.  Planters  from  the  slave 
States  might  bring  their  slaves,  if  they  would  give  them  a 
chance  to  choose  freedom,  or  years  of  service  and  bondage 
for  their  children  till  they  should  become  thirty  years  of  age. 
If  they  chose  freedom  they  must  leave  the  State  in  sixty 
days  or  be  sold  as  fugitives.  Servants  were  whipped  for 
offences  for  which  white  men  are  fined ;  each  lash  paid  forty 
cents  of  the  fine.  A  negro  ten  miles  from  home  without  a 
pass  was  whipped.  These  famous  laws  were  imported  from 
the  slave  States,  just  as  they  imported  laws  for  the  inspec- 
tion of  flax  and  wool  when  there  was  neither  in  the  State. 
These  black  laws  are  now  wiped  out.  A  vigorous  effort  was 
made  to  protect  slavery  in  the  State  Constitution  of  1S18  ;  it 
barely  failed.  It  was  renewed  in  1626,  when  a  convention 
was  asked  to  make  a  new  constitution.  After  a  hard  fight  the 
convention  was  defeated  ;  but  slaves  did  not  disappear  from 
the  census  of  the  State  until  1850.  There  were  mobs  and 
murders  in  the  interest  of  slavery.  Lovejoy  was  added  to 
the  list  of  martyrs — a  sort  of  first  fruits  of  that  long  line  of 
immortal  heroes  who  saw  freedom  a3  the  one  supreme  desire 
of  their  souls,  and  were  so  enamored  of  her  that  they  pre- 
ferred to  die  rather  than  survive  her. 

LAXD  TE>*CRES. 

The  early  French  settlers  held  the  possession  of  their  land 
in  common.  A  tract  of  land  was  fixed  upon  for  a  Common 
Field,  in  which  all  the  inhabitants  were  interested. 

Besides  the  Common  Field,  another  tract  of  land  was  laid 
off  on  the  Commons.  All  the  villagers  had  free  access  to 
this  as  a  place  of  pasturage  for  their  stock.  From  this  they 
also  drew  their  supply  of  fuel. 

Individual  grants  were  likewise  made.  Under  the  French 
system,  the  binds  were  granted  without  any  equivalent  con- 
sideration in  the  way  of  money,  the  individuals  satisfying 
the  authorities  that  the  lands  were  wanted  for  actual  settle- 
ment, or  for  a  purpose  likely  to  benefit  the  community.  The 
first  grant  of  land,  which  is  preserved,  is  that  made  to  Charles 
Danie,  May  10th,  1722.  The  French  grants  at  Kaskaskia 
extended  from  river  to  river,  and  at  other  places  in  the  Bot- 
tom they  commonly  extended  from  river  to  bluff.  Grants  of 
land  were  made  for  almost  all  the  American  Bottom,  from 
the  upper  limits  of  the  Common  Field  of  St  Phillip's  to 
the  lower  line  of  the  Kaskaskia  Common  Field,  a  distance 
of  nearly  thirty  miles. 

The  British  commandants,  who  assumed  the  government 
on  the  cession  of  the  territory  by  France,  exercised  the  pri- 


vilege of  making  grants,  subject  to  the  approval  of  his  Ma- 
jesty, the  King.  Colonel  Wilkins  granted  to  some  merchants 
of  Philadelphia  a  magnificent  domain  of  thirty  thousand 
acres  lying  between  the  village  of  Kaskaskia  and  Prairie  du 
Rocher,  much  of  it  already  covered  by  French  grants  pre- 
viously made.  For  the  better  carrying  out  their  plans,  the 
British  officers,  and  perhaps  their  grantees,  destroyed,  to 
some  extent,  the  records  of  the  ancient  French  grants  at 
Kaskaskia,  by  which  the  regular  claim  of  titles  and  convey- 
ances was  partly  broken.  This  British  grant  of  thirty 
thousand  acres,  which  had  been  assigned  to  John  Edgar, 
was  afterward  patented  by  Governor  St.  Clair  to  Edgar  and 
John  Murray  St  Clair,  the  Governor's  son,  to  whom  Edgar 
had  previously  conveyed  a  moiety  by  deed.  Although  much 
fault  was  found  with  the  transaction,  a  confirmation  of  the 
grant  was  secured  from  the  United  States  government 

When  Virginia  ceded  Illinois,  it  was  stipulated  that  the 
French  and  Canadian  inhabitants,  and  other  settlers,  who 
had  professed  allegiance  to  Virginia,  should  have  their 
titles  confirmed  to  them.  Congress  afterwards  authorized 
the  Governor  to  confirm  the  possessions  and  titles  of  the 
French  to  their  lands.  In  accordance  with  this  agreement 
Governor  St  Clair,  in  1790,  issued  a  proclamation  directing 
the  inhabitants  to  exhibit  their  titles  and  claims  of  the  lands 
which  they  held,  in  order  to  be  confirmed  in  their  possession. 
Where  the  instruments  were  found  to  be  authentic,  orders  of 
survey  were  issued,  the  expense  of  which  was  borne  by  the 
parties  who  claimed  ownership.  The  French  inhabitants 
were  in  such  poverty  at  this  time  that  they  were  really  una- 
ble to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  surveys,  and  a  memorial 
signed  by  P.  Gibault,  the  priest  at  Kaskaskia,  and  eighty- 
seven  others,  was  presented  to  Governor  St  Clair,  praying 
him  to  petition  Congress  for  relief  in  the  matter.  In  1791, 
Congress  directed  that  four  hundred  acres  of  land  should  be 
granted  to  the  head  of  every  family  which  had  made  improve- 
ments in  Illinois  prior  to  the  year  1788.  Congress  had  also 
directed  that  a  donation  be  given  to  each  of  the  families  then 
living  at  either  of  the  villages  of  Kaskaskia,  Prairie  du 
Rocher,  Cahokia,  Fort  Chartres,  or  St  Phillips.  These  were 
known  as  the  "  bead-right "  claims. 

At  an  early  date,  speculation  became  ac'.ive  in  the  land 
claims  of  different  kinds;  bead-rights,  improvement  rights, 
militia  right :,  and  fraudulent  claims  were  produced  in  great 
numbers.  The  French  claims  were  partly  unconfirmed, 
owi:;g  to  the  poverty  of  that  people,  and  these  were  forced 
on  the  market  with  the  others.  The  official  report  of  the 
commissioners  at  Kaskaskia,  made  in  1810,  shows  that  eight 
hundred  and  ninety  land  claims  were  rejected  as  being  ille- 
gal or  fraudulent  Three  hundred  and  seventy  were 
reported  as  being  supported  by  perjury,  and  a  considerable 
number  were  forged.  There  are  fourteen  names  given  of 
persons,  both  English  and  French,  who  made  it  a  regular 
business  to  furnish  sworn  certificates,  professing  an  intimate 
knowledge,  in  every  case,  of  the  settlers  who  had  made  cer- 
tain improvements  upon  which  claims  were  predicated  and 
when  and  where  they  were  located.  A  Frenchman,  clerk 
of  the  pari  h  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  "  without  property  and 
fjnd  of  liquor,"  after  having  given  some  two  hundred  depo- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS        35 


sitions  in  favor  of  three  land  claimant  speculators,  "  was 
induced,  '  in  the  language  of  the  report,  "  either  by  compen- 
sation, fear,  or  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  absolution  on 
any  oiher  terms,  to  declare  on  oath  that  the  said  depositions 
were  false,  and  that  in  giving  them  he  had  a  regard  for 
something  beyond  the  truth." 

The  report  of  the  commissioners  raised  many  doubts  in 
regard  to  the  validity  and  propriety  of  a  number  of  confir- 
mations by  the  Governors,  and  much  dissatisfaction  among 
the  claimants ;  and  in  consequence,  Congress  in  1812,  passed 
an  act  for  the  revision  of  these  land  claims  in  the  Kaskaskia 
district.  The  commissioners  under  this  law  were  Michael 
Jones,  John  Caldwell,  and  Thomas  Sloo.  Facts  damaging 
to  persons  who  occupied  positions  of  high  respectability  in 
the  community,  were  disclosed.  They  reported  that  the 
English  claim  of  thirty  thousand  acres  confirmed  by  Gover- 
nor St.  Clair  to  John  Edgar  and  the  Governor's  son,  John 
Murray  St.  Clair,  was  founded  in  neither  law  or  equity  ;  that 
the  patent  was  issued  after  the  Governor's  power  ceased  to 
exist,  and  the  claim  ought  not  to  be  confirmed.  Congress, 
however,  confirmed  it. 

For  a  period  of  several  years,  emigration  was  considerably 
retarded  by  the  delay  in  adjusting  land  titles.  The  act  of 
Congress  passed  in  1813,  granting  the  right  of  pre-emption 
to  settlers,  was  influential  in  bringing  the  public  lands  into 
market.  Emigrants  poured  into  the  country,  and  improve- 
ments were  rapidly  made. 

.  PHYSICAL   FEATURES   OF   THE  STATE. 

In  area  the  State  has  55,410  square  miles  of  territory.  It 
is  about  150  miles  wide  and  400  miles  long,  stretching  in 
latitude  from  Maine  to  North  Carolina  It  embraces  wide 
variety  of  climate.  It  is  tempered  on  the  north  by  the  great 
inland,  saltless,  tideless  sea,  which  helps  the  thermometer 
from  either  extreme.  Being  a  table-land,  from  690  to  1,600 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  one  is  prepared  to  find  on  the 
health  maps,  prepared  by  the  general  government,  an  almost 
clean  and  perfect  record.  In  freedom  from  fever  and  mala- 
rial diseases  and  consumptions,  the  three  deadly  enemies  of 
the  American  Saxon,  Illinois,  as  a  State,  stands  without  a 
superior,  She  furnishes  one  of  the  essential  conditions  of  a 
great  people — sound  bodies;  we  suspect  that  this  fact  lies 
back  of  that  old  Delaware  word,  Illini,  superior  men.  The 
great  battles  of  history  have  been  determinative;  dynasties  and 
destinies  have  been  strategical  battles,  chiefly  the  question  of 
position  ;  Thermopylae  has  been  the  war-cry  of  freemen  for 
twenty-four  centuries.  It  only  tells  how  much  there  may  be 
in  position.  All  this  advantage  belong  to  Illinois.  It  is  in 
the  heart  of  the  greatest  valley  in  the  world,  the  vast  region 
between  the  mountains — a  valley  that  could  feed  mankind 
for  a  thousand  years.  It  is  well  on  toward  the  centre  of  the 
continent.  It  is  in  the  great  temperate  belt,  in  which  have 
been  found  nearly  all  the  aggressive  civilizations  of  history. 
It  has  sixty-five  miles  of  frontage  on  the  head  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan. With  the  Mississippi  forming  the  western  and  south- 
ern boundary,  with  the  Ohio  running  along  the  south-eastern 
line,  with  the  Illinois  river  and  Canal  dividing  the  State 
diagonally  from  the  lake  to  the  Lower  Mississippi,  and  with 
the  Rock  and  Wabash  rivers  furnishing  altogether  2,000 


•miles  of  water-front,  connecting  with,  and  running  through, 
in  all  about  12,000  miles  of  navigable  water.  But  this  is 
not  all.  These  waters  are  made  most  available  by  the  fact 
that  the  lake  and  the  State  lie  on  the  ridge  running  into  the 
great  valley  from  the  east.  Within  cannon-shot  of  the  lake 
the  water  runs  away  from  the  lake  to  the  gulf.  The  lake 
'how  empties  at  both  ends,  one  into  the  Atlantic  and  one  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  lake  thus  seems  to  hang  over  the 
land.  This  makes  the  dockage  most  serviceable ;  there  are 
no  steep  banks  to  damage  it.  Both  lake  and  river  are  made 
for  use.  The  climate  varies  from  Portland  to  Richmond. 
It  favors  every  product  of  the  continent  including  the  tropics, 
with  less  than  half  a  dozen  exceptions.  It  produces  every 
great  nutriment  of  the  world  except  bananas  and  rice.  It 
is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  it  is  the  most  productive  spot 
known  to  civilization.  With  the  soil  full  of  bread  and  the 
earth  full  of  minerals;  with  an  uppsr  surface  of  food  and  an 
under  layer  of  fuel;  with  perfect  natural  drainage,  and 
abundant  springs  and  streams  and  navigable  rivers ;  half 
way  between  the  forests  of  the  North  and  the  fruits  of  the 
South ;  within  a  day's  ride  of  the  great  deposits  of  iron,  coal, 
copper,  lead  and  zinc:  containing  and  controlling  the  great 
grain,  cattle,  pork,  and  lumber  markets  of  the  world,  it  is 
not  strange  that  Illinois  has  the  advantage  of  position.  This 
advantage  has  been  supplemented  by  the  character  of  the 
population.  In  the  early  days  when  Illinois  was  first  admit- 
ted to  the  union,  her  population  were  chiefly  from  Kentucky 
and  Virginia.  But,  in  the  conflict  of  ideas  concerning  sla- 
very, a  strong  tide  of  immigration  came  in  from  the  East,  and 
soon  changed  this  composition.  In  1880,  her  now  native 
population  were  from  colder  soils.  New  York  had  furnished 
143,290:  Ohio  gave  172,623:  Pennsylvania  108,352:  the 
entire  South  gave  us  only  216,734.  In  all  her  cities,  and  in 
all  her  German  and  Scandinavian  and  other  foreign  colonies, 
Illinois  has  only  about  one-fifth  of  her  people  of  foreign 
birth. 

PROGRESS   OF   DEVELOPMENT. 

One  of  the  greatest  developments  in  the  early  history 
of  Illinois,  is  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal,  connecting  the 
Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers  with  the  lakes.  It  was  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  the  State.  It  was  recommended  by 
Governor  Bond,  the  first  governor,  in  his  first  message.  Two 
bright  young  engineers  surveyed  it,  and  estimated  the  cost 
at  $600,000  or  $700,000.  It  finally  cost  $8,000,000?  In 
1825,  a  law  was  passed  to  incorporate  the  canal  company, 
but  no  stock  was  sold.  In  1826,  upon  the  solicitation  of 
Daniel  P.  Cook,  congress  gave  800,000  acres  of  land  on  the 
line  of  the  work.  In  1828,  anbther  law-commissioner  was 
appointed,  and  work  commenced  with  new  survey  and  new 
estimates.  In  1834-35,  George  Farquar  made  an  able 
report  on  the  whole  matter.  This  was,  doubtless,  the 
ablest  report  ever  made  to  a  western  legislature,  and  it  be- 
came the  model  for  subsequent  reports  and  action.  From 
this  the  work  went  on  until  it  was  finished  in  1848.  It  cost 
the  State  a  large  amount-of  money ;  but  it  gave  to  the  indus- 
tries of  the  State  an  impetus  that  pushed  it  up  into  the  first 
rank  of  greatness.  It  was  not  built  as  a  speculation.  But 
it  has  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  State  an  average  annual 

35 


36 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Dett  sum  of  over  111,000.  Pending  the  construction  of  the 
canal,  the  land  and  town-lot  fever  broke  out  in  the  state,  in 
1834-35.  It  took  on  the  malignant  type  in  Chicago,  lifting 
the  town  up  into  a  city.  The  disease  spread  over  the  entire 
State  and  adjoining  States.  It  was  epidemic.  It  cut  up 
men's  farms  without  regard  to  locality,  and  cut  up  the  purses 
of  the  purchasers  without  regard  to  consequences.  There 
was  no  lack  of  buyers  ;  speculators  and  money  swarmed  into 
the  country.  This  distemper  seized  upon  the  Legislature  in 
1836-37,  and  left  not  one  to  tell  the  tale.  They  enacted  a 
system  of  internal  improvement  without  a  parallel  in  the 
grandeur  of  its  conception.  They  ordered  the  construction 
of  1 ,300  miles  of  railroad,  crossing  the  State  in  all  directions. 
This  was  surpassed  by  the  river  and  canal  improvements. 
There  were  a  few  counties  not  touched  by  either  railroad  or 
river  or  canal,  and  those  were  to  be  comforted  and  compen- 
sated by  the  free  distribution  of  $200,000  among  them.  To 
inflate  this  balloon  beyond  credence  it  was  ordered  that  work 
should  be  commenced  on  both  ends  of  each  of  these  railroads 
and  rivers,  and  at  each  river-crossing,  all  at  the  same  time. 
The  appropriations  for  the  vast  improvements  were  over 
$12,000,000,  and  commissioners  were  appointed  to  borrow 
money  on  the  credit  of  the  State.  Remember  that  all  this  -was 
in  the  early  days  of  railroading,  when  railroads  were  luxu- 
ries ;  that  the  State  had  whole  counties  with  scarcely  a 
cabin,  and  that  the  population  of  the  State  was  less  than 
400,000,  and  you  can  form  some  idea  of  the  vigor  with 
which  these  brave  men  undertook  the  work  of  making  a 
great  State.  In  the  light  of  history  it  appears  that  this  was 
only  a  premature  throb  of  the  power  that  actually  slumbered 
in  the  soil  of  the  State.  It  was  Hercules  in  the  cradle.  At 
this  juncture  the  State  bank  loaned  its  funds  largely  to 
Godfrey  Gilman  &  Co.,  and  other  leading  houses  for  the 
purpose  of  drawing  trade  from  St.  Louis  to  Alton.  Soon 
they  failed,  and  took  down  the  bank  with  them.  In  1840, 
all  hope  seemed  gone.  A  population  of  480.000  were  load- 
ed with  a  debt  of  $14,000,000.  It  had  only  six  small  cities, 
really  only  towns,  namely:  Chicago,  Alton,  Springfield, 
Quincy,  Galena  and  Nauvoo.  This  debt  was  to  be  cared 
for  when  there  was  not  a  dollar  in  the  treasury,  and  when 
the  State  had  borrowed  itself  out  of  all  credit,  and  when 
there  was  not  good  money  enough  in  the  hands  of  all  the 
people  to  pay  the  interest  of  the  debt  for  a  single  year.  Yet 
in  the  presence  of  all  these  difficulties  the  young  State 
steadily  refused  to  repudiate.  Gov.  Ford  took  hold  of  the 
problem  and  solved  it,  bringing  the  State  through  in  triumph. 
Having  touched  lightly  upon  some  of  the  most  distinctive 
points  in  the  history  of  Illinois,  let  us  next  briefly  consider 
the 

MATERIAL   RESOURCES   OF   THE   STATE. 

It  is  substantially  a  garden  four  hundred  miles  long  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  wide.  Its  soil  is  chiefly  a  black  sandy 
loam,  varying  from  six  inches  to  six  feet  thick.  On  the 
American  Bottoms  it  has  been  cultivated  for  over  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  without  renewal.  About  the  old  French 
towns  it  has  yielded  corn  for  a  century  and  a  half  without 
rest  or  help.  It  produces  nearly  everything  green  in  the  tem- 
perate and  tropical  zones ;  she  leads  any  of  the  other  States 

36 


in  the  number  of  acres  actually  under  plow.  Her  products 
from  25,000,000  acresare  incalculable.  Her  mineral  wealth 
is  scarcely  second  to  her  agricultural  power.  She  has  coal, 
iron,  lead,  copper,  zinc,  many  varieties  of  building  stone, 
fire  clay,  cuma  clay,  common  brick  and  tile  clay,  sands  of 
all  kinds,  gravel,  mineral  paint,  everything  needed  for  a 
high  civilization.  Left  to  herself,  she  has  the  elements  of 
all  greatness.  The  single  item  of  coal  is  too  vast  for  an 
appreciative  handling  in  figures.  We  can  handle  it  in  gene- 
ral terms,  like  algebraical  signs,  but  long  before  we  get  up 
into  the  millions  and  billions,  the  human  mind  drops  down 
from  comprehension  to  mere  symbolic  apprehension.  Nearly 
four-fifths  of  the  entire  State  is  underlaid  with  a  deposit  of 
coal  more  than  forty  feet  thick  on  the  average,  inclftding  all 
strata  (now  estimated  by  recent  surveys,  at  seventy  feet 
thick).  You  can  get  some  idea  of  its  amount,  as  you  do  of  the 
amount  of  the  national  debt  There  it  is,  41,000  square 
miles,  one  vast  mine  into  which  you  could  bury  scores  of 
European  and  ancient  empires,  and  have  room  enough 
all  round  to  work  without  knowing  that  they  had  been 
sepulchered  there.  Put  this  vast  coal-bed  down  by  the 
other  great  coal  deposits  of  the  world,  and  its  importance 
becomes  manifest.  Great  Britain,  has  1 2,000  square  miles 
of  coal;  Spain  3,000;  France  1,719;  Belgium  578;  Illi- 
nois about  twice  as  many  square  miles  as  all  combined. 
Virginia  has  20,000  square  miles ;  Pennsylvania,  16,000 ; 
Ohio,  12,000;  Illinois  has  31,000  square  miles  ;  one-seventh 
of  all  the  known  coal  on  this  continent  is  in  Illinois. 

Could  we  sell  the  coal  in  this  single  State  for  one-seventh 
of  one  cent  a  ton  it  would  pay  the  national  debt  Great 
Britain  uses  enough  mechanical  power  to-day  to  give  each 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  kingdom  the  help  and  service 
of  nineteen  untiring  servants.  No  wonder  she  has  leisure 
and  luxuries.  No  wonder  the  home  of  the  common  artisan 
has  in  it  more  luxuries  than  could  be  found  in  the  palace  of 
good  old  King  Arthur.  Think,  if  you  can  conceive  of  it,  of 
the  vast  army  of  servants  that  slumber  in  Illinois,  impatient- 
ly awaiting  the  call  of  genius  to  come  forth  to  minister  to 
our  comfort  At  the  present  rate  of  consumption  England's 
coal  supply  will  be  exhausted  in  250  years.  At  tho  same 
rate  of  consumption  (which  far  exceeds  our  own)  the  deposit 
of  coal  in  Illinois  will  last  120,000  years.  Let  us  now  turn 
from  this  reserve  power  to  £he 

ANNUAL   PRODUCTS 

of  the  State.  "We  shall  not  be  humiliated  in  this  field.  Here 
we  strike  the  secret  of  our  national  credit.  Nature  provides 
a  market  in  the  constant  appetite  of  the  race.  For  several 
years  past  the  annual  production  of  wheat  in  Illinois  has 
exceeded  30,000,000.  That  is  more  wheat  than  was  raised 
by  any  other  State  in  the  Union ;  with  corn,  she  comes  for- 
ward with  140,000,000  bushels,  twice  as  much  as  any  other 
State,  and  one-sixth  of  all  the  corn  raised  in  the  United 
States.  She  harvested  2,767,000  tons  of  hay,  nearly  one- 
tenth  of  ail  the  hay  in  the  Republic.  It  is  not  generally 
appreciated,  but  it  is  true,  that  the  hay  crop  of  the  country 
is  worth  more  than  the  cotton  crop ;  the  hay  of  Illinois  equals 
the  cotton  of  Louisiana. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


37 


The  valuation  of  her  farm  implements  is  $230,000,000, 
and  the  value  of  her  livestock,  is  only  second  to  the  great 
State  of  New  York.  She  raises  from  25,000,000  to  30,000,- 
000  hogs  annually,  and  according  to  the  last  census  packed 
about  one  h.sC.i  of  all  that  were  packed  in  the  United  States. 
This  is  no  insignificant  item.  Pork  is  a  growing  demand  of 
the  old  world.  Illinois  marked  $04,000,000  worth  of 
slaughtered  animals ;  more  than  any  other  State,  and  one- 
seventh  of  all  the  States. 

Illinois  is  a  grand  and  wonderful  State,  peerless  in  the  fer- 
tility of  her  soil,  and  inexhaustible  resources.  She  is  fast 
marching  on  towards  her  predestined  place  as  first  among  the 
sisterhood. 

We  subjoin  a  list  of  the  things  in  which  Illinois  excels  all 
other  States. 

Depth  and  richness  of  soil ;  per  cent,  of  good  ground  ; 
acres  of  improved  land ;  large  farms — number  of  farmers ; 
amount  of  wheat,  corn  oats,  and  honey  produced  ;  value  of 
animals  for  slaughter;  number  of  hogs;  amount  of  pork; 
and  number  of  horses. 

Illinois  excels  all  other  States  in  miles  of  railroads  and  in 
miles  of  postal  service,  and  in  money  orders  sold  per  annum, 
and  in  the  amount  of  lumber  sold  in.  her  markets.  She  pays 
a  larger  amount  of  internal  revenue  to  the  general  govern- 
ment than  any  other  state. 

Illinois  is  only  second  in  many  important  matters.  This 
sample  list  comprises  a  few  of  the  more  important: 

Permanent  school  fund  (good  for  a  young  State) ;  total 
income  for  educational  purposes;  number  of  publishers  of 
books,  maps,  papers,  etc- ;  value  of  farm  products  and  im- 
plements, and  of  live  stock  ;  in  tons  of  coal  mined. 

The  shipping  of  Illinois  u  only  second  to  New  York.  Out 
of  one  port  during  the  business  hours  of  the  season  of  navi- 
gation she  sends  forth  a  vessel  every  ten  minutes.  This  does 
not  include  canal  boats,  which  go  one  every  five  minutes. 
No  wonder  she  is  only  second  in  number  of  bankers  and 
brokers  or  in  physicians  and  surgeons. 

She  is  third  in  colleges,  teachers  and  schools ;  cattle,  lead, 
hay,  flax,  sorghum,  and  beeswax. 

She  is  fourth  in  population  ;  in  children  enrolled  in  public 
schools,  in  law  schools,  in  butter,  potatoes,  and  carriages. 

She  is  fifth  in  value  of  real  and  personal  property,  in  theo- 
logical seminaries  and  colleges  exclusively  for  women,  in 
milk  sold,  and  in  boots  and  shoes  manufactured,  and  in  book- 
binding. 

She  is  only  seventh  in  the  production  of  wood,  while  she  is 
the  twelfth  in  area.  She  now  has  much  more  wood  and 
growing  timber  than  she  had  thirty  years  ago. 

A  few  leading  industries  will  justify  emphasis.  She  man- 
ufactures $210,000,000  worth  of  goods,  which  place  her 
nearly  equal  to  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 

In  the  number  of  copies  of  commercial  and  financial  news- 
papers issued,  she  is  only  second  to  New  York,  and  in  her 
miles  of  railroads  she  leads  all  other  States.  More  than  two- 
thirds  of  her  land  is  within  five  miles  of  a  railroad  and  less 
than  two  per  cent,  is  more  than  fifteen  miles  away. 

The  Religion  and  Morals  of  the  State  keep  step  with  her 
productions  and  growth.     She  was  born  of  the  missionary 


spirit.  It  was  a  minister  who  secured  her  the  ordinance  of 
1787,  by  which  she  has  been  saved  from  slavery,  ignorance, 
and  dishonesty.  Rev.  Mr.  Wiley,  pastor  of  a  Scotch  congre- 
gation in  Randolph  County,  petitioned  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1818  to  recognize  Jesus  Christ  as  King,  and 
the  Scriptures  as  the  only  necessary  guide  and  book  of  law. 
The  Convention  did  not  act  in  the  case,  and  the  old  cove- 
nanters refused  to  accept  citizenship.  They  never  voted 
until  1824,  when  the  slavery  question  was  submitted  to  the 
people.  But  little  mob  violence  has  ever  been  felt  in  the 
State.  In  1817  the  regulators  disposed  of  a  band  of  horse 
thieves  that  infested  the  territory.  The  Mormon  indignities 
finally  awoke  the  same  spirit.  Alton  was  also  the  scene  of  a 
pro-slavery  mob,  in  which  Lovejoy  w,as  added  to  the  list  of 
martyrs.  The  moral  sense  of  the  people  makes  the  law 
supreme,  and  gives  the  State  unruffled  peace.  With  about 
$23,000,000  in  church  property,  and  4,321  church  organiza- 
tions, the  State  has  that  divine  police,  the  sleepless  patrol  of 
moral  ideas,  that  alone  is  able  to  secure  perfect  safety.  Con- 
science takes  the  knife  from  the  assassin's  hand  and  the  blud- 
geon from  the  grasp  of  the  highwayman.  We  sleep  in  safety 
not  because  we  are  behind  bolts  and  bars — these  only  de- 
fend the  innocent ;  not  because  a  lone  officer  sleeps  on  a 
distant  corner  of  the  street ;  not  because  a  sheriff  may  call 
his  posse  from  a  remote  part  of  the  county ;  but  because  con- 
science guards  the  very  portals  of  the  air  and  stirs  in  the 
deepest  recesses  of  the  public  mind.  This  spirit  issues  within 
the  State  9,500,000  copies  of  religious  papers  annually,  and 
receives  still  more  from  without.  Thus  the  crime  of  the 
State  is  only  one-fourth  that  of  New  York  and  one-half  that 
of  Pennsylvania. 

Illinois  never  had  but  one  duel  between  her  own  citizens. 
In  Belleville,  in  1820,  Alphonso  Stewart  and  William  Ben- 
nett arranged  to  vindicate  injured  honor.  The  seconds 
agreed  to  make  it  a  sham,  and  make  them  shoot  blanks. 
Stewart  was  in  the  secret  Bennett  mistrusted  something, 
and,  unobserved,  slipped  a  bullet  into  his  gun  and  killed 
Stewart.  He  then  fled  the  State.  After  two  years  he  was 
caught,  tried,  convicted,  and,  in  spite  of  friends  and  political 
aid,  was  hung.  This  fixed  the  code  of  honor  on  a  Christian 
basis,  and  terminated  its  use  in  Illinois.  The  early  preachers 
were  generally  ignorant  men,  who  were  accounted  eloquent 
according  to  the  strength  of  their  voices.  Gov.  Ford  says, 
"Nevertheless  these  first  preachers  were  of  incalculable  ben- 
efit to  the  country.  They  inculcated  justice  and  morality. 
To  them  are  we  indebted  for  the  first  Christian  character  of 
the  Protestant  portion  of  the  people." 

In  Education,  Illinois  surpasses  her  material  resources.  The 
ordinance  of  1787  consecrated  one  thirty-sixth  of  her  soil  to 
common  schools,  and  the  law  of  1818,  the  first  law  that  went 
upon  her  statutes,  gave  three  per  cent,  of  all  the  rest  to  Educa- 
tion. The  old  compact  secures  this  interest  forever,  and  by  its 
yoking  together  morality  and  intelligence  it  precludes  the 
legal  interference  with  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools.  With 
such  a  start  it  is  natural  that  wc  should  have  about  11,500 
schools,  and  that  our  iliteracy  should  be  less  than  New  York 
or  Pennsylvania,  and  about  one-half  of  Massachusetts.  What 
a  grand  showing  for  so  young  a  State.     These  public  schools 


38 


'HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


soon  made  colleges  inevitable.  The  first  college,  still  flour- 
ishing, was  started  in  Lebanon  in  1828,  by  he  M.  E.  Church, 
and  named  after  Bishop  McKendree.  Illinois  college  at 
Jacksonville  followed  in  1830,  supported  by  the  Presbyterians. 
In  1832  the  Baptists  built  Shurtleff  college  at  Alton,  and 
Knox  college  at  Galesburg  followed  in  1838,  and  Jubilee 
college  at  Peoria  in  1847,  and  the  good  Catholic  missionaries 
long  prior  to  this  had  established  in  various  parts  of  the  State, 
colleges,  seminaries  and  parochial  schools.  After  these  early 
years  colleges  have  rained  down.  A  settler  could  hardly 
encamp  on  the  prairie  but  a  college  would  spring  up  by  his 
wagon.  The  State  now  has  one  very  well  endowed  and 
equipped  university,  namely  the  North-western  University, 
at  Evanston,  with  six  colleges,  ninety  instructors,  over  one 
thousand  students,  and  $1,500,000  endowment  Rev.  J.  M. 
Peck  was  the  first  educated  Protestant  minister  in  the  State. 
He  settled  at  Rock  Spring,  St.  Clair  County,  about  1820,  and 
has  left  his  impress  on  the  State.  He  was  a  large  contribu- 
tor to  the  literature  of  that  day  in  this  State  ;  about  1 837  he 
published  a  Gazetteer  of  Illinois.  Soon  after  John  Russell, 
of  BlufTdale,  published  essays  and  tales  showing  genius. 
Judge  James  Hall  published  the  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine 
with  great  ability,  and  an  annual  called  The  Western  Sou- 
venir, which  gave  him  an  enviable  fame  all  over  the  United 
States.  From  these  beginnings,  Illinois  has  gone  on  till  she 
has  more  volumes  in  public  libraries  even  than  Massachu- 
setts, and  of  the  44,500,000  volumes  in  all  the  public  libra- 
ries of  the  United  Sates,  she  has  one-thirteenth. 

In  1860  she  had  eighteen  colleges  and  seminaries ;  in  1870 
she  had  eighty. 

That  is  a  grand  advance  for  the  war  decade.  Her  growth 
in  the  last  ten  years  has  been  equally  marvellous. 

This  brings  us  to  a  record  unsurpassed  in  any  age. 

THE   WAR   RECORD   OF   ILLINOIS. 

We  hardly  know  where  to  begin,  or  how  to  advance,  or 
what  to  say,  as  we  can  at  best  give  only  a  broken  synopsis 
of  her  gallant  deeds.  Her  sons  have  always  been  foremost 
on  fields  of  danger.  In  the  war  of  1812  she  aided  in  main- 
taining national  sovereignty.  In  1831-32,  at  the  call  of 
Gov.  Reynolds,  her  sons  drove  Blackhawk  over  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

When  the  Mexican  war  came,  in  May,  1846,  8,370  men 
offered  themselves  when  only  3,720  could  be  accepted.  The 
fields  of  Buena  Vista,  Chapultepec  and  Vera  Cruz,  and  the 
storming  of  Cerro  Gordo,  will  perpetuate  the  bravery  and 
the  glory  of  the  Illinois  soldier.  But  it  was  reserved  till 
rtur  day  for  her  sons  to  find  a  field  and  a  cause  and  a  foe- 
man  that  could  fitly  illustrate  their  spirit  and  heroism. 
Illinois  put  into  her  own  regiments  for  the  United  States 
government  256,000  men,  and  into  the  army  through  other 
states  enough  to  swell  the  number  to  290,000.  This  far  ex- 
ceeds all  the  soldiers  of  the  federal  government  in  all  the 
war  of  the  revolution.  Her  total  years  of  service  were 
600,000.  She  enrolled  men  from  eighteen  to  forty-five 
years  of  age  when  the  law  of  Congress  in  1864 — the  test 
time — only  asked  for  those  from  twenty  to  forty-five.  Her 
enrollment  was  otherwise  excessive.     Her  people  wanted  to 

38 


go  and  did  not  take  the  pains  to  correct  the  enrollment. 
Thus  the  basis  of  fixing  the  quota  was  too  great,  and  then 
the  quota  itself,  at  least  in  the  trying  time,  was  far  above 
any  other  State.  Thus  the  demand  on  some  counties,  as 
Monroe,  for  example,  took  every  able-bodied  man  in  the 
county,  and  then  did  not  have  enough  to  fill  the  quota. 
Moreover,  Illinois  sent  20,844  men  for  ninety  or  one  hundred 
days,  for  whom  no  credit  was  asked.  When  Mr.  Lincoln's 
attention  was  called  to  the  inequality  of  the  quota  compared 
with  other  states,  he  replied,  "  The  country  needs  the  sacri- 
fice. We  must  put  the  whip  on  the  free  horse."  In  spite 
of  these  disadvantages  Illinois  gave  to  the  country  73,000 
years  of  service  above  all  calls.  With  one-thirteenth  of 
the  population  of  the  loyal  States,  she  sent  regularly  one- 
tenth  of  all  the  soldiers,  and  in  the  peril  of  the  closing 
calls,  when  patriots  were  few  and  weary,  she  then  sent  one- 
eighth  of  all  that  were  called  for  by  her  loved  and  honored 
son  in  the  White  House.  Her  mothers  and  daughters  went 
into  the  fields  to  raise  the  grain  and  keep  the  children  to- 
gether, while  the  fathers  and  older  sons  went  to  the  harvest 
fields  of  the  world.  What  a  glorious  record  there  is  treas- 
ured up  in  the  history  of  this  great  country  for  the  patriotic 
Illinois  soldier.  Her  military  record  during  the  Rebellion 
stands  peerless  among  the  other  States.  Ask  any  soldier 
with  a  good  record  of  his  own,  who  is  thus  able  to  judge, 
and  he  will  tell  you  that  the  Illinois  men  went  in  to  win. 
It  is  common  history  that  the  greater  victories  were  won  in 
the  West.  When  everything  else  was  dark,  Illinois  was  gain- 
ing victories  all  down  the  river,  and  dividing  the  confederacy, 
Sherman  took  with  him  on  Lis  great  march  forty-five  regi 
ments  of  Illinois  infantry,  three  companies  of  artillery,  and 
one  company  of  calvary.  He  could  not  avoid  going  to  the 
sea.  Lincoln  answered  all  rumors  of  Sherman's  defeat  with 
"  It  is  impossible ;  there  is  a  mighty  sight  of  fight  in  100,- 
000  Western  men."  Illinois  soldiers  brought  home  300 
battle-flags.  The  first  United  States  flag  that  floated  over 
Richmond  was  an  Illinois  flag  She  sent  messengers  and 
nurses  to  every  field  and  hospital,  to  care  for  her  sick  and 
wounded  sons.  When  individuals  had  given  all,  then  cities 
and  towns  came  forward  with  their  credit  to  the  extent-  of 
many  millions,  to  aid  these  men  and  their  families.  Illinois 
gave  the  country  the  great  general  of  the  war — Ulysses  S. 
Grant — since  honored  with  two  terms  of  the  Presidency  of 
the  United  States. 

One  other  name  from  Illinois  comes  up  in  all  minds, 
embalmed  in  all  hearts,  that  must  hav£  the  supreme  place 
in  this  story  of  our  glory  and  of  our  nation's  honor :  that 
name  is  Abiaham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois.  The  analysis  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  character  is  difficult  on  account  of  its  symmetry. 
In  this  age  we  look  with  admiration  at  his  uncompromising 
honesty.  And  well  we  may,  for  this  saved  us  thousands 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  country  who  knew 
him  only  as  "Honest  Old  Abe,"  and  voted  for  him  on  that 
account ;  and  wisely  did  they  choose,  for  no  other  man  could 
have  carried  us  through  the  fearful  night  of  the  war. 
When  his  plans  were  too  vast  for  our  comprehension  and 
his  faith  in  the  cause  too  sublime  for  our  participation, 
when  it  was  all  night  about  us,  and  all  dread  before  us. 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


39 


and  all  sad  and  desolate  behind  us  :  when  not  one  ray  shone 
upon  our  cause ;  when  traitors  were  haughty  and  exultant 
at  the  south,  and  fierce  and  blasphemous  at  the  North ; 
when  the  loyal  men  here  seemed  almost  in  the  minority; 
when  the  stoutest  heart  quailed,  when  generals  were  defeat- 
ing each  other  for  place,  and  contractors  were  leeching  out 
the  very  heart's  blood  of  the  prostrate  republic:  when 
everything  else  had  failed  us,  we  looked  at  thi3  calm,  patient 
man  standing  like  a  rock  in  the  storm  and  said,  "  Mr.  Lin- 
coln is  honest,  and  we  will  trust  him  still."  Holding  to  this 
single  point  with  the  energy  of  faith  and  despair  we  held 
together,  and,  under  God,  he  brought  us  through  to  victory. 
His  practical  wisdom  made  him  the  wonder  of  all  lands. 
With  such  certainty  did  Mr.  Lincoln  follow  causes  to  their 
ultimate  effects,  that  his  foresight  of  contingencies  seemed 
almost  prophetic.  He  is  radiant  with  all  the  great  virtues, 
and  his  memory  shall  shed  a  gloi-y  upon  this  age  that  shall 
fill  the  eyes  of  men  as  they  look  into  history.  Other  men 
have  excelled  him  in  some  points,  but  taken  at  all  points,  all 
in  all,  he  stands  head  and  shoulders  above  every  other  man 
of  six  thousand  years.  An  administrator,  he  served  the 
nation  in  the  perils  of  unparalleled  civil  war.  A  statesman, 
he  justified  his  measures  by  their  success.  A  philanthropist, 
he  gave  liberty  to  one  race  and  salvation  to  another.  A 
moralist,  he  bowed  from  the  summit  of  human  power  to  the 
foot  of  the  Cross,  and  became  a  Christian.  A  mediator,  he 
exercised  mercy  under  the  most  absolute  obedience  to  law. 
A  leader,  he  was  no  partizan.  A  commander,  he  was  un- 
tainted with  blood.  A  ruler  in  desperate  times,  he  was 
unsullied  with  crime.  A  man,  he  has  left  no  word  of  pas- 
sion, no  thought  of  malice,  no  trick  of  craft,  no  act  of 
jealousy,  no  purpose  of  selfish  ambition.  Thus  perfected, 
without  a  model  and  without  a  peer,  he  was  dropped  into 
these  troubled  years  to  adorn  and  embellish  all  that  is  good 
and  all  that  is  great  in  our  humanity,  and  to  present  to  all 
coming  time  the  divine  idea  of  free  government.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  away  down  in  the  future,  when  the 
Republic  has  fallen  from  its  niche  in  the  wall  of  time;  when 
the  great  war  itself  shall  have  faded  out  in  the  distance  like 
a  mist  on  the  horizon  ;  and  when  the  Anglo-Saxon  language 
shall  be  spoken  only  by  the  tongue  of  the  stranger,  then  the 
generation  looking  this  way  shall  see  the  great  President  as 
the  supreme  figure  in  this  vortex  of  hist  ry. 

CIVIL    ORGANIZATION. 

The  history  of  Illinois  has  been  traced  while  a  possession 
of  France,  and  when  under  the  British  government ;  and 
the  formation  of  Illinois  as  a  County  of  Virginia  has  been 
noted.  The  several  States  afterwards  agreed  on  the  adop- 
tion of  Articles  of  the  Confederation,  to  cede  their  claims  to 
the  western  land  to  the  General  government.  Virginia 
executed  her  deed  of  cession  March  1st,  1784.  For  several 
years  after,  there  was  an  imperfect  admistration  of  the  law 
in  Illinois.  The  French  customs  partly  held  force,  and 
affairs  were  partly  governed  by  the  promulgations  of  the 
British  commandants  issued  from  Fort  Chartres,  and  by  the 
regulations  which  had  subsequently  been  issued  bv  the  Vir- 
ginia authorities. 


By  the  ordinance  of  1787,  all  the  territory  north-west  of 
the  Ohio  was  constituted  into  one  district,  the  laws  to  be 
administered  by  a  governor  and  secretary  ;  a  court  was  insti- 
tuted of  three  judges.  A  general  assembly  was  provided 
for,  the  members  to  be  chosen  by  the  people.  General 
Arthur  St.  Clair  was  selected  by  Congress,  as  Governor  of 
the  north-western  territory.  The  seat  of  government  was  at 
Marietta,  Ohio. 

In  the  year  1795,  Governor  St.  Clair  divided  St.  Clair 
County.  All  south  of  a  line  running  through  the  New 
Design  settlement  fin  the  present  County  of  Monroe)  was 
erected  into  the  County  of  Randolph.  In  honor  of  Edmund 
Randolph  of  Virginia,  the  new  county  received  its  name. 

Shadrach  Bond,  afterwards  the  first  Governor,  was  elected 
from  Illinois,  a  member  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  which 
convened  at  Cincinnati,  in  January,  1799.  In  1800  the 
Territory  of  Indiana  was  formed,  of  which  Illinois  consti- 
tuted a  part,  with  the  seat  of  government  at  Vincennes. 
About  1806,  among  other  places  in  the  West,  Aaron  Burr 
visited  Kajkaskia  in  an  endeavor  to  enlist  men  for  his 
treasonable  scheme  against  the  government.  In  1805, 
George  Fisher  was  elected  from  Randolph  County  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Territorial  Legislature,  and  Pierre  Menard  was 
chosen  member  of  the  Legislative  Council. 

By  act  of  Congress,  1809,  the  Territory  of  Illinois  was 
constituted.  Ninian  Edwards  was  appointed  Governor  of 
the  newly  organized  Territory,  and  the  seat  of  government 
established  at  Kaskaskia. '  Nathaniel  Pope,  a  relative  of 
Edwards,  received  the  appointment  of  Secretary. 

For  nearly  four  years  after  the  organization  of  the  Terri- 
torial Government  no  legislature  existed  in  Blinois.  An 
election  for  representatives  was  held  on  the  eighth,  ninth, 
and  tenth  of  October,  1812.  Shadrach  Bond,  then  a  resi- 
dent of  St.  Clair  County,  was  elected  the  first  Delegate  to 
Congress  from  Illinois.  Pierre  Menard  was  chosen  from 
Randolph  County  member  of  the  Legislative  Council,  and 
George  Fisher  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  Legis- 
lature convened  at  Kaskaskia  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  Novem- 
ber, 1812. 

In  April,  1818,  a  bill  providing  for  the  ad:niisiou  of  Illi- 
nois into  the  Union  as  a  sovereign  State  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress. A  Convention  to  frame  a  Constitution  assemblel  at 
Kaskaskia  in  the  following  July.  The  first  election  under 
the  Constitution  was  held  in  September,  1818,  and  Shadrach 
Bond  was  elected  Governor,  and  Pierre  Menard,  Lieutenant 
Governor  Illinois  was  now  declared  by  Congress  admitted 
to  the  Union  as  on  an  equal  footing  in  all  respects  with  the 
original  States.  The  Legislature  again  met  at  Kaskaskia  in 
January,  1819.  This  was  the  last  session  ever  held  at  Kas- 
kaskia. Vandalia,  the  same  year,  was  selected  as  the  Capital 
of  the  State.  It  was  stipulated  that  Vandalia  was  to  be  the 
Capital  for  twenty  years.  At  the  end  of  that  period  it  was 
changed  to  Springfield.  Below  we  give  list  of  governors 
and  staff  officers  of  Illinois. 

Illinois  was  constituted  a  separate  Territory  by  act  of  Con- 
gress February  3d,  1809.  The  boundaries  were  described 
as  follows : 

88 


40 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


ILLINOIS  TERRITORY. 


from  1809, 


to  1882. 


*  "  That  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  March  next,  all 
that  part  of  the  Indiana  Territory  which  lies  west  of  the 
Wabash  river  and  a  direct  linedrawn  from  the  said  Wabash 
river  and  Post  Vincennes  due  north  to  the  territorial  line 
between  the  United  States  and  Canada,  shall  for  the  purpose 
of  temporary  government,  constitute  a  separate  territory,  and 
be  called  '  Illinois.' " 

The  seat  of  government  was  fixed  at  Kaskaskia. 

The  territorial  government  was  continued  under  the  first 
grade  from  1809  until  1812,  when  by  a  vote  of  the  people 
the  second  grade  was  adopted. 

Under  the  first  grade,  the  Governor  and  Judges,  who 
received  their  appointment  from  the  President,  constituted 
the  Legislative  Council,  and  enacted  laws  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  people.  The  Governor  possessed  almost  un- 
limited power  in  the  appointment  of  officers  ;  the  Secretary 
of  the  Territory  being  the  only  officer,  not  appointed  by  the 
Governor. 

Under  the  second  grade,  the  people  elected  the  Legisla- 
ture, which  was  composed  of  a  Legislative  Council  and  a 
House  of  Representatives.  The  Legislative  Council  was 
composed  of  five  members,  and  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  seven  members. 

The  Legislature  enacted  the  laws  for  the  government  of 
the  people,  but  the  Governor  was  possessed  of  the  absolute 
veto  power,  and  was  therefore  in  position  to  dictate  the  laws, 
if  he  chose  to  exercise  the  power. 

The  people  also  elected  the  Delegate  to  Congress  by  popu- 
lar vote. 

Territorial    Officer*. 

The  following  is  a  complete  roster  of  territorial  officers 
from  1S09  until  the  organization  of  the  State  government 
in  1818 : 


John  Rovle  -„ 

Niniau  Edwards 


GOVERNORS. 

March  7, 1809.    Declined. 

„ April  24,  1809,  to  December  6, 1818. 

The  term  of  the  Governor's  appointment  was  two  years.  Governor  Edwards 
was  re-appointed  from  time  to  time,  as  his  term  expired,  and  served  through 
the  entire  territorial  government. 


SECRETARIES. 


Nathaniel  Pope.. 
Joseph  Phillips.. 


March  7, 1800,  to  December  17, 1816. 

-December  17, 1816,  to  October  6, 1818. 


AUDITORS  OF   PUBLIC   ACCOUNTS. 


H.  IT.  Maxwell-... 

Daniel  P.  Cook 

R.-.bert  Blackwell.. 
Elij»h  C.  Berry 


1812  to  1816. 

-—January  IS,  1816,  to  April,  1817. 

April  \  1*17,  to  August,  1817. 

August  28, 1817,  to  Octobers  1818. 


ATTORXETS-GEXERAL. 

Benjamin  IT.  Doyle -Inlv  24, 1S09,  to  December,  1809. 

John  J.  Crittenden December  SO,  18uo,  to   April,  1810. 

•  T.  Crittenden \j>ril  7.  1*10,  to  October,  mo. 

Benjamin  M.  Piatt October  -".',  IStO,  to  June,  1813. 

William  Hears.- - June  23, 1813,  to  February  17, 1818. 

•  From  Legislative  Directory,  published  1881. 

H 


TREASURERS. 
John  Thomas - 1812  to  1818. 

DELEGATES   TO   CONGRESS. 

Shadrach  Bond December,  1812,  to  1814. 

Benjamin  Stephenson September  29, 1814,  to  1817. 

Nathaniel  Pope _ .0817  to  1818. 

JUDGES. 

Ohadiah  Jones, March  7,1809. 

Alexander  Stuart March  7, 1809.     Resigned. 

!i.  Thomas March  7,1809. 

Stanley  Griswold _ March  Hi,  1810.   Vice  Stuart. 

William  Spring July  29, 1813. 

Thomas  Towles October  28,  '815. 

Daniel  Cook.    (Western  circuit.) -...January  13, 1818. 

John  Warnock.    (Western  circuit.) Junes,  1818. 

John  McLean.    (Eastern  circuit) -January  13, 1818.    Declined. 

Elias  Kent  Kane.    (Eastern  circuit.) February  17, 1818. 

William  Mears.    (Eastern  circuit.) -February  17,1818. 

Jeptha  Hardin.    (Eastern  circuit.) March  3,"  1818. 

ADJUTAXTS-GESERAL. 

Elias  Rector _. Mav  3, 1809,  to  Julv  18, 1809. 

Robert  Morrison July  18, 1809,  to  Mav  28, 1810. 

Elias  Rector Mav  28, 1810,  to  October  25  1813. 

Benjamin  Stephenson „. December  13. 1813,  to  October  27, 1814. 

Wm.  Alexander ~ October  27, 1814,  to  December,  1818. 

First  Territorial  Legislature— 1818. 

Convened  at  Kaskaskia  on  the  25th  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1812.  Adjourned 
the  26th  day  of  December,  1812.  Second  session  convened  and  adjourned 
November  8,  A.  D.  1813. 

LEGISLATIVE  COUNCIL. 
OFFICERS. 

President Pierre  Menard. 

Secretary - — John  Thomas. 

Doorkeeper Thomas  Van  Swearingen. 

MEMBERS. 

Pierre  Menard „ Randolph.       Samuel  Judy 


Benjamin  Talbott. Gallatin. 

William  Biggs St.  Clair. 


Thomas  Ferguson . 


- — Madison. 
.. — Johnson. 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

OFFICERS. 

Speaker -«.« —.  -George  Fisher. 

Oerk -William  C  Greenup. 

Doorkeeper - ..Thomas  Van  Swearingen. 


MEMBERS. 


George  Fisher . — Randolph. 

Alexander   Wilson- Gallatin. 

Phillip  Trammel _. Gallatin. 

John  Grammar Johnson. 


Joshua  Oglesby St.  Clair. 

Jacob  Short- St.  Clair. 

William  Jones Madison. 


1814. 


Second  Territorial  Le*£tslat 

FIRST   SESSION". 

Convened  at  Kaskaskia  the  14th  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1814.    Adjourned 
December  24,  A.  D.,  1814. 

LEGISLATIVE  COUNCIL. 
OFFICERS. 


President.... 

Secretory 

Doorkeeper.. 


....Pierre  Menard. 
..-John  Thomas. 
—Thomas  Stuart. 


MEMBERS. 


Pierre  Menard Randolph. 

William  Bieg* *t.  Clair. 

Benjamin  Talbott Gallatin. 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


Samuel  Judy Madison. 

Thomas  Ferguson Johnson. 


OFFICERS. 

Sneaker - - - Risdon  Moore. 

Oar* - - William  Mears. 

Doorkeeper - Thomas  Stuart. 

MEMBERS. 


Risdon   Moore St.  Clair. 

William  Rabb Madison. 

James  Lemen,  Jr St.  Clair. 

James  Gilbreath* Randolph. 


Phillip  Trammel _ Gallatin. 

Thomas  C.  Browne— Gallatin. 

Owen  Evans -.Johnson. 


Second  Territorial  Legislature— IS  15. 

SECOND    SESSION 

Convened  pursuant  to  adjournment,  the  4th  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1815. 
Adjourned  January  11,  A.  D.  1816. 

LEGISLATIVE  COUNCIL. 

0FFICEES. 

President - Pierre  Menard. 

Secretary -John  Thomas. 

Enrolling  and  Engrossing  Clerk Wm.  C.  Greenup. 

Doorkeeper Ezra  Owen. 

MEMBERS. 


Pierre  Menard -Randolph. 

Samuel  Judv Madison. 

Benjamin  Talbott Gallatin. 

•  Expelled 


William  Biggs St.  Clair. 

Thomas  Ferguson. Johnson. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


41 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 

OFFICERS. 

Speaker Riadon  Moore. 

Clerk Daniel  P.  Cook. 

Doorkeeper Ezra  Owen. 

Enrolling  and  Engrossing  CUrk Wm.  C.Greenup. 


MEMBERS. 


Risdon  Moore St.  Clair. 

Phillip  Trammel Gallatin. 

Thomas  C.   Browne Gallatin. 

Jarvis  Hazelton Randolph. 

Third  Territorial  1..  «i*lal  ore     Mii-17. 

FIRST   SESSION. 

Convened  at  Kaskaskia  the  2d  day  of  December,  A.  D.  181G. 
January  14,  A.  D.  1817. 

LEGISLATIVE  COUNCIL. 


John  G.  Lofton Madison. 

William  Rabb Madison. 

James  Lomen,  Jr St.  Clair. 


Adjourned 


OFFICERS, 

President • Pierre  Menard. 

Secretary Joseph  Conway. 

Enrolling  and  Engro  sing  Clerk R.  K. McLaughlin. 

Doorkeeper .' Ezra  Owen. 


MEMBERS. 


Pierre  Menard Randolph. 

John  G.  Lofton Madison. 

Abraham  Amoj St.  Clair. 

HOUSE  OF    REPRESENTATIVES. 


John  Grammar Johnson. 

Thomas  C.  Browne Gallatin. 


OFFICERS. 

Speaker George  Fisher. 

Clerk Daniel  P.  Cook. 

Enrolling  and  Engrossing  Clerk R.  K.  McLaughlin. 

Doorkeeper Ezra  Owen. 


MEMBERS. 


George  Fisher. Randolph. 

C.  R.  Matheny St.  Clair. 

Wm.  H.  Bradsby St.  Clair. 

Nathan  Davis .Jackson. 


Joseph  Palmer Johnson. 

Seth  Gard Edwards. 

Samuel  Omelveny Pope. 


Third  Territorial  Legislature— 1817-18. 

SECOND   SESSION. 

Convened  at  Kaskaskia  the  1st  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1817.    Adjourned 
January  12,  A.  D.  1818. 

LEGISLATIVE  COUNCIL. 

OFFICERS. 

President Pierre  Menard. 

Secretary Joseph  Conway. 

Enrolling  an  I  Engrossing  Clerk R.  K.  McLaughlin. 

Doorkeeper .". Ezra  Owen. 


Pierre  Menard Randolph. 

Abraham  Arv.os Monroe. 

John  Grimmar Johnson. 


John  G.  Lofton Madison. 

Thomas  C.  Browne Gallatin. 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 
OFFICERS. 

Speaker : George  Fisher. 

Clerk Daniel  P.  Cook. 

Enrolling  and  Engrossing  Clerk It.   K.  McLaughlin. 

Doorkeeper '. Ezra  Owen. 


MEMBERS. 


George  Fisher Randolph 

Chas.  R.  Matheny... St,  Clair. 

Willis  Hargraves White. 


Wm.  H.  Bradsby St.  Clair. 

Joseph  Palmer". Johnson. 

M.  S.  Davenport Gallatin. 


First  Constitutional  Convention. 

CONVENTION  OF  1818. 

Assembled  at  Kaskaskia,  July  — ,  1818.  Adjourned  August  26, 
1818.  Thirty-three  delegates.  One  member  from  Washington  county 
died  during  the  sitting  of  the  convention  ;  name  unknown.  Constitu- 
tion adopted  in  convention  without  .being  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the 
people.     Approved  by  Congress,  December  3,  1818. 

OFFICERS. 

President Jesse  B.  Thomas. 

Secretary William  C.  Greenup. 

DELEGATES. 

St-  Clair — Jesse  B.  Thomas,  John  Messinger,  James  Lernen,  Jr. 
Randolph — George  Fisher,  Elias  Kent  Kane. 

Madison — Benjamin  Stephenson,  Joseph  Borough,  Abraham  Pric- 
kett. 

Gallatin—  Michael  Jones,  Leonard  White,  Adolphus  F.  Hubbard. 

Johnson — Hezekiah  West,  Wm.  McFatridge. 

Ednards   Seth  Gard,  Levi  Compton. 

White— Willis  Hargrave,  Wm  McIIenry. 

Monroe— Caldwell  Cams,  Enoch  Moore, 

Pope — Samuel  Omelveny,  Hamlet  Ferguson. 

Jackson— Conrad  Will,  James  Hall,  Jr. 

Crawford  -Joseph  Kilehell,  Edward  N.  Cnllom. 

Bond—  Thomas  Kirkpatrick,  Samuel  G.  Morse. 

Union — William  Echols,  John  Whiteaker. 

Washington — Andrew  Bankson. 

Franklin— Isham  Harrison,  Thomas  Roberts. 


EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

Under  the  constitution  of  1818  the  elective  officers  were  the  Gover- 
nor and  Lieutenant-Governor,  who  held  office  for  four  years.  The 
election  returns  were  transmitted  by  the  returning  officers,  directed  to 
the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
open  and  publish  them  in  the  presence  of  a  majority  of  each  house  of 
the  General  Assembly.  In  case  of  a  tie,  the  choice  was  made  by  a 
joint  ballot  of  both  houses.  The  first  election  for  Governor  and 
Lieutenant-Governor  was  held  on  the  third  Thursday  of  September, 
A.  D.  1818.  Thereafter  the  elections  were  held  every  four  years 
on   the  first  Monday  of  August. 

The  Secretary  of  State  was  appointed  by  the  Governor,  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate. 

The  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Treasurer  and  Attorney-General 
were  elected  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  held  office  for  two  years 
respectively. 

By  the  constitution  of  1848,  all  these  officers  were  made  elective  by 
the  people,  except  the  Attorney-General,  which  office  was  abolished . 
The  terra  of  office  for  each  was  four  years,  except  the  Treasu  rer, 
which  was  two  years. 

The  office  of  Attorney-General  was  again  created  by  law,  in  1867, 
and  the  term  fixed  at  two  years.  The  office  was  first  filled  by 
appointment  by  the  Governor,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  term  by 
election  by  the  people. 

The  constitution  of  1870  provides  that  the  Executive  Department 
shall  consist  of  a  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  Secretary  of  State, 
Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Treasurer,  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction, and  Attorney-General,  who  shall  each,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Treasurer,  hold  office  for  four  years  from  the  second  Monday  in 
January  next  after  election.  The  Treasurer  holds  office  for  two  years, 
and  is  ineligible  for  re-election  until  the  expiration  of  two  years  next 
after  the  end  of  his  term.  The  first  election  under  the  constitution  of 
1870  was'held  November  5,  A.  D.  1872. 

By  a  law  passed  in  1849  the  Secretary  of  State  was  made  ex-officio 
State  Superintendent  of  Public  Sohools.  In  1854  the  law  establish- 
ing a  system  of  free  schools  created  the  office  of  State  Superintendent, 
and  provided  for  the  appointment  by  the  Governor,  upon  the  taking 
effect  of  the  law,  of  some  person  to  hold  office  until  the  election  in 
1855,  when  a  State  Superintendent  should  be  elected,  and  every  two 
years  thereafter.        • 

The  offices  of  Adjutant-General,  State  Geologist,  and  Entomolo- 
gist, are  created  by  law,  and  filled  by  appointment  of  the  Governor. 

STATE  OF  ILLINOIS. 
Governors. 


Name. 


Shadrach  Bond.... 

Edward  Coles 

Ninian  Edwards.. 
John  Reynolds 


Wm.  1j.  D.  Ewing 

Joseph  Duncan 

Thomas  Carlin 

Thomas  Ford 

Augustas  C.  French.. 
Augustus  C.  French.. 


When 
inaugurated. 


From    what 
county 


Remarks. 


Oct.  6,  1818 

Dec.  5,  1822... 
Dec.  6,  1826.. 
Dee.  9,  1830... 

Nov.  17,  18.34. 

Dec.  3, 1834 

Dec.  7,  1838.... 

Deo.  8, 1842 

I'-.'.  !i,  184(i 

Jan.  8,  1849 


St.  Clair... 
Madison.. 
Madison.. 
St.  Clair.., 


Fayette.... 
Morgan.... 

Greene 

Ogle 

Crawford- 
Crawford.. 


Joel  A.  Motteson Jan.,     1853 

Wm.  II.  Bissell Ian.  12, 1857.... 

John  Wood Mar.  21, 1800... 


Jan.  14,  1801.. 
Jan.  18,1886... 
Jan.  11,  1809.. 
Jan.  13,  1873.. 

Jan/->3,  1873.. 

Jan.    8,1877... 


Richard  Yates 

Richard  J.  Oglesby.. 

John  M.  Palmer 

Richard  J.  Oglesby.. 

John  L.  Beveridge... 


Shelby  M.  Cullom 

Shelby  M.  Cullom Uan.  10, 1881.. 

41 


Will 

Monroe... 
Adams.... 


Morgan 

Macon 

Macoupin . 
Macon 


Cook- 


Sangamon. 
Sangamon.. 


Resigned  Nov.  17,   1834. 

Elected  Rep.  to  Congress. 
Vice  Reynolds. 


Re-elected  under   Const'n 
of  1847. 


Died  March  15, 18C0. 
Succeeded  to  the  office  vice 
Bissell. 


Resigned   Jan.   23,    187C. 

Elected  U.  8.  Senator. 
Succeeded    to  office,  vice 

Oglesby  resigned. 


42 


HISTORY    OF  SCnUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Lieut*  >nant -Governors. 


Name 


When         From    what 
inaugurated       county. 


Pierre  Menard Oct  6,  1818.. 

Adolphus  F.  Hubbard..  Dec.  5, 1822- 

William  Kinney- Dec.  6,  1826_ 

ZadokCasev Dec.  9,  1830.. 

Wm.  L.  D.  Ewing Mar.  1,  1833- 

Alex.  M    Jenkins Dec.  5,  1834- 

Wm.  H.   PaTidsou Dec.  9.  1836- 


Remarks. 


Stinson  H.  Anderson. 

John  Moore 

Joseph  B.  Wells , 

Wm.   McMurtry- 

Gustavus  Koarner 

John  Wood 


Dec.  7,  1838.. 
Dec.  8,  1842.. 
Dec.  9,  1846.. 
Jan.  8,  1849- 
Jan.  1853.. 
Jan.  12,  1857- 


Thomas  A.  Marshall Jan.    7,  1861_ 


Francis  A.  Hoffman Tan. 

William  Bross- Jan. 

John  Dougherty- Jan. 

John  L.  Beveridge Jan. 


John  Early _ {Jan. 

Archibald  A.  Glenn Jan. 

Andrew  Shuman Jan. 

John  Hamilton Jan. 


14,  1861. 
16,  1865. 
11,  1869. 
13,  1873. 

23,  1873. 

8,  1875. 

8,  1877. 
U,  1881. 


Randolph. 
Gallatin ... 
St.  Clair... 

Jefferson (Resigned  March  1,  1833 

Fayette j  President  of  Senate  and  Act- 

I    ing  Lieut-Governor. 

Jackson 'Resigned. 

White President  of  Senate  and  Act-- 

ing  Lieut-Governor.-. 
Jefferson- 
McLean 

Rock  IslauU 

Knox 

St.  Clair 

Adams 


Coles . 


Cook ..... 

Cook 

Union 

Cook 


Winnebago. 


Succeeded  to  office  of  Gov 
vice  Bissell   dec'd  Mar.  21, 

1860. 
President  of  Senate  and  Act- 
ing Lieut-Governor. 


Cook 

McLean . 


Succeeded  to  office  of  Gov. 

vice  Oglesby  elec'd  U.  S  Sen 

President  of  Senate  and  Act- 
ing  Lieut-Governor. 

President  of  Senate  and  Act- 
ing Lieut-Governor. 


Secretaries  of  State. 


Name. 


Appointed  or  From   what 
qualified.         county. 


Elias  Kent  Kane Oct.     6.  1818- 

Samuel  D.  Lockwood— ;De-\  18,  1822- 

David  Blaekwell 'April  2,  1821. 

Morris  Birkbeck —  Oct.  15,  1824- 

George  Forquer -Jan.  17,  1825.. 

Alexander  P.  Field Dec.  31,  1828- 

Stephen  A.  Douglas -Nov.  30,  1840- 

Lyman  Trumbull Feb.  27,  1841. 

Thompson  Campbell— !  Mar.   4,  1843. 

Horaces.  Cooley |Dec\  23,  1846- 

Horace  S.  Cooley {Jan.    8,1849.. 

David  L.Greggs April  10, 1850- 

Alexander  Starne Jan.  10,  1853- 

Oiias  M.  Hatch Jan.  12,  1857- 

OziasM.  Hatch Jan.  14,  1861- 

Sharon  Tyndale Jan.  16,  1865- 

Edward  Rummel Jan.  11,  1868- 

George  H.   Harrow Jan.  13,  1873- 

George  H.   Harrow Jan.    8.  1877- 

Henry  C.  Dement.- Jan.  10,  1881. 


Remarks. 


Kaskaskia...  Resignea  Dec.  16, 1822. 

Madison Resigned  April  2, 1823. 

St.  Clair Resigned  Oct.  15, 1824. 

Edwards Resigned  Jan.  15, 1825. 

Sangamon...  Resigned  Dec.  31, 1828. 

Union 'Removed  Nov.  30, 1840. 

Morgan Resigned  Feb.  27, 1841. 

St.  Clair IRemoved  March  4, 1813. 

JoDaviess  ...[Resigned  Dec.  23, 1846. 


Adams 
Adams. 


Cook 

Pike 

Pike 

Pike 

St.  Clair- 
Peoria 

Tazewell  . 
Tazewell  . 
Lee 


Appointed  by  Gov.  French. 

Elected  under  Constitution 

of  1848.  Died  April  2, 1850. 


Auditors  of  Public  Accounts. 


Name. 


When 
qualified. 


From    what 
county. 


Elijah  C.  Berry Oct.    9,  1818-  Favette 

Elijah  C.  Berry April  6,  1819.         "       

James  T.  B.  Stapp Aug.  27,  1831.         •'        

Levi  Davis Nov.  16,  1835-         "        

James  Shields Mar.   4,  1841..  Randolph 

Wm.  D.  L.  Ewing- Mar.  26,  1843-  Favette 

Thomas  H.  Campbell...  Mar.  26,  1816..  Randolph- 
Thomas  H.  Campbell...  Jan.     7,1847-|  " 

Jesse  K.  Dubois- iJan.  12,  1857-  Lawrence  ... 

Jesse  K.  Dubois Jan.  14,  1861-         " 

Orlin  H.  Miner... Dec.  li,  1864..  Sangamon. .. 


Remarks. 


<  harles   E.  Lippincott- Jan.  11,18'.'.).. 

Charlcs   E.  Lippincott..  Jan.  II,  187!.. 

Thomas  B.  Needles Ian.  8,  1877- 

Charles  P.  Swigert Jan.  10,  1881- 


Cass 

Washington 
Kankakee. .. 


Died. 

Vice  Ewing,  deceased. 


Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 


Name. 


When 
qualified 


Ninian  W.  Edwards Mch.  24,  1854- 

Wm.  H.  Powell Jan'y  12, 1857- 

Js'ewton  Bateman Jan'y    1,1859.. 

Newton  Bateman Jan'y   4,1861- 

John  P,  Brooks Jan'y  12, 1863- 

Newton  Bateman Jan'y  10, 1865. 

Newton  Bateman Jan'y — ,1867. 

Newton  Bateman Jan'y — ,1871- 

feam'l  M.  Etter Jan'y  11,  1876- 

Jarees  P.  Slade Jan'y  13, 1879- 


From    what 
county. 


Sangamon. 

Peoria 

Morgan 


Sangamo 


McLean... 
St.  Clair.... 


Remarks. 


Appointed  by  the  Governor 


43 


State   Treasurers. 


Name. 


When 
qualified 


From    what 
county. 


John  Thomas 1818. 

R.  K.  McLaugnlin Aug.  2,  1819. 

Abner  Field Jan.  14,  1823. 

James  Hall- Feb.  12.  1827. 

John  Dement Feb.  5,  1831. 

Charles  Gregory Dec.  5,  1836. 

John  D.  Whiteside Mch  4,  1837. 

Milton  Carpenter Merf.  6,  1841. 

John  Moore.- I  Aug.  14,  1848. 

John  Moore jDec.  16,  1850. 

James   Miller Jan.  12,  1857. 

William  Butler Sept  3,  18.VJ. 

William  Butler {Jan.  14,  1861. 

Alexander  Starne.— Jan.  12,  1863. 

James  H   Beveridge .Jan.  9,  1865. 

George  W.  Smith (Jan.  10,  1867. 

Erastus   N.  Bates Ian.  11,  1809. 

Erastus  N.Bates Nov.  8,1870. 

Edward  Ruiz Jan.  13,  1873. 

Thos.  S.  Ridgeway Jan.  11,  1875. 

Edward  Rutz Jan.  8,  1877. 

John  C.  Smith- Jan.  13,  1879 

Edward  Rutz Jan.  10,  1881. 


St.  Clair.... 
i  Fayette  ... 

Union 

Jackson 

Franklin .. 
Greene  — 

Monroe 

Hamilton.. 
|  McLean- 


Remarks. 


Died. 

Appointed  vice  Carpenter. 

Elected. 

Resigned  Sept.  3,1859. 

Appointed,  vice  Miller. 


Dekalb 

;0ook 

{Marion 


St.  Clair 

I  Gallatin 

!St.  Clair 

JoDaviess  ... 
.Cook — 


Resigned  Dec.  3, 1836. 


Attorneys-General. 


When 
qualified. 


From    what 
county. 


Daniel  Pope  Cook Mch.    5,  1819 

William  Mears Dec.  14,  1819. 

Sam'l  D.  Lockwood Feb.  26,  1821. 

James  Turney- Jan'y  14,  1823. 

James  Turney Jan'y  15,  1825. 

George  Forquer .Ian'y23,  1829. 

James  Seniple Jan'y3o,  1833. 

Ninian  W.  Edwards.... 'Sept.  1,  1834. 
Ninian  W.  Edwards.....*  Jan'y  19,  1835. 
Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Jr....  Feb.   12,  1&35. 

Walter  B.  Scates.... Jan'y  18,  1836. 

Usher  F.  Linder Feb.     4,  1837. 

George  W.  Olnsy June  26,  183 j. 

Wickiiffe  Kitchell Mch.    5,  1839. 

Josiah  Lamborn Dee.  23,  1840. 

James  A.  MeDougall— 'Jan'y  1&  1843. 

Dec.  21,  1846. 

Feb.  28,  1867. 

Jan'y.  11, 1873. 

Jan'y  13,  1873. 
8,  1877. 
10,  1881. 


Remarks. 


.  Randolph  ...  Resigned  March  5, 1819. 

St    (lair 

.  Madison Resigned  Dee.  28, 1822. 

.  1  Washington  Resigned  Jan'y  7, 1825. 


Monroe i Resigned  Dec. 3, 1832. 

Madison 

Sangamon 

...  Resigned  Feb.  7, 18  5. 
Madison Resigned  Jan'y  8, 1836. 


Jefferson .. 

Coles 

Madison... 
|  Crawford  . 
{Morgan  ... 


David  B.  Campbell. 

Robert  G.  Ingersolt 

Washington  Bushnell. 

James  K.  Edsall 

James  K.  Edsall Jan'y 

James  McCartney {Jan'y. 


Resigned  Dec.  26, 1836. 
Resigned  June  11, 1838. 
Resigned  Feb'y  1, 1839. 
Resigned  Nov.  19, 1840. 


Sangamon...  „ 

'Peoria Appointed  by  Gov.  Oglesby. 

LaSalle... 
Lee 


Wayne- 


State  Geologists. 


Joseph  Norwood — 

H.  A.  Ulffers 

Amos  H.  Worthen.. 

Leopold  Riehter 

Henry  Engelmann. 
William  Billington. 


July  21,  1851- Sangamon...  Aetof  Feb.  17, 1851. 

1S53-!  Hardin Topographer. 

Mch.  22,  1858-  Hancock Vice  Norwood. 

Dec.     1,  1859-  StLouis  Mo.  Artist. 

April  19,  1861  .iSt    Clair Assistant  Geologist 

April  26,  1364-  Sangamon...  Vice  Richer. 

State  Entomologists. 


Name. 


When 

appointed. 


D.B.Walsh.- 

Wm.  LeBarron- 
Cyrus  Thomas... 


From    what 
county. 


Remarks. 


June  11,  1867-  Rock  Island  Died. 

.  April    2,  1870-  Kane Died. 

.  April  13,  1S75..,  Jackson I 

Adjutants-General. 


When         |  From    what 
appointed.  county. 


Wm.  Alexander \pril  24,  1819 

Elijah  C.  Berry June  11,  1821. 

James  W.  Berrv Dec.    19,  1828. 

Moses  K.  Anderson Dec.    16,  1839. 

Simon  B.  Buckner April    3,  1857. 

Wm.  C.  Kenncy-. Dec.     9,  1S.V7. 

Thomas  S.  Mather Oct.    28,  1858. 

Allen  C.  Fuller Nov.   11,  1861. 

Isham  N.  llavnie ..{Jan'y  16,  1865. 

Edward  P.  Nilcs_ 

Hubert  Dilacr Mch.  21,  1869. 

Edwin  L.  Higgins Jan'y  24,  1873. 

Edwin  L.  Higgins July     1,  1874 

Hiram  Hilliard Inly     2,  1875. 

Hiram  Hilliard 'July     2,  1877 


Randolph- 
Fayette 


Sancamon... 

iCook 

{St.  Clair 

Sangamon... 

{Boone 

Alexander... 

jCook 

Sangamon... 


5.. {Cook . 


Remarks. 


Resigned  Nov.  11, 1839. 


Resigned  Nov.  7, 1837. 

Died. 

Vice  Kinney,  deceased. 


Died. 

Acting  ad  interim. 


MISCELLANEOUS   INFORMATION. 


President!. 


Secretaries  of  State. 


No. 


QUALIFIED.      NO. 


KAMI. 


APPOINTED. 


1  George  Washington April  30, 1789 

" 6              "           Mar.  4,  1793 

2  John  Adams Mar.  4,  1797 

3  Thomas  Jeffersou Mar  4,  18<>l 

Mar.  4,  1805 

4  James  Madison Mar.  4,  1809 

Mar,  4,  1813 

5  James  Monroe Mar.  4,  1817 

Mar.  5,  1821 

C  John  Quincy  Adams Mar.  4,  1825 

7  Andrew  Jackson Mar.  4,  1829 

Mar.  4,  1833 

8  Martin  Van  Buren Mar.  4,  1837 

•  Wm.  Henry  Harrison  ....Mar.  4,  1841 

10  John  Tvler April  6,  1841 

11  James  K.  Polk....™. Mar.  4,  1845 

12  Zachary  Taylor Mar.  5,  1849 

13  Millard  Fillmore -....July  10,  1850 

14  Franklin  Pierce Mar.  4.  1853 

15  James  Buchanan Mar.  4,  1857 

16  Abraham  Lincoln Mar.  4,  1861 

»        Mar.  4,  1865 

17  Andrew  Johnson April  15,  1865 

18  Ulysses  S.  Grant Mar.  4,  1869 

"                  "      Mar.  4,  1873 

19  Rutherford  B.  Hayes Mar.  5,  1877 

20  James  A.  Garfield Mar.  4,  1881 

21  Chester  A.  Arthur Sept.  20, 1881 


Vice-Presidents. 


1  John  Adams June 

"  "       ..._ Dec. 

2  Thomas  Jefferson Mar. 

3  Aaron  Burr    -Mar. 

4  George  Clinton Mar. 

"      Mar. 

6  Eldridge  Gerry Mar. 

•John  Gaillard Nov. 

6  Daniel  D.  Tompkins Mar. 

■  "         Mar. 

7  John  C.  Calhoun Mar. 

Mar. 

8  Martin  Van  Buren Mar. 

9  Richard  M.  Johnson Mar. 

10  John  Tyler Mar. 

•Samuel  L.  Southard Anril  6, 

•Willie  P.  Mangnm May  31, 

11  George  M.  Dallas Mar.    4, 

12  Millard  Fillmore Mar.    5, 

•William  R.  King July  11, 

13  William  R.  King Mar.    4, 

•David  R.  Atchison -April  18, 

•Jesse  D.  Bright  Dec.    5, 

14  John  C.  Breckinridge.. ..Mar.    4, 

15  Hannibal  Hamlin Mar.    4, 

16  Andrew  Johnson Mar.    4, 

•Lafayette  8.  Foster April  15, 

•Benjamin  F.  Wade Mar.    2, 

17  Schuyler  Colfax Mar.    4, 

18  Henry  Wilson Mar.    4, 

•Thomas  W.  Ferry Nov.  22, 

19  William  A.  Wheeler Mar.    5, 

in  Chester  A  Arthur Mar.    4, 

21  Divid  Davis Oct.    13, 


1780 
1793 
1797 
1801 
1805 
1809 
1813 
1814 
1817 
1821 
1825 
1829 
1833 
1837 
1841 
1841 
1842 
1845 
1849 
1850 
1853 
1853 
1854 
1857 
1861 
1865 
1865 
1867 
1869 
1873 
1875 
1877 
1881 
1881 


•Acting  Vice-President  and  Pre;ident 
pro  tan  of  the  Senate. 


17  John  C.Calhoun Mar.    6,  1814 

18  James  Buchanan Mar.    6,  1845 

19  John  M.  Clayton Mar.    8,  1819 

Daniel  Webster July  22,  1850 

20  Edward  Everett Nov.    6,  1852 

21  William  L.  Marcy Mar.    7,  1853 

22  Lewis  Cass Mar.    6,  1X57 

23  Jeremiah  S.  Black Dec.  17,  1860 

24  William  H.  Seward Mar.    6,  1861 

"  "         Mar.    4,  1865 

"  "         -April  15,  1865 

25  E.  B.  Washburne Mar.    5,  1869 

26  Hamilton  Fish -Mar.  11,  1869 

"    Mar.    4,  1873 

27  William  M.  Evarts Mar.  12,  1877 

28  James  G.  Blaine Mar.    4,  1881 

29  Frelinghuysen,  F.  T Dec,       1881 


Secretaries  of*  the  Treasury. 

1  Alex.  Hamilton Sept.  11,  1789 

"  Mar.    4,  1793 

2  Oliver  Woleott Feb.    2,  1795 

Mar.    4,  1797 

3  Samuel  Dexter Jan.    1,  18ul 

4  Albert  Gallatin May  14,  1801 

"  "       Mar.    4,  1809 

"       Mar.    4,  1813 

5  Geo.  W.  Campbell Feb.    9.  1814 

6  Alexander  J.  Dallas Oct.    6,  1814 

7  Wm.  H.  Crawford Oct  22,  1816 

"  "        Mar.  5,  1817 

"  "         ...  Mar.  5,  1821 

8  Richard  Rush Mar.  7,  1825 

9  Samuel  D.  Ingham Mar.  6,  1829 

0  Louis  MeLane Aug.    2,  1831 

1  William  J.  Duane May  29,  1833 

2  Roger  B.  Taney Sept.  23,  1833 

3  Levi  Woodbury June  27,  1834 

„ Mar.    4,  1837 

4  Thomas  Ewing Mar.    5,  1841 

"      - April   6,  1841 

Walter  Forward Sept.  13,  1841 

John  C.  Spencer Mar.    3,  1843 

George  M.  Bibb June  15,  1844 

Robert  J.  Walker Mar.    6,  1845 

Wm.  M.  Meredith Mar.    8,  1849 

Thomas  Corwin July  23,  1850 

JamesGuthne Mar.    7,  1853 

Howell  Cobb Mar.    6,  1857 

Philip  F.  Thomas Dec.  12,  1860 

John  A.  Dix Jan.  11,  1861 

Salmon  P.  Chase Mar.    7,  1861 

Wm.  Pi't  Fcssenden July    1,  1864 

Hugh  McCulloch Mar.    7,  1865 

"  "         April  15,  1865 

George  S.  Boutwell Mar.  11,  1869 

Wm.  A  Richardson Mar  17,  1-73 

Benj.  H.  Bristow June   4,  1874 

Lot  M.  Morrill July    7,  1876 

John  Sherman Mar.    8,  1877 

William  Wi  dom Mar.    4,  1881 

Chas.  G.  Folger    Dec,       18* 


Secretaries  of  the  Treasury. 


No. 


APPOINTED. 


Secretaries  of  State. 



1  Thomas  Jefferson Sept.  26,  1789 

Mar.    4,  1791 

2  Edmond  Randolph Ian.     2,  1794 

3  Timothy  Pickering Doc.  10,  1795 

"  "         Mar.    4,  1797 

4  John  Marshall May  13,  1800 

5  James  Madison Mar.    5,  1801 

■  "        ,. Mar.    4,  1805 

6  R->bert  Smith Mar.    6,  1809 

7  James  Monroe April  2,  1811 

"  "       Mar.    4,  1813 

8  John  Quin"y  Adams Mar.    5,  1817 

"  "  "       Mar.    6,  1821 

9  Henry  Clay Mar.    7,  1825 

I  i  Martin  Van  Buren Mar.    6,  1829 

II  Edward  Livingston Mav  24,  1811 

12  Loui«  McLaue Mav  29,  1833 

13  John  Forsyth (tine  27,  1835 

"       Mar.    4,  1837 

14  Daniel  Web«ter Mar.    6,  1841 

"  "        ADril    «,  1841 

5  Hugh.S.  Lcgare Mav    24,  1843 

16  Abel  P.  Upshur July  24,  1843 


Secretaries  of  War. 


1  Henry  Knox- Sept.  12, 1789 

«           "      Mar.  4, 1793  . 

2  Timothy  Pickering Jan.  2.  1795  I 

3  JamesMollcnry Jan,  27,1796  [ 

»               "        Mar.  4,  17!i7 

4  Samuel  Dexter May  13, 1800 

ft  Roger  Griswold F.  b.  3, 1801 

6  Henry  Dearborn Mar.  5, 1801 

Mar.  4, 1805 

7  William  Eustii Mar.  7, 1809 

8  John  Armstrong Jan.  13,1813 

Mar.  4,  1S13 

9  James  Monroe Sect.  27, 1811  i 

10  Win.  It.  Cra«ford Aug.  1,  1815  I 

11  George  Graham  ad  interim 

12  John  C.  Calhoun Oct.  8,1817 

Mar.  5,  18^1 

13  James  Barlsiur Mar.  7, 1825 

14  Peter  B.  Psrter May  26, 182s 

15  John  H.  Eaton Mae.  i>,  1829 

16  Lewis  Cass \ng.  1, 1831 

•'          "      Mar.  4, 1833 

17  Joel  R  Poins  tt Mar.  7,  1837 

18  John  Bell Mir.  ft,  18M 

-          "     April  R,  1841 

19  John  C.  Spencer Oet  12,  1*11 

20  James  M.  Po  t,-r Mar.  (,  1*43 

21  William    Wilkins Feb.  1.5,  ISI4 


2*  William  L.  Marcy Mar.  6, 1845 

23  George  w.  Crawford-  ..Mar.  8, 1849 

24  Charles  M.  Conrad- Aug.  15, 1850 

25  Jefferson  Davis Mar.  6, 1853 

26  John  B.  Floyd Mar.  6.  1857 

27  Joseph  Holt J4h.  18, 1861 

28  Simon  Cameron Mar.  5,1861 

29  Edwin  M.  Stanton Jan.  15, 1862 

'■                    "        Mar.  4,  1865 

•'                      "        April  15,  1865 

U.  S.  Grant,  ad  interim. ..Auk:  12,  1867 

L  Thomas.     "       "      ...Feb.  21,1868 

30  John  M.  Schofield May  28,  1868 

31  John  A.  Rawlins Mar.  11,  1889 

32  Wm.  W.  Belknap Oct.  25, 1869 

Mar.  4, 1873 

33  AlphonsoTaft Mar.  8, 1876 

34  James  D.  Cameron May  22,  1876 

35  Geo.  W.  McCrary Mar.  12, 1877 

36  Alexander  Ramsey Dec.  10, 1879 

37  Robert  T.  Uncoln Mar.  4, 1881 


Secretaries  of  the  \n  \  j  . 

I  Benjamin  Stoddert Mav    21, 1798 

•'  "  Mar.      4,  I8BI 

2.  RobertSmtth July    15, 18ol 

3.  J.  Crowninshield -.Mar.      3, 1805 

4  Paul  Hamilton Mar.      7, 1809 

5  Wi  liam  Jones Ian.     12, 1813 

"     Mar.      4, 1813 

6  B.  W.  Crowninshield Dec.     19,  1814 

.....Mar.      4, 1817 

7  Smith  Thompson Nov.      9, 1818 

Mar.      6, 1821 

8  Samuel  L.  Southard Sept.    16,  1821 

"  "         Mar.      4. 1825 

9  John  Branch Mar.      9,1829 

10  Levi  Woodbury May     23, 1831 

"  '•         Mar.     4,1833 

11  Mahlon  Dickerson -June   30, 1834 

•'  -Mar.      4, 1837 

12  James  K.  Paulding June   25, 1838 

13  George  E.  Badger Mar.      5, 1841 

"       April  6, 1841 

14  Abel  P.  Upshur Sept.  13, 1841 

15  David  Henshaw July  24, 1843 

16  Thomas  W.  Grmer Feb.  15, 1844 

17  John  V.  Mason Mar.  14, 1844 

18  Geo'ge  Bancroft Mar.  10,  1845 

John  Y.  Mason Sept.  9,  1846 

19  William  B.  Preston Mar.  8, 1849 

20  William  A.  Graham July  22,  1850 

21  John  P.  Kennedy July  22, 1852 

22  James  C.  Dobbin Mar.  7, 1853 

23  Isaac  Toucey — Mar.  6, 1867 

24  Gideon  Welles - Mar.  5, 1801 

"       .  „ Mar.  4,  1*65 

"               '•       April  15,  1865 

25  Adolph  E.  Borie Mar.  5, 1869 

26  Geo.  M.  Robeson June  2.5,  UM 

'■         Mar.      4  1873 

27  Rich.  W.  Thompson Mar.    12, 1877 

28  Nathan  Goir,  Jr. Jan.       6, 1881 

29  W.  II.  Hunt  Maiv     4,  1881 

30  W.  E.  Chandler April"        1882 

Secretaries  of  the  Interio 

1  Thomas  Ewing Mar.  8, 1849 

2  Alex.  H.  Stuart Sept.  12,  1850 

3  Robert  McClelland Mar.  7,  1853 

4  Jacob  Th  -mpson Mar.  6, 1867 

5  Calsb  B.  Smith -Mar.  6,  1861 

6  John  P.  Usher -Jan.  8, 1863 

"                "      Mar.  4, 1865 

"                "      ..April  15, 1805 

7  James  Ha'lan May  15, 1865 

8  O.  H.  Browning Julv  27, 1866 

9  Jacob  I'.  Cox  Mar  5,  1869 

10  Columbus  Delano Nov.  1,1870 

'•                  ••      Mar.  4,  1*73 

II  Zachariah  Chandler Oct.  19, 1875 

liCarl  Schura Mar.  12,1877 

13  Samuel  J.  Kirkwood Mar.      4,  MM 

14  Henrv  M.  Teller Ipril,        1882 


Postmasters-General 


No. 


APPOINTED. 


4  Gideon  Granger Nov.  28, 1801 

'•             •'          Mar.  4,1805 

"             "          Mar.  4, 1809 

6  Return  J.  Meigs,  Jr Mar.  17, 1814 

"               "           Mar.  4. 1817 

"               "           Mar.  6, 1821 

6  John  McLean June  26, 1823 

"                "      _ Mar.  4,  1825 

7  William  T.  Barrv Mar.  9, 1829 

••      Mar.  4,1833 

8  Amos  Kendall May  1,1835 

Mar.  4, 1837 

9  John  M.  Niles May  25, 1840 

10  Francis  Granger - Mar  6, 1841 

"        April  6,  1841 

11  Chas.  A.  Wiekliffe Sept.  13, 1841 

12  Cave  Johnson Mar.  6, 1845 

13  Jacob  Collamer Mar.  8  1849 

14  Nathan  K.  Hall July  23, 1850 

1ft  Sam'l  D.  Hubbard Aug.  31, 1852 

16  James  Campbell Mar  5, 1853 

17  Aaron   V.  Brown Mar.  6, 1857 

18  Joseph  Holt Mar.  14,1859 

19  Horatio  King Feb.  12, 1861 

20  Montgomery  Blair ..Mar.  5,  1861 

21  William  Dennison Sept.  24, 1864 

"               "         _ Mar.  4, 1865 

"                 "         April  15,  1865 

22  Alex.  W.  Randall   July  25, 1866 

23  John  A.  J.  Cresswell Mar.  5, 1869 

*                    "         Mar.  4.1873 

24  Marshall  Jewell Aug.  24, 1874 

25  James  N.  Tyner July  12, 1876 

26  David  McK  Key Mar.  12,  1877 

27  Horace  Maynard June  2,  18*0 

28  Thomas  L  James Mar.  4, 1881 

29  Timothy  O.  Howe Dec,  1881 


Attorneys-General. 


Postmasters-General. 

1  Samuel  o.-good Sept  ^  '>,  LftS 

2  Timothy  Pick  Ting Auk.  12.  17UI 

Mar  4,  1793 

3  Joseph  Huber  ham F  b.  25,  179.5 

Mar.  4.1797 

Mar.  4,  1801 


1  Edmund  Randolph Sept. 

Mar 

2  William  Bradford Jan. 

3  Charles  Lee Dec. 

"    Mar. 

4  Theophilus  Parsons Feb. 

ft  Levi  Lincoln Mar. 

6  Robert  Smith Mar. 

7  John  Breckinridge Aug. 

8  Ctesar  A.  Roduey Jan. 

*'  *'       Mar. 

9  William  Pinkney Dec. 

Mar. 

10  Richard  Rush Feb. 

-    Mar. 

11  William  Wirt Nov. 

*•  "*    Mar. 

"       Mar. 

12  John  M.  Berrien Mar 

13  Roger  B.  Taney July 

"  '■       Mar. 

11  Benjamin  F.  Butler Nov. 

.    "     Mar. 

lft  Felix  Grundy July, 

.6  Henry  D.  Gilpin Ian. 

17  John  J.  Crittenden .Mar. 

**  "         April 

IS  Hugh  S.  Legare s-ept. 

19  John  Nelson July 

20  John  Y.  Mason Mar. 

21  Nathan  t  lilt. .id Oct. 

'II  Isaac  Toucey I  une 

23  Severity  Jonnson Mar. 

John  J  Crittenden -July 

24  Caleb  Cu.-hing Mar. 

25  Jeremiah  S.  Black Mar. 

a>  Edwin  M.  Stanton Dec. 

27  Kdward  Bates Mar. 

T.  I.  Coffey,  ad  int June 

^8  James  Speed Dec. 

"      -Mar. 

"  "      April 

29  Henry  Stanbery July 

3ii  William  M    Evarts July 

31  E.  Rock  wood  Hoa Mar. 

82  Amos  T.  Akerman  lime 

33  Ge-rge  fl.  William* Il.'c. 

"  '         Mar. 

34  Edward  Pi.Trepont April 

35  Alphonso  Taft  Mav 

36  Charles  Devens Mar. 

'■■-;  Wayne  MacVeSgh Mar 

38  Benj.  Harris  Brewster...Dcc, 


26,  1789 
4,  1793 

27,  1794 
10,  1795 

4,  1797 
20, 1801 
6,  1801 

3,  1805 
7,1805 

28,  1807 

4,  1809 
11, 1811 

4,  1813 
10,  1814 
4,  1817 
13,  1817 
6.  1821 
4,  1825 
9,  1829 

20,  1831 

4,  1833 
15.  1S33 

4,1837 

5,  1838 
11,1840 

6,  1841 
6,  1841 

13,  1841 

1,  1843 

6,  1X45 
17,  1846 

21,  1848 
8,  1849 

22,1850 

7,  18S3 
6,  1857 

20,  1860 

5.  1861 

22,  1863 

2,  1864 
4,186ft 

15.  1865 

23,  1866 

16,  18(8 

6,  1869 
2.1,  1870 

14,  1871 
4.  18T3 

2(1,  1*75 

22,  1876 

12.  1*77 

4  lxxl 

1881 


SPEAKERS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


F.  A.  Muhlsnberg  .. 
Jonathan  Trumbull.. 
F.  A.  Muhlenberg... 
Jonathan  Dayton  .... 


Theodore  Sedgwick.. 
Nathaniel  Macon 


Joseph  B.  Varnum 

Henry  Clay — 


Langdon  Cheves 

Henry  Clay 


John  W.  Taylor 

Philip  P.  Barbour 

Henry  Clav ~~ 

John  W.  Taylor 

Andrew  Stevenson 


John  Bell 

James  K.  Polk—— 


Robert  M.  T.  Hunter  . 

John  White 

John  W.  Jones 

John  W.  Davis 

Robert  C.  Winthrop.. 

Howell  Cobb 

Linn  Boyd 

Nathaniel  P.  Banks... 

James  L.  Orr 

Wm.  Pennington 

Galusha  A.  Grow 

Schuyler  Colfax... 


State. 


Congrws. 


Term  of  Ser-rice. 


Pennsylvania 1st  Congress - .April  1, 1789,  to  March  4, 1791 — 

Connecticut - 2d  Congress- _ 'October  24, 1791,  to  March  4, 1793 _ 

Pennsylvania |3d  Congress ..;  December  2, 1793,  lo  March  4, 1794 

New  Jersey 


Massachusetts— 
North  Carolina... 


JanfesG.  Blaine.. 


Michael  C.  Kerr 

Samuel  J.  Randall.. 


4th  Congress December?,  1794.  to  March  4, 1797. .... 

4th  Congress. May  14,1797,  to  March  8,  1799 

6th  Congress — December  2, 1799,  to  March  4, 1801 

uh  Congress — December  7, 1801,  to  March  4, 1803. _ 

8th  Congress — ..  October  17, 1803,  to  March  4, 1805 

9th  Congress December  2. 1806,  to  March  4, 1807 

10th  Congress October"26, 1807,  to  March  4, 1809 

11th  Congress May  22, 1809,  to  March  4, 1811 

12th  Congress November  4, 1811.  to  March  4, 1813 

13th  Congress „ May  24, 1813,  to  January  19, 1814 

13th  Congress.. - January  19, 1814,  to  March  4,  1815 

14th  Congress. December  4, 1815,  to  March  4, 1814- 

15th  Congress- _ December  1, 1817,  to  March  4, 1819 

10th  Congress  _ December  6, 1819,  to  May  14, 1820 

16th  C.ngr.-ss 'November  14, 1820,  to  March  4, 1821 

17th  Congress „ December  4, 1821,  lo  March  4, 1823 

18th  Congress December  1,  1823,  to  March  4, 1826 _ 

19th  Congress December  6, 1825,  to  March  4, 1827 

20th  Congress December  3,  1827,  to  March  4, 1829- — 

21st  Congress I>ecember  7, 1829,  to  March  4, 1831 

22d  Congress December  5, 1831,  to  March  4, 1833 — 

23d  Congress December  2, 1833,  to  Jnne  2, 1834 

23d  Congress - June  2, 1834,  to  March  4, 1834 

24th  Congress December  7, 1835,  to  March  4,1837 

25th  Congress September  5, 1837.  to  March  4, 1839 

Virginia _ >26th  Congress December  16, 1838,  to  March  4, 1841 

Kentucky _ -27th  Congress May  31, 1841,  to  March  4, 1843 

Virginia xgth  Congress - [December  4, 1843,  to  March  4,1845 

Indiana „ 29th  Congress _ iDecember  1, 1845,  to  March  4, 1847 -... 

Massachusetts 130th  Congress - 'December  6, 1847,  to  March  4, 1849 -.. 

Georgia !31st  Congress -  December  22, 1849,  to  March  4, 1851 


Massachusetts. 
Kentucky 


South  Carolina,  2d  Session- 
Kentucky— 


New  York,  2d  Session- 
Virginia  

Kentucky — 

New  York -._. 

Virginia  - 


Tennessee,  2d  Session 


Kentucky.. 


Massachusetts 

South  Carolina. _ 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania... 
Indiana— 


32d  Congress December  1,  1851,  to  March  4, 1853- 

33d  Congress December  5, 1853,  to  March  4, 1*55 _ 

34th  Congress _  February  2. 1856,  to  March  4, 1857- 

34th  Congress December  7, 1847,  to  March  4, 1859- 

36th  Congress — .  February  1, 1860,  to  March  4, 1861- 


Born 


1750 
1740 


1746 
1757 


1717 


1776 


1784 
1783 


1797 
1795 

1809 
1805 
1804 
1799 
ISM 
1815 
1800 

1816 
1822 
1796 


37th  Congress -July  4, 1861,  to  March  4, 1863 !    1823 


Indiana 

Pennsylvania,  2d  Session 


MB 


1830 


_— ... |38th  Congress- December  7, 1863,  to  March  4, 1865 

39th  Congress- -— [December  4, 1865,  to  March  4,1867 

40th  Congress - IMarch  4, 1867,  to  March  4, 1869 

41st  Congress March  4, 1869,  to  March  4, 1871 

42d  Congress March  4, 1871,  to  March  4, 1873 

43d  Congress - December  1, 1873,  to  March  4, 1875— 

44th  Congress - December  6, 1875,  to  August  20, 1876 1*27 

44th  Congress - December  4, 1876,  to  March  4, 1877 1828 

46th  Congress _ October  14, 1877,  to  March  4, 1879- —  1    — 

46th  Congress — .March  18, 1879,  to „__ 


Id.. I. 


1801 
1809 


1828 


1813 
1837 


1821 
1852 
1857 


1854 
1841 


IM 

1819 


1N45 
MM 

1850 

1868 
1859 


1873 

I  Ml 


1876 


POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AT  EACH  CENSUS,  FROM  1790  TO  1880,  FROM  THE  OFFICIAL  CENSUS. 


States  and  Territories. 


1790. 


1800. 


1810. 


1820. 


1830. 


1840. 


1-.-.0. 


The  United  States--.. 
Tne  States 


Alabama 

Illaiiam — 

California 

Colorado 

Connecticut .- 

Delaware 

Florida- 

Georgia™ 

Illinois — - 

Indiana.- — 

Iowa... 


Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana - 

Maine 

Maryland 

Massachusetts 

Michigan .....— 

Minnesota 

Mississippi „— 

Missouri..—..—.. 

Nebraska. 

Nevada 

New  Hampshire.- 

Nsw  Jersey 

New  York 

North  Carolina 

Ohio  

Oregon 

Pennsylvania. 

Rhode  Island 

South  Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas „ 

Vermont 

Virginia _ 

West  Viririnia 

Wisconsin - 


The  States... 


3929214 
SMRM 


5308483        7-3:.SM        9633822      12866020      17.».'.'4.-.3      2319187* 
5294390        7215858  ',     9600783  I  12820868      17019641      23067262 


237946 
59U96 


.---.4^ 


7.H.77 


96540 
319728 
378787 


141886 

1*4139 
341020 
H376I 


4::4.::.i 


249073 
KM1 


85425 
747610 


2510(12 
64273 


BMCt 


151719 
341548 

4--J--T 


MM 


I8MM 

211149 
5*9051 
4>lu3 
4MH 


HUH 

69122 
345591 
UMH 


IMMS 


1860. 


1S70. 


31443321      38558371 
31183744      38115641 


261942 
72674 


HUM 

12282 
MMB 


406511 
76546 

Mgrai 

HUM 

4:.->4" 
4762 


40352 
MMI 


127901 
14255 


680756 

97574 


ST5148 

72749 


54162 
147178 


564135 
152923 


4.  '7:>„vi 

523159 

8765 


297675 
76748 
34730 
SUM 
157445 
313031 


771623 
MOW 


mm 

780H 

54477  I 

MMM 

476183 


43112 


370792 

91532 
87446 
MMM 
851470 
MMM 
192214 


637917 
215739 
399455 
447040 

01l>4o,s 
31639 


I7WH 

352411 
501793 
470019 
MMM 

21 2267 


75448 
66557 


214460 
215562 
959049 
5MMD 

230760 


810091 
76931 
415114 
261727 


H78M 

:.74i««i 


244022 
277426 
1372111 
6388  9 
581295 


KH75I17 

83016 

502741 

422771 


HMI  I 

1005116 


130021 
140155 


375051 
383702 


HMH 

417762 
6831H 

.->ss<;4 
994514 
397654 
6077 
000526 
(82044 


MMM 
MMM 

379994 

34277 

460147 

112216 

140424 

105T2M 

1711951 

1350428 

674913 

107206 

115468 

7"s<ij 


99(992 
484471 

660247 


537454 
125015 
187748 
1184109 


j  Per  cent. 

I  increase 

70  to  '80. 


6013MM 

49309595 


UH7M 
HUM 


1C8M37 

1194020  ' 


320823 
1918601 

737987 

•.'37!>M3 


284574 
373300 

2428921 
753419 

MMMJ 


1  MUM 

97199 

HIM6 

681904 


1724033 
MMM 
MOM 
HM30 


2- 1 H 
1211405 


291918 

ismmi 


3171176 
MMM 

3"/r;s.i4 


1980329 
13294 

bum* 

147545 

.■--.- 
1002717 

2I2'.:<2 
314120 
1421601 


M10H 
I2310M 

749113 

172023 

791305 

1182012 

28841 

6857 

320073 

672035 

N8N» 


HMS11 

52405 
2i>.;2U 
174020 
703708 
1109S01 
( MZM 
315098  ' 
1S9KI18 


Arizona —   .... 

Dakota 

District  of  Columbia...:... 

Idaho 

Montana.. 


5924390        7215858        9600783 


14093 


am 


New  Mexico 

Utah 

Washington -. 

Wyoming 


The  Territories 

Total  Population.. 


305391 


776881 


155084 
MMi 
HfNs 
THMI 

1457351 
IMMM 
MMM 

827922 
1721295 

MM 
42491 

318300 

MMM 
4  :-L7.-.  1 
1071361 

206520 

NHS 

1521951 

217353 

706600 

IMMM 

818579 
330551 

1M6U3 
442014 

1061870 


194049 
MMM 
14-  M4 
MMM 

1539048 
3078709 
ISIOM 

1024620 
MMM 

1648708 
940103 
.  1  MM 
MMM 

1783012 
1036331 

7>^m: 
1331592 
U'l'-S"! 

452433 


340984 
IMMM 
..  MOO 
14O0047 
3198238 

174767 
_HMM 

27*6x8 


1542463 

1692674 


1512806 
618443 
1315480 


IMS  ■  - 


17019641      23067262      31183744      381U641      49369696 


4:1712 


61687 


61547 
11380 


4837 

nwo 


M6M 

40273 
11594 


9658 
14  -1 
1317-T" 
14999 
NHS 
91874 
HIM 
23954 

9118 


40141 
135180 
177638 
32611 
39147 
118430 
143906 
74120 
BOTH 


43712  124614 


442730 


5308483  I     7239881   '     9033822      12866020      17069463      23191876      31443321  ,  SSS5S371      50142866 


Increase  j  Increase    Increase  "  Increase 

percent    per  cent,  percent,    percent. 

1700-1800.  1 1801-1810  1810-1820.  1820-1810. 

35.10.     '       36.38.  33.OK.  32,51. 


Increase    Increase    Increase!  Increase  Increase 

per  cent  per  cent,   per  cent  per  cent  per  cent. 

1830-1840.  1840-1850.  1850-1860.  1860-1870.  1870-1  8 

33-52.     I       35.83.     I      85.11.     I       22.65.     I     30.06. 


30.06 
29.52 


65.65 
54.34 
388.28 
15.85 
17.30 
42.39 
29.97 

21  _a 

17.70 
86.06 
173.14 
24.80 
MJM 

3.15 
19.68 
22.34 
38.19 
77.57 
36.67 
24.99 
267.83 
46.53 

9.01 
24.M) 
15.99 
30.67 
IMS 
92.21 
21.0O 
27.22 
40  94 
21.56 
94.55 
.52 
23.42 
39.91 
24.72 

2-...  "2 

318.73 
85S.24 
34.88 
117.12 
90.12 
X8.90 
65.81 
213.58 
127.98 
76.91 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


43 


POPULATION  OF  ILLINOIS. 


Statement  showing  the  population  of  the  State  of  Illinois  by  Counties,  according  to  the  United  States  census,  from  the  year  1800  to  the  year  1880,  and  date 
of  organization  and  name  of  County  Seat : 


Counties. 


Adams 

Alexander .. 

Bond 

Boone 

Brown „ 

Bureau 

Calhoun 

Carroll 

Cass 

Champaign 

Christian 

Clark 

Clay 

Clinton 

Coles 

Cook 

Crawford 

Cumberland 

DeKalb 

DeWitt 

Douglas 

DuPage 

Edgar 

Edwards 

Effingham 

Fayette 

Ford 

Franklin 

Fnttoo 

Gallatin 

Greene 

Grundy 

Hamilton 

Hancock 

Hardin 

Henderson 

Henry 

Iroquois „ 

Jackson 

Jasper 

Jefferson 

Jersey ,.....' 

JoDaviess : 

Johnson 

Kane 

Kankakee 

Kendall 

Knox 

Lake 

LaSalle 

Lawrence 

Lee 

Livingston 

Logan 

Macon 

Macoupin „ 

Madison 

Marion 

Marshall 

Mason 

Massac 

McDonough 

Mc  Henry 

McLean 

Menard 

Mercer 

Monroe 

Montgomery 

Morgan 

Moultrie 

Ogle 

Peoria 

Perry 

Piatt 

Pike 

Pope 

Pulaski 

Putnam 

Randolph 

Richland 

Rock  Isla  i  1 

Saline 

Sangamon 

Schuyler 

Seott 

Shebly 

Stark 

•St.  Clair 

Stephenson 

Tazewell 

Union 

Vonmilion 

Wabash 

Warren. „ „ 

Washington .. 

Wavne.... 

White 

Whiteside 

Will 

Williamson 

Winnebago 

Woodford - 


7,275 


1,8061   5,007 


2,931 


931 


3,444 


1,763 
3  155 


1,542 
691 


1,510 


2,010 

8'«a 


1,817 

1,114 
4,828 


2,  ISO 
1,390 
2,931 


3,940 

755 

2,330 


3,117 


4,071 
1,619 


2,704 


4,083 
1,841 
7,405 
7,674 


2,616 
483 


41 
1,828 
8,558 


2,111 

1,590 


274 


1,122 
1,990 
6,221 
2,125 


86 

2,000 

2,953 

12,711 


2,390 
8,818 


1,310 

4,  m 


12,960 
2,959 


4,716 
3,239 
6,836 

2,71 0 

308 

1.675 

6,091 


1840. 


14,476 
8,313 
8,000 
1,705 
4,183 
3,  067 
1,741 
1, 023 
2,981 
1,475 
1,878 
7,  453 
3,  228 
3,718 
9,616 

10,201 
4,422 


1,697 
3,247 


3,535 
8,  325 

3,070 
1,075 
6,328 


3,682 
13,142 
10,760 
11,951 


3,945 
9,  946 
1,378 

1,260 
1,095 
3,566 
1,472 
5  762 
4,  -,V> 
6, 180 
3,626 
6,501 


7,  oco 

7,054 
9,348 
7,092 
2,035 
759 
2,333 
3, 039 
7,826 
14,433 
4,742 
1,849 


6,308 
2,578 

4,  131 

4,481 
4,490 
19,517 


3,479 
6, 153 

3,  222 


11,728 
4,094 


2, 131 
7,944 


2,610 


14,716 
6,972. 
6,  21 
6,  MS 

1,813 
13,  881 

2,800 
7.S21 

5,  52  I 
9,  .TO 
4,240 

6,  730 
4, 810 
5,133 

7,  919 
2,514 

1",  167 
4,457 
4,009 


1850. 


26,  60S 
2,484 
6,144 
7, 624 
7,198 
8,841 
3,231 
4,586 
7,253 
2,649 

3,  m 

9,  532 
4, 289 
6,139 
9,  US 
43,  385 
7,  133 
3,  718 
7,540 
5, 002 


9,290 
10,  692 
3,524 

:i,  Too 
8,075 


5,  681 
22, 508 

5,448 
12, 429 
3,023 

6,  362 
14,  652 

2,887 
4,612 
3,807 
4,  149 
6,862 
3,220 
8,109 
7,354 

18,004 
4,114 

16, 703 


7,73" 
13,  279 
14, 226 

17,  815 
6,121 
6,292 
1,552 
6,128 
8,988 

1",  355 

20,441 

6, 720 

6,180 

5,  921 
4,092 
7,016 

14,978 
10,  163 
6,349 
8,246 
7.  873 
6,277 

18,  0P4 
3,234 

1  ■',  020 

17,547 

6,278 

1,606 

18,  810 
3,  976 
2, 264 
3, 924 

11,070 
4,012 

6,  M7 

19,  22S 

10,  573 
7,914 

7,807 

:>,  Tie 
an,  180 

11,606 
12,082 

7,  01 
11,492 

4,090 

8,  176 
6,988 
8,825 
8  925 
5,  881 

16, 703 
7, 216 

1 1 ,  77.1 
4,415 


Aggregate '.  ...     2.35s  12,282155,  Vm  187,44s1  476,1811  851,470    1,711,951 


1800. 


41,323 
4,707 
9,815 

11,  078 
9,938 

26,  420 

5,141 

11,733 

11,325 

14,629 

10,492 

14,987 

9,336 

10.941 

14,203 

144,954 

11,551 

8.311 

19,086 

10,820 

7.140 

14, 701 

16,  925 

5,454 

7,816 

11,1*8 

1,979 

9, 393 

33,338 

8,055 

16,003 

10, 379 

9,915 

20,061 

3,769 

9,501 

20,660 

12,325 

9,589 

8,304 

12, 965 

12,  051 
27,326 

9,342 
311.062 
15,  412 
13.074 
28, 663 
18,257 
48.332 

9,214 
17, 651 

11,  637 
14,272 

13,  738 
24,602 
31, 351 
12, 739 
13,437 
10,  931 

6,213 
20,069 
22,  089 
28,772 

9,584 
15,042 

12,  832 
13. 979 
22,112 

6,385 
22,888 
36,601 

9, 552 

6,127 
27  249 

6,742 

3, 943 

5,587 
17,205 

9,711 
21,0Of, 

9, 881 
32, 274 
14, 684 

9,069 
14  613 

9,004 
37,  694 
25,111' 
21,470 
11,181 
19,  800 

7,313 
18,330 
13.731 
12,223 
12,  403 
18, 737 
29, 321 
12,205 
24,491 
13,282 


1870. 


66,  362 
10,  564 
13  152 
12, 042 
12,205 
34,415 

6,*02 
16,705 
11,580 
32,  737 
20, 363 
18, 719 
15, 875 
10, 285 
25,235 
349, 966 
13, 889 
12,  223 
23,265 
14,768 
13,484 
16,085 
21,450 

7,565 
15,053 
19,  638 

9,  103 
12,  652 
38,291 
11,134 
20, 277 
14,938 
13,014 
35, 935 

5,113 
12, 582 
35,506 
25,782 

19,  634 
11,238 
17,  864 

15,  (154 
27,  820 
11.248 
39,  091 
24,352 
12,399 
39,522 
21,014 
60, 792 
12.533 
27,171 
31,471 
23,  053 
20,481 
32,726 
44,131 
20,622 
16,956 
16, 184 
9,581 
26,509 
23,762 
53, 088 
11,7.15 
Is,  769 
12,982 
25, 314 
28,403 
10,386 
27,492 
47. 540 
13,723 
10,953 
30,768 
11,437 
8, 752 
6,280 

20,  859 
12.  803 
29,  783 
12,714 
Id,  383 
17,419 

25,  476 
1",  751 
61,068 
30, 608 
27,903 
16,518 
30,388 
K.SI1 
23, 174 
17,599 
19,  758 
16,846 
27,503 
43,  013 
17, 329 
29,301 
IS, 956 


2,539,891 


1880. 


When  organized. 


County  Seats. 


Belvidere 
Ml.  Sterling.. 

Princetou 

Hardin 

Mt.  Carroll.... 

Virginia 

Urbana. 

Taylorville.... 


69, 1481  January  13,  1825 Quiney  . 

14,809  March  4,  1819 Cairo 

14,873  January  4,  1817T —  Greenville.. 

11,527  March  4,1837 

13,014  February  l,  1839.... 
33, 189'February  28, 1837.. 
7,471|January  18,  1828... 
16,988  Palmary  22, 1839.... 

14,  494  March  3,  1837 

40,  809  February  20, 18:53.. 
28, 232  February  18, 1839.. 

21,9O0Mareh22,   1818 Marshall.. 

16,195  Peeemlier  23, 1K24 Louisville 

18, 718  December  27,  1824 Carlyle 

27,0S5iDeccmber  25,  1830 Charleston 

607, 710  January  15, 1831 Chicago 

16,190|Decemher31, 1816 Robinson 

13,702  May  1,  ls43 Majority  Point 

26  774  March  4,  1837 Sycamore 

17, 014  March  1, 1839 Clinton 

15,857!  February  13,1857 Tuscola 

19, 187' February  9,  1839 Wheaton 

26, 504  January 8, 1823 Paris.. 


8,  GOO  November  28,  1814.. 
18, 924  Fehruary  15,  1831... 
23,213  February  14,  1821... 
15, 105 1  February. 17,  1859... 

10, 129  January  2,  1818 

41,249  January  28,  1823 iLcwistown.. 

12,  B63  September  14, 1812. Shawneetown . 

23,014  January  20,  1821 Carrollton 

16,738  February  17,  1841 Morris.. 


Albion 

Effingham.. 
Vandal  fa...., 

Paxton 

Benton  . 


16, 712.  Fehruary  8,  1821 

35,  352!  January  13,  1825 

6, 0241March2,  1839 

10, 755  January  20, 1841 

36, 609;  January  13. 1325 

35, 457  February  28, 1833... 

22, 608  January  10, 1816 

14,518  February  IS,  1831.. 

20,886  March  26, 1819 

15,516  February  28,  is  mi  ... 
27,  634  February  17,  1827... 
13, 079  September  11, 1<12. 

44,950  January  16,  1838 

24, 961 J  February  II,  1851 Kankakee  City 

13,084  February  19, 1841 lYorkville 

38,360  January  13.  1825. 

21,299  March  1,  1839 

70, 480  January  15, 1831.. 


McLeansboro.... 

Carthage 

Elizabethtown .. 

Oquawka 

C  mbridge 

Watseka. 

Murphysboro-.. 

Newton 

Mt.  Vernon 

Jerseyville 

Galena 

Vienna- 
Geneva.. 


13, 663  January  16. 1821.... 
271494  February  27,  I88S. 


February  ?7, 1837.. 
February  15, 1839.. 
January  19, 1829... 
January  17,  1829... 


38,450 

25, 041 

30.  671 
37,705, 

60, 141  (September  14, 1812.. 
83,691  ' 
15,030 
16,  244 
10,443 
27,084 
24,914 
60,115 
13,028 
19, 601 
13,  682 
28, 086 

31,  519 
13JM 
29, 946 


January  24,  1823 

January  19, 1839 

January  20,  1841 „ 

Februarys,  1843 

January  25,  1826 

January  10, 1838 

December  25,  1830 

Februnry  15,  1839 

January  13, 1  - 

June  1,1816 

February  12, 1821 

January  31,  1838 

Februarvll,  1313 

January  lo,  1S36 

65,4191  January  IS,  1825 

16,008'  January  29,  1827 

15,  583  January  27,  1841.. 
33,701  ~ 
13,256 
9,507 
6,— 
25,  091 
15, 546 


January  31, 1821. 

April   I,  1810 

'  March  3,  181.1 

January  13,  1825.. 

April  28.  1S09 

I  February  '.'1, 1K41 
38,314  Februarys,  1831.. 
15,  9M  February  25,  1S17 
52,  902!  January  35, 1821  . 

lanuary  13,  1 

10,715  February  1 !,  1«39 Winchester. 

1,  ls27 Shelhyville 

11,809  March  8,1839 

01,850  April  28,  1809 

31,970  March  4,  1S37 

2», 8791  January  81,  1x27 

18, 100  January  2.  1818.... 

41,600  January  18, 1826 

9,9«'Decemhcr27, 1824 
22,910  January  13, 1S25.... 

21, 117 1  January  2, 1818 

81,897  March  86,  1819 

21, os9  Decembers,  1811.. 
30, 888  January  10, 1836.... 

53,424  January  12, 1830 

19.  388  Fehruary  28, 1839.. 

■  January  18,  1836.... 

21, 6.30  February  27, 1841. 


Galesburg 

Waukepan 

Ottawa 

Lawrenceville 

Dixon 

Pontine 

Lincoln 

Decatur 

Carlinville „ 

lvlwardsville 

Salem 

Lacon 

Havana 

Metropolis 

liacomb 

Woodstock 

Bloomingtor. 

Petersburg *" 

Aledo 

Waterloo 

Blllsboro 

Jacksonville 

Sullivan : 

Oregon 

Peoria 

Pinckncyville 

Montieello 

Piltsfleld 

Golconda 

Mound  City 

Hennepin 

Chester 

Olney.. 

Hock  Island 

Harrisburg 

Springfield 

Rushville.. 


Toulon.. 

Belleville 

Freeport 

Pekin 

Jonesboro 

Danville 

Mt.  Carmel 

Monmouth 

Nashville 

Fairfield 

Cnrmi _.. 

Morrison 

Joliet 

Marion 

Rock-ford 

Metamora 


3,078,636) 


*  St,  Clair  Bounty  was  organised  April  27th,  1790,  by  Arthur  Pt.  Clair,  then  Governor  and  Commander-in-chief  of  "  The  territory  of  the  United  States  north- 
st  of  the  Ohio  river, '  ro-organized  after  Illinois  had  been  est« 


1  established  as  a  Terriiory,  April  28th,  18U9. 


44 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  III. 


OEOGR   PHY— AGRICULTURAL    RESOURCES  AXD 
RAILROAD  FACILITIES. 


SCHUYLER    COUNTY. 


I  HE  County  of  Schuyler  lies  a  little  north 
of  the  center  of  the  State  and  in  the  sec- 
ond tier  of  counties  from  the  western 
boundary  line.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  McDonough  and  Fulton  counties,  on 
the  east  by  Fulton  county  and  the  Illinois 
river,  on  the  south  by  Brown  and  on  the 
west  by  the  counties  of  Adams  and  Han- 
cock. 

Its  greatest  length  from  east  to  west 
is  twenty-five  miles,  and  from  north  to  south  a  fraction 
over  twenty  miles.  The  county  embraces  a  superficial  area 
of  a  little  over  four  hundred  andfourteen  square  miles. 

The  county  was  formed  in  January,  1825,  out  of  the  coun- 
ties of  Pike  and  Fulton. 

The  "Act"  erecting  the  county  was  passed  January  13th, 
1825,  and  reads  as  follows  : 

"  Be  it  enacted,  etc.,  That  all  that  tract  of  county  within 
the  following  boundaries,  to  wit : 

Beginning  at  the  place  where  the  township  line,  between 
two  and  three  south,  touches  the  Illinois  river,  thence  west 
on  said  line  to  the  range  line  between  ranges  four  and  five 
west;  thence  north  on  said  range  line  to  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  township  three  north,  range  four  west,  thence  east  on 
said  township  line  to  the  meridian  ;  thence  down  the  meridian 
line  to  the  southeast  corner  of  township  three  north,  range 
one  west ;  thence  east  on  said  township  line  to  the  Illinois 
river,  thence  down  the  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning, 
shall  constitute  the  county  of  Schuyler."  Out  of  this  tract  in 
1839  was  taken  Brown  county. 

KAMES   AND   NUMBERS    OF   TOWNSHIPS. 

Oakland,        Tp.  3  North  of  Base  Line,   Range  1   West  of  P.  M. 
Littleton,  "    3      "      "      "  "  "      2      "       "    "    " 

Brooklyn,  "     3      "      "      "  " 


Birmingham,    "    3 

(( 

it 

tt 

Hnntsville,        "    2 

» 

tt 

tt 

Camden,            "     2 

M 

tt 

tt 

Buena  Vista,     "     2 

tt 

tt 

t* 

Rushville,          "     2 

tt 

tt 

It 

8 

If 

u 

tt 

tt 

4 

ft 

tt 

tt 

it 

4 
3 

a 
ft 

tt 
tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 
tt 

2 

<( 

tt 

tt 

tt 

J 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

The  above  were  all  full  townships.  Browning  2  north  of 
base  line  range  1,  east  of  P.  M.  This  township  is  a  fractional 
part  being  cut  off  by  the  Illinois  river,  and  part  of  it  is 
added  to  Frederick  township. 

Hickory,  2  North  of  Base  Line,   Range    2  East  of  P.  M. 

and  2        "      "        '*        '*  '*         3       '*    *'      "    " 

This  township  is  composed  of  two  townships  cut  off  by  the 
Illinois  river. 


Frederick  1  N.  of  Base  Line.    Range  1  East  of  4  P.  M. 

This  township  is  fractional  and  is  composed  of  that  part 
of  1  N.  Range,  1  East  that  lies  west  of  the  Illinois  river. 
Also  so  much  of  Browning  township  proper,  as  lies  south  of 
the  center  of  Browning  township  and  west  of  Sugar  Creek 
that  runs  through  said  township. 

Bainbridge  1  N.  of  Base  Line,  R.  1  West 

This  is  a  full  township  and  also  fraction  on  the  south, 
which  is  part  of  1  S.  B.  L.  R.  1  W. 

Woodstock  Tp.  1  North  of  Base  Line.  Range  2  West  of  4  P.  M.,  is  a 
fractional  township,  part  cut  off  by  Crooked  Creek,  also 
Tract  1   South  of  Base  Line,   Range  2  West  of  4  P.   M. 
"        1   North  *         "        "  "        3      "       "    "     "     " 


LAND   SURFACE. 

The  surface  of  Schuyler  county  is  considerably  di- 
versified with  hills  and  valleys,  prairies  and  heavily 
timbered  woodlands.  Along  the  bluffs  of  Crooked  Creek 
and  the  Illinois  river  the  surface  is  very  much  broken 
/and  hilly,  but  these  broken  lauds  possess  a  rich  and  pro- 
ductive soil  and  are  valuable  for  agricultural  purposes, 
wherever  they  are  sufficiently  level  for  cultivation.  The 
prairies  are  mostly  small,  and  are  restric  ted  to  the  north-  " 
era  and  western  portions  the  county.  On  the  ridges 
adjacent  to  the  small  streams  the  timber  is  mostly  black 
oak  and  hickory,  but  on  the  more  level  portions  of  the 
timbered  regions  as  well  as  on  the  bluffs  of  the  Illinois 
river  we  find,  in  addition,  elm,  linden,  sugar  maple,  wild 
cherry,  and  honey  locust,  an  arboroal  growth  which  in- 
dicates a  soil  of  the  best  quality,  fully  equal  to  the  best 
prairie  soils.  Much  of  the  uplands  where  this  growth  of 
timber  prevails,  is  underlaid  by  the  marly  sand.-  and  clays 
of  the  loess,  and  rank  among  the  very  best  lands  in  the  State. 
Fine  blue  grass  pastures  are  easily  made  upon  these  lands, 
and  the  soil  is  well  adapted  to  the  growth  of  fruit,  such  as 
apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums,  and  more  especially  grapes. 
On  the  eastern  border  of  the  county  there  is  a  belt  of  allu- 
vial bottoms,  skirting  the  Illinois  river  from  a  mile  to  four 
miles  in  width.  Some  portions  of  this  land  are  above  the 
high  water  level  of  the  river,  and  are  very  productive, 
while  other  portions  are  subject  to  annual  overflows  from 
the  river  floods  and  are  of  little  value  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses. A  considerable  portion  of  this  is  bottom  prairie,  but 
there  is  usually  a  belt  of  heavy  timber  skirting  the  river  and 
also  the  small  streams  by  which  the  bottoms  are  intersected. 
The  timber  on  these  low  lands  comprise  cottonwood,  syca- 
more, soft  maple,  elm,  ash,  hickory,  pecan,  Spanish  oak, 
swamp  white  oak,  pine  oak,  black  walnut,  hack  berry,  buck, 
eye,  honey  locust,  pawpaw  and  willow.  There  are  also  belts 
of  bottom  lands  upon  some  of  the  larger  creeks  of  Schuyler 
county,  as  on  Crooked  creek  and  Sugar  creek,  but  these  sel- 
dom exceed  a  half  a  mile  in  width  and  are  covered  with  a 
heavy  growth  of  timber. 

Streavis. — The  county  is  well  watered,  mainly  by  Crooked 
Creek,  and  its  affluents.     It  enters  the  county  on  the  noith 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


45 


fide  of  Birmingham  township  and  flows  through  the  town- 
ship, also  through  Brooklyn  and  Camden,  and  is  the 
boundary  line  of  the  county  on  the  west  and  south  of  Wood- 
stock township  and  on  the  south  part  of  Bainbridge,  and 
enters  the  Illinois  river  nearly  due  south  of  the  center  of 
Bainbridge  township. 

Missouri  creek  enters  the  county  on  the  west  side  of 
Huntsville  township  and  flows  through  Huntsville  and  Cam- 
den townships  and  part  of  Brown  county,  and  empties  into 
Crooked  creek  in  township  1  north,  range  3  west.  Crane 
creek  rises  in  Rushville  township  and  meanders  through 
Kushville  and  Bainbridge  townships  ,  and  enters  Illinois 
river  near  the  mouth  of  Crooked  creek. 

Sugar  creek  rises  in  Littleton  township  and  flows  through 
Littleton  and  Oakland  townships  in  this  county,  and  the 
southwest  corner  of  Astoria  township,  in  Fulton  county ; 
then  enters  the  county  and  flows  through  Browning  and 
Frederick  townships  and  empties  into  the  Illinois  river,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  latter  township. 

Horny  Branch  rises  in  Littleton  township  and  flows 
through  Brooklyn  and  empties  into  Crooked  creek  near  the 
village  of  Brooklyn. 

Brush  creek  also  heads  in  Littleton  township  and  flows 
through  Buena  Vista  and  Camden  townsh:ps,  and  empties 
into  Crooked  creek  near  the  village  of  Erwin. 

Stony  Branch  heads  in  Littleton  township,  passes  through 
into  Crooked  creek. 

Horny  Branch  rises  in  Buena  Vista  township,  runs 
through  Woodstock  township  and  empties  into  Crooked 
creek  in  town  1,  3  N,  3  W.  of  fourth  principal  meridian. 
Town  Branch  heads  in  town  of  Rushville,  and  runs  south- 
west through  Rushville,  Buena  Vista  and  Woodstock  town- 
ships ;  enters  Crooked  creek  at  the  "  Big  Bend." 

Coal  creek  rises  in  Rushville  township,  flows  through 
Rushville,  Bainbridge  and  Frederick  townships  and  empties 
into  the  Illinois  river  below  Beardstown,  in  Frederick  town- 
ship. 

Dutchmans  creek  rises  in  Browning  township  and  empties 
into  the  Illinois  river  near  the  village  of  Browning. 

Harris  Branch  heads  in  Fulton  county  and  enters  Schuy- 
ler on  the  north  side  of  Browning  township  and  empties 
into  Sugar  creek  in  same  township. 

Rushville,  the  county  seat  of  Schuyler  county,  is  located 
on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  No.  30,  2  north,  1  west. 
It  derives  its  name  from  Dr.  Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  an 
eminent  surgeon  and  physician  of  a  half  a  century  ago. 

Soil. — The  county  of  Schuyler  contains  within  its  limits 
some  of  the  best  and  richest  lands  in  the  State.  Agricul- 
ture is  the  leading  pursuits  and  employment  of  the  people. 
The  leading  staple  products  are  wheat,  corn,  rye,  oats,  bar- 
ley, potatoes,  hay,  sorghum,  sweet  potatoes,  melons,  etc.  All 
the  desirable  fruits  grow  here  in  abundance.  No  county  in 
the  State  is  blessed  with  a  more  intelligent  and  industrious 
husbandry  than  Schuyler  county,  and  as  a  natural  sequence 
it  is  growing  in  popularity  and  wealth.  Very  little  indebt- 
edness of  any  kind  exists  in  the  county.  The  people,  as  a 
class,  are  careful  and  frugal,  and  live  within  th'ir  means, 
and  are  not  given  to  outside  show  and  vain  display. 


BROWN   COUNTY 

Was  originally  a  part  of  Schuyler  county,  but  in  Febru- 
ary, 1 839,  Brown  was  cut  off"  from  Schuyler,  the  trouble  of 
reaching  Rushville,  the  county  seat,  on  account  of  the  high 
waters  of  Crooked  creek,  being  the  main  cause  of  the  divi- 
sion. There  was  much  talk  before  the  division  of  establish- 
ing the  county  seat  at  Ripley,  which  is  situated  on  the  bank 
of  the  south  side  of  Crooked  creek,  but  it  was  thought  best 
to  divide  the  counties.  The  county  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  Schuyler  county ;  east  by  Cass  and  Morgan  counties ; 
south  by  Pike,  and  west  by  Adams  county.  On  the  east  the 
Illinois  river  and  Crooked  creek  on  the  north  are  the  bound- 
ary lines.  In  length  the  county  is  about  eighteen  miles,  and 
about  the  same  in  breadth,  and  contains  three  hundred  and 
twenty-four  square  miles. 

Brown  county  is  divided  into  nine  townships,  viz :  Ripley, 
Missouri,  Pea  Ridge,  Cooperstown,  Mt.  Sterling,  Lee,  Ver- 
sailles, Elkhorn  and  Buckhorn.  The  county  was  origi- 
nally one-fifth  prairie,  including  the  river-bottom  land,  and 
the  balance  four-fifths  timbered  land.  The  surface  of  the 
county  is  rolling  with  hills  and  bluffs  along  the  streams. 
Aloug  the  bluffs  on  Crooked  creek,  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  county,  and  the  Illinois  river,  the  surface  of  the  country 
is  very  much  broken,  and  a  great  part  of  it,  to  such  an  ex- 
tent as  to  prevent  its  cultivation. 

The  principal  natural  water  courses  in  or  bordering 
upon  Brown  county  are  Crooked  creek,  the  Illinois  river 
and  McKee  creek.  The  latter  rises  iu  Adams  county,  and 
flows  in  a  southeasterly  direction  through  Buckhorn  town- 
ship, then  north  east  to  sections  nineteen  in  Elkhorn 
township,  then  flows  southeast  and  passes  out  of  the 
township  in  section  twenty-five,  and  enters  Versailles  in  sec- 
tion thirty,  and  passes  out  of  the  county  into  Pike  county  in 
section  thirty-two.  In  last-named  township  Crooked  creek, 
as  stated  before,  is  the  northeast  and  eastern  boundary  of 
Schuyler  and  Brown  counties.  The  Illinois  river  is  the  east- 
ern boundary  of  Cooperstown  and  Versailles  townships. 
Missouri  Creek  or  Big  Missouri  rises  in  Adams  county  and 
flows  north  to  and  into  Schuyler  county  ;  enters  Brown  county 
in  Missouri  township  and  empties  into  Crooked  creek.  The 
Little  Missouri  flows  in  a  northeast  direction  through  Pea 
Ridge  and  Missouri  townships,  and  both  Big  and  Little  Mis- 
souris  unite  in  Schuyler  county,  then  flow  back  and  empty 
into  Crooked  creek  in  Missouri  township.  Camp  creek 
rises  in  the  county  and  empties  into  the  Illinois  river.  Dry 
Fork  rises  in  Lee  township,  flows  south  by  east  and  empties 
into  McKee  creek.  .Wells'  Fork  of  McKee  creek  rises  in 
the  western  part  of  Lee  township  and  flows  nearly  south  to 
McKee  creek.  Logan's  creek  in  the  southern  part  of  Mt. 
Sterling  township,  flows  northeast  and  empties  into 
Crooked  creek  at  Greennell's  mill. 

Soil. — The  chief  occupation  of  the  people  is  farming  and 
stock  raising.  The  lands,  both  timbered  and  prairie,  are 
capable  of  producing  the  finest  crops.  In  the  northern  and 
western  part  of  the  county  most  excellent  crops  of  wheat 
and  corn  are  produced,  while  in  the  bottoms  along  Crooked 
creek  and  the  Illinois  river,  in  seasonable  years,  the  crops 


46 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


are  fine  and  the  yield  prolific.  Oats,  barley  and  rye  grow 
luxuriantly,  rarely  failing  to  yield  largely.  The  potato  and 
other  tuberous  plants  do  well,  and  yield  as  large  a  crop  as 
any  other  section  of  the  state.  All  varieties  of  grapes,  ber- 
ries, melons,  currants,  and  common  garden  vegetables  grow 
well,  and  in  almost  any  season  produce  more  than  is  needed 
or  home  consumption.  Blue  grass,  clover,  timothy,  and 
red-top  are  the  principal  cultivated  grasses,  and  afford  rich 
pasturage  for  the  stock,  and -the  best  quality  of  hay  for  the 
market  The  cultivation  of  grasses  has  increased  greatly  in 
the  past  few  years  which  indicates  a  tendency  on  the  part  of 
the  farmers  to  engage  in  stock  raising  more  extensively  than 
a  few  years  ago.  It  may  here  be  mentioned  that  few 
counties  in  the  state  produce  finer  breeds  and  grades  of 
stock  than  Brown  county.  This  is  particularly  true  of  their 
horses.  Great  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  introduction 
of  thoroughbreds  and  fine  horses  into  the  county  in  the 
last  ten  years.  The  horses,  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs  are  of 
a  finer  quality  than  they  were  ten  years  ago,  which  shows  a 
progressive  spirit  and  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  farmers  and 
stock  men  to  keep  pace  with  other  industries.  Fruit  has  re- 
ceived considerable  attention  in  late  years.  Apples,  pears, 
peaches,  plums,  apricots,  cherries,  and  the  other  smaller  fruit 
do  well  in  this  section  of  the  country. 

RAILROAD   FACILITIES. 

The  most  important  factor  in  the  development  of  a  t  iwn, 
county  or  state,  is  its  railroad  facilities  and  communications. 
They  are  not  only  the  great  thoroughfares  of  commerce, 
trade  and  travel,  but  are  the  great  civilizeri  of  the  age,  if  we 
may  be  permitted  so  to  speak.  The  section  of  country  out 
off  from  railroad  communication  with  the  outside  world 
where  communication  is  possible,  is  yet  in  the  misty  past  of 
a  half  a  century  ago.  There  is  a  lack  of  progress  and  en- 
terprise observable  in  every  branch  of  industry.  There  is 
less  literary  culture,  less  refinement  and  less  knowledge  of 
the  world  generally.  Railroads  furnish  the  avenues  by 
which  we  pass  to  our  acquaintance  with  the  people  and  their 
customs  outside  of  our  own  locality.  They  are  the  aids 
which  make  it  possible  to  pass  from  or  permit  the  balance 
of  the  world  to  come  to  us,  and  they  become  acquainted,  and 
thereby  learn  by  actual  contact  and  comparison.  Four- 
fifths  of  the  actual  knowledge  of  mankind  is  obtained  by 
comparison.  Railroad?  permit  this,  therefore,  our  know- 
ledge is  increased,  and  our  mental  powers  enlarged,  the 
world  is  rendered  happier,  and  wars,  turmoil  and  strife  com- 
paratively cease,  because  mankind  i<  daily  getting  better  ac- 
quainted through  the  aid  of  railroads  and  other  mediums  of 
rapid  transit.  The  object  of  this  article,  however,  is  to  show 
the  railroad  facilities  of  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties.  In 
the  first  county  mentioned  the  citizens  of  Rushville,  as  early 
as  1836,  agitated  the  question  of  building  a  railroad.  That 
Schuyler  Cou-  ty  has  few  railroad  facilities  to-day,  is  a  fact, 
but  it  has  been  from  no  fault  of  her  citizens.  They  have 
been  as  enterprising,  liberal  and  wide  awake  upon  this 
question,  as  any  other  locality  in  the  state,  and  also  know 
the  advantages  of  having  railroad  communication  with  other 
parts  of  the  country.     The  citizens  of  Rushville   have,   in 


the  past,  been  particularly  active  in  toeir  efforts  to  secure 
a  road.  They  have  upon  every  proper  occasion  voted  money 
and  supplies,  and  in  several  instances  voted  money  and 
expended  it  in  grades  and  preparing  the  road  bed  for 
the  ties  and  iron,  and  then  failed  to  get  the  road.  There 
were  vari  >us  causes  that  led  to  these  disastrous  results  that 
are  unnecessary  to  mention  here,  as  it  would  involve  too 
much  detail. 

In  1854  an  organization  known  as  the  Peoria  and  Hanni 
bal  Railroad  Company  obtained  a  charter  for  a  railroad  be- 
tween the  terminal  points  named.  Rushville  was  one  of  the 
contemplated  points  on  the  proposed  line.  Aid  was  voted, 
the  right  of  way  obtained,  and  a  portion  of  the  road  bed 
constructed  in  the  county,  but  from  various  causes,  a  recital 
of  which  would  require  lengthy  detail,  the  road  was  not  com- 
pleted as  orignally  designed  by  the  corporators.  A  portion 
of  its  rights  and  franchises  passed  into  the  possession  of  the 
Chicago.  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad  Company.  They 
completed  the  road  to  Vermont  in  Fulton  county,  and  in 
1869,  the  organized  company  (Peoria  and  Hannibal)  which 
is  still  in  operation,  leased  their  rights  in  perpetuity  to  the 
C.  B.  &  Q.  Railway  Company.  Their  line  known  as  the 
Rushville  Extension  or  Branch  of  the  C.  B.  &  Q.  was  fin- 
ished and  opened  to  Rushville  July  4,  1869. 

The  Rock  Island  and  Alton  Railroad  was  organized  and 
chartered  Feb.  14, 1857.  The  County  of  Schuyler  voted  $75.- 
000  in  aid  to  build  the  road.  The  City  of  Rushville  and 
townships  along  the  line  also  voted  as  much  more,  and  in 
addition  there  were  nearly  $50,000  of  individual  subscriptions. 
Of  this  amount  nearly  three-fourths  were  expended  in  survey- 
ing the  route,  obtaining  the  right  of  way,  building  the  road 
bed,  putting  in  bridges,  and  preparing  portions  of  the  line 
ready  for  the  ties  and  iron.  Before  all  the  line  was  ready 
for  the  ties  and  iron  the  Rock  Island  and  Alton  Company 
sold  out  their  rights  and  franchises  obtained  under  their 
charter  to  the  Rockford.  Rock  Island  and  St.  Louis  Railroad 
Company,  stipulating,  however,  that  the  line  of -the  road 
should  run  where  originally  intended  and  surveyed.  The 
original  line  upon  which  the  money  spoken  of  above  had 
been  expended  was  from  Frederick  to  pass  through  Rush- 
ville, Industry,  Macomb  to  Vermont  thence  to  Rock  Island, 
but  instead  the  latter  company  from  Frederick  ignored  the 
original  route  and  built  the  road  from  Frederick  to  Brown- 
ing, Astoria,  Vermont,  then  to  Bushnell,  then  to  Mon- 
mouth where  it  connected  with  the  original  line.  By  this 
action  Rushvi'le  was  left  out  in  the  cold,  so  far  as  getting 
an  East  and  West  outlet. 

The  line  of  this  road  is  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  county, 
and  passes  through  the  townships  of  Frederick  and  Brown- 
ing in  a  northeasterly  direction.  It  crosses  the  Illinois 
River  at  Bjardstown  a  few  miles  below  Frederick  The  prin- 
cipal stations  in  Schuyler  county,  are  Browning,  Frederick 
and  Osceola.  It  was  formerly  the  Rockford,  Rock  Island 
and  St.  Louis  R.  R.,  and  was  built  in  the  years  1869  and  70. 
Trains  began  running  between  Beardstown  and  East  St. 
Louis  in  May  1S70.  In  December,  1876,  a  lease  was  effected, 
and  it  passed  under  the  management  of  the  C.  B.  &  Q.  R. 
R.Co. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


47 


WABASH,  ST.   LOUIS  AND  PACIFIC. 

The  first  line  of  railroad  projected  in  Illinois  was  the 
Northern  Cross  Railroad,  extending  from  Quincy  to  Dan- 
ville. This  was  chartered  in  1837,  and  upon  it  the  first 
locomotive  was  placed  in  the  winter  of  1838-39,  running 
from  Meredosia  to  Jacksonville.  In  1842  the  road  was 
completed  from  Jacksonville  to  Springfield,  and  three  trips 
were  made  per  week  from  the  latter  place  to  Meredosia,  on 
the  Illinois  River.  The  track  was  of  the  old  flat-rail  style, 
which  was  made  by  nailing  thin  strips  of  iron  on  two  paral- 
lel lines  of  timbers  placed  at  the  proper  distance  apart,  ilnd 
running  lengthways  of  the  road.  The  engine,  as  well  as  the 
road,  •soon  became  so  impaired  that  the  former  had  to  be 
abandoned  and  mules  substituted  as  the  motor  power.  How- 
ever, such  locomotion  was  destined  to  be  of  short  duration  • 
for  the  State  soon  afterwards  sold  the  entire  road  at  a  nomi- 
'  nal  sum,  and  thus  for  a  short  time  was  suspended  one  of  the 
first  railroad  enterprises  in  Illinois.  But  in  the  West  a  new 
era — one  of  prodigious  industrial  activity  and  of  far-reach- 
ing results  in  the  practical  arts — was  dawning,  and  within 
thirty  years  from  the  temporary  failure  of  the  road  men- 
tioned, this  State  had  outstripped  all  others  in  gigantic  in- 
ternal improvements,  and  at  present  has  more  miles  of  rail- 
road than  any  other  State  in  the  Union. 

The  Great  Western  whose  name  has  since  been  successively 
changed  to  Toledo,  Wabash  and  Western,  Wabash,  and 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific,  the  last  of  which  it  still 
bears — The  Great  Western  was  an  extension  of  the  North- 
ern Cross  Railroad,  above  mentioned,  aDd  traverses  the 
road  through  some  of  the  finest  portions  of  Illinois,  Indiana 
and  Ohio,  it  soon  became  the  popular  highway  of  travel  and 
traffic  between  the  East  and  the  West.  The  Great  Western 
was  built  to  Mt.  Sterling  in  Brown  county,  in  1855,  and  to 
this  road  the  county  owes  much  of  its  subsequent  rapid  de- 
velopment of  its  agricultural  and  other  resources.  Under 
its  new  name — Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific — and  man- 
agement, it  has  rapidly  extended  its  lines  east  and  west  of 
the  Mississippi  river,  comprising  at  present  two  great  divi- 
sions, the  eastern  and  the  western,  whose  termini  and  lengths 
of  lines  are  as  follows : 

EASTERN  DIVISION. 

Toledo,  Ohio,  to  St.  Louis,  Mo  , 486  miles. 

Decatur,  III.,  to  Quincy,  111. 151  " 

Bluffs,  111.,  to  Hannibal,  Mo., 50  " 

Maysville,  111.,  to  Pittsfield,  III., 6  " 

Clayton,  111.,  to  Keokuk,  Iowa, 49  " 

Logansport,  Ind.,  to  Butler,  Ind., 93  '' 

Edwardsville,  III.,  to  Edwardsville  Crossing, 10  " 

Bement.  111.,  to  Chicago, 151    " 

Decatur,  111.,  via  Champaign  to  Havana,  III., 131  '' 

Peoria,  111.,  to  Jacksonville 83  " 

State  Line,  111.,  to  Warsaw  111 227  " 

Total  miles  east  of  the  Mississippi  river, 1381 

WESTERN  DIVISION. 

St.  Louis  to  jCansas  City, 277    miles. 

Brunswick,  Mo.,  to  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa, 224     " 

Koseberry,  Mo.,  to  Clarinda,  Iowa, 22     " 


Moberly,  Mo.,  to   Ottumwa,  Iowa, 131  miles. 

North  Lexington,  Mo.,  to  St.  Joseph,  Mo 76     " 

Centralia,  Mo.,  to  Columbia,  Mo., 22     " 

Salisbury,  Mo.,  to  Glasgow,  Mo„ 15    " 

Ferguson,  Mo.,  to  Biddle  street,  St.  Louis 10     '' 

Total  miles  west  of  Mississippi  river 777 

Grand  total, 2158  miles. 

The  "  main  line  "  of  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific 
Railway  runs  in  a  northwesterly  direction  through  Brown 
county,  passing  through  Versailles,  Elkhorn,  Mt.  Sterling, 
Lee  and  Pea  Ridge  Townships.  The  principal  stations  on 
the  line  of  the  road  in  this  county  are:  Mt.  Sterling,  Ver- 
sailles, Mound  Station  and  Perry  Springs.  The  principal 
lines  of  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  have  steel  rail 
tracks,  well  ballasted  road-beds,  and  altogether  constitute 
one  of  the  greatest  railroad  systems  in  the  West. 

CHAPTER  IV. 


GEOLOGY. 


SCHUYLER  COUNTY.* 


H  E  geological  structure  of  Schuyler  county 
includes  the  quaternary  system,  the 
lower  portion  of  the  coal  measures,  and 
the  upper  divisions  of  the  Lower  Carbon- 
iferous limetones.  The  coal  measures  are 
of  sufficient  thickness  to  bring  in  another 
coal  seam,  No.  4,  which  is  not  found  in 
any  county  south  of  this,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Illinois  river.  The  following  sec- 
tion exhibits  the  formations  to  be  foundin  this  county  in 
their  relative  order  of  superposition  and  thickness  : 

FEET. 

Quaternary,  comprising  Alluvium,  Loess  and  Drift    .    .    .  100 

Coal  Measures 200  to  250 

St.  Louis  group 30  to    40 

Keokuk : 60  to    70 

The  three  lower  groups,  properly  belong  to  what  are 
known  as  stratified  rocks,  (i.  e.)  formed  in  regular  layers, 
and  also  to  that  division  of  geology  termed  paleozoic, 
because  the  fossils  represent  only  ancient  forms  of  animal 
and  vegetable  life,  while  the  upper  division  belongs  to  the 
most  recent  geological  age,  and  the  fossils  are  the  remains 
of  animals  of  species  now  living,  or  but  recently  become  ex- 
tinct. 

If  the  geological  series  were  complete,  we  should  have  above 
the  coal  measures,  and  intervening  between  that  formation 
and  the  Quaternary,  the  whole  of  the  Secondary  and  Ter- 
tiary series,  embracing  many  thousand  feej  in  thickness  of 
strata,  and  representing,  in  their  fossil  contents,  all  the  miss- 

*For  some  of  the  data  in  the  preparation  of  this  chapter,  we  are 
indebted  to  the  State  Geographical  Keport,  of  A.  H.  Worthen,  its 
editor. 


48 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


ing  links  in  the  great  chain  of  organic  life,  which  connects 
the  paleozoic  age  with  the  present.  But  as  the  Quaternary 
is  the  most  recent  of  all  the  geological  systems,  it  may  be 
found  resting  directly  upon  any  of  the  above  deposits,  from 
the  tertiary  to  the  most  ancient  stratified  or  igneous  rocks 
that  outcrop  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  This  system  in- 
cludes all  the  superficial  beds  of  soil,  sand,  clay,  gravel,  etc, 
which  cover  up  all  the  older  formations,  except  along  the 
streams  where  the  Lower  Carboniferous  limestone  has  been 
laid  bare  by  the  action  of  running  water.  The  term  Allu- 
vium, includes  the  surfacesoil  and  subsoil  of  the  prairies,  and 
the  bottom  lands  along  the  borders  of  our  rivers  and  smaller 
streams.  Possibly,  the  former  may  correspond  nearer,  in 
the  time  of  its  formation,  with  the  Loess,  than  with  the  de- 
posits of  the  river  valleys,  but  it  has  generally  been  consid- 
ered as  coincident  with  the  latter,  in  its  formation,  and 
hence  of  Alluvial  age.  It  has  been  formed,  in  part,  from 
the  transported  material  brought  down  by  the  river  current, 
together  with  the  animal  and  vegetable  substances  that  de- 
cay upon  the  surface,  to  which  is  added,  the  sands,  clays, 
and  organic  matter,  that  is  washed  down  upon  it  from  the 
neighboring  hills. 

The  Loess  is  restricted  to  the  region  adjacent  to  the  Illi- 
nois river  bluffs  and  attains  a  maximum  thickness  of  nearly 
a  hundred  feet,  but  thins'  out  gradually  from  the  bluffs  to- 
ward the  central  portions  of  the  county.  It  consists  of  brown 
and  drab  colored  sandy,  and  marly  clays,  sometimes  par- 
tially stratified,  and  varying  in  color,  with  the  variable  quan- 
tities of  the  oxyd  of  iron  it  contains.  The  characteristic 
fossils  of  this  group  are  the  land  and  fresh  water  shells, 
which  however  are  not  found  in  abundance  in  either  of 
these  counties. 

The  Drift  formation  consists  of  unstratified  clay  and 
gravel,  usually  of  a  brown  or  ashen  gray  color,  containing 
boulders  of  igneous  and  metamorphic  rocks  disseminated 
through  it,  but  most  abundant  in  the  lower  portion  of  the 
deposit.  The  material  composing  the  Drift  formation  is 
supposed  to  have  been  transported  here  by  the  combined 
agencies  of  ice  and  water,  during  a  period  of  submergence, 
while  the  entire  area  of  this  and  several  of  the  adjoining 
states  was  beneath  the  water  level.  Icebergs,  impelled  by 
winds,  or  currents  of  water,  and  loaded  with  the  detritus  of 
distant  shores,  were,  no  doubt,  one  of  the  most  potent  agen- 
cies in  the  accumulation  of  the  Drift,  and  we  find,  as  we 
trace  this  deposit  southward  from  the  Lake  Superior  region, 
that  the  boulders  diminish  in  size  and  number,  in  that 
direction,  until  they  entirely  disappear.  In  this  deposit  we 
occasionally  find  specimens  of  native  copper,  gold  and  the 
ores  of  lead,  iron,  etc ,  but  nowhere  in  sufficient  quanti- 
ty to  be  profitably  worked,  as  the  fragments  found  in  this 
petition  are  far  removed  from  the .  beds  from  which  they 
originally  came.  In  the  early  settlements  of  this  country, 
many  reports  of  the  discovery  of  gold  were  made,  by  mis- 
taking either  the  pyrites  of  iron  or  yellow  mica,  for  that 
precious  metal ;  the  former,  derived  from  the  Coal  Measures 
or  other  stratified  rocks  of  the  adjacent  region,  and  the  lat- 
ter from  the  decomposed  boulders  of  sienite  or  gneiss,  trans- 
ported from  the  northern  shores  of  the  great  lakes. 


Ctrboniferous  System ;  Coal  Meamres.^-The  upper  divi- 
sion of  the  Carboniferous  system  is  termed  the  coal  mea- 
sures and  embraces  all  the  coal  seams  and  the  associated 
strata,  when  fully  developed,  attain  a  thickness  of  eight 
hundred  or  a  thousand  feet.  In  Schuyler  county  only  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  of  the  lower  portion  of  the  coal 
measures  are  found,  which  may  be  illustrated  by  the  follow- 
ing section,  showing  the  comparative  thickness  and  general 
arrangement  of  the  strata : — 

FEET. 

Brown  sandy  shale 10  to  15 

Compact  gray-  limestone 3  "     6 

Bituminous  shale,  with  concretions  of  limestone 2  "     4 

Coal  seam,  No.  4 

Fire  clay  and  leptaria 8  "  10 

Sandstone  and  shale 60  "  80 

Bluish  gray  arenaceous  li  mestone.  .    .    •    • 2  "    6 

Bituminous  and  argillaceous  shale 4  "     8 

Coal  seam,  No.  3 

Sandy  and  argillaceous  shales 12  ''  15 

Gray  limestone 4  "    6 

Sandy  and  argillaceous  shales 15  "  30 

Coal  seam,  No.  2 • 

Sandstone  and  shale 30  "  40 

Coal  seam  No.  1 

Fire  clay 1  '*     3 

Sandy  shale  and  conglomerate  sandstone • .   .   .  .15  "  25 

In  the  vicinity  of  Rushville,  and  also  on  a  small  branch, 
which  heads  near  Pleasant  View,  the  beds  comprising  the 
uppper  part  of  the  foregoing  section  are  found  well  exposed. 
They  enclose  coal  seam,  No  4,  one  of  the  most  persistent 
and  valuable  in  the  Illinois  coal  field.  It  outcrops  in  the 
vicinity  of  Pleasant  View  and  from  thence  northwesterly  to 
Rushville,  underlying  the  elevated  plateau  around  and  be- 
tween these  points,  that  forms  the  water-shed  between  the 
tributaries  of  Crooked  creek  and  Sugar  creek.  This  seam 
ranges  in  thickness  from  four  to  six  feet,  aud  in  this  county 
averages  about  five  feet.  The  roof  is  generally  a  bitumi- 
nous shale,  sometimes  containing  large  nodules  of  dark  blue 
or  black  limestone,  filled  with  marine  shales,  among  which 
are  Productive  muricatus,  clinopislha  radiata,  pleurophorus 
soleniformu,  P.  radiatm,  cardiomorpha  MissouriemU,  discina 
uitida,  Schizodus  curlus,  etc.  Above  the  black  shale  there 
is  usually  a  bed  of  bluish  gray  limestone,  containing  joints 
of  crinoidea,  and  a  few  small  brachiopods,  among  which 
the  spirifer  Uneatus,  and  a  small  variety  of  athyris  subtilita, 
are  the  most  common.  Coal  has  been  mined  in  the  vicinity 
of  Pieasant  View  for  many  years,  for  the  supply  of  steam- 
boats at  Frederick  four  miles  distant,  on  the  Illinois  river. 
It  was  first  worked  by  tunneling  into  the  hill  where  the 
coal  outcrops,  on  the  banks  of  a  small  stream  running  in 
Sugar  creek,  but  has  long  since  been  worked  by  shafts.  The 
following  are  the  elevations : 

FEET. 

Height  of  coal  seam  at  Pleasant  View,  above  the  high  water 

level  of  1844 190 

Above  the  river  bank,  opposite  Beardstown 202 

This  seam  has  also  been  worked  for  many  years  in  the 
vicinity  of  Rushville,  and  in  many  places  the  shafts  are  not 
deeper  than  twenty -five  feet.     The  seam  has  a  good  roof 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


49 


and  is  easily  worked.     Below   we   give   the  succession  of 
strata,  downward  from  coal,  No.  4,  to  coal  No.  3. 

FEET. 

Fire  Clay  and  shale,  with  Leptaria, 8  to  10 

Clay  Shale 25  "  30 

Sandy  Sh*»es, 30  "  40 

Thin-bedded  Concretionary  Sandstone,  .        8  "  10 

Bluish  Gray  Calcareous  Sandstone, 2  "  3 

Clay  Shale 2  "  3 

Black  Shale, 3  "  4 

Coal  No.  3, 2  "  3 

On  Sugar  creek,  ten  miles  northeast  of  Rushville,  No.  3 
is  found  outcropping  at  several  points  at  the  base  of  the 
hills.  Here  it  averages  about  three  feet  in  thickness,  with  a 
roof  of  shale  and  sandstone.  A  good  exposure  of  all  the 
beds,  down  to  the  horizon  of  No.  2  coal,  may  be  seen  north- 
east of  Pleasant  View,  on  a  small  stream  running  into  Sugar 
creek,  and  the  following  is  the  order  of  succession  below  coal 
No.  4: 

FEET. 

Coal  No.  4 4  to    5 

Clay  Shale  and  Leptaria, 8  "  10 

Sandstone  and  Shale, 116 

Hard,  bluish-gray  Limestone, 8  "  10 

Black  Shale  with  concretions  of  dark-blue  limestone  ....  4  "    6 

Blue  Shale  with  streaks  of  coal  [No.  3] 2  "     3 

Sandy  and  Argillaceous  Shale 56 

Coal,  •    •    •  ) 2 

I'laly  Shale,  [  No.  2  Coal 3 

Coal,  .   .   .  > 2  "    3 

Fire  Clay  and  Clay  Shale 20  "  25 

By  the  above  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  strata  inter- 
vening between  coals  3  and  4  are  mainly  sandstones  and 
sandy  shales,  and  a  portion  of  the  sandstone  is  a  very  good 
freestone,  and  was  used  for  the  construction  of  the  jail  in 
Rushville,  and  for  foundation  walls  in  this  locality.  This 
sandstone  is  well  exposed  on  the  banks  of  the  streams  north 
of  Rushville,  and  affords  nearly  all  the  building  stone  used 
in  this  part  of  the  county.  Coal  No.  2  is  not  so  regularly 
developed  as  either  No.  4  above  it  or  No.  2  below,  and  is 
sometimes  replaced  by  bituminous  shales.  It  is  worked  in 
several  localities  in  this  county  ;  on  Coal  creek  tunnels  have 
been  opened  in  this  seam,  along  its  line  of  outcrops,  where 
the  coal  ranges  from  two  to  three  feet  in  thickness,  but  is 
not  equal  to  that  from  the  seam  above.  The  following  i3  a 
section  on  this  creek,  showing  all  the  beds  at  the  base  of  the 
coal  measures  from  the  horizon  of  No.  3  down  to  the  carbon- 
iferous limestones : 

FEET. 

Soft  yellow  limestone 3 

Bituminous  shale 2 

Coal  No.  3, 2  to  3 

Shale, 12  "  15 

Hard,  bluish  gray  limestone, 4  "  6 

Clay  shale 15  "  18 

Coal  No.  2,  •    •    • 1J 

Blue  and  green  sandy  shales 20  "  25 

Hard  calcareous  limestone, 10  "  12 

Ferruginous  shale, 6 

Calcareous  shale  with  fossils 3 

Blue  and  gray  shale, 10  "  12 

Shaly  sandstone, • 3  "  4 

7 


Here  coal  No.  2  is  not  of  sufficient  thickness  to  be  worked 
and  No.  1  is  wanting  altogether,  its  lo'cation  being  below  the 
three-foot  bed  of  calcareous  shale.  At  the  mill  site,  a  mile 
and  a  half  above  Frederick,  No  3  ranges  from  30  to  36  inches 
in  thickness,  and  the  coal  is  regarded  better  in  quality  than 
that  obtained  from  the  same  seam  on  Coal  Creek.  Just  be- 
low the  mill  the  gray  limestone  of  the  St.  Louis  group  out- 
crops at  the  foot  of  the  bluff,  and  has  been  quarried  and 
burned  at  the  kiln  at  this  point.  The  ferruginous  shale 
usually  found  above  No.  1  coal  is  seen  here  resting  directly 
upon  the  limestone.  Half  a  mile  above  Frederick,  all  the 
beds,  from  coal  No.  3  down  to  the  base  of  the  coal  measures, 
are  exposed  in  the  face  of  the  bluff,  but  neither  coals  are 
thick  enough  to  let  this  point  be  worked.  The  following 
section  was  made  here,  commencing  at  the  top  of  the  bluff: 

FEET.        INCHES. 

Sandstone 10 

Buff-colored,  thin-bedded  limestone, 4  to    6 

Shale, 12 

Bituminous  shale  (coal  No.  3) 2  "     3 

Shale, • 42 

Thin  coal  (No.  2) •  0             6 

Fire  clay  and  shale, 20 

Thin  coal  (No.  1) 0              6 

Fire  clay,  shale  and  iron  ore,  . •    .    .  0              6 

Sandstone, 0              6 

Here  none  of  the  coal  seams  are  of  sufficient  thickness  to  be 
worked  which  occurs  in  several  places  in  the  county.  On 
section  32,  T.  2  N.  R  1  E.,  there  are  two  bands  of  iron  ore 
in  the  shale  below  coal  No.  2  that  will  afford  a  very  good 
ore  for  the  manufacture  of  metallic  iron.  These  bands  oc- 
cur just  above  the  horizon  of  No.  1  coal,  which  is  not  deve- 
loped here,  and  they  are  respectively  12  and  6  inches  in 
thickness,  separated  by  about  two  feet  of  shale.  The  section 
at  this  locality  is  as  follows: 

FEET. 

Massive  sandstone, 30  to  40 

Silicious, 3  "    4 

Bituminous  shale  (coal  No.4  ) 3  ''    5 

Shale, 27 

Hard  gray  limestone, 6 

Shale, 14 

Brash  coal,  ) 1 

Shale,           \ 2 

Coal,            J • 2 

Shale  and  sandstone, 12 

Iron  ore, 1 

Shale, 2 

Iron  ore I 

Shale  with  thin  bands  of  iron  ore 6 

Sandstone  and  streaks  of  coal  (No.  1) 18 

Hard  gray  limestone  of  the  St.  Louis  group, 10 

The  coal  No.  4  is  the  only  seam  that  can  be  profitably 
worked  in  this  county,  and  there  is  a  sufficient  quantity  to 
furnish  an  abundant  supply  of  coal  for  all  the  demands  of 
the  region  adjacent  to  its  outcrops,  for  many  years.  To  reach 
this  seam  it  is  necessary  to  sink  a  shaft  to  a  depth  varying 
from  fifty  to  seventy-five  feet,  or  less,  below  the  surface,  and 
it  is  found  outcropping  on  the  head-waters  of  several  of  the 
small  streams  that  drain  the  elevated  region  which  it  un- 
derlies. 


50 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


St.  Louis  Group. — The  lower  carboniferous  outcrops  in 
this  county  on  the  principal  streams  and  the  bluffs  along 
the  Illinois  river,  between  the  mouth  of  Sugar  creek 
and  the  south  line  of  the  county.  The  St.  Louis 
group  comprises  the  upper  division  of  the  series,  consists  of 
a  gray  concretionary  limestone  of  variable  thickness,  vary- 
ing frorn  five  to  twenty  feet,  below  which  we  find  a  brown 
Masrnesian  limestone  sometimes  massive,  and  in  regular  beds, 
and  in  other  localities,  intercalated  with  shale  or  only  a  thin 
bed  of  shaly  limestone.  The  concretionary  limestone  is  not 
regular  and  outcrops  at  intervals  along  the  bluffs  of  Crooked 
creek,  and  the  Illinois  river,  as  far  north  as  the  vicinity  of 
Browning,  where  it  disappears. 

The  Magnesian  limestone  is  more  regularly  developed 
than  the  above,  and  is  usually  of  a  rusty  brown  color  on  the 
surface  from  the  oxidation  of  the  iron  which  it  contains.  It 
contains  a  few  species  of  fossils,  among  which  are  Produdus, 
Altonensis,  Archimedes,  Wortheni.  Spirifer,  Keokuk,  Rhyn- 
clwnella  mutata,  and  a  large  Conularia,  perhaps  C.  Mis- 
souriensis  of  Swallow. 

Keokuk  Group  — Only  the  upper  portion  of  this  group  is 
exposed  in  this  county,  and  its  greatest  development  appears 
in  the  vicinity  of  Birmingham,  in  the  northwest  part  of  the 
county.  Here  it  is  about  fifty  feet  in  thickness,  the  lower 
part  of  which  is  a  thin  bedded  limestone,  containing  many 
of  the  characteristic  fossils  of  this  group,  above  which  there 
is  about  thirty-five  feet  of  calcareo-argillaceous  shale,  con- 
taining geodes  of  quartz  and  chalcedony. 

ECONOMICAL   GEOLOGY. 

Coo?. — The  deposits  of  bituminous  coal,  which  underlie 
the  greater  portion  of  the  surface,  and  especially  that  portion 
lying  west  of  Crooked  creek,  is  the  most  important  and 
valuable  mineral  resource  of  this  county.  The  upper  seam 
is  the  most  valuable,  and  from  its  greater  thickness  and  ex- 
cellent roof,  can  be  mined  more  economically  than  either  of 
the  lower  seams.  The  average  thickness  is  nearly  five  feet, 
and  will  produce  about  five  millions  of  tons  to  the  square 
mile.  It  is  a  hard,  bright  coal,  which  breaks  with  a  con- 
choidal  fracture,  and  is  traversed  by  vertical  seams  of  car- 
bonate of  lime,  which  are  often  stained  with  the  oxide  of 
iron.  The  following  is  an  analysis  of  the  coal,  from  the 
mines  near  Pleasant  View,  by  Henry  Pratten,  reported  in 
Norwood's  •'  Abstract  of  a  report  on  Illinois  coals,' "  page 
24. 

Specific  gravity 1.286 

Loss  in  coking 40.60 

Total  weight  of  coke 59.40 

100  00 

Analysis  Moisture 6.0 

Volatile  matters 34.6 

Carbon  in  coke 52.9 

Ashes  (deep  red) 6.5 

100.00 
Carbo^in  coal' *  57.8 

The  two  lower  seams,  ranging  from  two  to  three  feet  in 
thickness,  are  not  so  extensively  worked  at  the  present  time, 


but  as  they  underlie  a  far  greater  extent  of  country  than  the 
upper  seam,  they  will  undoubtedly  furnish  by  far  the  greater 
amount  of  coal  in  the  aggregate.  One  or  both  of  these 
seams  will  be  found  underlying  most  of  the  uplands  north 
and  east  of  Crooked  creek,  and  accessible  in  inostj>arts  of 
the  county,  and  as  the  demand  for  coal  for  mechanical  and 
manufacturing  purposes  becomes  more  imperative,  their 
value  and  importance  will  be  eventually  appreciated. 

Clay. — Clays  suitable  for  fire  brick,  and  for  the  manu- 
facture of  pottery,  are  usually  abundant  in  the  lower  portion 
of  the  coal  measures.  In  many  places  in  this  county  fine 
beds  of  it  are  exposed,  and  the  clay  below  coal  No.  2 -is  of 
good  quality,  and  can  be  profitably  worked  in  connection 
with  the  coal,  when  it  is  two  feet  or  more  in  thickness. 

Iron  ore. — A  seam  of  ore,  argillaceous  carbonate  of  iron, 
of  excellent  quality,  comparing  favorably  with  the  Pennsyl- 
vania ores,  is  found  in  Schuyler  county,  and  the  only  point 
remaining  to  be  determined  is,  whether  it  can  be  found  in  a 
sufficient  body  to  justify  the  erection  of  an  iron  furnace  in 
this  vicinity.  Ore  of  similar  quantity  is  found  at  about  the 
same  horizon,  at  several  localities  in  the  adjoining  counties, 
but  nowhere  in  large  bodies. 

Building  Stone.— There  is  considerable  good  building 
stone  in  this  county,  and  it  is  accessible  on  nearly  all  the 
streams.  The  sandstone  below  the  main  coal  6eam,  fur- 
nishes a  free-stone  of  good  quality,  which  has  been  used  in 
the  construction  of  the  jail  in  Rushville,  and  for  foundation 
and  other  building  purposes.  The  brown  magnesian  lime- 
stone of  the  St.  Louis  group,  furnishes  the  best  material  for 
culverts,  bridge  abutments  and  similar  purposes,  where  the 
rock  is  required  to  withstand  the  combined  influence  of  frost 
and  moisture.  The  Keokuk  limestone,  underlying  the  geo- 
diferous  shales  of  that  group,  afford  some  good  building 
stone.  For  caps  and  sills,  where  handsome  cut  stone  is  de- 
sired, this  bed  will  afford  the  best  material  for  that  purpose, 
that  can  be  found  in  the  county. 

Limestone/or  Lime. — The  concretionary  limestone,  which 
formed  the  upper  division  of  the  St.  Louis  group,  furnishes 
the  best  limestone  for  the  manufacture  of  quick  lime  to  be 
found  in  this  portion  of  the  state,  and  it  may  be  found  in  the 
bluffs  of  Crooked  creek,  through  nearly  its  whole  course, 
and  at  intervals,  along  the  bluffs  of  the  Illinois  river,  as  far 
north  as  Browning. 

Sand  and  Clay,  for  brick-making  are  abundant  in  all 
parts  of  the  county,  and  may  be  obtained  at  nearly  every 
locality  where  the  manufacture  of  brick  is  desirable. 


BROWN   COUNTY 

contains  about  three  hundred  and  six  square  miles.  It  is 
well  watered  by  the  Illinois  river,  Crooked  creek,  McKee's 
creek  and  their  tributaries,  giving  a  complete  drainage 
to  its  entire  surface.  The  general  surface  level  of  the  up- 
lands range  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet~ 
above  the  beds  of  the  principal  streams,  and  the  larger  por- 
tion was  originally  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber. 
The  upland  prairies  are  small,  and  mostly  confined  to  the 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


51 


middle  and  western  portions  of  the  county.  The  bottom 
lands  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  county,  are  mostly  prai- 
rie, with  belts  of  timber  immediately  adjacent  to  the  water- 
courses. The  uplands  are  generally  rolling,  and  in  the  vici- 
nity of  the  streams  the  surface  i3  cut  into  sharp  ridges  sep- 
arated by  narrow  valleys.  The  best  soils  on  the  uplands 
are  those  underlaid  by  the  Loess,  and  are  characterized  by 
a  heavy  growth  of  the  common  varieties  of  oak  and  hickory, 
elm,  sugar,  maple,  black  walnut,  linden,  wild  cherry,  honey, 
locust,  etc.,  and  are  restricted  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Illinois 
river  bluffs.  In  their  productive  qualities  these  lauds  are 
fully  equal  to  the  best  prairie  soils.  Further  west,  on  the 
tributaries  of  Crooked  creek  and  McKee's  creek,  the  timber 
is  mainly  oak  and  hickory,  including  two  or  three  varieties 
of  each,  and  the  soil  is  generally  a  heavy  clay  loam,  derived 
mainly  from  the  brown  clays  of  the  drift  formation.  The 
prairie  soil  is  mainly  a  dark  chocolate  clay  loam,  highly 
charged  with  humus,  especially  on  the  level  portions,  where 
the  annual  accumulations  of  animal  and  vegetable  matters 
have  been  retained,  and  in  its  productive  qualities  it  ranks 
next  to  the  timbered  soils  of  the  Loess.  The  bottom  lands  ad- 
jacent to  the  Illinois  river  pnssess  a  light  sandy  soil,  and 
when  sufficiently  elevated  to  be  susceptible  of  drainage, 
and  protected  from  the  aunual  overflow  of  the  river  floods, 
they  are  very  productive.  The  timber  of  these  lands  con- 
sists of  cottonwood,  soft  maple,  linden,  ash,  elm,  black  aud 
•white  walnut,  pecan,  hickory,  sycamore,  swamp  white  oak, 
burr  oak,  Spanish  oak,  coffee  nut,  shellbark,  hickor}',  honey 
locust,  wild  plumb,  crab  apple,  dogwood,  etc. 

Geology. — The  geological  features  of  Brown  county  are 
almost  identical  with  those  of  Schuyler  county  and  we  refer 
the  reader  to  the  heading  of  Geology  iu  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter,  for  that  of  Brown  county. 

The  following  section,  showing  the  relative  thickness  and 
position  of  the  formation  is  given,  that  by  comparison  the 
reader  may  see  the  difference  in  the  thickness  of  the  strata. 

FEET. 

Quaternary  System,  including  Alluvium,  Loess  and  Drift  80  to  110 

Coal   Measures 130  to  140 

St.  Louis  Limestone 30  to    40 

Keokuk  group 40  to   60 

Carboniferous  System.  Coal  Measures. — This  term  is  ap- 
plied to  a  group  of  strata,  consisting  of 'sandstones,  shales, 
slates,  and  their  beds  of  limestone,  with  the  coal  seams  and 
fire  clays,  with  which  they  are  associated.  Only  the  lower 
portion  of  this  group  is  found  in  this  county,  including  the 
three  lower  coal  seams,  and  the  strata  associated  with  them. 
The  highest  beds  of  this  group  are  found  in  the  vicinity  of 
Mount  Sterling,  where  a  hundred  feet  or  more  of  strata  .may 
be  f.mnd  outcropping  on  the  small  creeks  which  run  north- 
ward into  Crooked  creek.  A  section  of  these  beds,  down 
to  the  horizon  of  No.  2  coal,  shows  the  following  order : 

FEET. 

Nodular  gray   limestone,  partially  exposed  ...••..  5  to    10 

Shale 20  to    30 

Black  shale 4 

Purple  shale J 

Coal  No    3 H 

Slmle  and    tire   clay ; 15  to    20 


Rough  gray  limestone,  passing  into  a  ferruginous  conglom-  feet. 

erate 4  to  6 

Sandstone  and  sandy  shale 15  to  20 

Blue  argillaceous  shale 30  to  40 

Shaly  calcareous  sandstone,  with  fossils 3  to  4 

Argillaceous,  or  bituminous   shale 8  to  10 

Coal  No.  2 1£  to  2} 

Fire  clay 2  to  3 

The  lower  coal  seam  is  worked  at  several  points  northeast 
of  Mount  Sterling,  in  open  trenches,  along  its  outcrops,  in 
the  valleys  of  the  small  streams.  The  coal  is  about  two  feet 
in  thickness,  and  of  good  quality,  with  about  five  feet  of 
clay  shale  in  the  roof,  above  which  there  is  a  bed  of  black 
slate,  that  at  some  places  rests  directly  upon  the  coal.  This 
vein  is  not  of  sufficient  thickness  to  be  profitably  worked. 
On  Little  Missouri  creek,  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
county,  on  section  7,  T.  1.  N.  R.  4  W  ,  coal  is  dug  at  many 
points  in  the  ravines  which  intersect  the  bluffs  of  the  main 
creek.  Here  the  coal  is  from  24  to  30  inches  in  thickness, 
and  resembles  coal  No.  2. 

At  the  La  Grange  bluff  on  section  29,  T1S.E.1  W., 
the  lower  part  of  the  coal  measures  are  well  exposed,  resting 
upon  the  St.  Louis  group,  consisting  of  limestones  and  cal- 
careous sandstones,  which  outcrop  at  the  base  of  the  bluff. 
The  following  beds  of  the  lower  coal  measures  outcrop  at 
this  locality. 

feet. 

Shale ■ 10 

Band  of  iron  ore,  with  fossils 

Shaly   clay • 3 

Limestone 1 

Bituminous    shale 2 

Coal 2J 

Shaly  fire    clay 4 

Compact  nodular   limestone 4  to  6 

Shaly   clay 15 

Ferruginous  sandstone 15 

A  little  farther  north  coal  from  No.  1  seam  has  been  dug. 
The  upper  shale  in  the  foregoing  section,  contains  a  calcare- 
ous band  in  the  lower  part  of  the  bed,  which  is  filled  with 
fossil  shells,  among  which  are  observed  Productus  murieatus 
and  chonetes  mesoloba,  and  these  species  are  also  found  in  the 
band  of  iron  ore  below.  The  clay  shale  below  this  limestone, 
affords-the  potter's  clays  so  extensively  used  in  this  country 
in  the  manufacture  of  pottery,  and  its  average  thickness  is 
fifteen  feet-  At  Ripley,  the  same  beds  are  exposed  as  at  La- 
Grange,  and  show  but  little  variation  in  their  lithological 
characters,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  section  at  this 
point : 

FEET. 

Micaceous  sandstone 4  to  6 

Argillaceous  shale 4 

Bituminous  shale '   ' 3 

Coal,  No.  2 ' 2 

Fire  clay  and  shale  ....  - •    •  6 

Nodular  bluish  gray  limestone 5 

Light  gray  clay  sha'e  (potter's  clay )  .    ...: 15 

Bituminous  shale  (coal  No.  1) 3 

Ferruginous i 

(Juartzose  sandstone 20 


UNIVERSITY  OF 


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54 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


lus^ ;  Ruffled  Grouse  (Ortyx  Virginianus) ;  Quail  (Philo- 
hela  Minor);  Woodcock,  ^Gallinago  Wilsonii);  English 
Snipe,  (Macrohamphus  Griseus);  Red-breasted  Snipe, 
(Garnbetta  Melanoleuca);  Telltale  Snipe,  (Gambetta  Fla- 
vipes)  ;  Yellow-Legs,  (Limosa  Fedoa)  ;  Marbled  Goodwit, 
(Scolofax  Fedoa,  Wilson);  Numenius  Lougirastris,  (Long- 
billed  Curlew)  ;  Numenius  Hudsonicu's,  (Short-billed 
Curlew) ;  Rallus  Virginianus,  (Virginia  Rail) ;  Cyguus 
Americauus,  (American  Swan);  Cygnus  Buccinator, 
(Trumpeter  Swan) ;  Anser  Hyperboreus,  (Snow  Goose) ; 
fiermicala  Canadensis,  (Canada  Goose)  ;  Bermicala  Brenta, 
( Brant) ;  Anas  Boschas,  (Mallard)  ;  Anas  Obscura,  (Black 
Duck) ;  Dafila  Acuta,  (Pintail  Duck) ;  Nettion  Caroli- 
nensis,  (Green  winged  Teel) ;  Querquedela  dUcors,  (Blue- 
winged  Teel ;  Spatula  Clypeata,  (Shoveler)  ;  Mareca  Amer- 
icana, (American  Widgeon) ;  Aix  Sponsa,  (Summer,  or 
(Wood  Duck);  Aythaya  Americana,  (Red-head  Duck); 
Aythaya  Vallisueria,  (Canvas-back  Duck) ;  Bucephala 
A lbeola,  (Butter  Ball);  Lophodytes  Cucculatus,  (Hooded 
Merganser) ;  (Pelecanus  erythrorhynchus)  ;  Rough-billed 
Pelican  ;  (Colymbus  torquatus),  The  Loon  ;  (Aegialitis  voci- 
ferus),  Kildeer  Plover  ;  Ball  Head,  Yellow-legged  and  up- 
land Plover ;  (Tantalus  loculator);  Wild  Ibis,  very  rarely 
visit  this  locality  ;  (Herodus  egretta),  White  Heron  ;  (Ardea 
Herodus),  Great  Blue  Heron ;  (Botaurus  lentiginosus), 
Bittern  ;  (Grus  Canadensis),  Sand  Hill  Crane  ;  (Ectopistes 
migratoria),  Wild  Pigeon;  (Zerjaidura  Carolinensis),  Com- 
mon Dove;  (Corvus  carnivorus),  American  Raven;  (Corvus 
Americauus),  Common  Crow;  (Cyanurus  cristatus),  Blue 
Jay ;  (Doliehonyx  oryzivorus),  Bobo'link  ;  (Agelaius),  Red- 
winged  Black  Bird ;  (Sturella  magna).  Meadow  Lark ; 
(Icterus  Baltimore),  Golden  Oriole  ;  (Chrysometris  tristis  >, 
Yellow  Bird ;  (Junco  hyemalisl,  Snow  Bird ;  (Spizella 
Sotialis),  Chipping  Sparrow;  (Spizella  pusilla). Field  Spar- 
row; (Melospiza  palu-tris),  Swamp  Sparrow;  Cyanospiza 
cyanea).  Indigo  Bird ;  (Cardinalis  Virginianus),  Cardinal 
Red  Bird  ;  (Pipilo  erythrophthalmus),  Cheewink ;  (Sitta 
Carolinensis),  White-bellied  Nuthatch  ;  (Mimus  polyglot- 
tus),  Making  Bird;  (Minus Carolinensis), Cat  Bird;  ^Har- 
ghorhyuchus  rofus),  Brown  Thrush ;  (Troglodytes  sedon), 
House  Wren  ;  (Hirundo  horreorum),  Barn  Swallow  ;  (Cotyle 
riparia),  Bank  Swallow ;  (Progne  purpurea),  Blue  Martin  ; 
(Ampellis  cedrorum),  Cedar  Bird;  (Pyrangra  rubra), 
Scarlet  Tanager:  (Pyrangra  astiva),  Summer  Red  Bird  ; 
(Tyrannus  Carolinensis),  King  Bird ;  (Sayornis  fuscus,) 
Pewee;  (Ceryle  alcyon),  Belted  Kingfisher;  Antrostomus 
vociferus).  Whippoorwill ;  Chardeiles  popetue).  Night 
Hawk  ;  (Chfetura  pelasgia),  Chimney  Swallow ;  (Trochilus 
colubris),  Ruby-throated  Humming  Bird  ;  (Picus  villosus) 
Hairy  Woodpecker;  (Picus  pubescens),  Downy  Woodpeck- 
er ;  (Melanerpes  erythrocephalus),  Rea-headed  Woodpeck- 
er ;  (Colaptes  auratus),  Golden-Winged  Woodpecker ; 
(Conurus  Carolinensis),  Carolina  Parrot;  (Bubo  Virgini- 
anus), Great  Horned  Owl ;  Syrnium  nebulosum),  Barred 
Owl ;  (Nyctea  nivea),  Snowy  Owl ;  (Cathartes  aura),  Tur- 
key Buzzard;  (Falco  columbarium), Pigeon  Hawk;  (Nau- 
clt-rus  furcatus),  Swallow-tailed  Hawk ;  (Icteria  Migaiwrip- 
pieaas),    Mississippi    Kite ;  (Buteo    borealis),    Red-tailed 


Hawk,  (Haliatus   leucocephalus),  Bald  Eagle;  (Falco  ful- 
vius),  Ring-tailed  Eagle. 

We  give  the  following  classification  of  birds  into  three 
divisions,  as  found  in  the  "  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State 
Horticultural  Society  "  of  1876. 

1st.  Those  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  fruit-growers,  in 
destroying  noxious  insects,  and  should  be  encouraged  and 
fostered  in  every  way. 

Blue  Birds,  Tit-mice  or  Chicadees,  Warblers,  (small  sum- 
mer birds  with  pleasant  notes,  seen  in  trees  and  gardens), 
Swallows,  Vuros,  (small  birds  called  green  necks).  All 
birds  known  as  Woodpeckers  except  sap-suckers,  (Picus 
varius).  This  bird  is  entirely  injurious  as  it  is  not  insect- 
ivorous, but  feeds  on  the  inner  bark,  cumbium  (and  the 
elaborated  sap)  of  many  species  of  trees,  and  may  be  known 
from  other  Woodpeckers,  by  its  belly  being  yellowish,  a 
large  black  patch  on  its  breast,  and  the  top  of  its  head  a 
dark  bright  red.  The  male  have  also  a  patch  of  the  same 
on  their  throats  and  with  the  minor  margins  of  the  two  cen- 
tral tail  feathers  white.  This  bird  should  not  be  mistaken 
for  the  two  other  most  valuable  birds  which  it  nearly  resem- 
bles, to  wit : — The  Hairy  Woodpecker,  (Picus  villiosii  et 
vars).  These  two  species  have  the  outer  tail  feathers  white 
(or  barred  with  black),  anil  have  only  a  small  patch  of  red 
on  the  back  of  the  head  of  the  males.  The  Yellow  Ham- 
mer or  Flecker,  (Colaptus  auratus)  is  somewhat  colored 
with  yellow,  and  should  not  hi  mistaken  for  the  sap-sucker. 
It  is  a  much  larger  t)ird.  The  Red-headed  Woodpecker, 
(Melanerpes  erythrocephalus),  sometimes  pecks  into  apples 
and  devours  cherries,  and  should  bs  placed  in  the  next  di- 
vision (2d).  The  Wren,  Ground  Robin,  (known  as  Cher- 
wick),  Meadow  Lark,  all  the  fly-catchers,  the  King  Bee  or 
bee-catcher,  Whip-poor-will.  Night  Hawk  or  Goat  Sucker, 
Nut-hatcher,  Pewee  or  Pewit.  All  the  Blackbirds,  Bobo- 
links, Finches,  (Fringillidie),  Quails,  Song  Sparrows,  Scarlet 
Tanager,  Black,  White  and  Brown  Creepers,  Maryland 
Warblers,  Indigo  Birds,  Chirping  Sparrow,  Black-throated 
Bunting,  Thrushes,  except  those  named  in  the  next  class, 
and  all  domestic  fowls  except  geese. 

2d.  Birds  of  Doubtful  Utility. 
Which  include  those  which  have  beneficial  qualities,  but 
which  have  also  noxious  or  destructive  qualities  in  the  way  of 
destroying  fruits,  and  whose  habits  are  not  fully  determined. 
(Thus  the  Robin,  Brown  Thrush  and  Cat  Bird  are  very  val- 
uable as  cut-worm  eaters,  but  also  very  obnoxious  to  the 
small  fruitgrowers.  The  Jay  (Blue  Jay)  not  only  destruc- 
tive to  grain  and  fruits,  but  very  noxious  in  the  way  of  de- 
stroying the  nest  eggs  and  young  of  smaller  and  better  birds, 
Robin,  Brown  Thrush  and  Cat  Bird,  Shrike  or  Butcher 
Bird,  Red-headed  Woodpecker,  Jay  Bird  or  Blue  Jay,  Crow 
and  the  small  Owls  (screech  owls,  Pigeons  and  Mocking 
Bird). 

3d:  Birds  that  shoiill  be  Exterminated. 

Sap-sucker,  or  Yellow-bellied  Woodpecker,  (see  above), 
Baltimore  Oriole,  or  Hanging  Bird,  Cedar  Bird,  or  Wax- 
wings   (Ampelis  cedrorum),  Hawks  and  the  larger  Owls. 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


G-'J 


CHAPTER  VI. 


FLORA  OF  SCHUYLER  AND  BROWN  COUNTIES. 


N  speaking  of  the  flora  of  the  above  counties 
it  is  not  our  purpose  to  treat  exhaustively 
on  the  plants  of  the  respective  counties, 
but  rather  to  give  a  list  of  the  native  trees 
and  grasses  found  within  their  limits.  The 
intelligent  farmer  looks  at  once  to  the  na- 
tive vegetation  as  a  sure  indication  of  the 
value  of  new  lands.  The  kinds  of  timber 
growing  in  a  given  locality  will  decide  the 
qualities  of  the  soil  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses. The  state  of  Illinois,  by  the  botanist, 
is  usually  considered  under  three  divisions :  the  heavily  tim- 
bered regions  of  the  south,  the  flora  of  which  is  remarkable 
for  its  variety;  the  central  portion,  cons-isting  mainly  of 
prairie,  yet  not  without  groves,  which  are  usually  adjacent 
to  water  courses  and  the  northern  section.  The  counties  of 
Schuyler  and  Brown  represent  the  characteristics  of  both  a 
timbered  and  prairie  country.  Few  spectacles  are  so  inspir- 
ingly  beautiful  as  a  grand  prairie  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year,  and  yet  the  luxuriant  vegetation,  which  at  first  view 
seems  so  various,  comprises  but  few  species  of  plants. 

Upon  the  flora  of  these  counties  civilization  has  produced 
its  inevitable  effect.  As  the  Indian  and  buffalo  have  disap- 
peared before  the  white  man,  so  have  some  of  the  grasses  been 
vanquished*by  the  white  clover  and  the  green  grass.  Below 
•we  add  a  list  of 

LIST  OF  NATIVE  WOODY  PLANTS. 

Primus  Virginiana,  Choke  Cherry. 
P.  Serotina,  Black  Cherry,  Cabi- 
net Cherry. 
Cornus   Alternifolia,   False   Dog- 
wood. 
C.  Serieea,  rtinnikinic. 
C-  Circinata,  Pigeon  Berry. 
C.  Sfolonifera  "  Red 

Osier. 
C.  Paniculata  " 

C.  Sanguinea,  " 

Corylus  Americana,  Hazelnut. 
Crataegus  Coccinea,  Hawthorn. 
C.  Tomentosa,  " 

C.  Crus-galli  " 

Carya  Alba,  Shagbark   Hickory 
C.     Sulcata,      Thick      Shellbark 

Hickory. 
C.  Tomentosa,  White  Heart  Hick- 
ory. 
C.  Glabra,  Pig-nut  Hickory. 
Dirca  Palustris,  Leatberwood. 
Euonymus    Arnericanus,     Straw- 
berry Tree. 
Fraxinus  Americana,  White  Ash. 
F.  Viridis,  Green  Ash. 
F.  Sambucifolia,  Black  Ash. 
F.  Quadrangulaia.  Blue  Ash. 
Gledifechia  Triacanthos,    Three- 
Thorned  Acacia,  Honey  Locust. 


Acer  Saccharinum,  Eock  Sugar 
Maple. 

A.  Nigrum,  Black  Maple. 

A.  Dasycarpum,  Soft  Maple,  Sil- 
ver Leaf  Maple. 

A.  Negundo,  Box  Elder,  Ash 
Leaf  Maple. 

jEsculus  Glabra,  Stinking  Buck- 
eye. 

A.  Sermlata,  Smooth  Leaf  Alder. 

Amelanchier  Canadensis,  True 
Service-Berry. 

Amorpha  Frulicosa,  False  Indigo 
Shrub. 

A.  Canescens,  Lead  Plant. 

AmpelopsisQuinquefolia.Virginia 
Creeper. 

Asimina  Triloba,  Papaw. 

Betula  Nigra,  River  or  Red  Birch. 

Carpinus  Americana,  Blue  Beach. 
Hornbeam. 

Ceanothus  Arnericanus,  Red  Root. 

C.  Ovalis,  Great  Red  Root. 

Cercis  Canadensis,  Judas  Tree, 
Red  Bud. 

Celastrns  Scandens,  Bitter  Sweet 
Wax  Work. 

Celtis  Occidentalis,  Hackberry. 

Cephalanthus  Occidentalis,  Button 
Bush. 


Gymnocladus    Canadensis,    Ken-  ' 
tucky  Coffee  Tree. 

Hamameiis      Virginica,      Witch 
Hazel. 

Juglans  Cinerea,  Butter  Nut. 

J.  Nigra,  Walnut. 

Juniperus  Virginiana,  Red  Cedar. 

Lonicera  Grata,  Woodbine. 

Menispermum  Canadense,  Moon- 
seed. 

Morns  Rubra,  Red  Mulberry. 

Ostrya  Virginica,  Hop- Hornbeam, 
Iron- Wood. 

P.  Angulata,  Cotton  Tree. 

Platanus  Occidentalis,  Buttonwood 
Sycamore. 

Populus    Tremuloides,    Quaking 
Asp,  Aspen. 

P*.  Monilifera,   Necklace  Poplar, 
Cottonwood. 

Primus  Americana,  Wild  Plum. 

Pyrus  Coronaria,  Crab  Apple. 

Quercus  Macrocarpa,  Burr  Oak. 

Q.  Obtusiloba,  Post  Oak.    . 

Q.  Alba,  White  Oak. 

Q.  Prinus,  Swamp  Chestnut  Oak. 

Q.  Bicolor,  Swamp  White  Oak. 

Q.  Imbricaria,  Laurel  Leaf  Oak. 

Q.  Nigra,  Black  Jack  Oak. 

Q.  Tinctoria,  Yellow   Bark  Oak, 
Quercitron  Oak. 

Q.  Coccinea,  Scarlet  Oak. 

Q*Rubra,  Red  Oak. 

Q.  Palustris,  Swamp  Spanish  Oak, 
Pin  Oak. 

Rhus  Glabra,  Sumach. 

R.      Toxicodendron,      Climbing 
Poison  Ivy. 

Ribas  Cynosbati,  Prickly  Goose- 
berry. 

B.  Hirtellum,  Smooth  Gooseberry. 

R  Rotunc  ifolium,  " 

R.  Lacustre,  Swamp  " 

R.  Floridium,  Black  Currant. 


Ros  Lucida,  Prairie  Rose. 

R.  Blanda,  Wood  Rose. 

Salix  Tristis,  Rose  Willow. 

S.  Humilis,  Cone  Willow. 

S.Eriocephal  a.  Silky-head  Willow. 

S.  Nigra,  Black  Willow. 

S.  Fragilis,  Joint  Willow,  Brittle 
Willow. 

Sambucus  Canadensis,  Elderberry. 

S.  Pubens,  Red  Fruit  Elderberry. 

Sassafras  Officinale,  Sassafras. 

Shepherdia  Canadensis,  Buffalo 
Berry. 

Smilax  Hispida,  Greenbrier. 

Spirsea  Opulifolia,  Vinebark 
Spiraea. 

Spinea  Tomentosa,  Hardhack, 
Willow  Spinea. 

Staphylea  Trifolia,  Rattle-box, 
Wood-Bladder  Nut. 

Symphoriearpus  Vulgaris,  Coral 
Berry. 

Tecoma  Radicans,  Trumpet- 
Creeper. 

Tilia  Americana,  Bas^-wood. 

Ulmus  Fulva,  Red  Elm. 

U.  Americana,  White  Elm. 

U.  Racemosa,  Cork  Elm,  Hickory 
Elm. 

Viburnum  Prunifolium,  Black 
Haw,  Arrow  Wood. 

V.  Lentago,  Sheepberry. 

Vitis  Aestivalis,  Summer  Grape. 

V.  Cordifolia,  Frost  Grape. 

Zanthoxylum  Americanum, 

[Prickly  Ash. 

Lendera  Benzoin,  Spice  Bush. 

Rubus  Strigosus,  Red  Raspberry. 
"  Occidentalis,  Black  Rasp- 
berry. 

Rubus  Villosus,  Blackberry. 

Robenia  Pseudocacia,  Black  Lo- 
cust. 


Our  article  will  particularly  treat  of  the  more  valuable 
woods  used  in  the  mechanical  arts,  and  the  grasses,  plants, 
vegetables  and  flowers  most  beneficial  to  man,  and  particu- 
larly those  which  are  natives  of  these  counties.  The  plants 
are  many  and  rare,  some  for  beauty  and  some  for  medicine. 
The  pinkroot,  the  columbo,  the  ginseng,  the  boneset,  penny- 
royal, and  others  are  used  as  herbs  for  medicine.  Plants  of 
beauty  are  phlox,  the  lily,  the  asclepias,  the  mints,  golden 
rod,  the  eyebright,  gerardia,  and  hundreds  more  which  adorn 
the  meadows  and  brook-sides  ;  besides  are  climbing  vines, 
the  trumpet  creeper,  the  bitter-sweet,  the  woodbine,  the  cle- 
matis and  the  grape,  which  fill  the  woods  with  gay  festoons, 
and  add  grace  to  many  decayed  monarchs  of  the  forest.  Here 
are  found  the  oak,  with  at  least  its  twenty  varieties  ;  the  hick- 
ory, with  as  many  more  species ;  the  thirty  kinds  of  elm, 
from  the  sort  which  bear  leaves  as  large  as  a  man's  head  to 
the  kind  which  bear  a  leaf  scarcely  larger  than  a  man's 
thumb-nail;  the  black  walnut,  so  tall  and  straight  and  beau- 
tiful, is  nearly  gone ;  the  hackberry,  gum  tree,  black-and- 


56 


HIS  TOBY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


sweet,  the  tulip,  the  giant  cotton  woods,  and  hundreds  more 
attest  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  mildness  of  the  climate. 
The  White  Oak  is  much  used  in  making  furniture  and  agri- 
cultural implements,  as  are  also  the  Panel  Oak,  Burr  Oak, 
and  Pin  Oak.  The  Blue  Ash  is  excellent  for  flooring.  The 
Honey  Locust  is  a  very  durable  wood,  and  shrinks  less  than 
any  other  in  seasoning. 

In  the  above  list  we  have  given  the  scientific  as  well  as  the 
English  names,  believing  such  a  course  best  to  pursue  in  the 
study  of  plants,  and  more  beneficial  to  the  student  or  gen- 
eral reader.  There  may  be  some  plaints  omitted,  yet  we 
think  the  list  quite  complete. 

GRASSES. 
In  spraking  of  these  we  purposely  exclude  the  grain  plants, 
those  grasses  which  furnish  food  for  man,  and  confine  our- 
selves to  those  valuable  grasses  which  are  adapted  to  the 
sustenance  of  the  inferior  animals. 


Timothy,  grass,  or  cat's  tail,  nat- 
uralized. 

Agrostis  vulgaris,  red-top  or  herbs 
grass. 

Muhlenbergia  Diffusa,  Nimble 
Will. 

Calaraagrostis  Canadensis,  Blue- 
joint,  a  native  grass  of  the 
prairies,  where  it  grew  from  ten 
to  fifteen  feet  in  height. 

DactylN  Glomerata,  Orchard-grass 

Poa  Pratensis,  Kentucky  Blue- 
grass. 

Poa  Compressa,  true  blue  grass. 

Festnca  Elator,  Meadow  Grass. 

Bromus  Leculinus,  Cheat  Chess, 
foreign 

Pliragmites  Communis,  the  reed. 

Arundinaria  Macrosperma,  or 
Cane. 


Solium     Perenne,   Darnel   Ray 
Grass. 

Anthoxanthum  Odoratum,  Sweet- 
scented  Vernal-grass. 

Phalaris      Arundinacea,       Reed 
Canary-grass. 

P.  Canadensis,  Canary  Grass. 

Paspalum  Setaceum. 

Panicum  Sanguinale.  Crab  Grass. 

Panicum  Glabrum,  Smooth  Pani- 
cum. 

Panicum  Capillare,  Witch  Gra*s. 

Panicum     Crus-galli,     Barnyard 
grass. 

Setaria  Glauca,  Foxtail. 

Setaria  Viridis,  Bottle  Grass. 

Setaria  Italics,  Italian  Millet. 

Andropogon     Scoparius,    Broom 
beard  grass. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


PIONEERS  AND  EARLY  SETTLERS—  INCIDENTS  AND 
ANECDOTES. 


[HE  finger  of  Clio  points  to  many  a  deed 
of  noble  daring  that  has  deserved  and 
won  an  immortal  fame.  We  reverence 
the  names  of  Leonidas  and  Arnold 
Winkelreid,  and  history  should  ever 
with  a  kindly  care  cherish  their  memo- 
ries. The  muse  'has  watched  with  in- 
terest the  course  of  empires  and  the 
vicissitudes  of  arms,  and  has  jealously 
recorded  what  might  seem  to  be  the  greater  events  and 
doings  of  the  race.  But  there  are  deeds  of  courage  and 
daring  no  less  deserving  of  a  place  on  the  page  of  honor  be- 
cause they  were  unattended  by  epaulette  and  plume.  To 
leave  the  borders  of  civilization  and  penetrate  the  deep 
primeval  forest  necessitates  an  example  of  courage  worthy 


of  the  hero.  The  pioneers  of  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties 
shall  not  be  forgotten.  Their  names  shall  have  a  place  in 
our  history,  and  their  memories  shall  not  perish.  Their 
rauks  are  fast  becoming  thinned.  A  few  who  have  laid  aside 
the  gun  and  the  ax  for  the  staff  yet  survive  to  tell  us  the 
story  of  thejr  privations  and  to  claim  our  gratitude.  They 
have  lived  to  see  their  labors  'crowned  with  a  success  which 
the  most  sanguine  hopes  could  not  have  anticipated.  The 
unbroken  prairie  and  the  trackless  forest,  as  if  by  the  power 
of  Aladdin's  lamp,  have  suddenly  been  transformed  into  vast 
areas  of  waving  harvests.  The  border  line  of  civilization  iu 
its  advance  toward  the  setting  sun  has  faded  to  the  view. 
In  the  footprints  of  the  pioneer  have  followed  civilization, 
social  blessing,  and  civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  effect  fol- 
lows cause.  The  school  was  the  invariable  accompaniment 
and  the  earliest  institution  of  the  settlement.  Thus  were 
laid  by  the  hands  of  the  pioneers  the  foundations  of  our 
public  school  system.  On  the  ruins  of  the  wigwam  rest  the 
foundations  of  industry,  and  the  hum  of  industry  and  the 
noisy  din  of  the  trades  are  heard  where  once  the  stillness 
was  unbroken  save  by  the  war-whoop. 

The  "  noble  red  man,"  the  Indian  of  lion  bearing  has  dis- 
appeared ;  civilization  came  upon  him  like  a  withering  blight. 
It  robbed  him  of  his  courage ;  it  dwarfed  his  stature ; 
it  made  him  weak  and  to-day  far  removed  from  the 
home  of  his  fathers.  He  sits  lamenting  the  loss  of  those 
rude  virtues  which  were  once  the  Indian's  pride ;  jealously 
and  with  surprise  he  looks  back  on  his  footprints  and  beholds 
his  favorite  haunts  and  hunting  grounds  possessed  by  what 
seem  the  appliances  of  some  evil  genius.  While  we  cannot 
stop  here  to  discuss  a  question  of  ethics  we  may  sympathize 
with  the  Indian  in  what  he  has  suffered  at  the  hand  of  the 
white  man,  yet  we  may  recollect  that  he  too  was  a  despoiler. 
A  civilization  of  no  mean  pretensions  antedated  his  advent, 
or  at  least  his  savage  condition.  Whether  this  civilization 
was  that  of  a  distinct  race,  or  that  which  the  Indians  had 
lost  cannot  be  safely  told.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  what 
are  now  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties  was  inhabited  by  a 
prehistoric  race.  Evidences  of.its  existence  and  civilization 
are  numerous.  Specimens  of  pottery  of  fair  workmanship 
with  artistic  adornments  are  found  in  the  mounds  which 
these  ancient  people,  for  reasons  best  known  to  themselves, 
threw  up.  In  some  parts  of  the  State  various  implements 
of  copper  have  been  found,  the  work  of  these  Aborigines. 
Copper  blades  have  been  discovered  tempered  so  highly  as 
to  defy  the  efforts  of  modern  art.  The  Indians  who  roamed 
over  the  prairies  of  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties  were 
principally  remnants  of  the  Kickapoos,  Sax,  Foxes,  Potta- 
watomies,  and  the  Miarnis.  They  were  all  friendly,  seldom 
committing  any  depredations  beyond  stealing  occasionally 
poultry,  hogs,  and  sheep. 


SCHUYLER    COUNTY. 

That  territory  of  which  we  write  was  settled  by  the  white 
man  before  it  was  made  a  separate  county,  being  a  portion 
of  Pike,  which  at  that  time  included  all  of  the  "  military 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


57 


tract,"  a  large  body  of  land  which  had  been  set  aside  by  the 
National  Government  in  1816  lor  the  use  of  the  soldiers  of 
the  war  of  181*2,  and  divided  among  them  in  tracts  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  each. 

To  Calvin  Hobart  and  Orris  McCartney  belong  the  honor 
of  bt'ing  the  first  to  begin  the  pioneer  life  within  the  limits 
of  what  is  now  Schuyler  county,  both  arriving  about  the 
same  time.  Calvin  Hobart  was  born  in  Grafton  county, 
New  Hampshire,  and  being  filled  with  a  love  of  adventure, 
and  having  heard  of  the  rich  and  fertile  lands  in  the  infant 
State  of  Illinois,  resolved  to  try  his  fortunes  in  the  new 
country.  Decision  with  him  was  immediate  action,  and 
preparing  an  outfit  he  at  once  started  on  his  long  journey. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1823,  we  find  them  camping  at 
Bluff  Station,  where  they  remained  until  the  nineteenth  day 
of  February  of  that  year. 

Being  prepared  for  the  journey,  and  invigorated  and  rested 
from  having  camped  during  the  winter,  they  loaded  their 
worldly  effects  into  the  wagon,  and  proceeded  on  their  journey. 
The  day  was  warm  and  pleasant,  the  sun  shining  bright,  and 
the  snow  mostly  melted.     Knowing  that  the  only  means  of 
crossing  the  river  was  on  ice,  and  the  weather  indicating  a 
weakening  of  the  same,  the}-  hurried  forward  and  crossed  in 
safety.  The  outfit  consisted  of  two  horses,  a  wagon,  one  yoke 
of  oxen,  two  cows,  and  about  ten  hogs,  and  sufficient  provi- 
sions for  three  months'  subsistence.     After  crossing  the  river 
at  Downing's  landing,  the  present  site  of  Beardstown,  their 
only  road  was  an  Iqdiau  trail,  which  they  followed  up  the 
river  to  where  Frederick  now  stands,  and  gained  the  top  of 
the  bluff  by  noon  of  the  nineteenth  day  of  February,  1823. 
Here  a  halt  was  made,  a  fire  kindled  by  the  side  of  a  fallen 
tree,  and  dinner  prepared  by  Mrs.  Sarah  Hobart.  our  pio- 
neer's wife.  This  dinner  was  the  first  ever  cooked  by  a  white 
woman  within  the  limits  of  the  county.     The  company  that 
sat  down  to  this  dinner  consisted  of  Calvin  Hobart,  his  wife, 
Chauncy  and  Norris,  twin  brothers,  Truman  and  Elizabeth 
Kemp,  his  children,  William  Hobart  Taylor,  a  nephew,  and 
Samuel  Gooch,  both  the  latter  being  young  men  about  twen- 
ty-three years  old,  and  unmarried.     While  eating,  their  at- 
tention was  attracted  by  a  large  number  of  bees  flying  around, 
which  circumstance  suggested  the  existence  of  a  bee-tree  in 
the  vicinity  ;  after  a  few  minutes'  fearch  the  tree  was  discov- 
ered   and  the  honey  secured.     Dinner  over,  the   journey 
was    continued,   and    by   4   o'clock    of    the    tame     after- 
noon the  edge  of  the  prairie  was  reached,  the  trail  entering 
at  the  north  half  of  section  twenty-two  of  what  is  now  Rush- 
ville  township.     A  short  distance  was  traveled  under  the 
leadership  of  Gooch,  and  reached  the  camp  which  Samuel 
Gooch  and  Orris  McCartney  had  built  some  time  previous, 
when  they  had  brought  over  a  drove  of  three  hundred  (300) 
hogs  to  fatten  upon  the  mast,  where  they  found  McCartney. 
Here  the  party  shared  the  hospitality  and  shelter  of  the 
puncheon  camp.     On  the  morning  of  the  21st,  Norris  Ho- 
bart and  William  H.  Taylor  were  despatched  with  the  team 
to  Bluff  Station  to  bring  the  remainder  of  the  supplies  left 
behind.     The  ice  was  becoming  very  rotten,  but  by  careful 
management  they  succeeded  in  crossing  and  recrossing  the 
river,  and  returned  to  the  camp  on  the  23d,  without  accident 
"8 


or  incident   To  prepare  a  house  was  the  next  thing  to  claim 
the  attention  of  our  pioneers,  as  the  camp  was  of  little  pro- 
tection.   Work  was  at  once  commenced  upon  the  cabin  ;  the 
manner  of  building  we  give  in  the  words  of  W.  H.  Taylor, 
as  printed  in  the  Schuyler  Citizen,  of  June  15th,  1864 :  "  We 
first  cut  the  logs  fourteen  to  sixteen  feet  long,  and  averaging 
one  foot  in  diameter.     Then  having  them  hauled  together, 
we  commenced  to  raise  our  building  by  notching  the  logs 
down  one  upou  the  other.  This  was  done  by  cutting  a  notch 
in  each  end  of  a  log,  and  then  making  on   the  under  log 
what  we  called  a  saddle,  by  hewing  a  place  on  the  end  so  as 
to  fit  the  notch  in  the  upper  log.     Then  we  scored  the  logs 
so  that  they  might  be  hewn  after  the  house  was  raised ;  this 
we  called  scutching  the  house  down,  as  the  process  of  hewing 
was  from  the  top  downwards.     After  we  got  the  building  as 
high  as  we  desired,  we  laid  poles  across  for  joists,  having 
large"  ones  across  the  bottom  logs  for  sleepers.     We  made 
the  roof  of  clapboards  which  we  would  make  from  some  large 
oak   trees   by   sawing.      These   we   laid   on    the   ribs   and 
fastened   down  by  poles  on  them  which   we  called  weight 
poles.     We  laid  clapboards  on  the  joists  instead  of  ceiling, 
making  what  we  called  a  clapboard  loft.     Our  floor  was 
m-ide  of  hewed  puncheous  laid  on  the  sleepers.     We  built 
what  was  called  a  stick  chimney.     This  was  done  by  first 
cutting  out  the  logs  at  one  end  of  the  house  as  wide  as  we 
wanted  the  fire-place  and  as  high  as  the  mantel  tree.     This 
was  enclosed  with  puncheons,  one  end  fastened  in  the  spaces 
between  the  logs,  and  the  other  end  notched  into  pieces,  form- 
ing the  back  wall.     This  we  built  up  as  high  as  the  mantel 
tree,  and  on  this  we  built  a  chimney  of  split  sticks  about  an 
inch  and  a  half  wide  by  three-quarters  thick,  and  of  the 
length  required  by  the  size  of  the  chimney.     We  then  plas- 
tered it  on  both  sides  with  clay,  and  built  a  back  and  jamb 
with  rock  and  clay.     To  complete  the  building  it  was  to  be 
chinked  and  daubed.    This  was  done  by  splitting  out  pieces 
of  wood  of  a  suitable  size  and  driving  tbem  into  the  cracks 
between  the  logs  and  then  plastering  them  with  clay.     In 
about  a  week  from  the  time  we  commenced  we  moved  into 
our  new  dwelling.    In  this  cabin  of  one  room,  12  by  14  feet, 
Calvin  Hobart  and  family  resided  for  some  months  and  felt 
comfortably  situated,  and  this  was  the  first  house  erected,  and 
he  the  fir.-t  settler  in  Schuyler  county"     This  cabin  was 
built  on  N.  E.  quarter  of  the  S.  E  quarter  of  section  16. 

Within  the  next  week  after  the  completion  of  the  first 
cabin  a  second  was  commeuced  on  the  southeast  quarter  of 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  16,  and  as  readily  finished. 
In  two  weeks  after  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Calvin  Hobart,  his 
father  and  mother,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jonas  Hobart,  a  veteran 
of  the  revolutionary  war,  accompanied  by  Miss  Ruth  Powers, 
arrived  from  Bluffs'  Station  in  Cass  County,  at  which  place 
they  had  arrived  in  November,  1822,  from  Vermont,  travel- 
ing all  the  way  in  a  two-horse  wagon,  and  where  they  had 
been  waiting  for  their  son  to  prepare  them  a  home,  as  they 
were  b  >th  aged  and  ill  able  to  bear  the  exposures  incident 
to  a  camp  life  at  that  season  of  the  year.  At  this  time  the 
nearest  market  was  at  St.  Louis ;  the  nearest  blacksmith 
shop  at  Carrol  lton  ;  the  nearest  post-office  was  at  Sangamon  ; 
the  most  convenient  physician  at  Diamond  Grove,  and  the 


53 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


nearest  neighbor  twelve  mile  miles  distant  at  the  landing  and 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Illinois  river.  The  postage  on  a 
letter  was  twenty-five  cents,  and  even  the  necesaries  of  life 
of  the  most  meagre  description  were  rare.  No  time  was 
spent  in  idleness,  and  by  the  middle  of  March,  a  garden  had 
been  cleared  and  fenced,  and  was  planted  with  potatoes, 
onions,  lettuce,  radishes,  beans,  and  vines,  as  soon  as  the 
dangers  of  a  late  frost  were  passed,  and  thus  the  first  tilling 
of  the  virgin  soil  of  Schuyler  was  made  the  servant  of  man. 
Mr.  Hobart  being  possessed  of  a  good  yoke  of  oxen  and  a 
heavy  span  of  horses,  they  were  kept  busily  employed  in 
turning  over  the  sod  as  long  as  it  was  supposed  any  thing 
planted  would  have  time  to  mature  before  frost. 

Orris  McCartney  and  Samuel  Gooch  having  gone  back  to 
their  homes  in  Morgan  County,  shortly  after  the  arrival  of 
the  Hobarts,  again  returned  to  Schuyler  in  May,  1823,  and 
brought  with  them  a  hired  man,  Isaac  M.  Rouse.  They  gave 
their  attention  to  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  27,  on  which 
they  cleared  a  small  field  and  planted  it  in  corn.     All  three 
were  young  unmarried  men.     They  made  their  homes  with 
Jonas  Hobart,  while  engaged  in  their  work.     Two  months 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Hobarts,  Ephraim-  Eggleston,  with  a 
wife  and  six  children,  four  of  whom  were  stepchildren  by  the 
name,  arrived  and  built  his  cabin  on  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  16,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Hobart  settle- 
ment, building  the  third  house  in  the  county.     James  Tur- 
ner and  Samuel  Turner,  brothers,  came  in  October  of  this 
year  from  St.  Clair  County,  Illinois,  more  familiarly  known 
as  the  "American  Bottoms,"  built  their  cabin  and  staked  off 
their  borne  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  same  section  as 
Eggleston.     Being  young  unmarried  men,  they  returned  to 
their  homes,  where  James  soon  afterwards  died.     Hardly 
had  the  Turners  left  the  lit  le  settlement  when  a  stranger 
appeared  at  the  door  of  Calvin  Hobart's  cabin.    He  met  with 
a  hearty  reception,  and  then  stated  that  he  was  looking  for 
a  settlement  in  which  to  locate  and  pass  the  winter,  giving  his 
name  as  Levin  Green,  accompanied  with  the  information  that 
he  was  a  local  preacher  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  that 
bis  family  with  that  of  his  brother-in-law,  George  Stewart, 
were  in  camp  at  the  mouth  of  Dutchman's  Creek,  sixteen 
miles  north  of  Downing's  landing.     He   passed  the  night 
with  Calvin  Hobart,  and  also  made  arrangements  to  have 
his  host  bring  the  families  to  the  settlement.    In  the  morning, 
he  returned  to  his  family  and  brought  all  down  to  Downing's 
landing,  where  they  were  met  by  Calvin  Hobart  with   his 
wagon,  and  brought  both  families  to  the  settlement,  where 
they  found  shelter  in  the  cabin  built  by  the  Turners.    A  few 
evenings  after  his  arrival,  Levin  Green  preached  the  first 
sermon  in  the  county,  at  the  cabin  of  Calvin  Hobart     Late 
in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  .Nathan  Eels,  with   a  wife  and 
seven  children,  arrived  from  the«east,  and  built  his  cabin 
some  forty  rods  east  of  Calvin  Hobart's,  it  being  the  sixth 
house  built  in  the  county,  as  McCartney  and  Gooch  had 
built  one  upon  their  land  and  moved  into  it  in  the  mean- 
time. 

In  the  fall  of  1823  the  nucleus  of  the  Bainbridge  settle- 
ment was  formed  by  the  arrival  of  Thomas  McKee,  a  native 
of  Kentucky,  who  built  his  cabin  on  the  northeast  quarter 


of  section  twenty,  and  Willis  O'Neal,  who  came  with  him 
and  settled  on  section  sixteen.  They  were  both  men  of  fami- 
ly, and  came  from  Indiana  to  Illinois,  first  coming  to  the 
house  of  Calvin  Hobart,  where  they  spent  a  week  before  mov- 
ing into  Bainbridge.  McKee  was  a  natural  mechanic  and 
possessed  the  ability  to  manufacture  almost  any  article  from 
wood  or  iron.  He  was  a  good  gunsmith,  as  well  as  black- 
smith, and  as  soon  as  he  built  his  cabin  he  also  built  a  shop 
and  commenced  to  work  at  the  latter,  being  the  first  black- 
smith in  the  countv.  The  history  of  McKee  will  be  found 
more  minutely  given  in  the  history  of  Littleton  in  which  he 
also  made  the  first  settlement,  while  that  of  O'Neal  may 
be  found  in  the  Pioneer  Chapter  of  Brown  county.  These 
were  the  principal,  and  we  may  almost  positively  assert  were 
the  first  and  only  emigrants  to  that  portion  of  the  country 
now  included  in  Schuyler  county,  in  the  year  1823.  It  is  un- 
necessary for  the  historian  to  record  the  axiom  that  their  life 
was  one  of  ceaseless  toil  and  endless  privation  ;and  while  it 
required  sturdy  and  brawny  arms  to  wring  from  the  soil  the 
scanty  subsistence  necessary  to  sustain  life,  it  required  stouter 
hearts  to  brave  the  dangers  of  a  pioneer  life,  in  a  distant 
land,  and  away  from  pleasant  and  comfortable  homes  from 
which  many  of  the  older  settlers  had  come  to  enter  the 
wilderness  and  prepare  the  way  for  the  rapid  march  of  civi- 
lization, which  has  since  crowded  many  of  them  farther 
towards  the  Orient.  The  difficulty  of  obtaining  flour  or 
meal,  which  was  about  all  consumed  in  the  Hobart  settle- 
ment by  fall,  impressed  itself  forcibly  upon  Calvin  Hobart; 
and  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1823,  he  purchased  the  irons  and 
bands  for  what  was  known  in  those  days  as  a  "  Baud  Mill," 
and  soon  had  it  in  operation  near  his  cabin.  Horses  and 
oxen  furnished  the  motive  power,  and  each  customer  oper- 
ated the  mill  whi'e  grinding  his  grist,  each  taking  turns  in 
the  order  of  their  arrival. 

The  education  of  the  children  was  not  neglected  in  this 
settlement,  but  on  the  contrary  received  the  attention  of  the 
settlers  during  the  first  fall  after  their  arrival.  William  H. 
Taylor  was  selected  as  the  teacher,  and  in  the  fall  of  1823 
the  little  ones  were  gathered  into  the  first  cabin  built  by 
Orris  McCartney  and  Samuel  Gooch,  they  having  erected 
another,  and  the  first  school  in  the  county  was  then  and 
there  conducted. 

The  following  year,  1824,  witnessed  a  more  rapid  in- 
crease in  the  population  of  the  county.  Many  strangers 
visited  the  settlement,  and  among  the  families  who  remained 
to  make  themselves  homes  within  its  bounds  were,  David 
•  Blair,  a  hero  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  his  family, 
Thomas  Blair  and_  family,  on  section  eleven  ;  and  Jacob 
White,  with  a  wife  and  several  children,  and  settled  in  Bain- 
bridge, on  sections  two  and  three,  built  themselves  cabins  and 
improved  farms.  The  Hobart  settlement  received  accessions 
in  the  family  of  Riggo  Pennington  and  his  nephews,  Wil- 
liam, Joel  and  Riley,  who  brought  their  m  >ther  with  them. 
Joel  and  h>s  mother  made  their  homes  on  section  9, of  Rush- 
ville  township.  Benjamin  Chadsey's  arrival  in  the  county 
is  so  briefly  and  forcibly  set  forth  in  an  extract,  published  in 
the  Schuyler  Citizen  of  February  5th,  1880,  that  we  give  it 
place  as  it  there  appeared  :     "Lite  in  the  summer  of  1824, 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


59 


two  men  (Benjamin  Chadseyand  his  father-in-law,  Mr-  John- 
son) started  from  the  neighborhood,  where  the  city  of  Dan- 
ville now  stands,  on  a  journey  westward.     One,   Benjamin 
Cliadsey,  hid  been  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812,  and   had 
received  as  his  bounty  from  the  lands  laid  off  in  1816,  and 
set  apart  as  a  military  tract  for  the  soldiers  of  that  war,  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  seventeen  (now  Rushville  town- 
ship).    His  business  was  to  find  the  land  and  see  if  it  would 
make  a  home  for  him  and  his  little  family.     They  traveled 
west,  following  an  Indian  trail,  until  not  far  from  Blooming- 
ton,  on  the  Mackinaw,  they  found  an  Indian  village,  where 
they  nsted  a  night.     The  next  day  they   followed  the  trail 
until  they  reached  the  Illinois   river,  opposite  Fort  Clark, 
now  Peoria.     After  another  night  spent  in  the  hospitable 
cabin  of  a  settler  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  they  struck  out 
on  a  trail  kadirg  to  the  southwftt.     They  finally  reached 
Sugar  creek,  where  they  lost  their  bearings,  but  at  last  came 
out  of  the  timber  on  the  prairie  near  the  centre  of  Rushville 
township,  and  near  there  found  rest  and  refreshment  in  a 
cabin  recently  built  in  which  lived  one  of  the  thirteen  fam- 
ilies constituting  the  entire  population  of  the  county.    With 
the  early  morning  the  young  man  hastened  further  west 
over  the  prairie  and   soon  rejoiced  in  the  rich   luxuriant 
grasses  that  waved  in  all  their   primitive  wildness   on    the 
beautiful  piece  of  land   that  was  to   be  his  future   home. 
After  he  had  resolved  to  locate  permanently,  he  hastened 
back  to  Eastern  Illinois,  and  the  next  spring  of  1825   re- 
turned with  his  wife  and  two  children  and  settled  on  the 
farm,  where  he  lives  in  a  hale  and  hearty  old  age." 

Another  settlement  was  started  in  182-1,  in  the  extreme 
southwestern  corner  of  what  is  now  Woodstock  township,  by 
George  and  Isaac  Naught,  who  came  from  Whiteside  county, 
Illinois,  with  families,  and  settled  on  section  thirty-six. 
George  Naught,  however,  soon  moved  into  Bainbridge, 
where  he  continued  to  reside  until  1871,  the  date  of  his 
death. 

Siiuuel  Gooch  had  not  been  insensible  to  the  charms  of 
Jonas  Hobart's  grand-daughter,  Miss  Ruth  Powers,  and  the 
result  was  a  marriage  ceremony,  in  February,  1824,  Samuel 
and  Ruth  being  the  central  figures,  and  Levin  Green,  the 
minister  to  perform  the  marriage  rites.  This  was  the  first 
marriage  in  either,  what  is  now  Schuyler  and  Brown  coun- 
ties, and  to  procure  the  necessary  license  the  bridegroom 
had  to  make  a  journey  to  Atlas,  then  the  seat  of  justice  of 
Pike  county,  as  the  Hobart  settlement  was  then  within  the 
limits  of  that  couuty.  This  year  also  witnessed  the  organi- 
zation of  the  first  Sunday  School  in  the  county,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Calvin  Hobart,  in  the  summer  of  1824;  and 
Calvin  Hobart  was  not  only  the  founder,  but  also  the  super- 
intendent. While  prosperity  smiled  upon  these  hardy 
pioneers,  and  they  had  participated  in  the  pleasures  of  a 
wedding  feast,  there  was  not  a  single  occurrence  to  mar  the 
happiness  of  the  little  settlement.  Ephraim  Eggleston,  hav- 
ing moved  to  section  thirty-one  in  the  same  township  and 
built  his  new  cabin,  was  made  happy  by  the  arrival  of  a 
little  babe  at  his  humble  home,  thus  chronicling  the  first 
birth  in  the  county.  It  may  not  be  amiss,  to  here  state  that 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1824,  there  were  but  thirteen  fami- 


lies in  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties  combined,  eleven  being 
in  Schuyler  and  two  in  Brown — Cornelius  Vandeventer  and 
the    McFarland  families.     In  the   spring  of  1824,    Henry 
Green,  Jr.,  arrrived  from  Missouri,  and  he  and  his  brother 
Levin,  went  over  to  the  eastern  border  of  what  is  now  Buena 
Vista  township,  and  commenced  a  settlement,  which  the  fol- 
lowing year  rapidly  increased.     Levin  built  his  pole  cabin 
on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  twenty-three;  and  Henry 
Green,  Jr ,  chose  the  south  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  twenty  as  a  home  for  himself  and  little  ones.     Each 
had  a  family  of  wife  and  two  children.     By  their  exertions 
and  letters  to  friends  in  Missouri  large  accessions  were  made 
to  the  settlement  in  subsequent  years.     Levin  and  Henry, 
Jr.,  resided  in  this  township  until   1829,  and  then  removed 
to  that  part  of  Brown  county,  now  known  as  Missouri  town- 
ship.    In  personal  appearance,  Levin  Green  is  said  to  have 
been    tall  and  sparely   built,   with    long   black  hair    and 
whiskers,  both  allowed  to  grow,  his  hair  hanging  down  in  a 
mass  over  his  shoulders  ;  his  complexion  was  tawny,  and  tra- 
dition  says  that.  Indian  blood  coursed   through  his  veins. 
His  garb  was  that  of  a  frontiersman,  homespun  clothes,  with 
buckskiu  leggings,  and  either  bare-footed  or  his  feet  inclosed 
in  moccasins      The   covering  for    his  head  was   a  "  coon '' 
skin  cap  with  tail  hanging  down  behind.     Upon  mounting 
the  stand  to  preach  he  would  pull  his  cap  from  his  head  and 
throw    it  upon   the  floor.     Though   unlearned  he  was  elo- 
quent.    The  name  of  John  Ritchey  figures  prominently  in 
the  early  history  of  the  county,  and  we  first  find  his  name 
upon  the  records  in  the  Circuit  Clerk's  office  in  a  form  of  a 
deed  to  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  thirty-three,  in  what 
is  now  Woodstock.     The  instrument  bears  date  of  March  12, 
1821,  and  shows  that  he  was  a  resident  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  at 
that  time.  Though  he  did  not  come  ti  the  county  until  some 
time  afterwards,  it  is  evident  that  he  had  heard  of  this  section 
of  the  county,  and  in  all  probability  bought  with  the. inten- 
tion   of  coming.     He   was  a  native  of  Allegheny  county, 
Pennsylvania.  Growing  to  man's  estate  and  marrying  in  that 
county  and  from  there  moving  to  Cincinnati,  which  place 
he  left  in  the  early  spring  of  1824,  making  the  journey  in  a 
four-horse  wagon,  and  bringing  his  wife,  and  Martha,  Daniel 
and  Addison  B.,  children,  Martha  being  a  well-grown  girl. 
He  settled  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  twenty-five, 
built  a  cabin,  broke  about  ten  acres  of  land  and  put  in  a 
crop  of  corn,  and  afterwards  sold  to  Samuel  Turner.     He 
then  moved  into  Rushville  township,  bought  another  quarter 
section,  improved  and  rented  it  to  Ephraim  Hills  and  Henry 
Hills,  who  came  to  the  county  in  1826,  first  stopping  with 
Richard  Black,  while  yet  a  resident  of  Rushville,  and  then 
moved  into  Littleton. 

In  the  month  of  September,  1824,  there  came  to  the 
Hobart  Settlement,  a  young  man,  who  in  subsequent  years  be- 
came quite  prominent  iuouuty  affairs.  This  gentleman  was 
Jonathan  D.  Maulove,  now  a  resident  of  Fort  Scott,  Kansas, 
and  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  a  valuable  communication 
pertaining  to  pioneer  times.  Manlove  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina.  He  spent  the  winter  with  the  early  settlers,  and 
on  the  arrival  of  Samuel  Homey  in  the  spring,  made  his 
home  with  him,  and  together  they  improved  the  southwest 


60 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


quarter  of  section  eighteen  in  Buena  Vista  township  In  the 
summer  of  1825,  Mr.  Manlove  taught  a  subscription  school 
in  his  cabin.  He  found  a  wife  in  the  person  of  Miss 
Sophronia  Chadsey.  His  improvements  were  not  confined 
to  one  particular  section  or  township,  but  throughout  the 
entire  county,  we  find  traces  of  his  early  improvements.  He 
was  the  first  surveyor  in  the  early  settlement  and  was  a  use- 
ful man  in  the  school-room,  church,  or  in  the  field.  His 
daughter,  the  wife  of  Mr.  H.  W.  Taylor  of  Brooklyn,  still 
resides  in  the  county. 

With   the  year  1825,  came  a  number  of  settlers,  who  have 
occupied  trustworthy  positions  in  the  organizations  of  the 
country,  and  whose  improvements  were  of  a  lasting  charac- 
ter.    Many  of  their  descendants  are  now  honored  and  pros- 
perous citizens  of  the  county.     Among  the  first  to  arrive  in 
the  early  spring  were  Samuel  Horney.     He  was  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  where  he  received  a  liberal  education,   suf- 
ficient to  enable  him  to  follow  the  vocation  of  a  teacher,  be- 
sides holding  several  official  positions  in  his  native  county. 
At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  1812,  he  enlisted  and  served 
until  mustered  out  in  1815,  when  he  returned  to  his  home 
and  married  Miss  Emilia  Childs,  who  still  survives  him,  liv- 
ing with  her  daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  Jane  Harvey,  in  Little- 
ton.   In  July,  1818,  he  moved  to  St.  Clair  county,  then  in 
the  territory  of  Illinois,  where  he  remained  until  the  spring 
of  1825,  when  he  came  to  Schuyler  county,  and  made  his 
home  in  the  eastern  edge  of  Buena  Vista,  a  short  distance 
from  Rushville,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until   1834, 
when  he  moved  into  Littleton  and  died  at  a  ripe  age.    Dur- 
ing his  lifetime  he  was  quartermaster  in  the  Fourth  Illinois 
regiment  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  one  of  the  Commissioners 
in  the  organization  of  Schuyler  county,  and  in  1842  and 
1843,  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature.  His  only  sou 
and  child,  Col.  Leonidas  Harvey   (seven  years   old)  when 
brought  to  the  county,  fell  at  the  head  of  the  Tenth  Mis- 
souri regiment,  while  leading  them  in  the  battle  of  Cham- 
pion Hills,  Mississippi,  in  defense  of  his  country's  flag  and 
honor.     John  B.  Terry  and  family  arrived  from  New  York 
about  the  same  time  and  settled  close  to  the  Hobarts  on 
section  sixteen,  where  he  built  his  log  cabin,  but  removed 
to  Rushville  at  the  organization  of  the  county  and  built  the 
first  house,  a  cabin,  in  that  place.     He  was  the  first  clerk  of 
Schuyler  county. 

Hart  Fellows,  with  a  wife  and  one  child,  William  Henry, 
were  among  the  early  settlers  who  made  their  appearance 
in  Rushville  township  in  1825.  Mr.  Fellows  was  a  native 
of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  while  young,  was  taken  by  his 
parents  to  Indiana,  where  he  grew  to  manhood.  He  then 
moved  to  Illinois,  coming  first  to  Green  county,  and  there 
married.  On  his  arrival  in  Rushville,  he  took  possession 
of  a  deserted  cabin  on  section  twenty-seven.  They  had  been 
in  their  new  home  but  a  brief  period,  when  death  claimed 
the  little  son,  William  Henry,  and  his  grave  was  the  first  in 
what  is  now  the  beautiful  cemetery  iu  the  city  of  Rushville. 
Mr.  Fellows  was  among  the  most  useful  of  all  the  early  set- 
tlers, and  at  different  times  held  al!  the  offices  in  the  county, 
also  being  the  first  postmaster  in  the  county.  Receiving  the 
appointment  of  Collector  of  Revenues  at  San  Francisco, 


California,  he  went  to  that  place  and  there  died  several 
years  since.  He  left  but  one  descendant  in  the  county,  Mrs. 
Anu  Farwell,  who  was  the  second  child  born  in  the  county. 
The  sturdy  pioneers  still  came  pouring  in,  and  the  popula- 
tion increased  so  rapidly  that  county  organization  was  be- 
ginning to  be  discussed  by  all.  In  1825,  James  Vance 
arrived  from  the  South  with  a  family,  and  built  his  cabin  in 
section  twenty-one,  Rushville,' but  was  never  a  permanent 
resident,  and  properly  belonged,  while  in  this  county,  to 
that  class  of  perrons  known  as  squatters.  He  left  the  county 
at  an  early  day  and  became  a  pioneer  of  McDonough  county. 
David  Wallace  also  came  from  the  south,  and  made  im- 
provements on  the  same  section  with  Vance,  but  subse- 
quently sold  his  interest  and  left  the  county.  David  Man- 
love,  Jonathan  Manlove,  Sr.,  William  P.  Manlove,  Moses 
Manlove  and  David  Manlove  all  arrived  from  North  Caro- 
lina. David  Manlove,  chose  for  his  home  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  twenty-eight ;  the  southwest  of  section 
nineteen  was  selected  by  Jonathan  Manlove,  Sr.,  the  father 
of  the  family  by  that  name,  in  Rushville  township,  while 
William  P.  .Ma"nlove  sought  a  house  in  the  Illinois  bottom. 
David  Manlove  made  his  home  in  later  years,  in  Brooklyn 
and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  that  township. 

In  the  early  spring  of  the  year,  Samuel  Turner  returned  to 
take  possession  of  his  cabin,  which  he  aud  his  brother  James 
had  built  in  1823,  at  which  time  they  made  the  trip  in  a 
canoe  from  St.  Louis  to  Beard's  ferry,  and  then  came  over 
to  Hobart's  afoot.  Young  Turner  found  George  Stewart  in 
possession  of  his  cabin.  He  sold  it  and  the  improvement 
to  one  of  the  neigh hora,  and  built  a  new  cabin  on  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  twenty-five  in  Buena  Vista  township, 
and  after  severe  toil  succeeded  in  improving  his  farm,  which 
lay  in  the  skirts  of  the  timber.  Getting  his  house  surrounded 
with  the  necessaries,  if  not  the  comforts  of  life,  and  tiring  of 
bachelorhood,  he  married  Miss  Rachel  Robertson,  on  the  twen- 
ty-fourth day  of  May,  1830,  and  continued  his  residence 
here  until  1834,  when  a  man  with  a  superior  title  made  his 
appearance  and  Mr.  Turner  lost  his  home,  the  result  of 
many  years  of  arduous  labor.  He  next  sought  a  house  on 
the  squ  heast  quarter  of  section  eleven,  which  he  purchased 
and  took  possession  of  iu  February,  1834 ;  and  which  he 
had  to  pay  for  no  less  than  three  times  before  securing  a  per- 
fect title.  The  result  of  Mr.  Turner's  marriage  was  three  chil- 
dren, the  second  one  of  whom,  Allen  R.,  with  his  wife  and 
family,  now  resides  upon  the  old  homestead  from  which 
Samuel  Turner  laid  aside  the  cares  of  this  world  in  April, 
1855. 

The  result  of  Levin  Green's  correspondence  with  his  rela- 
tives, whom  he  had  left  behind  in  Missouri,  made  itself 
manifest  this  year  by  the  arrival  on  the  second  day  of  May, 
1825,  of  Philip  Spohnamore,  John  Spohnamore,  George  and 
John  Green,  brothers,  and  Henry  Green,  Sr.,  the  father  of 
Levin  Green  and  James  Robinson,  all  from  Missouri,  and 
coming  together. 

Philip  Spohnamore  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  moved  to 
Kentucky  while  a  young  man,  there  married  and  emigrated 
to  the  wilds  of  Missouri,  and  settled  in  Cooper  county  of 
that  State,  and  in  the  early  part  of  April  gathered  his 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER  AND  BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


61 


worldly  effects  into  an  old-fashioned  covered  wagon,  and 
turned  his  course  for  Schuyler  county.    With  him  he  hrought 
his  wife,  and  Elizabeth,  Margaret,  Eleanor,  Susan,  Samuel, 
and  Sabert  J.,  children,  the  elder  onfs  being  grown.     After 
a  toilsome  journey  he  arrived  at  his  destination,  and  took 
possession  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  twenty- four  in 
the  Buena  Vista  township  settlement.     The  stock  brought 
■with  him  consisted  of  two  cows-     He  built  a  wigwam  of 
bark  in  the  forest,  and  for  bedsteads  drove  forked  stakes 
into  the  ground,  placed  round  poles  across  for  slats,  and 
upon  this  spread  the  prairie  grass.     He  cleared  two  or  three 
acres  of  ground  by  cutting  down  the  rank  weeds.     This  he 
planted  in  corn,  and  then  turned  his  attention  to  a  house  of 
a  more  substantial  character  to  protect  his  family  from  the 
severe  rain  storms.     His  house  was  that  of  all  the  pioneers, 
a  rude  log  cabin.     To  this  improvement  he  added  a  fence 
around  his  growing  crop.     Being  without  money  and  pro- 
visions this  sturdy  pioneer  and  his  noble  wife  left  home,  going 
down  into  the  Morgan  county  se  tlement  and  working  for 
money  to  purchase  food  and  clothes,  leaving  their  cabiu  and 
crop  to  the  care  of  their  children.     After  working  several 
months  they  returned.     When  the  corn  grew  into  that  con- 
dition known  as  "  roasting  ears,"  Mr.  Spohnamore  took  his 
plane,  and  by  rubbing  the  ear  of  corn  along  the  surface 
shaved  the  kernels  off  as  fine  as  he  could,  and  of  this  they 
baked  their  bread.     When  the  corn  became  too  hard  to  be 
used  in  this  way,  and  the  band  mills  being  few  and  liberally 
pa  ronized,  Mr.  Spohnamore  constructed  a  mill  of  his  own. 
He  felled  a  large  tree,  cut  one  end  square  and  burned  a  hole 
in  the  shape  of -a  m  >rtar.     This  log  he  planted  solidly  in 
the  ground,  made  another  log  to  fit  in   the  mortar,  then 
suspended  his  pestle  to  an  old-fashioned  well-sweep,  and  by 
alternately  raising  and  dropping  the  pestle  upon  the  kernels 
in  the  mortar  succeeded  in  crushing  it  sufficiently  fine.     The 
finer    particles  were  used  for  bread    aud   the  coarser  for 
hominy.     Much  lime  was  saved  by  this  pioueer  by  using 
this  primitive  piece  of  mechanism.     For  meat  they  had 
deer,  turkey,  and  an  abundance  of  other  small  game,  which 
then  abounded,  but  neither  beef  nor  pork.     Mr.  Spohnamore 
was  one  of  those  pioneers  who  came  to  the  county  without 
money,  and  a  large  family  of  children  to  provide  for,  and 
was  an  exemplification  of  the  axiom  that  "  necessity  is  the 
mother  of  invention."     He  lived  to  be  eighty-four  years  of 
age,  and  died  at  the  residence  of  his  daughter,  Sarah,  the 
wife  of  uncle   Billy  Wilson,  both  of  whom  now  reside  in 
Rushville.     The  first  marriage  ceremony  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  county  was  performed  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Spohn- 
amore, on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  November,  1825.     The 
parties  were  William    Hobart  Taylor  and  Elizabeth,  Mr. 
Spohnamore's   eldest    daughter.     The   ceremony   was   per- 
formed by  Rev.  Levin  Green.     George  Green  brought  his 
wife  and  children,  Burrell,  Dow,  Lindsey,  Walker,  Henry, 
and  Rachel,  and  settled  about  a  mile  north  of  his  father-in- 
law,  Philip  Spohnamore,  and  made  an  improvement,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1827  took  possession  of  the  coutheast  quarter 
of  section  twenty -four  in  the  same  township.     John  Spohn- 
amore first  built  his  cabin  on  the  fame  land  with  George 
Green,  and  when  George  moved   to  his   house  on  section 


twenty-four,  John  moved  to  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
twenty,  resided  there  until  1847,  then  moved  into  Littleton, 
where  he  died.  John  Green  and  family  made  their  home 
on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  twenty-three,  and  took 
his  aged  father,  Henry,  Sr.,  and  mother  to  live  with  him. 
James  Robinson,  whose  wife  was  sister  of  the  Greens,  also 
had  a  family  of  children,  and  squatted  on  the  southeast 
quarter  section  twenty-nine,  built  a  cabin,  and  from  there 
returned  to  Missouri  in  a  few  years.  The  Greens  did  not 
remain  in  the  township  longer  than  1829,  when  they  moved 
into  what  is  now  Brown  county.  Levin  aud  Henry  Green, 
Jr.,  were  great  rovers,  and  finally  ended  their  days  in  Texas. 
It  is  said  of  George  Green  that  in  moving  to  and  from  Texas 
to  Schuyler  county  he  made  no  less  than  twenty-seven  different 
journeys,  hiring  his  plunder  hauled  short  distances,  and  then 
stopping  to  earn  money  sufficient  to  carry  him  farther. 

James  and  David  Trainor  were  early  settlers  of  1825,  and 
made  settlements  in-  Littleton,  while  John  Starr,  and 
Hastings  Starr,  his  sou,  and  Thomas  Holliugsworth  were 
pioneers  in  Woodstock  the  same  year. 

James  H.  Smith  came  from  the  southern  portion  of  the 
stite  in  the  summer  of  this  year,  and  brought  with  him  a 
wife  and  family  of  children.  Hj  located  in  the  Ho- 
bart settlement  where  he  first  cam»,  and  from  there  into  Lit- 
tleton, having  purchased  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
twenty-seven  and  the  west  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  twenty  two  in  that  township,  from  William  H.  Tay- 
lor, as  early,  as  December  24th,  1825,  to  which  he 
afterwards  moved.  Manlove  Horney,  a  brother  of  Samuel 
Horney,  arrived  from  his  old  home  in  North  Carolina  and 
settled  on  the  same  section  of  land  with  his  brother.  He 
came  with  the  father  and  brother  of  Jonathan  D.  Manlove 
in  the  summer  of  1825. 

Jonathan  Reno,  a  Tennesseean,  came  to  the  county  in 
August,  1825,  and  first  located  in  Bainbridge  township, 
and  afterwards  in  section  16  of  Rushville.  While  living  at 
the  latter  place  he  lost  a  son  Francis,  in  Aug.  I* 25,  who,  it 
is  said,  was  the  first  white  person  that  died  in  the  county.  In 
1830  he  moved  to  MeDonough  county,  and  subsequently  re- 
turned to  Schuyler  again.  He  finally  moved  to  Mis- 
souri, where  he  died.  His  son  Jonathan  became  a  perma- 
nent resident  of  the  county,  and  is  one  of  the  prominent 
farmers  of  Browning  township.  James  Lammy,  an  Irish- 
man, located  on  the  bluffs  northwest  of  Frederick  in  1825. 
His  family  consisted  of  a  wife  and  three  children,  and  the 
following  year,  1826  his  wife  died  in  confinement,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  the  second  death  in  the  county. 

Another  prominent  pioneer  immigrant  of  1825  was  Rich- 
ard Black.  He  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in  1784.  After 
he  had  become  a  man  of  family  he  moved  to  Kentucky, 
where  he  lost  his  first  wife,  and  married  again.  In  the  year 
above  mentioned  he  emigrated  to  Illinois,  landing  at  Rush- 
ville with  his  family  in  November,  and  purchased  of  Willis 
O'Neal  his  improvement,  including  what  is  now  the  old 
court-house  square  in  the  centre  of  the  city  of  Rushville. 
He  paid  O'Neal  two  hundred  dollars  for  the  claims,  and  in 
less  than  a  year  he  was  "entered  out"  by  the  county  and 
sustained  the  loss  of  nearly  all  he  had  paid  for  the  place. 


62 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


At  that  time  the  capital  of  Schuyler  contained  only  one 
hewed  log  cabin  and  stable,  where  now  is  heard  the  hum  of 
an  active  busy  population.  Mr.  Black  was  compelled  to 
remove,  which  he  did  in  the  fall  of  1826,  and  took  up  his 
abode  in  section  15,  of  what  is  now  Woodstock  township. 
His  cabin  was  situated  near  where  the  road  was  afterwards 
located  from  Rushville  to  Mt.  Sterling.  In  later  years  his 
hospitable  cabin  was  sought  by  the  weary  traveler  who  was 
always  treated  the  best  the  country  could  afford.  He  re- 
mained a  resident  of  this  part  of  the  county  until  his  death, 
December  7,  1853.  His  sons  William  T.,  Isaac  and  James 
P.  Black  are  well  known  to  the  people  of  the  county. 

When  he  located  in  Woodstock  there  were  but  a  few  fam- 
ilies living  in  that  part  of  the  county,  and  none  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity.  The  whole  country  was  covered  with  tim- 
ber, excepting  a  very  narrow  strip  of  prairie  running  north 
and  south,  in  the  edge  of  which  he  settled.  Deer,  turkeys, 
prairie  chickens,  and  all  kinds  of  game  were  so  plentiful 
that  he  could  stand  in  his  cabin  door,  with  rifle  in  hand,  and 
bring  down  auy  one  of  them  whenever  desired.  The  wolves 
were  so  numerous  that  they  would  chase  the  dogs  clear  to 
the  cabin  door,  and  many  times  on  rising  in  the  morning 
they  would  be  standing  in  great  droves  in  the  door  yard. 
They  were,  however,  cowardly  and  easily  frightened  away. 
Whenever  the  prairie  chickens  were  seen  to  fly  in  great 
flocks  over  the  country,  or  to  huddle  together  on  the  trees 
or  fences,  the  old  settlers  always  predicted  a  storm.  It  was 
during  these  first  years  of  the  settlement  that  the  people  ex- 
perienced so  many  hardships  and  inconveniences.  The 
mills  that  had  been  constructed  were  of  the  rudest  and 
most  primitive  character,  known  as  the  "  Band  Mill,"  a  de- 
scription of  which  may  be  had  in  the  following  chapter: 

About  this  time,  1826,  Calvin  Hobart,  Nathaniel  Eels, 
and  William  McKee  had  mills  of  this  description  in  the 
vicinity  of  Rushville.  After  the  grain  had  been  taken  there 
and  crushed,  it  was  brought  home  and  sifted  through  what 
they  called  a  "  sarch,"  woven  of  horse-hair,  by  the  pioneer 
women  These  were  made  with  meshes  both  coarse  and  fine, 
for  sifting  either  corn  or  flour.  \The  first  sawing  of  lumber 
was  done  by  hand  with  the  whip  saw  The  nearest  saw  mill 
and  the  first  one  in  this  part  of  the  county  was  built  south 
of  Crooked  creek,  on  the  old  Scott's  mill  site.  The  earliest 
settlers  frequently  went  to  ^eardstown  and  purchased  flour 
to  make  their  bread.  It  was  then  considered  a  great  luxury 
to  have  bread  made  from  wheat  flour;  rye,  hominy  and  jon- 
ny  cakes  made  simply  of  corn  meal  and  water  mixed  to- 
gether, generally  without  any  salt,  c  instituted  their  bread 
stuff  principally.  The  customs  aud  modes  of  living  are  fully 
described  in  the  succeeding  chapter,  and  we  must  only  touch 
upon  them  here. 

Immigration  rapidly  increased,  and  the  work  of  enumer- 
ating those  who  came  in  1826  and  the  improvements  they 
made  now  commands  our  attention.  Thomas  McKee,  our 
pioneer  of  1823,  had  not  been  dilatory  in  setting  forth  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  and  the  beauty  of  the  country,  when  writ- 
ing to  his  friends  and  relatives,  whom  he  had  left  in  Indiana. 
His  letters  were  the  means  of  bringing  a  large  number  of 
pioneers  fr  jni  that  state,  the  first  arrivals  being  a  party  that 


came  on  the  16th  day  of  April,  1826.  From  the  lips  of  Joel 
Tullis,  who  is  the  last  of  the  party  now  living  in  the  county, 
we  have  gathered  the  following:  In  the  party  were  William 
McKee,  Joel  Tullis,  his  son-in-law ;  William  McKee,  Jr. 
his  son ;  Charles  Hammond,  Isaac  Linder,  Vincent  Westfall 
"  and  James  Thompson.  They  all  came  in  wagons,  William 
McKee,  Sr.,  and  Joel  Tullis,  each  with  a  two-horse  wagon, 
and  the  rest  depending  on  these  two  for  transportation. 
They  crossed  the  river  at  Beard's  Ferry  and  pushed  on  to 
the  residence  of  Thomas  McKee,  the  brother  of  William 
McKee,  Sr.,  where  they  remained  until  William  McKee,  Sr  , 
selected  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  18  of  Rushville 
township.  Several  double  cabins  were  soon  built,  and  all 
hands  went  to  work  with  a  will,  and  a  good  crop  of  corn, 
potatoes,  cabbage  and  other  vegetables  was  soon  growing  on 
the  forty  acres,  which  they  had  fenced  and  put  into  cultiva- 
tion. Charles  Hammond  and  wife  did  not  remain  later 
than  the  following  spring  when  they  left  the  county,  and 
Isaac  Linden,  who  had  left  his  family  in  Indiana,  being  so 
well  pleased  with  the  country,  did  not  wait  to  assist  with  the 
crop,  but  started  back  afoot  to  dispose  of  his  property  aud  at 
once  move  out.  Joel  Tullis  was  the  only  one  save  John 
Thompson,  who  had  a  wife  and  family.  Their  names  were 
James,  Mary.  Joel,  and  Hammond,  who  also  brought  a 
family  consisting  of  a  wife  and  one  child.  In  planting  they 
simply  turned  the  sod,  and  between  the  crevices  of  the 
broken  soil  they  dropped  the  corn.  This  crop  was  known 
as "  sod  corn."  The  season  was  favorable,  and  the  yield 
bountiful,  the  corn  producing  twenty-five  bushels  to  the  acre, 
the  potatoes,  cabbages  and  other  vegetables  equally  fine, 
while  the  watermelon  patch  was  so  thickly  covered  with  the 
enormous  and  luscious  fruit  that  a  passage  over  the  patch 
could  be  easily  made  without  placing  the  foot  upon  the 
ground.  This  magnificent  crop  w  is  but  a  fair  example  of 
the  fertility  and  productiveness  of  the  soil  in  early  times,  and 
was  largely  the  cause  of  many  remaining  who  would  other- 
wise have  rambled  on-  As  sdou  as  their  crop  was  well  ad- 
vanced, the  younger  McKee  was  left  in  charge,  and  William 
McKee,  Sr.,  and  Joel  Tullis,  who  went  along  to  as-ist  his 
father-in-law,  to  move  his  household  goods,  familvand  stock, 
started  to  Indiana  with  their  wagons.  J  >hn  Thompson  also 
went  along  to  asi-ist,  leaving  his  family  with  Mrs.  Tullis,  and 
Vincent  Westfall,  who  had  left  his  family  accompanied  them. 
Upon  the  arrival  in  Indiana,  Joel  Tullis  began  the  con- 
struction of  a  pirogue.  He  first  selected  a  large,  straight 
poplar  tree  which  he  felled,  then  cut  from  the  butt  a  log 
about  sixty  feet  long,  which  was  dug  out  until  nothing  but 
a  shell  remained.  Wide  boards  were  then  nailed  to  the  up- 
per edge  of  the  sides  and  allowed  to  extend  out  over  the 
water ;  oar-locks,  oars  and  long  poles  for  propelling  when 
oars  could  not  be  used  completed  the  pirogue,  which  was 
finii-hed  by  the  last  of  September.  They  commenced  the 
loading  of  the  crafts,  whose  cargo  consisted  of  household 
goods,  leather,  groceries,  a  carding  machine  for  William 
McKee,  and  two  men  with  families  emigrating  to  Morgan 
county,  while  the  working  force  of  this  ancient  method  of 
transportation  consisted  of  Joel  Tullis  as  captain,  and  John 
Thompson,  James  Thompson  his  brother   and  unmarried, 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


63 


John  Comb1,  single,  and  Captain  Daniel  Matheney,  a  mar- 
ried man.  All  aboard!  and  the  craft  left  the  bank  and  was 
soon  drifting  down  the  waters  of  the  Ohio.  They  traveled 
by  day,  frequently  grounding  upon  sand  bars,  as  the  river 
*as  very  low,  and  then  all  hands  had  to  get  out  and  "  lift 
over."  Joel  Tullis,  after  several  "  lift  overs,"  discoved  that 
the  channel  of  the  Ohio  was  staked  out,  and  by  noticing 
closely  no  farther  delays  were  experienced  by  our  travelers, 
who  sped  along  by  day  and  camped  upon  the  banks  at  night, 
with  nothing  for  shelter  but  the  blue  vault  of  heaven  lighted 
up  by  the  lurid  glare  of  their  camp  fire.  The  solitude  of  the 
wilderness  was  broken  only  by  the  sound  of  the  plashing  of 
oars,  or  the  echoes  of  the  songs  of  the  hardy  woodman,  as  he 
was  hewing  out  his  home  in  tlie  depth  of  the  forests  which 
then  skirted  the  streams.  The  season  of  the  year  was  such 
that  the  trees  of  the  forest  were  clothed  in  a  robe  of  many 
colors,  and  the  romance  of  the  trip  was  such  as  almost  any 
one  could  enjoy  and  gladly  make  even  at  the  present  day. 
They  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  without  accident,  and 
were  soon  speeding  their  craft  up  the  Mississippi,  and  thence 
up  the  Illinois  river.  On  their  way  up  the  last  named  river 
a  large  deer,  with  antlers  of  many  prongs,  sprang  into  the 
water  and  attempted  to  swim.  The  younger  men  of  the  party 
were  soon  in  a  canoe  and  gave  chase  to  the  noble  game  which 
was  soon  overtaken  in  the  river,  its  head  bent  by  the  sturdy 
arm  of  one  of  the  number,  its  throat  cut,  and  the  carcass  se- 
cured. Though  game  was  plentiful,  no  time  was  wasted  in 
its  pursuit,  as  all  were  anxious  to  reach  the  end  of  their 
journey.  Many  Indians  were  encountered  on  the  banks  and 
in  the  channel  of  the  river  but  all  were  peaceable  and  friendly. 
Just  at  sun  et  on  a  beautiful  October  day,  the  prow  of  the 
pirogue  touched  the  banks  of  the  Illinois  river,  where  the 
village  of  Frederick  is  now  situated,  the  line  was  made  fast 
and  Tullis,  Matheney  and  John  Thompson  started  for  their 
cabin,  twelve  miles  distant,  where  they  arrived  and  were  re- 
ceived with  a  hearty  welcome.  James  Thompson  and  John 
Combs  were  left  to  guard  the  pirogue  and  its  precious  cargo. 
The  next  day,  the  cargo  was  transferred  from  the  pirogue 
to  the  cabin.  After  a  few  days  rest,  Daniel  Matheney  and 
Charles  Hammond  started  to  meet  William  McKee,  Sr., 
who  was  making  the  journey  in  wagons.  In  the  latter  days 
of  October  the  party  arrived  in  the  wagons  with  the  stock. 
Those  who  returned  in  the  wagons  were  William  McKee  and 
family,  of  wife  and  six  children,  Isaac  Linder  and  family, 
and  Daniel  Matheney's  wife  and  child,  Westfall  remaining 
in  Indiana.  Joseph  Bowhall,  wife  and  children,  and  Thomas 
Popham  with  a  family  were  also  of  the  party,  who  settled 
around  Tullis  and  McKee,  remaining  but  one  year,  and 
then  moved  on.  Of  Linder  and  Combs,  we  could  get  noth- 
ing definite.  William  McKee,  Sr.,  continued  to  reside 
upon  his  improvement,  until  his  death  ;  and  his  son  now  oc- 
cupies the  old  homastead,  one  of  the  most  valuable  farms  in 
tha  county.  Joel  Tullis  subsequently  moved  into  Buena 
Vista  township,  and  in  1847,  becoming  restless  from  the  en- 
croachments of  the  rapidly  increasing  population,  he  sold 
his  home,  loaded  his  family  of  wife  and  children  into  an  ox- 
wagon,  and  started  on  an  overland  journey  to  Oregon,  which 
was  then  offering  a  section  of  land  to  each  settler  who  might 


locate  within  its  boundaries.  After  a  journey  fraught  with 
sufferings  of  the  most  excruciating  and  heart-rending  na- 
ture, burying  no  less  than  six  of  his  children  by  the  dreary 
wayside,  without  coffins  and  in  graves  hollowed  out  by  him- 
self, he  reached  his  destination.  He  returned  to  Buena 
Vista  township  in  1857,  purchased  a  farm  upon  which  he 
resides  with  his  children,  enjoying  the  evening  of  his  life 
in  peace  and  quiet.  Daniel  Matheney  settled  in  Woodstock 
first  and  then  moved  to  Oakland,  and  from  there  to  Iowa. 
John  and  James  Thompson's  history  may  be  found  in  Buena 
Vista  and  Littleton  townships,  where  they  spent  their  days  in  - 
honest  toil,  and  both  are  now  at  rest  in  their  narrow  houses. 

Alexander  Ross,  a  native  of  Maryland,  arrived  from  Ken- 
tucky in  the  summer  of  this  year,  and  with  him  came  a  wife 
and  six  children,  Alexander  W.  Levin,  William  Tolbert, 
Rebecca  and  Elizabeth,  and  built  his  cabin  and  made  his 
home  on  the  north-east  quarter  of  section  sixteen  in  Bu(  na 
Vista  township,  where  many  of  his  descendants  now  reside. 

This  year  also  witnessed  the  organization  of  the  first  relig- 
ious society  in  the  country.  It  was  a  Methodist  class  held 
by  R3v.  William  See,  the  junior  preacher  in  the  Peoria  Mis- 
sion, with  Rev.  Jesse  Walker  as  preacher  in  charge.  Rev. 
See,  came  on  horseback  by  way  of  Canton,  Lewiston  and 
the  McNeil  Settlement,  now  Astoria,  and  held  a  two  days 
meeting  and  organized  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  with 
the  following  membership  in  August,  1826 :  Levin  Green, 
local  preacher  ;  Henry  Green,  class  leader  ;  William  Skiles, 
assistant  leader ;  Calvin  Hobart,  Steward ;  James  H.  Smith, 
exhorter;  Sallie  Hobart,  Bettie  Hobart,  Judith  Smith, 
Margaret  Carr,  Catharine  Justus,  Rebecca  Skiles,  George 
Skiles,  Polly  Skiles,  George  Stewart,  Jonas  Hobart,  William 
H.  Taylor,  William  Carr,  James  Justus,  John  P.  Skiles, 
Elizabeth  Skiles,  Moses  Skiles,  Matilda  Skiles,  Polly  Stew- 
art. 

It  was  also  in  the  same  year  that  the  first  settlement  in 
the  extreme  eastern  part  of  the  county  was  made  by 
Jonathan  Viles,  Nicholas  Viles,  his  uncle,  William  Steven- 
son, a  son-in-law  of  Nicholas  Viles  and  Amos  Richardson. 
This  party  with  their  families  crossed  the  Illinois  river  at 
Beard's  Ferry  early  in  the  spring  of  1826  and  followed  an 
old  Indian  trail  up  the  bluffs  to  the  vicinity  of  Butlersville, 
where  they  made  settlements.  It  was  then  that  the  timber 
of  Hickory  township  was  first  made  to  resound  with  the 
woodman's  axe,  and  these  were  the  men  who  struck  the  first 
blows  toward  civilization.  Richardson  remained  there  until 
he  was  shot  and  killed  about  1830,  by  Bunvll  Basset.  -The 
others  moved  out  of  this  neighborhood  and  sought  homes 
elsewhere. 

About  six  or  eight  miles  west  in  what  is  Browning  town- 
ship we  find  another  settlement,  which  was  made  the 
same  spring,  by  William  Robertson.  He  came  from  Ken- 
tucky, though  he  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  and  was 
attracted  here  by  the  quantities  of  game  which  then  abound- 
ed. In  selecting  a  site  for  his  cabin,  he  discovered  an  ex- 
cellent spring  of  water  on  section  sixteen  of  T.  1  N  ,  R.  1  E., 
where  he  located  and  continued  to  reside  until  his  death,  in 
1866.  Robertson  was  very  fond  of  hunting  and  trapping, 
which  he  followed  for  several  years.     There  were  quice  a 


64 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


number  of  Indians,  of  the  various  tribes,  then  in  the  county, 
and  he  frequently  joined  in  the  chase  and  slept  in  their  wig- 
wams. Bee  trees  were  very  plentiful,  and  he  once  took  a 
barrel  of  strained  honey  and  peddled  it  out  among  the  set- 
tlers in  Morgan  county.  He  dried  the  hams  of  the  deer, 
and  frequently  floated  down  the  river  to  St.  Louis  in  an 
Indian  canoe  with  a  load  of  them  where  he  found  a  ready 
market  for  their  sale.  He  came  here  a  single  man,  but  was 
early  married  to  Elizabeth  Kirklin,  Esquire  Isaac  Lane, 
officiating.  Of  his  sons  living,  George  resides  in  Texas,  Alex- 
ander and  Joel  on  the  old  homestead,  and  Malcomb  in  Macon 
county  of  this  state.  George  Skiles,  a  Marylander,  arrived 
in  the  county  December  2,  of  the  same  year,  1826,  and  first 
stopped  on  section  sixteen,  of  Rushville.  He  had  resided  in 
Tennessee,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri  prior  to  his  im- 
migration here,  and  had  served  his  country  under  General 
Jackson  at  New  Orleans.  He  brought  with  him  a  family  of 
eleven  children,  seven  of  whom  are  yet  living.  He  held 
the  first  coroners  inquest  in  the  county,  over  the  body  of 
George  Everett,  who  was  shot  and  killed  by  Jam  a  Morgan. 
Skiles,  David  and  Alfred  C.  Wallace,  erected  a  water  mill 
on  Sugar  creek,  and  had  it  running  early  in  1829.  It  was 
a  rude  affair  constructed  of  logs,  and  the  ruins  of  the  old 
dam  are  still  pointed  out  by  some  of  the  older  citizens  on  sec- 
tion twenty,  of  T.  1  N.,  R.  1  east.  It  had  two  run  of  burrs, 
one  for  wheat  and  one  for  corn.  In  1831  they  added  an  up- 
and-down  saw,  and  did  quite  a  lumber  business.  In  Novem- 
ber 1826,  Abraham  Lemaster  and  his  son-in-law  Charles 
Hatfield,  crossed  the  river  at  Beard's  Ferry  and  wended 
their  way  north-westwardly  to  near  the  center  of  Bainbridge 
township,  where  they  took  up  winter  quarters  in  Willis 
O'Neal's  vacated  cabin.  James  B.  Atwood  was  then  the 
only  person  living  in  that  neighborhood.  The  f  dlowing 
spring  Lemaster  purchased  Thomas  McKee's  improvement 
on  section  twenty,  but  soon  moved  from  these  up  on  the 
prairie  on  account  of  the  mosquitoes  which  were  so  trouble- 
some in  that  vicinity,  that  scarcely  man  or  beast  could  en- 
dure them.  Hatfield  first  located  on  the  prairie- north  of 
Rushville,  and  remained  there  about  five  years  when  he  took 
up  a  permanent  abode  in  Bainbridge,  and  is  still  living,  one 
of  the  oldest  pioneers  of  the  county. 

Of  the  pioneers  to  seek  homes  upon  the  rich  lands  of 
Schuyler  county  in  1827,  were  Charles  Teas,  who  settled  and 
improved  a  farm  in  Buena  Vista;  Dr.  B.  V.  Teal,  the  first 
physician  and  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  came  to  Rushville, 
and  met  with  a  hearty  reception,  and  was  instrumental  in 
giving  the  name  to  the  county  seat. 

After  the  family  of  Greens  had  been  in  the  new  settle- 
ment for  several  years  and  all  having  large  families  of  chil- 
dren, the  clothes  which  they  brought  with  them  for  their  lit- 
tle ones  had  become  entirely  worn  out ;  winter  was  approach- 
ing and  the  children's  clothing  were  in  tatters.  The  parents 
had  no  money  with  which  to  purchase  the  necessary  gar- 
ments. The  mothers  were  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  the 
lint  of  thistles  which  grew  in  abundance  was  gathered, 
carded  into  rolls,  spun,  and  upon  a  loom,  constructed  by  the 
women  from  fence  rails,  the  material  for  suits  was  woven 
and  their  little  ones  furnished  with  comfortable  as  well  sa 


warm  clothing.  Cotton  was  then  cultivated,  and  John 
Green  made  a  cotton  gin  in  the  spring  of  1827,  and  after 
that  time  thistle-down  was  no  longer  utilized  for  clothing. 
Flax  succeeded  cotton,  but  it  was  many  years  before  wool 
could  be  produced,  as  the  wolves  were  so  numerous  as  to 
make  the  keeping  of  sheep  a  matter  of  impossibility.  This 
was  in  the  Buena  Vista  settlement,  and  here  we  had  an  in- 
stance of  the  thrift  and  tact  of  the  pioneer  women.  Jona- 
than D.  Minlove  was  the  owner  of  a  large  pet  bear,  which 
had  become  so  ferocious  that  it  had  to  be  kept  chained. 
While  absent  from  home  Mrs.  Samuel  Hjrney,  at  whose 
house  Minlove  lived  and  two  young  girls,  Mirtha  R'tchey 
and  Sarah  Spohnam  ire,  attempted  to  feed"  it,  when  it  broke 
its  fastenings  and  chased  them  into  the  house.  Attempting 
to  get  in  at  the  aperture  left  for  a  windiw  they  soon  de- 
cided to  wind  up  the  career  of  bruin.  Knowing  his  fond- 
ness for  milk  a  crock  of  that  liquid  was  procured  and  held 
out  to  the  bear  by  Sarah  Spohnamore ;  while  drinking  Sarah 
Ritchey  slipped  up  with  a  rope  and  soon  had  the  marauder 
in  the  toils,  and  it  was  not  long  until  his  life-blood  stained 
the  ground,  they  having  cut  his  throat  with  a  knife.  We 
have  heard  it  gently  hinte  1  that  the  death  of  the  bear  was 
the  result  more  of  sport  than  fear. 

William  Gordon,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  came  here  from 
Indiana  with  his  mother  in-law  and  her  family  in  1S27,  and 
purchased  land  of  John  A.  Reeves,  in  Woodstock,  who  had 
been  living  there  for  a  short  time.  The  Gordon  and  Taylor 
families  left  the  county.  Reeves'  wife  had  died,  and  after 
selling  out  returned  to  Indiana,  married  again  and  came 
back  to  Schuyler.  Simon  A.  Reeves,  a  son  of  his,  still  lives 
in  the  county.  William  Mitchel,  a  brother-in-law  of  Reeves 
was  also  here  as  early  as  1827.  Moses  and  Jonathan  Bill- 
ings settled  a  few  miles  south  of  Rushville  about  the  same 
time.  There  also  arrived  in  1827  Isaac  Sanders  and  family, 
consisting  of  a  wife  and  four  children,  and  Jacob  Fowler, 
fathei>in-law  of  Richard  Black,  with  his  family,  wife  and 
five  children.  They  located  in  the  Black  settlement.  Fowler 
drove  a  flick  of  geese  all  the  way  from  Indiana,  probably 
the  first  domestic  geese  in  the  ciuuty.  They  both  resided 
here  until  their  death  Fowler  will  be  remembered  as  a 
mail  carrier,  who  at  one  time  controlled  nearly  all  the  routes 
in  this  part  of  the  state.  Moses  Pettigrew,  Archibald  Par- 
ris,  James  E  lmonston,  James,  William  and  John  Evans, 
and  Benjamin  Golstou,  also  settled  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  county  as  early  as  1827.  Pettigrew  is  mentioned  more 
fully  in  the  article  on  Cooperstown,  in  the  Brown  ciunty 
history.  Abraham  Hollingsworth  came  here  from  Morgan 
county  and  located  on  section  6  of  Frederick  township, 
April  7,  1827.  He  became  a  resident  of  Illinois  in  1824. 
After  residing  on  the  above  place  about  two  years  he  entered 
land  north  of  Rushville,  near  the  creek  that  bears  his  name- 
Mr  H  tilings  worth  was  one  of  the  early  Justices  of  the  Peace, 
had  an  early  band  mill  and  was  quite  a  noted  man  in  that 
early  time.  He  had  bat  one  child  living,  Gabriel  B.,  resid- 
ing in  Browning  township,  at  the  age  of  71  years.  R iswell 
Brines  is  another  pioneer  of  1827.  The  first  winter  in  the 
county  he  spent  in  the  Chadsey  settlement  with  Acel,  his 
brother,  and  James  Stillwell,  who  came  here  with  him.     Mr. 


HISTORY    OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


65 


Briues  lived  for  the  most  part  of  the  first  years  iu  the  coun- 
ty near  Pleasant  View,  in  Rushville  township,  married  there 
and  subsequently  moved  into  Frederick  township  where  he 
and  his  wife  are  still  living,  at  a  good  old  age.  Abraham 
Carlock,  then  a  very  aged  man,  with  a  large  family  of  grown 
children,  settled  in  Hickory  in  1827,  aud  died  there  a  few 
years  later.  Jacob  Guinn  locited  in  that  settlement  about 
the  same  time 

We  will  here  give  some  of  the  early  settlers  iu  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  county,  or  that  portion  now  comprising 
Woodstock  and  Bainbridge,  that  have  not  been  heretofore 
mentioned.  In  1829  Amelia  Riley,  with  a  family  of  six 
sons  and  a  son-in-law,  Mordecai  Fowler  came  from  Indiana, 
aud  located  in  Woodstock.  Mordecai  Fowler  was  a  son  of 
Jacob  Fc  wler,  who  has  already  been  mentioned.  John  Logs- 
don,  who  located  in  the  Black  settlement  about  this  time, 
had  been  a  citizen  of  the  county  since  early  in  1826,  and  had 
lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Rushville  His  brothers, 
Vaughn,  Amos  Redman  and  Jackson,  also  became  residents, 
but  they  all  migrated  to  Missouri.  Allen  Alexander  was 
another  early  arrival  and  located  near  Crooked  creek,  where 
the  Ripley  road  crosses,  aud  kept  a  ferry  there  for  a  number 
of  years.  Timothy  Harris,  an  eastern  man,  came  from 
Sangamon  county  and  brought  quite  a  herd  of  stock  with 
him,  locating  in  the  Black  settlement.  He  became  a  perma- 
nent resident,  aud  died  here  at  a  very  old  age.  Zachariah, 
Wells,  and  his  sons  Tenney  and  Joseph,  and  John  Conrad, 
came  into  the  Naught  settlement  in  1830,  and  James  Beard, 
John  Howell  and  Jonathan  Manlove,  Jr.,  in  1831.  John 
Skaggs,  Pierre  J.  Jonte,  Peter  Hermitete,  James  F.  Gros- 
cloude  and  Peter  Adams  also  located  in  the  same  settlement 
as  early  as  1833.  We  clip  the  following  from  an  address 
delivered  by  Hon.  Henry  S.Metz:  "An  amusing  but  ag- 
gravating incident  is  related  of  Pierre  J.  Jonte.  He  being 
a  Frenchman,  and  fond  of  wine,  ordered  a  barrel  of  it  to  be 
shipped  him  from  Labelle,  France.  It  came,  as  per  order 
via  New  Orleans  and  up  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  to 
Beard's  ferry,  a  distance  of  about  5,000  miles.  He  went 
thither  with  a  team  and  wagon  to  bring  it  home  and,  when 
coming  up  the  bluff  hill  aud  almost  in  sight  of  his  house,  the 
barrel  rolled  out  the  hind  end  of  the  wagon,  down  the  hill 
several  rods  and  finally  dashed  to  pieces  against  a  tree.  If 
he  didn't  swear  it  is  evidence  thcough  what  troubles  and 
trials  Christian  fortitude  will  bear  a  person."  Alexander 
Stutsman,  a  Kentuckian,  purchased  the  old  Isaac  Naught 
place  in  1834,  and  his  wife  and  members  of  his  family  are 
still  residing  in  that  neighborhood.  Enoch  and  James  Ed- 
monston  settled  in  Bainbridge  about  1828.  Rev.  Joseph 
Bell,  a  Baptist  minister,  Isaac  Briggs,  George  Butler,  Jacob 
White,  Peter  Dewitt,  Sanford  Close,  Elisha  Hudson,  Jerre 
Jackson,  Allen  Persinger,  Jonathan  Reddick,  Harvey  Phin- 
ney,  Lawlers,  Howells  and  others  were  early  settlers  in 
Bainbridge.  . 

In  the  extreme  eastern  part  of  the  county,  comprising 
Frederick,  Browning,  and  Hickory  townships,  we  will  men- 
tion a  few  early  arrivals  not  heretofore  spoken  of.  Andrew 
Vance  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  settler  on  the  present 
site  of  Fredericksville  at  a  very  early  clay.  Edward  White, 
9     . 


aud  his  son-in-law,  Doolittle,  came  at  an  early  date,  and 
located  in  the  northern  part  of  the  township.  John  D. 
Wren,  Lyman  Utter,  Samuel  Heaton,  Jesse  Darnell,  Anthony 
.  Messerer,  a  native  German,  Jacob  Jacoba,  Thomas  Bellomy, 
Walter  A.  J.  Black,  John  Utter,  were  also  early  settlers 
here.  Browning  received  some  very  prominent  settlers  iu 
1828.  It  was  this  year  that  four  brothers,  Thomas  T.,  Wil- 
liam, Henry,  and  Hartwell  Lancaster,  natives  of  Kentucky, 
located  in  section  twenty-two  of  that  township.  The  fol- 
lowing year  they  were  followed  by  their  brother,  Gabriel, 
and  their  mother,  Elizabeth.  They  were  single  men  when 
they  came,  but  all  married  and  reared  families.  Two  of 
them,  Hartwell  and  Thomas  T.,  are  still  living,  and  have 
been  residents  of  the  neighborhood  ever  since  their  advent 
into  the  county.  Esquire  Isaac  Lane,  quite  a  noted  charac- 
ter, and  a  man  well  remembered  by  the  older  residents, 
came  into  that  vicinity  in  the  fall  of  1828.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  Justices  of  the.  Peace  in  that  part  of  the  county,  and 
made  many  a  young  and  happy  pair  man  and  wife.  He 
was  a  native  Kentuckian,  a  man  of  Herculean  frame,  weigh- 
ing over  two  hundred  pounds.  His  father,  Adrian  Lane, 
also  came  and  lived  with  him.  About  1850,  the  old  Esquire 
started  on  a  trip  to  California,  and  died  on  the  way.  Shel- 
ton  Luttrell,  an  old  pensioner  of  the  war  of  1812,  came  from 
Tennessee,  settling  in  section  sixteen,  in  the  same  year. 
George  W.  Justus,  another  Tennesseean,  and  twenty-eighter, 
located  in  the  vicinity  of  Ridgeville,  and  reared  a  large 
family,  some  of  whom  are  living  in  the  county.  John  M. 
Campbell  arrived  in  the  same  settlement  in  the  fall  of  1829. 
He  was  a  North  Carolinian,  reared  a  family,  was  one  of  the 
county  commissioners,  and  a  man  generally  known  and 
much  beloved.  Died  at  his  home  a  number  of  years  ago. 
Stephen  and  Daniel  Roberts  m,  however,  had  settled  here 
soon  after  William  Robertson  came  in  1826,  and  had  de- 
parted before  1828.  John  Baker  and  George  Garrison 
were  also  early  settlers.  In  Hickory,  we  will  add  Stephen 
Y.  Jolly,  William  K.  Jones,  William  H.  Gregory,  William 
Sackman,  David  Venters,  Abraham  Louderback,  Jacob 
Sharp,  and  Daniel  Sheldon.  We  have  not  mentioned  all, 
but  a  more  complete  history  of  the  settlements  and  many  of 
the  parties  herein  found  can  be  had  in  the  various  township 
histories. 

The  Tullis  settlement  extended  its  hospitalities  to  Drury 
Sellers  and  Robert  L.  Dark,  his  son-in-law,  in  the  spring  of 
1828,  and  they  secured  a  house  by  purchasing  the  cabin  and 
improvement  of  Charles  Hatfield,  on  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  two,  where  they  made  their  home  together  for  a 
short  time,  and  then  Robert  L.  Dark  bought  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  one,  built  himself  a  cabin,  and  continued 
his  improvements.  Both  these  settlers  became  permanent 
residents  of  the  county,  and  were  among  the  first  to  invade 
and  improve  other  townships.  Sellers  becoming  a  pioneer 
of  Littleton,  where  he  died,  and  Dark  of  Brooklyn,  where 
he  lived  for  many  years,  ultimately  removing  to  Macomb. 
Descendants  of  Drury  Sellers  now  occupy  the  old  homestead 
in  the  western  portion  of  Littleton.  Robert  L.  Dark  was 
one  of  the  pioneer  teachers  of  the  county,  and  was  a  useful 
member  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived.     George  Swan 


C6 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


aud  family  came  iuto  Buena  Vista  in  the  spring  of  1829, 
aud  purchased  the  southwest  of  section  thirteen  from  Sam- 
uel Homey.  Upon  this  tract  of  land  he  built  his  log  cabin, 
improved  a  fine  farm,  raised  a  family  of  children,  and  now 
rests  in  the  Hughes  cemetery.  He  was  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky. Lemuel  Sparks,  a  native  of  Baltimore  county, 
Maryland,  was  taken  to  Kentucky  by  his  parents  when  a 
lad  of  eleven  years,  from  whence  he  moved  to  Indiana,  and 
thence  emigrated  to  Schuyler  county,  arriving  in  the  fall  of 
1829.  He  made  the  journey  with  a  wagon  and  horses, 
bringing  his  family,  consisting  of  a  wife  and  children,  Ruth, 
Louisa,  Bloise  W.,  Lemuel  A.,  John  B.,  aud  Angeline,  his 
children.  He  bought  the  pre-emption  right  and  improve- 
ments, and  subsequently  the  right  and  title  of  Charles  Teas 
to  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  twenty-three  in  Buena 
Vista.  Here  he  commenced  work,  and  with  the  assistance 
of  his  older  sons,  soon  converted  the  wild  prairie  into  a  fertile 
farm.  He  raised  a  large  family,  many  of  whom  are  now 
residents  of  the  county.  His  son,  Bloise  AV.,  lives  in  the 
western  portion  of  Brooklyn  township,  on  a  valuable  farm 
of  his  own,  surrounded  by  a  large  family  and  the  comforts 
of  life,  aud  John  B.  resides  upon  a  handsome  farm  near  the 
old  homestead.  Mrs.  Allen  R.  Turner  is  a  daughter,  and 
resides  with  her  husband  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Buena 
Vista.  Mr.  Sparks  died  in  1855,  on  the  old  home  place, 
and  was  followed  by  his  aged  wife  a  few  years  since. 
Ephraim  Haines,  a  young  man,  who  came  with  him,  died  at 
his  house,  and  was  the  first  adult  buried  in  the  Hughes 
grave-yard.  Mr.  Sparks  was  a  man  of  great  coolness,  and 
on  one  occasion,  when  a  little  son  and  daughter  were  at  play 
on  the  wood-pile,  the  lad  accidentally  struck  his  sister  upon 
the  foot  with  an  axe,  almost  severing  the  member.  A  doctor 
was  sent  for,  but  before  he  could  arrive,  Mr.  Sparks  came 
to  the  house,  sewed  the  severed  piece  to  its  place,  and  dressed 
the  wound,  which  soon  healed. 

George  Swan,  being  so  well  pleased  with  his  new  home, 
wrote  to  his  son-in-law,  William  Owen,  in  Kentucky,  and 
advised  him  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  offered 
in  this  country  to  secure  a  home  aud  to  come  out  as  soon  as 
possible.  Mr.  Owen  at  once  acted  upon  the  advice  of  his 
father-in-law,  and  with  his  wife  made  the  journey  from  Ken- 
tucky on  horseback,  to  visit  and  see  the  country,  leaving  his 
household  goods  behind.  He  arrived  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Swan  in  the  fall  of  this  year,  and  there  spent  the  winter.  In 
the  spring  of  1830,  he  took  his  wife  and  went  up  into  what 
is  now  Brooklyn,  there  built  his  cabin,  put  in  a  crop,  but  be- 
coming afflicted  with  ague  he  returned  to  the  home  of  his 
father-in-law,  where  he  left  his  wife,  and  returned  to  Ken- 
tucky and  brought  back  his  effects.  He  then  sold  his  interest 
in  Brooklyn,  bought  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  four- 
teen, built  his  cabin  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  on 
hi.s  farm  adjoining  that  of  his  father-in-law.  His  widow  and 
children,  now  occupy  the  old  home — now  one  of  the  finest 
farms  in  the  county.  The  year  1830  brought  the  Dark 
family,  Hosea  Tullis  and  John  Boggs  to  Buena  Vista.  The 
former  family  consisted  of  the  father,  Samuel  Dark,  Sr.,  his 
wife,  Samuel  L.,  his  son  ;  Horace  and  Samuel  Dark,  Jr., 
nephews,  and  Hugh  Hays,  a  son-in-law.     Horace  Dark  and 


Hugh  Hays  had  families,  and  Samuel  L.,  and  Samuel  Dark, 
Jr.,  were  young,  unmarried  men.  They  all  came  from 
Tennessee,  crossed  the  river  at  Beard's  Ferry,  and  arrived 
at  the  residence  of  Robert  L.  Dark,  on  the  seventeenth  day 
of  April,  1830.  They  all  moved  into  Brooklyn  in  1832. 
Samuel  L.  Dark  married  a  daughter  of  John  Moore,  and 
made  his  home  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  five  in 
Brooklyn,  where  he  now  resides,  having  served  his  country 
in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  while  engaged  in  the  service, 
became  converted  and  since  that  time  has  been  an  active 
minister  of  the  Baptist  persuasion.  The  father  settled  on 
the  south  west  quarter  of  section  one.  in  the  same  township 
with  his  son,  Samuel  L.,  where  he  died  some  years  ago. 
Horace  Dark  made  his  improvement  on  the  east  half  of  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  fifteen  in  the  same  township. 
Hugh  Hays  made  his  home  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion twenty-one,  in  same  township,  remained  until  his  death k 
Hosea  Tullis  a  brother  of  Joel  Tullis,  and  John  Boggs 
with  families,  came  from  Ohio  and  spent  a  year  in  Buena 
Vista,  but  returned  at  the  end  of  that  time,  becoming 
alarmed  at  the  report  that  the  Indians  were  committing  dep- 
redations. 

Dr.  James  Blackburn,  one  of  the  pioneer  physicians  of 
the  county,  a  native  of  Ohio,  came  to  Rushville  in  the  sum- 
mer of  this  year  and  being  a  tanner  by  trade  established  the 
first  tannery  in  the  town  of  Rushville  as  well  as  the  county. 
Having  also  studied  medicine  in  his  leisure  hours,  he  com- 
menced the  practice  of  medicine.  In  1836,  he  moved  to 
Brooklyn,  at  which  place  he  died,  leaving  three  children  in 
the  township.  The  first  permanent  settlement  made  in 
Camden  and  Littleton  date  their  beginning  from  1830. 
John  and  Robert  Brown,  and  Luke  Allphin  crossed  the 
river  at  Beard's  Ferry  in  the  fall  of  1829,  and  came  to  Rush- 
ville. Finding  the  better  land  already  occupied,  these 
pioneers  left  the  village  passing  to  the  west,  and  striking  an 
Indian  trail,  they  followed  on,  until  they  reached  a  high 
knoll,  where  Camden  village  now  stands,  and  from  that 
point  selected  their  future  homes  and  staked  off  their  land, 
and  then  turned  their  course  for  their  homes  and  families 
then  in  Morgan  county.  In  the  fall  of  1830,  these  pioneers 
returned  to  the  land  which  they  had  selected.  They  came 
behind  the  slow  but  steady  oxen,  carving  their  way  through 
the  timber,  until  they  reached  the  prairie.  There  were  a 
dozen  persons  in  the  three  families.  Arriving  at  their  des- 
tination three  hewed  log  cabins  w«-re  soon  made  ready  for 
occupancy,  and  the  work  of  putting  in  a  crop  began. 
Robert  Brown  located  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
sixteen;  John  Brown  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
twenty,  and  Luke  Allphin  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion seventeen.  Here  John  and  Robert  Brown  toiled  for 
many  days  aud  here  both  died.  The  widow  of  John  Brown 
is  still  living  in  the  township.  Luke  Allphin  tiring  of  what 
to  him  soon  became  a  densely  populated  community,  sold 
his  house  and  migrated  to  California  where  he  died  a  few 
years  ago.  David  Snyder,  a  native  of  Virginia,  arrived 
with  his  family  in  a  four  horse  wagon  from  Kentucky,  in 
October,  1830,  and  pushed  forward  into  Littleton  taking 
possession  of  the  north  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


67 


tion  thirty-three.  He  was  the  first  to  permanently  settle  in 
the  township  and  remain  until  his  death,  though  the 
Trainors  were  in  the  township  at  an  earlier  day  but  made 
only  slight  improvements,  remaining  but  a  few  years.  Many 
of  Mrs  Snyder's  children  are  now  residents  of  the  township. 
Among  the  pioneers  of  1830  and  1831,  were  Philander 
Avery  of  Camden,  and  Henry  Moss,  John  Thornhill, 
Jamison  Wilson,  Jesse  Burke,  pioneers  of  Huntsville.  Dr. 
Adams  Dunlap,  although  not  a  settler  in  the  county  until 
February,  1831,  when -he  arrived  in  Rushville,  is  worthy  of 
more  than  a  passing  notice  from  his  intimate  associations 
with  the  early  officers  of  the  county.  He  is  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  came  to  Schuyler,  a  single  man  of  twenty-six. 
He  was  a  practioner  of  medicine  and  one  of  the  pioneers  in 
that  profession.  Hardly  had  he  arrived  in  the  county, 
when  he  was  chosen  Presidential  elector  on  the  Democratic 
ticket  in  1832.  He  filled  the  office  of  Probate  Justice  of 
the  county  for  three  consecutive  terms,  being  the  first  elected 
in  the  county.  He  served  in  the  Black  Hawk  war  as  as 
sistant  surgeon  of  the  fourth  regiment,  and  raised  a  company 
of  calvary  for  the  Mexican  war.  His  life  has  been  one  of 
activity,  and  to-day  he  is  reaping  the  benefits  of  a  well-spent 
life.  He  lives  with  hisdaughter,  Mrs.  William  R.  McCreery, 
in  Buena  Vista.  The  first  to  settle  in  Birmingham  in  1831, 
were  Brummel  Sapp,  and  David  and  Moses  Manlove,  follow- 
ed the  next  year  by  the  Haggards  and  Pophams.  'The  year 
1832  also  records  the  arrival  of  William  C.  Ralls,  William 
Lewis,  William  B.  Manlove,  John  E.  Rigsby  and  William 
Huff  in  Brooklyn;  Willis  G.  Moffett  and  William  Spangler 
and  Stephen  Perkins  iu  Huntsville;  Elijah  M.  Wilson  and 
Richard  P  Applegate  iu  Littleton,  and  Richard  Ashcraft 
and  William  Burress  iu  Oakland,  all  of  whom  made  the 
first  permanent  settlements  in  their  respective  townships. 

Alexander  McHatton,  Ephraim  and  Ira  Owen,  Henson, 
Marlow,  Jesse  Plunkett,  Balaam  Busby,  Raphael  Wilson 
and  John  Taggart  in  Camden  ;  Madison  Clayton,  David 
Tyree,  Reuben  Allphin,  Samuel  Warren,  and  Stephen  Men- 
d-nhall  in  Huntsville;  Alpheus  Oliver,  the  Bilderbacks, 
Wades,  Bodenhammers,  Wiers  and  Isaac  Pigeon  in  Birm- 
ingham; Robert  Frakes,  James  Worthington,  Thomas 
Deaves,  of  Brooklyn,  and  Josiah  Downen  of  Oakland  were 
pioneers  in  1833;  while  the  following  year  was  marked  by 
the  arrival  and  settlement  of  the  Wests,  Clarks  and  C'adys 
in  Camden,  Alfred  Jamison,  the  Brooks,  William  Crain, 
Abraham  Newfield  and  Jacob  Houts  in  Huntsville  ;  Jona 
than  Short,  David  Graham  and  Robert  Wilson  in  Birming- 
ham ;  Fielding  Atchinson  in  Brooklyn  ;  Joseph  Logan  in 
Littleton  and  William  Lamb  in  Oakland,  and  many  others, 
whose  histories  and  lives  of  toil  may  be  more  fully  learned 
by  reference  to  the  chapters  on  the  respective  townships 

"  THE   DEEP  SNOW.  " 

A  history  of  Brown  and  Schuyler  counties  that  should 
omit  an  account  of  that  remarkable  natural  phenomenon 
known  as  "the  deep  snow  "  would  justly  subject  itself  to  the 
charge  of  incompleteness  The  snow  commenced  falling  on 
the  28th  of  December,  1830,  and  continued  either  day  or 
night  until  it  had   reached  in  the  timber  a  depth  of  four  or 


five  feet.  Along  the  edges  of  the  timber  where  it  had 
drifted  in  it  was  considerably  deeper.  The  fences  were 
completely  buried  from  view  and  were  ignored  by  man  and 
beast  who  passed  over  them  upon  the  hard  crust.  The  set- 
tlers were  virtually  imprisoned  in  their  cabins  except  within 
limits  made  necessary  by  extreme  need,  they  obtaining  a 
supply  of  firewood  by  felling  the  nearest  trees  and  carrying 
them  piecemeal  to  their  snow-thatched  cabins,  the  stumps- 
of  these  trees,  six  or  seven  feet  high,  might  be  seen  standing 
years  afterward  grim  monuments  of  that  terrible  visitation. 
So  deep  an  impression  was  made  on  the  minds  and  memories 
of  those  who  endured  the  privation  it  entailed  that  it  became 
an  epoch  from  which  other  occurrences  and  events  of  less  im- 
portance were  dated,  and  it  is  a  source  of  interest  to  the 
young  whose  blood  is  yet  warm,  and  whose  curiosity  renders 
active  the  imagination  to  listen  while  the  pioneer  relates  the 
wonderful  stories  of  that  event.  Domestic  cattle  actually 
perished,  and  the  beast  of  the  forest  as  if  mindful  of  a  common 
enemy  and  instinct  with  a  feeling  of  mutual  protection,  col- 
lected themselves  in  groups  and  flocks  only  to  perish  to- 
gether. The  owl  hooted  mournfully  in  his  snowy  retreat, 
the  hawk  uttered  a  wild  stream  of  hunger,  and  the  wolf's 
sad  howl  died  dolefully  with  the  December  wind  that  passed 
by  the  settler's  cabin.  Many  are  the  stories  told  of  those  who 
were  storm-caught  on  the  highways.  The  mill  and  the  store 
stood  miles  away  in  the  snow,  isolated  and  solitary  like 
pyramids  amid  the  desert.  But  hunger  is  imperative  iu  its 
demands,  and  these  supplies  of  the  necessities  of  life  must  be 
reached  Teams  tire  out  and  men  almost  perish.  There  is 
a  feeling  of  pleasure  excited  by  conscious  security  from 
threatened  danger  that  far  outweighs  the  pains  of  its  pre- 
vious apprehension,  and  while  we  sympathize  with  their  suf- 
fering we  may  yet  find  something  to  envy  in  those  who  were 
exposed  to  tne  perils  of  the  deep  snow.  The  most  seemly 
evidence  of  the  brotherhood  of  ma  l  is  unity  and  unanimity 
in  common  peril,  and  joy  must  have  filled  the  heart  of  the 
early  settler  as  his  eye  caught  across  that  vast  desert  of 
snow  the  form  of  some  neighbor  approaching  for  a  friendly 
intercourse  or  with  sympathetic  heart  and  willing  hands. 


BROWN   COUNTY 

This  county  is  an  off-spring  of  Schuyler,  having  been 
severed  from  it  early  in  1839.  The  separation  virtually  arose 
from  the  large  territory  of  Schuyler,  and  the  county  seat — 
Rushville — being  situated  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county. 
It  was  believed  that  as  the  county  developed  the  seat  of  jus- 
tice would  be  moved  to  a  more  central  point.  Ripley,  on 
Crooked  creek,  was  located  in  the  geographical  center,  and 
efforts  were  being  made  as  early  as  1836,  to  establish 
the  county  capital  at  this  point,  and  with  considerable 
show  of  success.  The  citizens  of  the  north  and  south  por- 
tions of  the  county  joined  hands,  and  the  result  was  that  a 
new  county  was  born  in  the  year  above  stared,  with  the  seat 
of  justice  located  at  Mt.  Sterling, 

The  pleasant  homes,  the  thriving  towns,  and  the  broad 
cultivated  fields  that  are  seen  on  every  hand,  are  the  results 
of    the    labors,    hardships,   and    privation  of  the    pioneer 


68 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS 


fathers.  How.little  does  the  present,  busy,  active  generation 
of  this  "  iron  age  "  give  thought  or  heed  to  the  debt  of  grati- 
tude it  owes  to  the  fearless  pioneer  of  the  then  western  fron- 
tier. The  germ  of  our  beneficent  system  of  free  schools  was 
of  their  handiwork,  and  nursed  by  their  care.  They  brought 
with  them  the  tenets  and  principles  of  the  Christian  religion 
so  necessary  to  civilization.  So,  too,  were  they  imbued  with 
the  great  ideas  of  personal  freedom  and  justice,  and  trans- 
mitted the  same  broad  views  to  their  children,  "  Young 
America,*'  as  the  generation  is  sometimes  termed,  in  inno- 
cent thoughtlessness,  perhaps,  makes  a  broad  grin,  and 
lightly  spe  .ks  of  the  fogy  ism  of  the  old  settler.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  they  lived  in  another  age,  that  their  days 
of  vigor  and  aspirations  have  gone  long  ago,  and  their  enjoy- 
ments exist  largely  in  reminiscences  of  the  past,  when  health 
and  a  bright  future  lay  before  them.  It  is  no  wonder  then, 
that  they  cannot  partake  of  the  push,  thrift,  and  advanced 
ideas  of  to-day.  They,  for  their  time,  performed  well  their 
part,  and  in  the  unknown  beyond  will  receive  a  fitting  re- 
ward. 

EARLY  SETTLEMENTS. 

The  first  white  man  to  locate  in  the  forests  of  what  is  now 
Brown  county  was  a  "squatter"  by  the  name  of  Sheppard, 
in  1823.  His  pole  cabin  was  situated  in  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  section  fourteen.  He  made  no  improvements  except 
to  erect  his  cabin  and  girdle  a  few  trees  in  its  vicinity,  near 
the  foot  of  the  bluffs.  From  whence  he  came  and  whither 
he  went  tradition  is  silent. 

The  honor  of  making  the  first  permanent  settlement,  be- 
longs to  Cornelius  Vandeventer,  who  came  here  with  his 
three  sons  William,  Peter  S.,  and  Elihu,  in  the  spring  of 
1824,  and  planted  a  crop  of  corn  on  the  same  ground  that 
the  squatter  Sheppard  had  vacated.  The  charred  poles  of 
the  squatter's  cabin  were  lying  there,  mute  evidences  that 
the  white  man  had  been  there.  Vandeventer  was  a  native 
of  the  old  Dominion,  his  ancesters  coming  from  Holland. 
In  1810,  he  and  his  brothers  Jacob  and  Peter  emigrated  to 
Ohio,  where  they  were  among  the  earliest  settlers.  In 
the  year  1823,  Cornelius,  with  his  brother-in-law,  William 
McFarland,  emigrated  to  Illinois,  the  former  coming  by  way 
of  the  Ohio  river  to  Shawneetown  where  he  wintered,  aud 
the  latter  overland  with  his  stock.  McFarland  stopped  near 
Springfield,  Illinois,  where  in  the  same  winter  he  died. 
Early  in  the  spring  of  1824,  Vandeventer  continued  the 
journey  with  his  family  to  the  central  portion  of  the  state,  in 
search  of  McFarland.  The  country  was  yet  so  sparsely 
settled,  that  it  was  with  some  difficulty  he  found  the 
family.  It  was  here  that  he  left  his  family  and  came  to  this 
county  and  put  in  the  crop,  above  stated,  after  which  he  re- 
turned and  in  the  fall,  brought  his  own  and  McFarland*s 
family  to  his  newly  selected  home,  settling  in  the  cabin  that 
he  had  already  built.  In  coming  he  crossed  the  Illinois 
river  at  Naples,  and  took  a  northern  course  over  the  bottom, 
and  approaching  his  improvements  beheld  a  great  number  of 
Indians  on  ponies,  on  an  open  space  in  the  timber  racing  around 
at  breakneck  pace,  whirling  and  turning  in  every  direction, 
twisting  themselves  in  every  conceivable  shape  and  yelling 
as  they  went.     This   procedure   somewhat  startled  the  old 


pioneer,  but  he  moved  on  with  the  same  firm  pace  as  before, 
and  upon  reaching  the  spot  found  his  cabin  and  ripened 
corn  untouched.  The  Indians  were  then  numerous  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  Camp  creek  was  a  favorite  resort  for 
them  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  where  they  came  to  manufac- 
ture sugar  from  the  sugar  maple  trees  that  abound  in 
that  region.  They  were  always  peacefully  and  kindly  dis- 
posed, and  many  times  the  white  and  red  boys  indulged  in 
racing,  jumping,  wrestling  and  such  athletic  sport,  which 
were  always  greatly  enjoyed  by  the  Indians.  It  was  not 
long  till  the  McFarlands  had  thrown  up  a  cabin  and  moved 
into  it,  and  the  next  year  they  "  cropped  "  together.  The 
next  year  1825,  Vandeventer's  wife  died.  This  was  the  first 
death  in  the  country.  The  old  "  Esquire,"  (as  he  was  better 
known)  afterwards  married  the  widow  McFarland.  The 
old  Esquires  place  was  for  several  years  the  hospitable 
cabin  where  the  early  settlers  stopped  and  found  succor  in 
the  wilderness.  It  was  he  who  helped  to. choose  the  land, 
raise  the  cabin  and  settle  all  the  first  arrivals  in  his  neigh- 
borhood. He  was  a  brave  aud  hardy  mau,  generous  to  a 
fault,  and  lived  a  long  aud  eventful  pioneer  life.  He  reared 
a  large  family  of  children,  and  prospered  in  worldly  posses- 
sions, leaving  a  good  property  to  his  children.  His 
death  occurred  in  1865,  at  the  age  of  82  years.  Elihu,  his 
son,  is  still  living  near  the  place  where  he  assisted  his  father 
in  planting  th  ir  first  crop.  A  more  complete  account  of 
this  fettlement  is  given  in  the  Versailles  chaptar. 

The  second  upon  the  ground  was  Dr.  Isaac  Vandeventer, 
a  nephew  of  Cornelius.  He  came  with  his  wife  from  Vir- 
ginia in  the  fall  of  1825,  aud  located  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff 
in  section  IS  not  far  from  the  little  improvement  of  his 
uncle  He  taught  school  in  an  early  day,  and  in  tbe  mean- 
time commenced  the  study  of  medicine,  graduating  at  the 
Cincinnati  Medical  College  in  1830.  He  became  a  sue  essful 
physician  in  this  part  of  the  state.  He  died  with  the  cholera 
in  1S51.  Hamilton  Nighswonger,  a  brother-in-law  to  Cor 
nelius  Vandeventer,  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  in  the  spring 
1826,  settled  north  of  the  bluff  in  section  17.  His  cabin  was 
situated  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  section,  within  the 
present  limits  of  the  town  of  Versailles.  He  remained  here 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1855.  Some  of  his  de- 
scendants are  yet  residents  of  the  county.  Nighswonger  wa« 
indeed  a  pioneer.  He  had  always  lived  on  the  frontier, and 
battled  and  hunted  with  the  red  man  until  the  disposition  was 
second  nature  to  him,  and  which  he  much  preferred  to  liv- 
ing in  a  settled  country.  He  was  of  Herculean  form,  a  heavy 
towering  frame  and  a  man  of  extraordinary  strength  and  ac- 
tivity. His  features  were  even  and  pleasiug,  and  a  high, 
broad  forehead,  that  denoted  a  keen  and  vigorous  miud  yet 
while  as  strong  as  a  lion,  he  was  gentle  as  a  lamb.  He  was 
always  attired  in  the  hunter's  garb  of  buckskin  or  homespun. 
Generally  his  attire  consisted  of  buckskin  breeches  of  his  own 
manufacture,  that  went  nearly  to  the  ankle,  where  they  »ere 
fastened  with  a  draw  string  about  the  tops  of  his  moccasins, 
and  a  striped  linsey-woolsey  hunting  shirt,  drawn  around  the 
waist  with  a  leather  belt,  on  each  side  of  which  were  scab- 
bards for  hunting-knives.  This  is  the  kind  of  suit  worn  by 
nearly  all  the  first  settlers.     In  the  same  year,  1826,  Willis 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


69 


O'Neal  came  over  from  near  Rushville  and  settled  in  Ripley. 
He  was  formerly  of  Kentucky,  and  moved  to  the  state  of 
Illinois  several  years  prior  to  his  settlement  in  what  is  now 
Brown  county.  On  crossing  Crooked  creek  he  halted  in 
section  33,  and  erected  a  small  log  cabin.  The  Indians  aided 
him  and  his  sons  to  roll  the  logs-  Liking  the  country,  he 
remained  here,  and  in  a  few  years  built  a  better  house  and 
made  substantial  improvements.  He  reared  a  large  family, 
some  of  whom  yet  reside  in  the  county.  His  death  occurred 
in  1860,  being  eighty-four  years  of  age.  In  the  early  days 
of  Schuyler  county,  before  Brown  was  organized,  Mr.  O'Neal 
occupied  a  prominent  place  in  the  politics  and  offices  of  the 
county.  It  is  said  that  he  was  somewhat  peculiar  or  eccen- 
tric in  character,  and  that  a  stranger  might  misjudge  him 
from  this  fact  The  following  is  related  by  the  early  settlers 
as  an  example  of  his  peculiar  temperament :  In  1829,  Alex- 
ander Curry  and  Robert  N.,  his  son,  had  come  from  Ken- 
tucky on  horse-back,  and  were  making  a  tour  of  Illinois,  pre- 
paratory to  selecting  a  permanent  settlement.  They  had 
reached  Schuyler  county,  and  Joel  Pennington,  then  sheriff, 
had  kindly  offered  his  services  to  act  as  guide  during  their 
sojourn  in  the  county.  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  an  October 
day  they  reached  the  house  of  O'Neal  where  Pennington  had 
suggested  they  put  up  for  the  night.  It  was  near  dark  when 
they  arrived  at  his  cabin  south  of  Crooked  creek.  Just  as 
they  were  dismounting  a  vicious  dog  of  O'Neal's  came  bound- 
ing out  of  the  yard  and  grabbed  one  of  the  horses  by  the 
heel.  True  to  his  instinct,  the  horse  gave  a  sudden  kick, 
landing  the  dog  several  yards  away,  causing  him  to  run  yelp- 
ing and  howling  back  to  the  house.  Mr.  O'Neal  just  then 
emerged  from  the  cabin  door,  and  to  all  appearance  was 
deeply  offended  at  the  unforeseen  occurrence — so  much  so, 
in  fact,  that  he  was  short  and  crisp  in  bis  manner,  and  de- 
clined to  entertain  the  strangers.  They  therefore  mounted 
their  horses  and  pushed  south  and  westward  until  they  came 
within  sight  of  the  light  in  William  McDauiel's  cabin,  situ- 
ated at  what  is  now  Mt.  Sterling.  Here  they  put  up  for  the 
night,  and  were  entertained  in  the  old  pioneer  style.  In 
justice  to  Mr.  O'Neal,  we  would  say  that  he  was  no  exception 
in  possessing  that  hospitable  3pirit  so  universal  with  the 
pioneers.  The  sudden  pique  was  a  little  too  much  for  his 
ardent  temperament.  We  are  informed  that  in  after  days, 
Mr.  O'Neal  and  Mr.  Curry  became  the  »  armest  of  friends. 

No  further  settlements  were  made  until  early  in  1827. 
Some  time  in  February  of  this  year,  two  pedestrians  might 
have  been  seen  wending  their  weary  way  through  the  timber 
and  over  the  prairies',  seeking  a  home  in  this,  then  almost 
uninhabited  country.  The  train  consisted  of  pioneers  John 
P.  Hambaugh  and  George  Lampkin,  who  were  on  their  way 
from  Edwardsville,  making  a  tour  of  the  new  lands  of  this  part 
of  Illinois,  with  the  intention,  if  it  suited  them,  to  make  a 
permanentMocation.  Reaching  Naples,  they  were  informed 
that  by  traveling  northward  a  few  miles  they  would  find 
some  excellent  vacant  land.  They  accordingly  crossed  the 
Illinois  river  at  the  mouth  of  McKee's  creek,  and  from  thence 
to  the  bluffsacross  the  bottom.  While  exploring  the  soli- 
itudes  of  the  thick  growth  of  timber  and  underbrush  along 
the  bluffs  of  Camp  creek  they  came  in  sight  of  civilization. 


On  entering  the  pioneer  cabin  they  were  hospitably  met  by 
the  family  of  Cornelius  Vandeveuter.  They  made  a  halt 
here  and  concluded  to  erect  a  cabin,  and  thus  to  establish  an 
"  improvement  right"  in  accordance  with  an  Act  of  Congress 
in  order  to  hold  the  land.  After  completing  their  cabin 
they  returned  to  Edwardsville  as  they  came,  walking  the 
entire  distance.  In  March  of  the  same  year,  they  again  left 
Edwardsville  with  a  two-horse  wagon  filled  with  the  neces- 
sary supplies  for  the  comfort  of  the  parties  in  their  new-made 
hojne.  Mr.  Hambaugh  was  a  single  man,  but  Mr.  Lampkin 
had  a  young  wife.  Their  journey  was  not  an  eventful  one, 
and  in  a  few  days  they  reached  their  cabin,  which  was  situ- 
ated in  section  33.  Mr.  Hambaugh  afterwards  selected 
ground  and  made  the  first  improvement  in  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  28,  where  the  Hambaughs  settled  and 
always  resided  after  their  advent  here.  He  is  yet  living,  and 
is  one  of  the  oldest  pioneers  in  the  county.  One  of  the  most 
energetic  pioneers  of  the  county — one  who  did  as  much  as 
any  that  ever  sought  the  seclusions  of  its  forests — was  James 
O.  Reid,  a  native  of  Tennessee.  Mr.  Reid,  with  a  family  of 
eleven  children,  a  portion  being  grown,  came  into  what  is 
now  Elkhorn  township  in  the  fall  of  1827,  selecting  as  his 
home  the  place  now  owned  by  Erwin  Perry,  and  being  a  por- 
tion of  section  24,  on  the  top  of  the  eastern  bluff  of  McKee's 
creek.  The  site  was  chosen  on  account  of  its  eligibility  as 
a  location  for  a  mill,  which  he  erected  and  operated  with  the 
assistance  of  his  own  sons.  His  nearest  neighbor  lived  in 
Versailles  township,  some  three  miles  distant ;  but  his  mill, 
being  liberally  patronized,  he  did  not  become  lonesome.  This 
mill  was  worked  by  hand,  and  the  patronage  becoming  suffi- 
ciently great  and  the  labor  not  equal  to  the  demand  made 
upon  him  and  his  sons,  he  erected  a  water,  grist  and  saw 
mill,  which  received  a  liberal  patronage. 

Early  in  the  following  year,  1828,  John  Stone  and  Sam- 
uel Root  came  with  their  families  and  settled  along  the  line 
of  the  bluffs  below  Vandeventers,  and  near  the  few  that  had 
then  arrived.  The  former  improved  a  farm  in  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  twenty-ejght,  where  he  resided  until 
his  death.  Descendants  of  these  families  are  also  living  in 
Versailles  township.  Stephen  D.  Hambaugh  came  to  the 
State  with  his  father's  family  in  1825.  They  settled  at 
Edwardsville,  Madison  county.  In  the  spring  of  1828,  he 
left  Edwardsville,  then  a  single  man,  and  joined  his  brother, 
John  P.,  who  had  then  commenced  a  home  in  this  county. 
Stephen  afterwards  married  a  daughter  of  the  pioneer  John 
Stone,  and  settled  down  here  for  life.  He  became  a  promi- 
nent and  influential  citizen  in  his  community,  having  the 
honor  of  representing  his  constituency  in  the  Legislature  one 
term.  He  lived  to  a  good  old  age,  his  demise  occurring  in 
1877.  In  the  fall  of  1828,  the  settlement  was  increased  by 
two  families,  those  of  Jefferson  Hume,  and  Elislia  G.  Adams. 
The  former  came  from  Kentucky  with  a  large  family.  He 
located  in  the  northwest  corner  of  section  thirty-three,  at 
the  foot  of  the  bluff,  on  the  place  now  occupied  by  Dr.  A.  D. 
Six.  He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  was  a  very  useful 
addition  to  the  little  colony.  In  after  years  he  filled  several 
offices  of  honor  and  trust.  In  1839,  he  went  to  Texas,  where 
he  died.     Mr.  Adams  was  an  emigrant  from  Canada.     He 


70 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


came  to  the  State  a  single  man,  and  first  stopped  in  Morgan 
county,  where  he  married  Matilda  Henry.  In  the  year  above 
stated  he  came  to  this  county  and  located  in  section  one,  Ver- 
sailles township.  He  built  a  small  cabin,  and  with  his  young 
wife  commenced  the  life  of  a  pioneer.  At  this  time  there  were 
several  bark  wigwams  occupied  by  the  Indians,  scattered  all 
along  the  bluffs,  but  their  inhabitants  were  friendly  and 
peaceably  inclined.  Adams  was  quite  a  noted  hunter,  and 
often  joined  the  Indians  in  their  sports  while  on  the  chase 
for  deer  and  other  wild  game.  He  became  familiar  with 
their  language,  and  thus  gained  their  good  will,  and  was  a 
favorite  with  the  sons  of  the  forest.  This  young  couple  who 
came  here  with  such  high  hopes,  withstood  the  hardships  of 
pioneer  life,  saw  the  country  develop  almost  from  the  first 
blow,  and  the  fine  farms  and  homes  grow  up  out  of  wild 
nature,  are  now  both  living  on  the  very  spot  where  they  first 
established  their  home.  Their  step  is  feeble  and  slow.  A 
few  more  years,  and  they,  like  their  neighbors  of  the  forest, 
will  pass  to  the  "  happy  hunting  ground."  The  Henry 
family,  some  of  whom  are  yet  living  in  the  county,  settled  in 
this  vicinity  about  the  same  time. 

In  the  early  winter  of  1828,  Pleasant  De  Witt,  with  his 
wife  and  child,  came  from  Morgan  county,  Illinois,  to  which 
place  they  had  emigrated  from  Kentucky,  in  search  of  a 
place  where  they  might  spend  their  youthful  days  in  pre- 
paring for  themselves  a  home  where  they  might  raise  their 
family  and  pass  their  declining  years  in  that  peace  and  com- 
fort which  invariably  follows  a  temperate,  active  and  in- 
dustrious life  of  toil  in  the  pure  air  of  a  country  home. 
They  pushed  northward  from  Morgan  county,  until  reaching 
what  had  been  an  Indian  encampment,  though  thea  deserted 
by  the  red  man.  Knowing  full  well  that  where  the  Indians 
made  a  stopping  place,  the  site  possessed  some,  if  not  all  the 
requisites  of  a  comfortable  location,  they  decided  to  locate 
upon  the  spot,  and  at  once  did  so.  Upon  investigation,  they 
found  that  the  principal  inducement  to  the  Indians  was  a 
never  failing  spring  of  pure  water,  which  poured  its  crystal 
drops  over  the  massive  rocks,  and  the  same  spring  at  the 
present  day  continues  to  empty  its  pure  water  in  undimin- 
ished volume,  and  sends  it  purling  on  its  ceaseless  course. 
The  place  selected  by  the  young  couple  was  on  section 
thirteen,  in  what  is  now  civilly  known  as  Cooperstown  town- 
ship, just  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff  overlooking  Crooked  creek, 
and  whose  massive  rocks  still  record  the  names  of  many  of 
the  pioneers,  who  in  years  of  the  past,  carved  them  there  in 
rude  characters.  While  the  faithful  wife  cared  for  the  little 
one,  the  sturdy  father  was  felling  the  tree3  of  the  forest  and 
building  a  cabin,  whose  sheltering  roof  and  hospitable  walls 
should  protect  himself  and  his  dear  ones  from  the  winter's 
blast-  His  cabin  built,  he  spent  the  winter  in.  quiet  and 
content  After  years  of  toil  and  privation,  years  in  which 
man  has  reduced  the  frowning  wilderness  to  cultivated  fields 
teeming  with  the  wealth  of  the  nation,  this  old  pioneer  is 
passing  the  sunset  of  his  life  in  Buckhorn,  atthe  ripe  old 
age  of  eighty  years,  in  feeble  health,  patiently  awaiting  the 
call  of  the  Master  to  enter  into  perfect  peace.  Another 
pioneer  of  1828  was  William  McDaniel.  He  came  from 
Tennessee,  and  located  with  his  family  within  the  present 


limits  of  the  city  of  Mt.  Sterling.  His  son-in-law,  Perkins, 
came  at  the  same  time,  and  built  his  cabin  near  McDaniel. 
They  sold  their  improvements  to  Alexander  Curry  in  the 
spring  of  1830,  when  they  moved  to  what  is  now  Lee  town- 
ship, and  from  thence  to  the  State  of  Missouri.  William 
Wilson  came  from  Kentucky  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year, 
and  settled  in  section  twenty,  Mt.  Sterling  township.  He 
had  a  large  family.  Not  being  well  pleased  with  the  prairie, 
about  1830,  he  moved  to  the  banks  of  Crooked  creek,  in 
township  one,  south,  range  two,  west.  He  established  the 
first  ferry  across  the  creek  at  this  point.  He  afterwards 
migrated  to  the  State  of  Oregon.  Dr.  Bristow  also  came  in 
1828,  and  built  his  cabin  in  section  nineteen,  on  Six's  prairie. 
He  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  in  an  early  day  came  to 
this  State,  and  first  located  in  the  American  Bottom.  Not 
liking  that  portion  of  the  State  he  came  to  this  county  as 
above  stated.  He  was  the  first  physician  of  this  settlement, 
and  was  well  beloved  by  his  neighbors.  His  son-in-law, 
Mark  Riggin,  came  with  the  doctor's  family,  and  settled 
near  them.  He,  too,  was  a  useful  man  in  the  community, 
being  the  first  to  give  the  ring  of  the  anvil,  and  attend  to 
the  wants  of  the  few  people  in  the  way  of  shoeing  their 
horses,  and  mending  their  broken  wagons.  About  1834, 
both  the  doctor's  family  and  Riggin  moved  out  of  the 
county.  Obediah  Nix  came  from  the  Southabout  the  same 
time  as  the  above,  and  settled  a  little  southwest  of  Mt. 
Sterling.  He  was  possessed  of  a  restless  disposition,  and  in 
1829  removed  to  the  mounds  in  Pea  Ridge  township,  being 
the  first  settler  in  that  part  of  the  county-  He  subsequently 
moved  to  what  is  now  Lee  township,  and  thence  to  Texas, 
where  we  lost  sight  of  him.  A  child  of  his  was  the  first- 
born, and  the  first  death  that  occurred  in  Mt.  Sterling 
township. 

Abel  Larkin,  the  oldest  living  settler  of  the  above  town- 
ship, was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  came  to  the  county  a 
single  man  in  the  spring  of  1829.  He  made  an  informal 
claim,  or  "improvement  right"  in  the  same  year,  on  section 
twenty-one,  township  one,  south,  range  three,  west,  and  in 
the  fall  of  the  next  year  obtained  his  government  patent  at 
the  land  office  in  Edwardsville.  He  afterward  married,  and 
reared  quite  a  large  family.  At  this  writing,  the  old  gen- 
tleman is  living  in  section  twenty-one,  a  little  southeast  of 
the  county  capital.  He  has  a  fine  residence,  surrounded 
with  all  that  heart  could  wish.  Just  east  of  his  present 
domicile  may  yet  be  seen  his  first  log  house,  the  pride, 
undoubtedly,  of  his  early  efforts.  The  old  orchar^one  of 
the  first  planted  in  this  part  of  the  county,  is  still  in  exist- 
ence, the  crooked  and  gnarled  trunks  hovering  near  the 
almost  decayed  building.  On  this  very  ground  were  situated 
several  deserted  Indian  wigwams  when  Mr.  Larkin  came 
here.  Their  occupants  had  left  but  a  short  time  before.  In 
the  fall  of  1829,  David  Six  and  his  family  left  the  "  Sangamo" 
country,  and  located  in  section  twenty,  not  far  from  his 
brother  "Jack"  Six.  He  afterwards  nrade  a  permanent 
settlement  in  section  twenty-two.  He  came  to  this  State 
from  Kentucky  as  early  as  1823,  with  his  brother  Jack, 
stopping  in  Sangamon  county,  near  Springfield.  David 
brought  his  family  on  horseback,  he  and  his  wife  carrying 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


■1 


their  children  in  their  arms.  Learning  through  his  brother, 
who  had  preceded  him  here,  of  the  fine  prospects  of  this  part 
of  the  county,  he  concluded  to  try  his  fortune  a  little  further 
west,  and  accordingly  came  here  as  above  stated.  Mr.  Six 
was  a  hatter  by  trade  and  manufactured  the  hats  for  the 
early  settlers  He  purchased  his  material  and  trimmings 
with  beeswax,  that  commodity  being  a  cash  article  in  the 
market  at  the  time.  He  afterwards  became  a  prosperous 
farmer,  and  died  in  the  fall  of  1857.  His  widow  still  survives 
him,  and  is  now  residing  at  the  old  homestead.  Benjamin 
Haley  was  also  from  Kentucky,  and  settled  in  section  fifteen 
late  in  1S29.  He  remained  here  but  a  short  time,  when  he 
removed  to  what  is  now  Missouri  township  where  he  died. 
Michael  Killion,  '•  Brit"  Provost,  Steele,  Ball,  Leak,  Barnes, 
Pierce,  and  Wyatt  came  about  the  same  time  in  the  latter 
part  of  1829,  and  loca  ed  within  the  present  boundaries  of 
Mt.  Sterling  township.  They  were  principally  from  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee.  Wyatt  was  attacked  with  malarial 
fever  and  died  a  short  time  after  his  coming.  Most  of  the 
others  above  named  became  disgusted  with  the  winter  of  the 
deep  snow  in  1830  and  1831,  and  moved  to  warmer  latitudes. 

Peter  F.  Decounter  came  from  the  State  of  Missouri  to 
this  county  in  1828,  and  settled  in  Ripley  township  on  sec- 
tion thirty-three.  He  was  an  old  French  sea  captain,  and 
possessed  the  characteristics  peculiar  to  the  sailor.  His  sea 
yarns  were  always  a  diversion  to  his  few  neighbors,  and 
especially  the  children.  His  step  upon  the  threshold  was 
always  welcomed  with  delight  by  the  youngsters  of  the  little 
settlement.  He  had  a  large  family ;  all  but  one,  a  son, 
Samuel  F.,  who  resides  in  Schuyler  county,  are  scattered  to 
various  parts  of  the  country.  Mr.  D.  and  his  wife  both  died 
here  several  years  ago.  William  Wilsie  came  in  1829,  and 
lived  about  three  years  in  the  Ripley  settlement.  He  had  a 
large  family,  and  built  his  cabin  in  section  thirty-two. 
Being  of  a  restless  disposition,  he  soon  pulled  up  stakes  and 
moved  to  Arkansas.  Jesse  James  and  family  came  in  the 
same  year  as  the  above,  and  settled  in  section  thirty-three, 
near  Mr.  Decounter.  He  was  an  emigrant  from  southern 
Kentucky,  and  came  overland  in  the  usual  old  settler  style. 
He  remained  here  until .  his  death,  which  occurred  in  an 
early  day.  But  one  of  the  family  is  a  resident  of  the  county, 
the  widow  of  Thomas  Garrett,  who  lives  a  few  miles  south- 
east of  Mt.  Sterling. 

Jacob  White,  who  is  mentioned  in  the  beginning  of  this 
chapter, came  across  the  creek  into  what  is  now  Brown  coun- 
ty, aiidVpfctled  on  section  17,  becoming  in  those  days  what 
was  considered  a  neighbor  of  Pleasant  Da  Witt.  He  se- 
lected the  southwest  quarter  of  the  section  and,  although 
only  a  squatter  at  the  time,  commenced  the  cabin  of  that 
day.  While  engaged  in  building  it  he  had  visitors  in  the 
persons  of  Thomas  F.  Glenn  and  Ezekiel  Rose  with  their 
families,  who,  though  strangers  were  friends,  and  received 
his  hospitalities.  White's  family  consisted  of  his  wife  and 
four  grown  children.  (  He  continued  to  reside  upon  the  im- 
provement in  Cooperstown  until  1835,  when  Huffman  ap- 
peared upon  the  ground  and  purchased  the  place  from 
White,  who  then  returned  to  Schuyler  county.  The  first 
saw-mill  built  in  this  neighborhood  was  one  erected  by  Asa 


Benton,  upon  section  four  in  1829.  Benton  was  a  native  of 
New  York,  and  early  removed  to  Missouri.  Thomas  F. 
Glenn,  the  ancestor  of  the  large  family  bearing  that  name, 
scattered  throughout  the  county,  and  many  of  whom  have  at- 
tained honorable  positions  in  society  and  politicaHife,  in  com- 
pany with  Ezekiel  Rose,  left  their  homes  in  Kentucky  in 
the  early  part  of  1829,  and  with  their  families  came  to  Illi- 
nois in  a  hired  conveyance,  commonly  known  as  a  "prairie 
schooner,"  drawn  by  four  horses  and  arrived  at  Jacob 
White's  in  May,  1829.  The  man  who  bought  them  returned 
to  his  home.  Mr.  Glenn  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
brought  with  him  his  wife  and  three  children.  He  made 
his  home  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  16  which  he  sub- 
sequently purchased  from  the  school  authorities  as  soon  as  it 
was  thrown  into  market.  For  a  in  >re  extended  account  of 
this  family  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  article  on  Coopers- 
town  township.  Ezekiel  Rose,  Sr.,  the  companion  of  T.  F. 
Glenn,  brought  with  him  a  wife  and  large  family  of  chil- 
dren, some  of  his  sons  being  grown  were  of  great  assistance 
to  him,  as  he  was  a  man  of  forty-four  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  his  arrival.  He  settled  on  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  16,  immediately  adjoining  that  of  his  comrade,  Glenn. 
He  reared  a  family  of  ten  children,  most  of  whom  married 
and  settled  near  the  father.  Mr.  Rose  died  in  1868  at  the 
age  of  eighty-two,  and  his  widow  died  in  1870.  Mr.  Rose 
was  among  the  first  persons  to  bring  domestic  animals  into 
the  county,  consisting  of  several  head  of  cattle.  The  settlement 
was  further  increased  by  the  arrival  of  Mrs.  Rose's  father, 
Richard  Stites,  who  settled  on  section  28.  The  Henry 
family  also  settled  in  this  part  of  the  county  as  early  as 
1823.  These  were  the  settlers  who  first  ventured  into  the 
unbroken  wilderness,  and  selected  the  bluffs  on  the  bottom 
land  skirting  them,  in  preference  to  the  broad  prairie  tra- 
versing the  county  from  the  east  to  the  west,  whose  bosom 
only  awaited  the  slightest  cultivation  to  produce  the  finest 
crops  The  early  settlers,  however,  seemed  to  prefer  the 
rugged  portion  of  the  county  with  its  heavy  forests,  romantic 
bluffs  and  numerous  rocks,  whose  preparation  for  agricul- 
tural purposes  wore  out  the  brawniest  specimen  of  man. 
Such,  however,  was  the  peculiarity  of  the  early  settlers,  who 
loved  hard  work  and  rugged  nature.  Another  true  type  of 
the  pioneer  character,  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  was 
Levin  Green,  who  is  mentioned  above  among  the  very  earli- 
est settlers  of  Schuyler  county  in  the  vicinity  of  Rushville 
He  remained  there  about  five  years,  when  he  moved  to  what 
is  now  Missouri  township,  Brown  county,  in  1829.  He 
erected  a  substantial  double  log  house  in  section  20,  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  John  Roberts.  In  its  building  his  neigh- 
bors were  so  scarce  that  he  went  over  near  Rushville  to  pro- 
cure aid  to  raise  the  logs.  It  is  said  that  the  Indians  were 
present  and  also  lent  a  hand  to  the  work.  He  was  a  pecu- 
liar make-up  of  the  wiry,  go-ahead,  and  push  of  the  day. 
His  education  was  very  limited,  but  possessed  more  than 
ordinary  ambition  and  zeal  in  whatever  he  undertook. 
His  vocation  was  a  strange  mingling  of  the  early  pioneer 
preacher  and  back-woodsman.  His  eccentricities  and  vaga- 
ries are  yet  told  with  much  unction  and  hilarity  by  the  old 
settlers.     When  in  the  pulpit  he  had  a  way   of  twisting  his 


72 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


mouth  to  one  side,  making  the  youngsters  laugh  at  his  gri- 
maces. Once  he  started  to  attend  church  services  without  his 
hat.  He  had  proceeded  part  of  the  way  when  he  stopped 
at  the  cabin  of  one  of  the  settlers  and  borrowed  the  neces- 
sary head-gear.  Although  illiterate,  he  was  the  instrument 
of  making  many  conversions  that  have  withstood  the  test  of 
time.  In  the  fall  of  1832  he  sold  his  possessions  and  moved 
with  his  family  to  Arkansas.  More  of  his  history  and  pe- 
culiarities may  be  found  in  some  of  the  township  chapters. 
Another  of  the  pioneers,  who  was  something  after  the  style  of 
Green,  came  from  Tennessee  late  in  1829,  and  squatted  in 
section  17.  His  name  was  Elisha  Howard.  He  had  a  wife 
and  several  children,  and  was  a  noted,  hunter  of  the  true, 
back-woods  kind.  During  the  early  Mormon  agitation  he 
moved  his  family  and  joined  his  fortune  with  the  "  latter  day 
saints."  The  Stewarts  were  also  among  those  who  settled 
in  1829.  They  remained  but  a  short  time,  and  moved  with 
the  tide  as  it  flowed  westward  towards  the  setting  sun. 

The  Cooperstown  settlement  received  an  accession  in  the 
summer  of  the  year  1830,  in  the  per-on  of  Elijah  Bell,  a 
minister  of  what  is  known  as  the  "  Hardshell "  Baptist  per- 
suasion. He  settled  on  section  thirty-six,  close  to  Little 
creek.  He  was  very  active  in  his  religious  work,  and  to  his 
energy  many  of  the  earlier  congregations  owed  their  estab- 
lishment. He  was  a  useful  man  in  the  community.  Section 
twenty  was  taken  possession  of  by  Ralph  Alexander  in  the 
fall  of  1830.  He  entered  the  land  and  continued  a  resident 
until  his  death.  Among  the  settlers  of  this  ytar  who  came 
to  Cooperstown  township  was  Martin  De  Witt,  the  father  of 
Pleasant  De  Witt.  Martin  De  Witt  was  an  old  man,  being 
fifty  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  this  country  in  Novem- 
ber 27,  of  that  year.  He  was  a  native  of  New  York,  and 
possessed  a  good  education.  He  settled  on  section  24  in 
1831,  and  was  employed  to  teach  a  summer  school,  in  18  i2. 
His  family  was  large,  and  he  left  behind  a  progeny  of  several 
generations,  many  of  the  members  beiog  now  honored  citi- 
zens of  the  county.  The  old  gentleman,  soon  tiring  of  the 
quietude  of  pioneer  life,  went  to  Texas  in  1839,  attracted 
thither  by  his  love  of  adventure.  He  became  an  officer  of 
the  Texan  army  then  engaged  in  border  warfare  with  Mex 
ico.  He  started  to  return  to  his  home  in  Illinois,  but  as 
he  never  arrived,  the  supposition  was  that  he  met  his  death 
at  violent  hands  or  by  accident.  Geo.  Eraerick.  an  old 
Pennsylvania  Dutchman,  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  La 
Grange,  in  1829  or  1830,  bringing  with  him  a  large  family. 
A  squatter,  by  the  name  of  John  Stewart,  located  on  Crooked 
creek.  Benoni  Hewlett  was  the  Rip  Van  Winkle  of  the 
settlement,  whose  principal  occupation  was  that  of  fishing 
and  drinking  whiskey.  Like  Rip  he  was  always  ready  for 
a  drink,  and  always  willing  not  to  count  the  last  one.  Many 
other  settlers  moved  into  and  remained  in  the  neighborhood 
in  1830,  but  none  left  a  more  useful  family  than  Thomas  F. 
Glenn. 

Another  prominent  arrival  of  1830  was  Alexander  Curry. 
He  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1770,  and  while  a  mere  youth 
moved  with  his  parents  to  Kentucky.  He  married  here 
and  reared  a  family.  In  1829,  with  his  second  son,  Robert 
N  ,  he  made  a  tour  of  the  State  of  Illinois  on  horseback. 


Being  well  pleased  with  the  country,  in  the  spring  of  the 
following  year  he  moved  his  family  to  the  State,  and  located 
on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  city  of  Mt.  Sterling. 
He  afterwards  became  one  of  the  leading  citizens.  After 
the  organization  of  Brown  county  Mr.  Curry  was  appointed 
the  first  postmaster,  was  the  first  precinct  magistrate,  and 
built  the  first  mill  in  this  part  of  the  county.  At  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  1842,  he  had  amassed  a  good  competency, 
and  was  considered  one  of  the  foremost  men  in  his  commu- 
nity. Many  of  his  descendants  are  yet  living,  and  are  among 
the  representative  citizens  of  Brown  county.  Philip  A.  Howe 
came  from  Massachusetts  when  a  single  man  during  the  year 
1830.  He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  filled  a  useful 
niche  in  the  settlement.  He  subsequently  located  a  few 
miles  east  of  Mt.  Sterling  in  section  12,  where  he  yet  resides. 
Mrs.  Rachel  Vandeventer  and  her  son  Jacob  came  in  the 
same  year  as  the  above.  They  were  origiually  from  Virginia, 
and  on  coming  to  the  county  they  first  stopped  at  Versailles. 
In  1830  they  moved  to  Mt.  Sterling,  and  located  within  the 
i  present  limits  of  the  city.  Mrs.  Vandeventer  died  in  1865. 
Jacob  became  a  prominent  man  in  the  county,  having  served 
several  terms  in  the  Legislature,  was  elected  Probate  Judge, 
and  filled  other  offijes  of  trust.  He  died  in  Mt.  Sterling  in 
1809.  Othersettlersof  1830,  who  located  within  the  bound- 
aries of  Mt.  Sterling  township,  were  Thomas  C.  Tiunen, 
James  Alexander,  Daniel  Kendrick,  and  perhaps  a  few 
others  Benjamin  Kendrick,  a  brother  of  the  latter,  came 
a  year  later.  Tmnen  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  moved 
to  Kentucky  in  an  early  day,  and  from  thence  to  Illinois. 
He  located  in  .-ection  21,  town  1  south,  range  3  west,  and 
subsequently  m  >ved  to  section  15,  where  he  resided  until  his 
death  which  occurred  about  1840.  Alexander  was  a  Tennes- 
seean,  and  settled  in  section  19,  not  far  from  Tinnen's.  He 
had  a  common  school  education,  and  was  one  of  the  early 
teachers  in  the  county.  He  lived  but  a  fe*  years  after  his 
coming.  The  Kendricks  located  in  the  same  neighborhood. 
They  were  from  Kentucky.  Both  reared  considerable  fam- 
ilies, and  were  excellent  citizens.  Daniel  moved  to  Iowa 
about  1854,  where  he  died,  Benjamin  died  in  Mt.  Sterling 
but  a  few  years  ago. 

Thomas  Reeves  came  to  the  county  and  purchased  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  laud  in  section  sixteen  of  Elk- 
horn  township  in  October,  1830.  He  built  in  those  days  what 
was  considered  a  palatial  residence  of  hewed  logs,  in  the  bot- 
tom near  the  bluffs.  Scarcely  had  he  finished  his  house, 
when  the  "  deep  snow  '  submerged  the  whole  country,  and 
caused  severe  suffering.  His  nearest  neighbors  were  Moses 
Stinson,  living  one  and  a-half  miles  east,  and  Joseph  Groves, 
two  miles  southwest.  Hiram  Jacques  may  properly  be 
classed  as  one  of  the  old  settlers  of  the  country.  He  was  a 
millwright  by  trade,  and  now  lives  in  Elkhoru  township  en- 
joying in  company  with  his  wife  the  fruits  of  his  industry 
and  enterprise.  The  McDonnald  brothers,  John  lames, 
and  William,  are  deserving  of  mention  and  also  the  Mc- 
Coys, all  pioneers. 

William  McDauiel,  having  disposed  of  his  property  in  Mt. 
Sterling  township,  bought  a  new  home  in  section  5  of  town- 
ship 1  south,  4  west.    Here  he  remained  but  a  few  years,  and 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


73 


like  the  rolling  stone,  was  again  upon  the  way  looking  for  a 
better  situation,  which  he  found  in  Missouri.  Immediately 
following  McDaniel,  came  Jerry  Walker,  an  unmarried  man, 
who  settled  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  22,  which 
took  the  name  of"  Walker's  Neck."  He  lived  a  bachelor 
life  for  a  number  of  years,  and  in  1835  went  to  Texas.  David 
Sackett  and  wife  were  the  next  to  increase  this  little  settle- 
ment in  1830.  On  section  3  he  settled  himself,  and  after 
building  his  cabin,  amused  himself  in  the  construction  of  a 
sod  fence,  the  first  and  only  one  in  the  county,  and  as  King 
Kerley  one  of  the  old  citizens  in  that  neighborhood  remarked, 
its  only  utility  was  a  barricade  against  the  frogs,  of  which 
the  place  was  fruitful,  being  low  and  marshy,  only  noted 
as  a  public  resort  for  frogs,  rattlesnakes  and  red-head 
flies.  Some  wag  gave  the  place  the  sobriquet  of  "  Sackett's 
Harbor."  The  remaius  of  the  sod  fence  were  still  visible  in 
1851,  and  would  no  doubt  have  been  a  thing  of  joy  for  some  . 
amateur  arch:vologis,t  hunting  relics  of  the  mound  builders. 
Sackett  tiring  of  associating  with  frogs  and  "  red-heads,"  and 
not  appreciating  the  neighborly  visits  of  rattlesnakes  sought 
new  fields  of  enterprise  and  left  the  country  in  a  few  years. 
From  the  sunny  south  came  Abraham  Brunk  in  1830,  with 
his  little  family,  settling  on  a  portion  of  section  5,  which  he 
cultivated  for  several  years,  and  then  moved  to  an  adjoining 
township,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days. 

One  of  the,  leading  pioneers  of  the  county,  in  fact  the  most 
widely  known,  was  Rev.  Granville  Bond,  who  was  born  in 
Kentucky,  in  1805,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  came  to 
Illinois  to  cast  his  fortunes  with  those  who  had  already  pen- 
etrated the  recesses  of  the  wilderness  and  were  battling  with 
nature  and  preparing  the  way  of  civilization  which  followed 
them.  Coming  to  Illinois  in  1828,  he  stopped  near  where 
the  present  city  of  Springfield  stands  until  the  fall  of  1829, 
when  he  came  to  Bro*n  county  and  took  up  a  pre-emption 
claim  in  what  is  now  Pea  Ridge  township.  He  returned  to 
Sangamon  ounty,  and  with  his  family  in  the  spring  of  1830 
came  again  to  his  pre-emption.  Immediately  upon  settling 
in  this  county  he  began  laboring  as  a  local  preacher  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  and  followed  the  sacred  calling  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  when  he  became  an  itinerant.  He  was  a  man  of 
good  sense,  a  pleasant  speaker,  and  his  acquaintance  through- 
out the  military  tract  was  hailed  by  all,  being  loved  by  all 
the  entire  sparse  population.  To  the  Hambaugh  papers, 
published  in  the  Brown  County  Democrat,  in  1875,  we  are 
indebted  for  the  following  reminiscences  related  in  letters 
from  Rev.  Bond  to  the  author  of  the  papers  :  "  In  early  days, 
before  public  travel  was  so  great  as  to  necessitate  the  estab- 
lishment of  public  roads,  every  man  and  woman  kiiew  the 
number  of  the  land  upon  which  they  lived,  the  number  and 
direction  of  the  adjacent  settlements,  and  could  point  the 
course  and  tell  the  distance  to  each.  Travel  in  large  prairies 
was  done  by  points  of  projecting  timber  and  by  towuship  and 
section  lines."  Illustrating  the  method  of  travel  in  those 
pioneer  days,  we  quote  as  follows  from  Rev.  Bond  :  "  It  was 
one  morning  just  at  daybreak  I  was  halloed  to  my  cabin 
door  to  find  Peter  Cartwright,  who  told  me  he  had  staid  at 
Mr.  Green's  the  night  before,  and  as  there  was  no  road  any 
farther,  he  wished  me  to  direct  him  to  his  camp  meeting  two 

.10 


miles  above  Qulncy,  on  Bear  creek,  over  thirty  miles  dis- 
tant. I  told  him  as  it  was  foggy  I  feared  that  he  could  not 
see  points.  Said  he,  '  Give  them  to  me,  and  I  will  try  it.' 
I  then  gave  them  as  follows  :  Go  to  a  point  west,  keep  straight 
through  two  miles.  Farther  west  you  come  to  heavy  timber 
on  high  ground,  we  call  it  mounds ;  mile  west  and  you  again 
strike  prairie ;  you  then  go  four  miles  west,  leaving  a  point 
to  your  left  one-half  mile  ;  you  then  travel  three  miles,  leav- 
ing the  head  of  the  Little  Missouri  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
to  your  right;  you  then  travel  three  miles  west,  where  two 
points  come  near  together — this  is  a  point  of  Bear  creek  on 
your  right,  and  McKee's  on  your  left ;  keep  southwest  through 
the  timber  four  miles,  when  you  will  again  come  to  prairie, 
then  turn  southwest,  so  as  to  leave  Bear  creek  timber  some 
two  miles  to  the  right,  then  in  about  eight  miles  you  will  come 
to  a  very  long  point  called  Birch  Branch  ;  turn  west,  so  as  to 
cross  the  Branch  two  miles  from  its  head  or  point,  y.iu  will 
thf-n  be  within  five  miles  of  the  Bear  creek  settlement."  The 
writer  of  the  letter  remarks  that  Rev,  Cartwright  told  him 
that  on  the  whole  journey  he  never  saw  a  human  being  nor 
habitation  until  he  saw  the  smoke  of  the  camp-meeting  camp. 
The  points  and  the  Indian  trails  were  the  only  means  of 
travel  in  those  early  days  of  pioneer  life. 

In  speaking  of  his  early  work  as  a  minister,  Bond  says  : 
"  I  never  had  less  than  two  appointments  on  a  Sabbath,  and 
frequently  three,  and  very  frequently  we  held  our  meetings 
two  or  three  days.  It  was  nothing  strange  for  ladies  to  walk 
six  miles  tonight  meeting.  It  took  but  little  to  support  a 
protracted  meeting  in  those  days.  Wild  meat  and  sassafras 
for  tea  was  in  abundance,  and  we  raised  rye  for  coffee,  and 
this,  with  plenty  of  wild  honey  and  corn  bread,  constituted 
the  greater  portion  of  our  living.  We  had  to  always  cook, 
eat,  sleep  and  preach  in  the  same  room."  In  his  twenty 
years  of  ministerial  life  he  preached  over  3000  sermons  and 
traveled  over  28,000  miles,  and  never  asked  nor  received  a 
cent.  The  reader  desirous  of  learning  more  of  the  history 
of  this  noble  pioneer  will  refer  to  the  history  of  Pea  Ridge 
township.  Rev.  Bond  was  followed  to  Illinois  by  his  father- 
in-law,  Benjamin  Gristy,  whose  daughter  Elizabeth  was 
Bond's  wife,  who  is  still  living  at  Mounds  station  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  between  seventy-five  and  eighty  years.  He 
came  from  Kentucky  in  the  old-fashioned  crooked-bed 
wagon,  the  journey  requiring  a  period  of  twenty  days. 
Upon  his  arrival  he  erected  a  cabin  near  his  sou-in-law's  and 
commenced  the  work  of  a  pioneer.  He  entered  about  five 
hundred  acres  of  laud  and  was  a  man  of  thrift  and  influ- 
ence. The  little  settlement  was  next  increased  by  the  ac- 
cession of  Berry  Orr,  who  arrived  towards  the  close  of  1830 
with  a  wife  and  six  children.  He  settled  in  that  pirt  of 
section  27,  now  occupied  by  John  Simpkins.  His  advent 
into  the  settlement  is  said  to  have  been  made  during  the 
deep  snow,  when  he  and  his  wife  cams  walking  over  the 
crust,  breaking  through  and  falling  down  every  few  steps. 
He  finally  reached  the  cabin  of  Benjamin  Gristy,  where  they 
were  hospitably  received.  Eli  Hartley  came  from  Ken- 
tucky late  in  1830,  bringing  a  wife  and  two  children.  He 
settled  upon  section  27,  just  west  of  Orr.  Hartley  was  a 
very  intelligent  gentleman  and  was  so   considered   by  his 


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HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


neighbors.  He  was  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  some  years. 
He  left  the  county  and  went  to  Menard  county,  Illinois,  in 
1850. 

The  Bell  brothers  added  largely  to  the  number  of  people 
in  this  settlement.     They  were  three  in  number,  all  of  whom 
brought  wives  and  families  with  them  ;  were  excellent  citizens 
and  left  a  large   number   of  children,  many   of  whom  are 
now  residents  of  the  county,  and  all   worthy  the  name  of 
their  noble  sires.     They  were   natives   of  Kentucky,  and 
John  and  James  seem  to  have  left  their  native  state  together 
at  an  early  day,  coming  to  Indiana  ;  and,  in  1826,   moving 
from  there  to  Morgan  county  where  they  made  their  home 
until  January  30,  1830,   and  with  ox   teams   moved   their 
families  to  section  20,  in  what  is  now  Missouri  township  and 
then  selected  land  in  section  28  of  the  same  township.  John's 
first  home  was  a  log  cabin   which  he   found   already   built. 
His  humble  abode  was  without  a  door,  and  a  log  removed 
from  one  side  supplied  light.     He  amassed  a  good  estate. 
His  death  occurred  early   in  1832.     Ira  Bell  followed   his 
brothers  to  Brown  from  Morgan  county  in    1833.     He  had 
been  with  them  until  they  left  Morgan   county.     Upon  his 
arrival  in  the  neighborhood,  which  has  just  received  our  at- 
tention, he  purchased  the  improvement    right  of  forty  acres 
and  the  pole  cabin  thereon  from  his  brother  James.     Henry 
Ausmus  was  another  of  the  pioneers  of  1830,   in  Missouri 
township.     He  came  from  Tennessee  early  in  1830,  a  single 
man  ;  but  soon  after  his  arrival  he  married  Sarah  Bigg  and 
settled  on  section  31    and  afterwards  on  section  27.     He 
moved  to  Texas  in  1875.     George  Simons,  a  native  of  Ten- 
nessee, came  into  the  settlement  from  Morgan  county  the 
same  spring  and  located  on  section  32,  and  improved  the 
farm  now  owned  by  J.  M.  Clark.     He  was  a  married  man 
but  none  of  the  family  now  live  in  the  county,  as  they  mi- 
grated to  Missouri  more  than  twenty  years  ago.     Soon  after- 
wards David  Shelby,  with  a  large  family  came  and  settled 
on  section  16.     He  left  the  county  many  years  ago.     A  man 
by  the  name  of  Sallie,  located  on  section   17  in  the  same 
year,  but  did  not  remain  in  the   neighborhood  long.     Settle- 
ments were  also  made  on  section  3  or  4,  in  this  year,  by  Jesse 
Hunter  and  John  Stinnett,  'brothers-in-law,  who  subsequent- 
ly moved  over  to  Schuyler  county  and   settled  near  Bush- 
ville.     John  O.  Ausmus,  and  his  three  sons,  Henry,  Philip 
and  John  B.,  from  Tennessee,  made  improvements  on  sec- 
tion 31  in  1830,  remaining  only  a   few  years,  removing  to 
Adams  county. 

One  of  the  hardy  fathers,  whose  untiring  energy  was  an 
incentive  to  persons  seeking  a  home  in  what  is  now  Lee 
township,  to  remain  permanent  residents,  was  Isaac  Lee, 
born  in  North  Carolina,  where  he  married  Tamza  Horn  in 
1814;  aud  in  1827,  with  his  family,  sought  a  new  home  in 
Morgan  county,  Illinois.  There  he  remained  until  the  fall 
of  1830,  when  he  left  his  family,  came  into  this  county 
and  selected  a  piece  of  land  in  section  19,  of  the  township 
bearing  his  name-  He  built  a  hickory  pole  cabin  about  16 
x  18  feet  He  then  returned  to  his  house,  and  in  the  early 
spring  of  1831  loaded  his  old-fashioned  wagon,  canoe  bed, 
with  his  household  goods,  and  family  of  wife  and  five  chil- 
dren ;  and  behind    his   four  horse   team,   started  upon   the 


journey  to  his  new  home.  Arriving  at  his  cabin,  which  was 
more  comfortable  than  many  in  those  days,  he  at  once  pre- 
pared some  ground  and  planted  it  in  corn.  He  raised  a 
small  crop  this  year,  and  in  the  fall  sowed  a  field  of  wheat 
The  death  of  this  old  pioneer  in  1863  was  distressing  and 
terrible.  His  wife  having  died,  he  was  boarding  with  his 
son,  William  Lee,  though  he  persisted  in  sleeping  in  his  own 
home,  alone,  despite  the  protest  of  his  son.  One  Sunday 
night  the  house  was  burned,  and  the  following  morning  his 
charred  remains  were  found  in  the  smouldering  ruins.  The 
supposition  was  that  he  had  been  robbed,  murdered,  and  the 
house  burned  to  cover  the  crime.  There  is  but  one  child  of 
this  noble  pioneer  left,  Esquire  William  Lee,  who  resides 
upon  the  old  homestead,  entered  by  his  father  in  1830 ;  and 
is,  in  every  way,  worthy  of  his  father's  mantle. 

William  J.  Davis  came  to  Illinois  from  Virginia  and 
spent  the  winter  of  the  deep  snow  in  Versailles  township,  near 
the  Vandeventers,  aud  in  the  following  spring  came  to  Lee 
township  and  settled  in  section  6,  where  he  died  in  1850. 
Oliver  Howes  became  a  neighbor  of  Mr.  Davis  in  1831,  and 
settled  on  section  6.  Mr.  Howes  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Mr. 
Davis.  He  removed  to  Clayton  in  1870,  where  his  widow 
and  daughters  now  reside. 

Another  early  settler  to  invade  nature's  solitude  and 
startle  the  wilds  with  the  sounds  of  human  life  in  Missouri 
township  was  Bichard  W.  Bigg,  a  native  Virginian,  whose 
youthful  wanderings  led  him  to  Kentucky,  where  he  found 
a  wife  in  the  person  of  Elizabeth  George,  who  died  in  1818, 
leaving  three  children  Being  alone,  and  his  children  of  so 
tender  an  age  as  to  need  the  care  of  a  mother,  he  again 
married  late  in  the  fall  of  1819.  His  second  wife  was 
Martha  Utteiback.  Leaving  Kentucky  in  the  fall  of  1830, 
with  a  four-horse  team  and  wagon,  he  came  as  far  as  Morgan 
county,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  until  1831,  when  he 
moved  into  this  county,  and  located  on  section  seventeen.  He 
bought  out  a  man  by  the  name  of  White.  The  cabin  ceiling 
was  so  low  that  Jerry  Walker,  a  very  tall  neighbor,  being 
six  feet  and  seven  inches  in  height,  when  visiting  Mr.  Bigg's 
family  had  to  double  up,  and  when  standing  erect  his  head 
was  in  the  loft.  It  is  related  of  Walker,  that  a  stranger, 
named  Fields  Jarvis,  happened  to  meet  Walker  one  day  al 
Mr.  Bigg's.  Jarvis  was  a  very  tall  man,  and  he  and  AValker 
becoming  engaged  in  a  discussion  as  to  who  was  the  taller 
they  were  each  measured,  and  Jarvis  proved  to  be  half  an 
inch  the  taller.  Jerry  Walker  was  so  deeply  mortified  that 
he  sat  down  and  wept  bitterly  because  of  lost  laurels  in  being 
the  tallest  man  in  that  portion  of  the  country.  This  noble 
frontiersman  passed  into  the  unknown  world  in  1869,  and 
was  followed  by  his  aged  wife  in  1877,  leaving  several 
children,  the  oldest  of  whom,  William  T.  Bigg,  resides 
on  section  thirty-two,  and  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  much 
valuable  information.  For  a  more  extended  history  of  this 
pioneer  and  family,  reference  may  be  had  to  the  article> 
entitled  "Missouri  Township,"  where  an  extended  history 
may  be  found. 

Three  brothers,  William,  Jacob,  and  Conrad  Long  came 
to  the  county  early  in  1831,  and  settled  near  each  other  in 
what  is  now  Pea  Bidge  township.     They  were  from  Ten- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


75 


nessee,  and  all  had  families.  Several  of  their  descendants 
are  residents  of  the  county.  Jacob,  and  his  wife  went  to  the 
State  of  Missouri  a  few  years  ago  where  they  died.  William 
and  Conrad  died  in  the  county.  They  are  highly  spoken  of 
by  their  neighbors  as  being  among  the  best  citizens,  and 
their  demise  was  regretted  by  many  friends.  James  Ham- 
ilton, father  in-law  of  Eli  Hartley,  moved  to  Pea  Ridge  in 
1831,  and  settled  near  his  son-in-law.  He  was  also  from 
Kentucky,  and  at  his  advent  here  had  a  large  family.  He 
and  his  wife  both  died  at  the  old  homestead. 

The  year  1831  witnesses  another  arrival,  consisting  of  four 
families,  Richard  and  Philip  Briggs,  natives  of  Kentucky, 
and  Michael  Summy,  and  James  Bullard.  They  located 
just  north  of  the  town  of  Versailles,  where  the  former  named 
resided  until  his  death  October  8,  1876.  A  few  years  later 
Philip  Briggs  migrated  to  Missouri,  but  subsequently  re- 
turned, and  lived  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  Buckhorn. 
Suminy  went  to  Texas,  but  his  father  and  others  of  his  family 
became  residents  of  the  county.  Bullard  remained  and  died 
here  several  years  ago.  Joseph  Graves,  Williford,  and 
Darneil  were  also  here  at  the  same  time.  The  Versailles 
settlement  was  also  increased  this  year  by  the  arrival  of 
Jacob  and  Peter  Vandeventer,  brothers  of  Cornelius  Van- 
deventer.  Peter  died  at  the  residence  of  the  old  Esquire  a 
few  weeks  after  his  arrival.  Jacob  removed  to  Pike  county 
in  1833,  and  died  there,  and  his  family  immediately  returned 
and  settled  here  permanently.  He  left  a  large  posterity. 
The  earliest  settlement  made  in  the  extreme  southeast  por- 
tion of  the  county  was  by  William  L.  Dehart,  a  Kentuckian 
by  birth.  He  emigrated  to  Illinois  in  1832,  and  first  settled 
in  Brown  on  the  6th  day  of  March,  1833,  at  La  Grange. 
He  was  the  first  man  to  locate  permanently  in  Buckhorn  in 
1837,  and  remained  there  until  his  death.  He  was  an  early 
justice  of  the  peace,  which  office  he  held  for  eight  successive 
years,  and  a  prominent  early  citizen.  John  B.  Houston,  a 
brother-in-law  of  Dehart,  and  two  brothers,  Esquire  and 
Uriah,  located  in  the  state  in  1831,  and  came  with  him  to 
this  county,  settling  at  La  Grange  in  1833.  They  all  be- 
came early  settlers  in  Buckhoru.  John  B.  subsequently 
moved  to  Missouri,  and  died  there.  His  brother  remained 
in  the  county.  Alexander  Cox  migrated  from  Kentucky 
to  Illinois  in  the  spring  of  1832,  and  located  in  section 
twenty,  Mt.  Sterling  township.  He  remained  here  until 
1835,  when  he  moved  to  some  other  part  of  the  state,  and 
afterwards  to  the  State  of  Missouri  Not  liking  the  country, 
he  returned  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  Pike  county,  where 
he  died.  John  Taylor,  a  Virginian  by  birth,  migrated  from 
Kentucky  with  his  family  to  this  county  in  the  same  year 
as  Mr.  Cox,  and  settled  in  section  thirty-one  He  was  a 
prominent  farmer  in  his  day,  and  died  at  the  old  home  in 
■  1846. 

Prominent  among  other  old  settlers  who  located  in  what 
is  now  Mt.  Sterling  township  were,  AVilliam  Patterson, 
George  R.  Givens,  William  McCormick,  Rev.  N.  W.  Dun- 
lap,  James  Harper,  Henry  Hersman,  Samuel  Jennings, 
David  Jennings  and  others.  In  Versailles  we  find  the 
names  of  Henry  Casteeu,  Ashford  D.  Ravenscroft  John 
Bell,   George  Hilliard,   Benjamin    and  Joseofa    Robinson, 


Micajah  Johnson,  the  Townsends,  Pratt,  Scott,  John  Whit- 
tier,  K.  H.  Ross,  etc.  In  Cooperstown  William  Thomas, 
David  M.  Campbell,  John  Orr,  Captain  Alfred  Spencer, 
Abel  Logan,  Monroe  Page,  John  Logsdon,  William  Wilson, 
Samuel  Brisco,  John  W.  Davis,  White  Stiles  and  Thomas 
Barton.  In  Ripley,  Wm.  Clark  Hardin,  John  Rush,  Jno. 
N.  Ebey,  George  Clark,  and  Mrs.  Nancy  Burke  and  family. 
Missouri,  Thomas  I.  Beard,  George  Roberts,  Alexander  and 
Wm.  O.  F.  Campbell,  and  B.  F.  Hill.  The  latter,  however, 
located  in  Versailles.  In  Elkhorn,  Shadrack  Newenham, 
Henry  Cox,  William  McDonald,  and  others  of  a  later  date. 
Those  of  Lee  township  from  1832,  and  later  even,  David 
Bush,  AVilliam  Thomas,  Elijah  Owens,  Joseph  and  Alex- 
ander Strahan,  Peter  Ausmus,  John  Beckman,  William 
Campbell,  Thomas  Davis,  and  Dr.  D.  R.  Lucas.  In  Pea 
Ridge,  Joseph  Marrett,  the  Johnsons,  the  Pevehoues,  Arch- 
ibald McCaskill,  Rhoderic  Crisp  and  others.  In  Buckhorn 
township,  Elmer  Morrell,  Arthur  Martin  and  Elijah  Reeves. 

Early  Survey i^ff ■ — All  that  partof  the  county  lying  south  of 
the  base  line  in  Brown  county  was  surveyed  and  sectionized 
in  1815,  by  John  McKee.  The  stream  which  flows  through 
the  southern  part  of  the  county,  that  bears  the  name  of  Mc- 
Kee's  creek,  was  named  after  him.  That  part  lying  north  of 
the  base  line  was  surveyed  by  Enoch  and  Milton  Moore,  in 
1816  The  earliest  surveying  done  by  the  county  surveyor,  was 
June  1, 1831,  by  William  P.  Manlove,  for  Alexander  Curry. 
It  was  on  the  land  upon  which  Mt.  Sterling  now  stands. 
The  chairmen  were  Henry  Casteen  and  William  Singleton. 

Pioneer  Roads  — The  first  road  was  surveyed  and  laid 
out  in  December,  1829,  from  Willis  O  Neil's  in  section  33  of 
Ripley  township  to  Cornelius  Vandeventer's,  in  section  14  of 
Versailles  township.  The  next  road  was  surveyed  Novem- 
ber 9,  1831,  and  ran  as  follows :  Beginning  on  the  south 
boundary  of  2  S.  2  W.,  three  chains  east  of  the  S.  W.  corner 
of  section  23,  and  thence  following  the  bluffs  in  a  north- 
easterly course  passing  through  the  present  town  of  La 
Grange,  then  known  as  the  narrows,  thence  to  Crooked 
creek,  crossing  it  near  the  east  line  of  the  N.  E.  i  of  section 
13,  1  S.  2  W.  A  post  was  set  at  each  mile  and  witnessed 
by  the  marking  of  a  tree.  The  total  length  of  the  road  was 
131  miles.  Another  known  as  the  old  "  Atlas  road  "  was 
surveyed  May  28,  1832.  It  began  two  chains  east  of  the  S. 
W.  corner  of  section  32,  2  S.  2  W. ;  thence  in  a  northwest- 
erly direction  crossing  McKee's  creek,  about  101  rods  north 
and  24  rods  west  of  the  section  corner,  and  terminated  at 
the  state  road  at  the  corner  of  sections  32  and  33,  1  N.  2 
W.,  on  the  base  line.  The  total  distance  of  the  road  was 
12|. 

Snake  Stories. — In  the  summer  of  1831,  a  certain  old  set- 
tler was  wending  his  way  homeward  from  a  day's  toil  when 
in  the  edge  of  the  timber  near  his  residence  he  spied  a  fine 
gobbler  on  roost  on  the  branch  of  a  tall  tree.  It  was  late  in 
the  evening  and  he  concluded  to  leave  him  for  an  early 
morning  job.  It  was  just  before  sunrise  the  next  morning 
that  he  took  his  stand  with  gun  in  hand  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
turkey,  seating  himself  upon  what  he  supposed  to  be  a  tuft 
of  grass,  which  from  spme  indescribable  cause  seemed  to 
slip  from  under  him,  as  fast  as  he  could  seat  himself.  Finally 


76 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


becoming  tired  of  this  operation,  he  let  his  hand  glide  down 
to  examine  the  cause,  and  no  sooner  had  it  touched  the  ob- 
ject than  he  sprang  in  the  air,  with  every  hair  standing  on 
end;  his  gun  tumbling  somersaults  down  the  hill.  It  needed 
no  introduction  to  form  the  acquaintance  of  the  situation ; 
his  hand  had  come  in  contact  with  the  coiled  mass  of  a  very 
large  rattlesnake.  In  early  times  Brown  county  seemed 
to  be  a  prolific  field,  or  a  general  "  summer  resort,"  as  it 
might  be  termed  for  snakes  of  all  kinds,  great  and  small, 
both  young  and  old.  Many  startling  snake  stories  are  told 
by  the  old  settlers,  only  two  or  three  of  which  we  can  give 
space  to.  When  William  L.  Dehart  settled  in  Buckhorn, 
so  his  son  informs  us,  there  were  an  endless  number  of 
snakes.  His  cabin  was  built  late  in  the  fall,  after  it  had 
turned  cold,  and  in  the  spring  when  it  began  to  grow  warm 
and  the  thaw  began  it  was  found  that  the  cabin  was  erected 
over  a  den  of  these  reptiles,  and  over  forty  snakes  were 
killed  in  the  vicinity.  Another  story  is  told  by  the  vener- 
able Rev.  Granville  Bond,  deceased,  in  a  letter  published  in 
the  Hambaugh  papers. 

"In  the  summer  of  1830,  some  hunters  in  the  course  of 
their  ramblings  came  across  some  snake  dens,  to  the  north 
of  Mt.  Sterling,  some  four  or  five  miles.  The  neighbor- 
hood was  aroused  to  the  sense  of  the  fact,  and  a  day  set  for 
a  snaking,  and  all  went  save  myself,  which  was  owing  to  my 
residence  at  the  extreme  west  end  of  the  settlement,  and  in 
fact  did  not  know  of  the  adventure  until  it  was  over.  It 
seems  to  be  the  nature  of  these  reptiles  to  seek  a  rocky  sec- 
tion for  their  winter  headquarters,  and  in  the  spring  time  to 
come  out  in  the  sunny  part  of  the  day,  and  knot  up  in  great 
piles  on  the  ledges.  Thus  they  bask  in  the  warm  sunshine 
through  the  day  and  at  night  retreat  to  their  dens.  This  is 
followed  up  for  some  time  before  they  take  their  departure. 
It  was  during  this  time  our  neighbors  came  upon  them,  and 
made  dread  havoc  among  their  number  with  poles.  When 
no  more  could  be  found  outside,  poles  with  hooks  were  in- 
serted between  the  rocks,  and  thus  they  were  hauled  out  by  the 
score.  Frequently  they  would  move  a  large  rock  and  find 
great  quantities  between  and  behind  the  cavities,  and  the 
day's  result  was  over  eight  hundred  rattle  and  copper-head 
snakes  killed,  besides  black  and  other  common  species 
not  numbered.  Other  dens  were  afterwards  found  and  de- 
stroyed, which  greatly  relieved  the  country  of  these  pests." 

Esquire  Riley,  a  prominent  old  settler  of  Missouri  town- 
ship, emigrated  to  Texas  in  an  early  day,  and  it  is  said  he 
frequently  related  such  wonderful  snake  stories  to  theTexans 
who  were  inclined  to  disbelieve  him.  The  venerable  esquire 
was  a  staunch  Methodist,  and  among  the  pioneers  of  this 
county  his  honor  and  veracity  was  never  doubted,  yet  in 
Texas  the  rehearsal  of  such  stories  resulted  in  his  expulsion 
from  the  church.  But  Levin  Green  capped  the  climax,  when 
he  said  "  that  the  snakes  were  so  thick  they  clogged  his 
plow."     Levin  sometimes  indulged  in  hyperbole! 

HABITS   AND   MODES   OF    LIVING   OF   THE   FIRST 
SETTLERS. 

The  pioneers  were  destitute  of  many  of  the  conveniences 
of  life  and  of  some  things  that  are  now  considered  neces- 


saries, but  they  patiently  endured  their  lot,  and  hopefully 
looked  forward  to  better.  They  had  plenty  to  wear  as  protec- 
tion against  the  weather,  and  an  abundance  of  wholesome 
food.  They  sat  down  to  a  rude  table  to  eat  from  tin  or 
pewter  dishes,  but  the  meat  thereon  spread — the  flesh  of  the 
deer  or  bear,  of  the  wild  duck  or  turkey,  of  the  quail  or 
squirrel — was  superior  to  that  we  eat,  and  had  been  won  by 
the  skill  of  the  head  of  the  house  or  of  that  of  his  vigorous 
sons.  The  bread  they  ate  was  made  from  corn  or  wheat  of 
their  own  raising.  They  walked  the  green  carpet  of  the 
grand  prairie  or  forest  that  surrounded  them,  not  with  the 
air  of  a  beggar,  but  with  the  elastic  step  of  a  self- respected 
freeman. 

The  settler  brought  with  him  a  keen  axe,  which  was  in- 
dispensable, and  the  equally  necessary  rifle ;  the  first  his 
weapon  of  defense  against  the  forests  that  skirted  the 
water-courses,  and  near  which  he  made  his  home,  the  second 
that  of  defense  from  the  attacks  of  his  foe,  the  cunning  child 
of  the  forest  and  prairie.  His  first  labor  was  to  fell  trees, 
and  erect  his  unpretentious  cabin,  which  was  rudely  made 
of  logs,  and  in  the  raising  of  which  he  had  the  cheerful  aid 
of  his  neighbors  It  was  usually  from  fourteen  to  sixteen 
feet  square,  and  never  larger  than  twenty  feet,  and  was  fre- 
quently built  entirely  without  glass,  nails,  hinges  or  locks. 
A  description  of  these  cabins  are  given  above,  and  only  ap- 
plies to  the  very  earliest  times,  before  the  rattle  of  the  saw- 
mill was  heard  within  our  borders. 

The  furniture  comported  admirably  with  the  house  itself, 
and  hence,  if  not  elegant,  was  in  most  perfect  taste.  The 
tables  had  four  legs,  and  were  rudely  made  from  a  puncheon. 
Their  seats  were  stools,  having  three  or  four  legs.  The  bed- 
stead was  in  keeping  with  the  rest,  and  was  often  so  contrived 
as  to  permit  it  to  be  drawn  up  and  fastened  to  the  wall  dur- 
ing the  day,  thus  affording  more  room  to  the  family.  The 
entire  furniture  was  simple,  and  was  framed  with  no  other 
tools  than  an  axe  and  auger.  Knives  and  forks  they  some- 
times had,  and  sometimes  had  not.  The  common  table  knife 
was  the  pack-knife  or  butcher-knife.  Horse-collars  were 
sometimes  made  of  the  plaited  husk  of  the  maize  sewed  to- 
gether. They  were  easy  on  the  neck  of  the  horse,  and  if  tug 
traces  were  used,  «  ould  last  a  long  while. 

The  women  corresponded  with'  the  description  of  the  vir- 
tuous woman  in  the  last  chapter  of  Proverbs,  for  they  "  sought 
wool  and  flax,  and  worked  willingly  with  their  hands."  They 
did  not,  it  is  true,  make  for  themselves  '  coverings  of  tapes- 
try," nor  could  it  be  said  of  them  that  their  "  clothing  was  sil< 
and  purple,"  but  they  "  rose  while  it  was  yet  night,  and  gave 
meat  to  their  household,''  and  they  "  girded  their  loins  with 
strength  and  strengthened  their  arms."  They  "  looked  well 
to  the  ways  of  their  household,  and  ate  not  the  bread  of  idle- 
ness." They  laid  "  their  hands  to  the  spindle  and  to  the 
distaff,"  and  "  strength  and  honor  were  in  their  clothing." 

In  these  days  of  furbelows  and  flounces,  when  from  twenty 
to  thirty  yards  are  required  by  one  fair  damsel  for  a  dress, 
it  is  refreshing  to  know  that  the  ladies  of  that  ancient  time 
considered  eight  yards  an  extravagant  amount  to  put  into  one 
dress.  The  dress  was  usually  made  plain,  with  four  widths 
in  the  skirt,  and  two  front  ones  cut  gored. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


77 


Many  bows  and  ribbons  were  worn,  but  scarcely  any 
jewelry.  The  tow  dress  was  superseded  by  the  cotton  gown. 
Around  the  neck,  instead  of  a  lace  collar  or  elegant  ribbon, 
there  was  disposed  a  copperas-colored  neckerchief. 

The  women  manufactured  nearly  all  the  clothing  worn  by 
the  family.  In  cold  weather  gowns  made  of "  linsey-wool- 
sey "  were  worn  by  the  ladies.  The  fabric  was  usually  plaid 
or  striped,  and  the  differing  colors  were  blended  according 
to  the  taste  and  fancy  of  the  fair  maker.  Colors  were  blue, 
copperas,  turkey  red,  light  blue,  etc.  Every  house  contain- 
ed a  card-loom  and  spinning-wheels,  which  were  considered 
by  the  women  as  necessary  for  them  as  the  rifle  for  the  men. 
Several  different  kinds  of  cloth  were  made.  Cloth  was  woven 
from  cotton.  The  rolls  were  spun,  on  little  and  big  wheels,  into 
two  kinds  of  thread ;  one  the  "  chain,"  and  the  other  the 
"  filling."  The  more  experienced  only  spun  the  chain  ;  the 
younger  the  filling.  Two  kinds  of  looms  were  in  use.  The 
most  primitive  in  construction  wa3  called  the  "side-loom. "• 
The  frame  of  it  consisted  of  two  pieces  of  scantling  running 
obliquely  from  the  floor  to  the  wall.  Later,  the  frame-loom, 
which  was  a  great  improvement  over  the  other,  came  into 
use. 

The  men  and  boys  wore  "jeans  "  and  linsey-woolsey  hunt- 
ing shirts.  The  "  jeans  "  were  colored  either  light-blue  or 
butternut. 

Many  times  when  the  men  gathered  to  a  log-rolling  or 
barn-raising,  the  women  would  assemble  bringing  their  spin- 
ning-wheels with  them.  In  this  way  sometimes  as  many  as 
ten  or  twelve  would  gather  in  one  room,  and  the  pleasant 
voices  of  the  fair  spinners  were  mingled  with  the  low  hum  of 
the  spinning-wheels.     "  Oh  !  golden  early  days !  " 

Such  articles  of  apparel  as  could  not  be  manufactured 
were  brought  to  them  from  the  nearest  store  by  the  mail- 
carrier.  These  were  few,  however.  Toe  men  and  boys,  in 
many  instances,  wore  pantaloons  made  of  the  dressed  skin  of 
the  deer,  which  then  swarmed  the  prairies  in  large  herds 
The  young  man  who  desired  to  look  captivating  to  the  eye 
of  the  maiden 'whom  he  loved,  had  his  "bucks"  fringed, 
which  lent  them  a  not  unpleasing  effect.  Meal-sacks  were 
also  made  of  buckskin.  Caps  were  made  of  the  skins  of 
wolf,  fox,  wild-cat  and  musk-rat  tanned  with  the  fur  on.  The 
tail  of  the  fox  or  wolf  often  hung  from  the  top  of  the  cap,, 
lending  the  wearer  a  jaunty  air.  Both  sexes  wore  moccasins, 
which  in  dry  weather  were  an  excellent  substitute  for  shoes. 
There  were  no  shoemakers,  and  each  family  made  its  own 
shoes. 

The  settler^  were  separated  from  their  neighbors  often  by 
miles,  an  invitation  to  a  house-raising,  or  a  log-rolling,  or  a 
corn  husking,  or  a  bee  of  any  kind  was  always  accepted  with 
cheerfulness.  To  attend  these  gatherings,  they  would  go  ten 
or  more  miles. 

Generally  with  the  invitation  to  the  men  went  one  to  the 
women,  to  come  to  the  quilting.  The  good  woman  of  the  house 
where  the  festivities  were  to  take  place  would  be  busily  en- 
gaged for  a  day  or  more  in  preparation  for  the  coming 
guests.  Great  quantities  of  provisions  were  to  be  prepared, 
for  dyspepsia  was  unknown  to  the  pioneer,  aud  good  appe- 
tites were  the  rule  and  not  the  exception. 


The  bread  used  at  these  frolics  was  baked  generally  on 
Jonny  or  Journey  cake  boards,  and  is  the  best  corn-bread 
ever  made. 

At  all  the  log-rollings  and  house  raisings  it  was  customary 
to  provide  liquor.  Excess  was  not  indulged  in  however. 
The  fiddler  was  never  forgotten.  After  the  day's  work  had 
been  accomplished,  out  doors  and  in,  by  men  and  women, 
the  floor  was  cleared  and  the  merry  dance  began.  The 
handsome,  stalwart  young  men,  whose  fine  forms  were  the 
result  of  their  manly  out  door  life,  clad  in  fringed  buckskin 
breeches  and  gaudily  colored  hunting-shirts,  led  forth  the 
bright-eyed,  buxom  damsels,  attired  in  neatly-fitting  linsey- 
woolsey  garments,  to  the  dance,  their  cheeks  glowing  with 
health  and  eyes  speaking  of  enjoyment,  and  perhaps  of  a  ten- 
derer emotion. 

In  the  pioneer  times  the  crops  of  corn  were  never  husked 
on  the  stalk,  as  is  done  at  this  day  ;  but  were  hauled  home 
in  the  husk  and  thrown  in  a  heap,  generally  by  the  side  of  the 
crib,  so  that  the  ears,  when  husked,  could  be  thrown  direct 
into  the  crib.  A  "  corn  husking,"  to  which  the  whole  neigh- 
borhood, male  and  female,  were  invited,  was  then  in  order. 
The  girls,  and  many  of  the  married  ladies,  generally  engaged 
in  this  amusing  work.  These  shuckings  nearly  always  ended 
in  a  dance,  which  generally  lasted  until  day-light. 

In  the  morning  all  would  go  home  on  horse-back  or  on 
foot. 

Dancing  was  the  favorite  amusement,  and  was  partici- 
pated in  by  all. 

"  Alike  all  ages  ;  dames  of  ancient  days; 
Have  led  their  children  through  the  mirthful  maze. 
And  the  gray  grandsire,  skilled  in  gestic  lore, 
Has  frisked  beneath  the  burden  of  three-score.' ' 

The  amusements  of  that  day  were  more  athletic  and  rude 
than  those  of  to-day.  Among  the  settlers  in  a  new  country, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  a  higher  value  is  set  upon  phy- 
sical than  mental  endowments.  Skill  in  woodcraft,  superi- 
ority of  muscular  development,  accuracy  in  shooting  with 
the  rifle,  activity,  swiftness  of  foot,  were  qualifications  that 
brought  their  possessors  fame.  Foot-racing  was  often  prac- 
tised, and  often  the  boys  and  young  men  engaged  in  a  friendly 
contests  with  the  Indians. 

At  all  gatherings  jumping  and  wrestling  were  indulged  in, 
and  those  who  excelled  were  thenceforth  men  of  notoriety. 
Cards,  dice  and  other  gambling  implements  were  little 
known. 

At  their  shooting  matches,  which  were  usually  for  the 
prize  of  a  turkey,  or  a  gallon  of  whisky,  good  feeling  gen- 
erally prevailed.  If  disputes  arose,  they  were  settled  often  by 
a  square  stand-up  fight,  and  no  one  thought  of  using  other 
weapons  than  fists. 

The  picture  here  drawn  of  the  pioneers,  their  modes  of 
living,  their  customs  and  amusements,  while  lacking  entire- 
completeness,  we  feel  is  not  inaccurate  and  untruthful. 

CONCLUSION. 

In  1855  the  modern  history  of  these  counties  may  be  said 
to  have  begun ;  for  in  this  year  was  completed  the  first  rail- 


78 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


road  within  their  territory.  The  road  was  built  through  Brown 
county,  and  was  then  called  the  Great  Western.  It  now  be- 
longs to  the  great  Wabash  system.  Since  then  there  have 
been  two  railroads  constructed  in  Schuyler  county,  while 
Brown  has  but  the  one.  From  that  time  onward  the  pro- 
gress of  the  counties  have  been  very  rapid.  Immigration 
came  in  like  a  flood.  Good  markets  stimulated  the  agricul- 
turist to  greater  exertions,  and  population  and  wealth  in- 
creased in  prodigious  ratio. 

A  comparison  of  the  early  methods  of  agriculture  with 
those  of  the  present  day  will  fittingly  set  forth  the  struggles 
of  the  early  pioneers  with  the  virgin  soil  of  this  beautiful 
and  fertile  laud  in  obtaining  food  and  support  for  themselves 
and  families.  The  means  and  facilities  for  tilling  the  soil  a 
half-century  ago  would  be  considered  a  burlesque  on  the 
farming  of  to-day.  Then  they  scratched  over  the  surface  of 
mother  earth  as  best  they  could,  with  the  old  wooden  mould- 
board  plow,  and  gathered  the  harvest  of  their  toil  with  the 
reap-hook.  The  threshing  was  as  slow  and  laborious  as  the 
reaping,  the  process  being  by  tramping  out  the  grain  by  the 
use  of  the  cattle,  or  beating  it  from  the  straw  with  a  flail. 
Presto  change  ;  fifty  years  have  glided  by  and  we  cast  our 
eye  out  upon  the  broad  landscape  and  what  a  transition ! 
The  old  mould-board  has  given  place  to  the  elegant  sulky 
plow ;  the  reap-hook  is  transformed  into  the  wonderful 
mechanism  known  as  the  self-binder,  and  the  tramping  of 
the  cattle  and  the  monotonous  and  wearisome  thud,  thud  of 
the  flail,  have  yielded  to  the  steam  engine  and  the  hum  of 
the  gigantic  thresher.  The  change  in  the  variety  of  the 
crops  raised  is  nearly,  if  not  quite  as  great,  as  the  use  of 
utensils.  The  first  settlers  were  not  so  much  engrossed  in 
money-making  and  money-getting  as  the  people  of  to-day, 
but  were  laboring  more  for  a  mere  sustenance.  They  raised 
patches  of  flax  and  some  cotton,  from  which  products  they 
manufactured  their  own  apparel.  Corn  was  then,  as  now, 
the  staple,  but  produced  in  very  limited  quantities,  as  facili- 
ties for  transportation  to  market  were  so  meagre  and  accom- 
panied with  tiresome  journeys  that  it  was  not  a  profitable 
crop,  only  as  it  was  used  for  home  consumption.  Wheat, 
now  the  wealth  of  the  western  prairies,  was  little  cultivated 
in  those  early  days.  Improvements,  however,  have  not  only 
been  made  in  the  methods  of  cultivating  the  soil ;  but  also 
in  intercourse  with  other  parts'of  the  world,  Railroads  now 
form  a  net-work  upon  the  surface  of  the  Nation  and  have 
supplanted  the  slow  stage  coach  ;  and  where  travel  was  form- 
erly guided  by  "points,"  broad  highways  now  lead  the  travel 
past  fertile  farms,  with  their  comfortable  homes  and  spacious 
barns,  fields  teeming  with  golden  grain,  or  dotted  with  herds 
of  cattle,  horses  and  sheep  ;  and  into  pleasant  villages,  where 
industry,  comfort  and  wealth  abound.  The  broad  prairies 
and  dense  forests  have  yielded  to  man,  and  from  a  state  of 
nature  have  now  become  the  homes  of  millions  of  intelli- 
gent human  beings.  And  to  whom  are  we  indebted  for  this 
wondrous  transformation  ?  We  answer,  to  the  pioneer,  who 
left  the  comfort  of  a  home,  the  associations  of  relatives,  and 
who  with  family  penetrated  the  forests  and  with  sturdy 
blows  and  days  of  lonely  toil  changed  the  face  of  nature 
from  one  vast  wilderuerness  to  improved  farms,   whose  oc- 


cupants are  the  masters  of  the  nation ;  and  supply  the  food 
for  the  whole  world. 

But  a  day  of  still  greater  brightness  dawns  for  these  coun- 
ties ;  their  soil  is  fertile,  their  climate  healthful ;  their  tim- 
ber is  plentiful  and  of  good  quality,  and  their  store  of  fuel 
almost  inexhaustible;  their  markets  are  near  and  easily  ac- 
cessible ;  their  citizens  moral  and  industrious,  and  the 
voice  of  the  schoolmaster  is  heard  in  the  land.  All 
elements  of  greatness  are  at  hand.  These  counties  have  pro- 
duced great  men,  whose  voices  heard  amid  the  din  of  con- 
flict, have  given  courage  and  hope  in  the  contest,  or  when 
heard  in  legislative  councils  have  commanded  attention. 
They  shall  yet  produce  the  poet  and  scholar  whose  "  words 
shall  fire  men's  hearts  till  the  world's  mad  race  be  run.  " 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


CIVIL  HISTORY. 


SCHUYLER  COUNTY. 


HE  county  of  Schuyler  was  organized  in 
January,  1825.  Its  territory  bad  been 
previously  included  in  the  counties  of 
Pike  and  Fulton.  As  or'ginally  formed 
the  county  also  embraced  what  is  now 
Brown  county.  The  latti  r  county  was 
created  in  February,  1839. 

The  name  of  Schuyler  was  bestowed 
on  the  county  in  honor  of  Gen.  Philip  Schuyler,  a  gallant 
soldier  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  born  at 
Albany,  New  York,  in  the  year  1733.  He  was  a  delegate 
to  the  Continental  Congress  in  1775.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  war  for  Independence  he  was  commissioned  a  major- 
general,  and  placed  in  command  of  the  army  in  New  York. 
Becoming  ill,  his  command  subsequently  devolved  on  Gen. 
Montgomery.  Schuyler  conducted  the  operations  in  New 
York  against  the  British  General  Burgoyne,  but  was  super- 
seded by  Gates.  His  conduct  was  afterward  investigated  by 
a  court  of  inquiry,  and  fully  approved.  He,  however,  re- 
fused to  resume  command,  though  he  continued  to  render 
important  military  services.  He  was  justly  honored  by  the 
State  of  New  York  which  he  represented  in  the  United 
States  Senate  from  1789  to  1791.  His  death  occurred  in 
1801. 
The  act  organizing  Schuyler  county  reads  as  follows  : 
An  Act  forming  new  counties  out  of  the  counties  of  Pike 
and  Fulton,  and  the  attached  parts  thereof. 

Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  That  all  that  tract  of 
country  within  the  following  boundaries,  to  wit:  Beginning 
at  the  place  where  the  township  line  between  townships  two 
and  three,  south,  touches  the  Illinois  river ;  thence  west  on 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS 


79 


said  line,  to  the  range  line  between  ranges  four  and  five  west ; 
thence  north  on  said  range  line  to  the  northwest  corner  of 
township  three  north,  range  four  west ;  «thence  east  on  said 
township  line  to  the  meridian  ;  thence  down  the  said  meridian 
line  to  the  southeast  corner  of  township  three  north,  range 
one  west ;  thence  east  on  said  township  line  to  the  Illinois 
river  ;  and  thence  down  the  said  river  to  the  place  of  begin- 
ning, shall  constitute  a  county,  to  be  called  the  county  of 
Schuyler. 

Sec.  9.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  presiding  judge  of  the  circuit  in  which  the  copnties  of 
Adams  and  Schuyler  are  situated,  to  grant  an  order  for 
the  election  of  county  officers,  naming  the  day  for  said  elec- 
tion, the  judges,  and  the  description  of  officers  to  be  elected, 
which  day  shall  be  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  in  July 
next,  and  after  the  election  of  said  county,  officers,  the  coun- 
ties of  Adams  and  Schuyler  shall  be  entitled  to  the  same 
rights  and  privileges  as  other  counties  are. 

Sec  10.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  for  the  county  of 
Schuyler,  John  Adams,  Stephen  Olmstead,  and  James  Dun- 
woody,  of  Morgan  county,  *  *  *  *  be  and  they  are 
hereby  appointed  commissioners  to  select  the  permanent  seat 
of  justice  for  said  county,  who  shall  meet  in  the  county  of 
Schuyler,  at  the  house  of  Calvin  Hobart,  on  the  first  Monday 
of  April  next,  or  within  seven  days  thereafter,  and  after 
taking  and  subscribing  an  oath  before  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
to  locate  the  said  seat  of  justice  for  the  future  convenience 
and  accommodation  of  the  people,  shall  proceed  to  fix  and 
determine  upon  the  same,  and  the  place  so  selected  *  *  * 
shall  be  the  permanent  seat  of  justice  of  the  same,  and  the 
commissioners  shall  forthwith  make  out  a  copy  of  their  pro- 
ceedings and  file  them  in  the  office  of  the  recorder  of  Pike 
county,  and  the  said  commissioners  shall  receive  for  their 
compensation  the  sum  of  two  dollars  a  day  for  each  day  by 
them  spent  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  and  for  going 
and  returning  from  the  same,  to  be  paid  out  of  the  first 
money  in  the  County  Treasury  after  the  same  shall  be  organ- 
ized. 

Sec.  11.  Be  it  further  enacted,  ******** 
That  all  that  tract  of  country  north  of  the  counties  of  Schuy- 
ler and  Hancock,  and  west  of  the  fourth  principal  meridian, 
shall  be  attached  to  the  county  of  Schuyler,  for  all  county 
purposes  until  otherwise  provided  for  by  law.  Provided 
however,  That  when  it  shall  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
judge  of  the  circuit  court  that  any  of  the  above  named  coun- 
ties shall  contain  three  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants,  he  is 
hereby  required  to  grant  an  order  for  the  election  of  county 
officers  as  described  in  the  ninth  section  of  this  act. 

Sec.  12.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  several  counties 
created  by  this  act  shall  belong  to  the  first  judicial  circuit, 
and  vote  for  Senator  and  Representative  as  heretofore.  And 
whenever  any  of  the  above-named  counties  shall  be  organ- 
ised, the  Governor  shall  appoint  all  the  necessary  officers,  as 
in  cases  of  vacancy,  by  resignation  or  otherwise. 
Approved  January  13,  1825. 

the  seat  of  justice. 
The  act  organizing  the  county  appointed  John  Adams, 


Stephen  Olmstead,  and  James  Dunwoody,  of  Morgan  coun- 
ty, commissioners  to  locate  the  seat  of  justice.  These  com- 
missioners selected  a  location  about  a  mile  west  of  the 
present  village  of  Pleasant  View.  Here  the  first  election  in 
the  county  was  held  on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1825.  James 
Vance,  Cornelius  Vandeventerand  Abraham  Carlock,  were 
judges,  and  Hart  Fellows  and  Jonathan  D.  Manlove,  clerks. 
At  the  first  meeting  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners 
the  name  of  Beardsto wn  was  given  to  the  place.  John  Adams, 
for  his  services  in  locating  the  seat  of  justice,  and  transmit- 
ting the  returns  thereof  to  the  recorder  of  Pike  county,  was 
allowed  twenty-eight  dollars.  Stephen  Olmstead  was  paid 
twenty-two  dollars. 

The  location  of  the  county  seat  not  being  satisfactory  the 
passage  of  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  was  procured  by 
which  Levin  Green,  Thomas  Blair,  and  Benjamin  Chadsey, 
citizens  of  the  county,  were  commissioned  to  select  a  new 
seat  of  justice,  on  the  twentie  thof  February,  1826 ;  they  se- 
lected the  present  site  of  Rushville,  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  30,  township  two  north,  range  one  west.  The  follow- 
ing is  their  report ; 
To  the  Honorable  County  Commissioners  of  Schuyler  County: 

We,  the  undersigned  commissioners,  appointed  by  an 
Act  of  the  General  Assembly  to  locate  a  permanent  seat  of 
justice  for  Schuyler  county,  do  certify  that  after  having 
been  duly  sworn  before  James  Vance,  Esq.,  we  proceeded  to 
view  the  county  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  and  have  located 
the  same  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  thirty,  township 
two  north,  range  one  west.  Given  under  our  hands  this  20th 
day  of  February,  1826.     Signed, 

Levin  Green, 
Thomas  Blair, 
B.  Chadsey. 

The  County  Commissioners  at  once  directed  that  this 
permanent  seat  of  justice  should  be  known  and  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  Rushton.  Thomas  McKee  was  authorized 
to  employ  a  skillful  surveyor  to  lay  off  the  town.  It  was 
directed  that  one  tier  of  ten  acre  lots  on  the  east  side  of  the 
quarter  section  should  be  divided  into  two  five  acre  lots  each, 
and  ninety-six  lots  agreeable  to  a  plan  in  the  hands  of  the 
said  McKee,  drawn  by  Samuel  Horney,  and  approved  by  the 
court. 

The  name  of  Rushton  had  been  chosen  in  honor  of  Dr. 
James  Rush,  a  distinguished  physician  of  Philadelphia. 
This  name,  probably  on  euphonious  grounds,  was  changed  on 
the  twenty-fourth  of  April,  1826,  to  that  of  Rushville. 

A  public  sale  of  lots  was  ordered  to  take  place  on  the 
fourth  day  of  July,  1826,  and  the  clerk  of  the  court  was 
directed  to  have  an  advertisement  of  the  sale  published  for 
six  successive  weeks  in  the  columns  of  the  Edwardsville 
Spectator,  at  that  time  the  leading  journal  in  the  State. 

David  E.  Blair  was  sent  to  Springfield,  where  the  land 
office  then  was,  and  secured  a  patent,  on  behalf  of  the  county, 
to  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  thirty.  For  this  service 
the  records  show  that  he  was  paid  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents. 
After  procuring  a  patent  the  county  commissioners  sold  the 
east  half  of  the  quarter  to  Jacob  White  for  the  sura  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 


80 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


In  June,  1826,  appears  an  order  of  the  county  commis- 
sioners, requiring  the  county  surveyor  "  to  survey  the  pub- 
lic square,  the  lots  on  the  southwest  square  of  the  intersec- 
tion of  D  and  Fourth  streets,  and  four  ten  acre  lota  on  the 
west  side  of  the  quarter  section  on  which  the  town  of  Rush- 
ville  is  located,  and  no  more,  any  order  of  court  heretofore  ' 
issued  notwithstanding." 

A  subsequent  sale  of  lots  in  Rushville  was  ordered  for  the 
thirteenth  of  October,  1826,  another  for  the  first  day  of  the 
May  term  of  the  Circuit  Court,  1827.     The  county  clerk  was 
authorized  to  execute  bonds  to  a  number  of  persons  who   i 
purchased  lots  on  the  seventh  of  June,  1828,  upon  the  pur 
chasers  executing  their  notes  to  the  county  with  approved 
security.     September,  1828,  the  fractions  belonging  to  the   : 
town  tract  on  the  north,  east,  and  south,  were  directed  to  be   , 
surveyed  and  a  plat  thereof  returned   to  the  county  com- 
missioners' court.     At  the  same  date  the  clerk  was  directed 
to  give  public  notice  that  another  sale  of  lots  would  be  held 
at  the  court-house  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  1828., 
Notice  was  also  given  that  all  persons  indebted  for  lots, 
whose  notes  were  then  due,  should  make  payment  to  the 
county  clerk,  on  or  before  the  twenty-third  day  of  next  Oc 
tober,  or  the  notes  would  be  "  left  for  collection." 

The  commissioners  seem  to  have  been  anxious  to  get  the 
town  lots  off  their  hands.  Another  sale  was  ordered  for  the 
third  Saturday  in  February,  1829.  The  county  surveyor 
was  authorized  to  survey  the  fraction  on  the  east  side  of  the 
town  into  lots,  provided  they  would  perform  the  work  for 
twenty-five  cents  a  lot.  Announcement  was  made  that  the 
county  would  be  ready  to  execute  deeds  to  purchasers  of 
town  lots  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  December,  1828,  at  the 
court-house  in  Rushville.  Another  sale  of  lots  was  ordered 
for  the  second  Monday  of  June,  1829,  and  the  clerk  of  the 
court  was  directed  to  give  notice  that  unless  parties  already 
indebted  for  the  purchase  of  lots  paid  up,  their  notes  would  , 
be  "  put  in  suit."  On  the  second  of  Juue,  1829,  Hart  Fel- 
lows was  appointed  a  commissioner  with  full  power  (under 
the  directions  of  the  county  commissioners'  court)  to  sell 
and  convey  all  public  lots  in  the  town  of  Rushville,  except 
such  as  shall  be  reserved  from  sale  by  the  court.  Lot  one, 
in  block  one,  had  already  been  set  apart  in  December,  1826, 
as  a  site  for  the  school-house 

For  surveying  eighty-two  lots  in  Rushville,  Jonathan  D 
Manlove,  the  couDty  surveyor,  was  allowed  in  December, 
1826,  twenty-dollars  and  fifty  cents,  twenty-five  cents  for 
each  lot.  Gamaliel  Hill,  Henry  Green,  Levin  Green,  Ja- 
cob Fowler,  and  Isaac  Fowler,  were  at  the  same  time  allowed 
sums  varying  from  forty-three  cents  to  a  dollar  for  carrying 
chain  and  driving  stakes  while  assisting  in  the  survey.  The 
lots  seem  to  have  been  a  constant  source  of  expense.  The 
allowances  by  the  county  commissioners  for  assisting  in  the 
survey  and  sale  of  lots,  are  numerous.  In  June,  1829,  the 
county  surveyor  was  employed  to  make  a  new  survey  by 
which  the  streets  were  reduced  to  a  width  of  eighty  feet. 
The  ten-feet  taken  off  each  side  of  the  streets  was  attached 
to  the  adjoining  lots.  All  the  fractions  were  surveyed  into 
blocks,  except  the  portion  on  the  east  side  which  was  sur- 
veyed into  lots.     There  is  an  allowance  of  nineteen  dollars 


and  fifty  cents  to  William  P.  Manlove  for  surveying  one 
hundred  and  four  lots,  and  the  usual  stipends  to  assistants 
for  carrying  the  chain  and  driving  stakes. 

The  County  Commissioners  directed  on  the  23d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1829,  that  the  county  surveyor  should  be  employed  to 
ascertain  the  exact  center  of  the  public  square,  and  to  stake 
the  ground  for  the  foundation  of  the  proposed  new  court- 
hou-e,  forty-two  feet  square.  The  surveyor,  William  P. 
Manlove,  was  paid  seventy-five  cents  for  this  work,  on  the 
same  date  that  John  Ritchey  was  authorized  to  purchase 
from  Abraham  Louderback  one  or  two  acres  of  land,  in  some 
suitable  and  convenient  place  near  Rushville,  for  a  burying 
ground.  Two  acres  of  land  were  accordingly  purchased. 
This  old  burying  ground  has  expanded  into  the  present 
beautiful  cemetery  in  the  suburbs  of  Rushville. 

The  inhabitants  of  Rushville  on  the  10th  of  May,  1831, 
voted  to  incorporate  the  town  ;  twenty  votes  being  cast,  all 
in  the  affirmative.  John  Mitchell,  I.  J.  C.  Smith,  William 
McCreery,  John  Scripps,  and  BeDJamin  V.  Feel  were  elected 
town  trustees. 

PUBLIC    BUILDINGS. 

The  location  of  the  seat  of  justice  having  been  definitely 
fixed  upon,  the  next  step  was  the  erection  of  a  suitable  build- 
ing for  the  accommodation  of  the  public  officers.  The  county 
commissioners  had  held  their  first  sessions  at  the  house  of 
Jacob  White,  and  the  first  circuit  court  convened  in  the 
cabin  of  Samuel  Turner  at  Beardstown,  the  original  county 
seat,  near  Pleasant  View. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  1826,  the  county  commissioners  di- 
rected the  clerk  of  the  court  to  give  public  notice  that  the 
building  of  a  court-house  would  be  let  out  to  the  lowest  bid- 
der on  the  following  4th  day  of  July.  The  plan  specified 
that  the  building  should  be  twenty-two  feet  long,  eighteen  fett 
wide,  one  story  and  a  half  in  height,  with  two  good  floors, 
and  a  good  and  sufficient  chimney.  This  building  was  con- 
structed in  the  fall  of  the  year  1826,  aud  stood  on  the  north 
side  of  the  public  square.  It  was  built  of  logs,  and  its  ap- 
pearance was  very  humble  in  comparison  with  the  handsome 
edifice  which  the  county  has  lately  erected  for  its' use.  On 
the  east  side  of  the  square  the  clerk's  office  was  built  in  1829 
by  James  Power.  The  lathing  and  plastering  were  done  by 
Alexander  Hollingsworth.  It  is  described  in  the  order  di- 
recting the  contract  to  be  let  as  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet  in 
dimensions,  and  ten  feet  high.  Its  front  was  adorned  by  a 
porch  six  feet  in*width.  An  "L"  extended  back  eight  feet 
square.  There  were  to  be  two  doors,  and  four  windows  with 
twelve  lights  each,  and  a  good  brick  chimney. 

By  order  of  the  county  commissioners,  September  3, 1827, 
lot  number  one  in  block  thirteen,  was  reserved  for  a  jail  and 
stray  pen,  and  a  jail  was  directed  to  be  built  fifteen  feet 
square,  and  a  stray  pen  forty  feet  square.  David  Manlove 
agreed  to  build  the  stray  pen  for  nine  dollars  and  fifty  cents, 
and  to  complete  it  by  the  15th  of  April,  1828.  Not  carry- 
ing out  his  agreement,  Elisha  Kellogg  was  given  the  con- 
tract, and  the  time  for  its  completion  was  extended  to  the 
10th  of  May.  In  making  the  contract  for  the  door  of  the 
jail,  the  commissioners  gave  very  particular  specifications. 
They  directed  the  two  thicknesses  of  seasoned  oak  plank  one 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


81 


inch  and  a  quarter  thick,  should  be  laid  across  each  other, 
and  spiked  together  with  broad-headed  spikes,  driven  within 
three  inches  of  each  other ;  said  spikes  to  be  driven  through 
and  clinched.  This  door  was  hung  on  two  iron  hinges,  the 
strap  part  of  which  to  be  half  an  inch  thick  and  two 
inches  wide,  and  to  extend  across  the  door.  The  outer  door 
was  to  be  made  of  like  materials  and  in  similar  manner. 
The  inner  door  was  a  trap  door,  or  hatchway,  in  the  upper 
floor,  through  which  the  prisoners  were  passed.  Joel  Tullis 
was  the  maker  of  these  doors,  and  received  in  compensation 
forty-three  dollars.  For  building  the  jail,  Isaac  Linder  was 
paid  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

The  small  dimensions  of  the  old  court-house  on  the  north 
side  of  the  square  made  it  unfit  for  the  public  use,  and  the 
county  authorities  determined  on  the  erection  of  a  new  and 
more  commodious  building.  On  the#4th  day  of  July,  1829, 
contracts,  were  made  for  building  a  new  court-house.  William 
McCreery  agreed  to  construct  the  foundation  for  the  sum  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty  five  dollars,  and  to  complete  it  on 
or  before  the  15th  day  of  the  succeeding  December.  The 
contract  for  the  brick-work  and  for  enclosing  the  building 
was  made  with  Benjamin  Chadsey.  Hart  Fellows  were  ap- 
pointed to  superintend  the  building,  and  was  required  to 
report  from  time  to  time  to  the  county  commissioners  as  he 
might  be  required  or  deem  expedient.  On  the  16th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1830,  the  county  commissioners  accepted  the  found- 
ation as  constructed  by  William  McCreery,  and  paid  him 
one  hundred  dollars  for  extra  work.  On  the  7th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1831,  Hart  Fellows  was  appointed  agent  to  contract 
for  the  furnishing  of  a  floor,  and  for  doing  such  other  work 
as  might  be  required  to  render  the  building^ ready  for  occu- 
pancy by  the  October  term  of  the  circuit  court.  On  the  1st 
day  of  October,  1831,  the  county  commissioners  received  the 
court-house  as  built  by  Benjamin  Chadsey,  and  pronounced 
"  the  same  as  being  completed  agreeable  to  contract."  Mr. 
Chadsey  received  two  thousand  and  fifty  dollars.  The  build- 
ing was  constructed  in  a  substantial  and  economical  manner, 
at  the  cost  of  nogreat  expenditure  and  the  county  had  a  court- 
house which  gave  good  service  for  a  half  a  century.  Its  ap- 
pearance now  is  not  attractive  nor  imposing,  but  in  that  day 
of  small  things  the  structure  was  considered  an  ornament  to 
the  town  and  an  honor  to  the  county.  It  has  outlived  the  period 
of  its  usefulness,  and  is  now  succeeded  by  a  more  elegant  and 
costly  edifice.  William  McCreery,  who  constructed  the  founda- 
tion, was  the  first  victim  with  the  cholera  in  1834  Mr.  Chad- 
sey, who  built  the  superstructure  is  still  living  in  the  county. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  December,  1829,  the  county  com- 
missioners appropriated  the  sum  of  forty  dollars  and  fifty 
cents  for  the  purchase  of  furniture  for  the  clerk's  office. 
The  articles  included  half  a  dozen  common  chairs,  one  com- 
mon table,  one  press  for  books  and  papers,  and  four  window 
shutters.  An  allowance  of  one  dollar  and  eighty-seven 
cents  was  also  made  to  Major  Fellows,  the  clerk,  on  account 
of  one  pair  of  fire  dogs,  furnished  for  the  clerk's  office.  John 
Ritchey  made  an  agreement  with  the  court  on  the  same  day 
to  enclose  the  lot  on  which  the  clerk's  office  stood,  with  posts 
and  rails  and  paling,  for  the  sum  of  nineteen  dollars  eighty- 
seven  and  a  half  cents. 
*11 


The  county  commissioners,  on  the  eleventh  of  March, 
1837,  directed  that  a  notice  be  published  in  the  Rushville 
"Journal,"  that  sealed  proposals  would  be  received  by  the 
county  for  building  a  new  jail,  twenty-four  by  twenty-six 
feet  in  dimensions,  and  two  stories  in  height.  The  old  jail 
must  have  been  very  weak,  for  there  are  numerous  allow- 
ances made  for  guarding  it,  one  for  thirty-seven  days  and 
nights.  Alexander  Penney  was  the  successful  contractor. 
The  outside  was  described  in  the  specifications  as  eighteen 
inches  in  thickness,  with  an  inside  wall  of  timber,  ten  inches 
thick.  The  hall  was  to  be  eight  feet  in  width  by  sixteen  in 
length  ;  the  jailer's  room  eighteen  by  fifteen  feet ;  the  kitchen 
eighteen  by  eleven  ;  and  each  story  ten  feet  in  height.  Its 
cost  was  four  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  It  was  com- 
pleted in  1838.  January  twenty-second,  1839,  Penney 
agreed  to  furnish  locks  for  the  doors,  four  padlocks  for  the 
cell  door,  and  one  for  the  debtor's  room  ;  to  lay  two  floors,  to 
clean  out  the  well,  and  do  other  additional  work,  for  one 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  There  was  some  misunderstand- 
ing about  this,  though  there  had  been  none  about  the 
larger  contract  for  the  erection  of  the  building.  Penney  re- 
fused to  give  up  the  keys  till  paid,  and  the  services  of  two 
disinterested  carpenters  were  called  in  to  appraise  the  addi- 
tional work  done,  and  make  an  adjustment  of  the  difficulty. 

All  through  the  records  are  items  of  appropriations  for 
repairs  to  jail  and  court-house,  for  the  construction  offences, 
the  laying  of  walks,  and  a  number  of  other  things  considered 
necessary  for  the  convenience  of  the  people  and  the  proper 
care  of  the  public  property.  In  March,  1837,  John  Brown 
was  allowed  three  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  bronzing  the 
ball  on  the  spire  of  the  court-house.  A  new  roof  was  placed 
on  the  court-house  in  1838,  and  the  interior  was  lathed  and 
plastered.  June,  1841,  the  commissioners  let  a  contract  to 
Ebenezer  Grist  and  Alexander  Campbell  to  fence  the  public 
square  with  a  good  substantial  plank  fence.  The  enclosure 
was  sown  with  grass  seed  in  June,  1842.  In  1846  there  is 
an  allowance  of  twelve  dollars  for  whitewashing  the  court 
house  fence  and  painting  the  gates.  Sixty  dollars  were  paid 
in  1848  for  a  fence  around  the  jail  lot,  and  in  1849,  sixteen 
dollars  was  appropriated  for  laying  a  walk  from  the  court- 
house to  the  south  side  of  the  public  square.  The  sheriff, 
in  September,  1854,  was  prohibited  from  letting  the  court 
house  for  any  show  or  exhibition  where  an  admission  fee  was 
collected,  but  was  authorized  to  give  the  use  of  the  building, 
without  charge,  for  religious  services,  political  meetings,  and 
free  public  addresses. 

The  grand  jury  at  the  October  term,  1855,  reported  the 
comfort  and  heathfulness  of  the  jail,  built  in  1838,  to  be  sat- 
isfactory, but  that  its  strength  was  not  sufficient  for  the  safe 
confinement  of  prisoners.  On  the  fifteenth  of  July,  1856, 
the  board  of  supervisors,  ordered  that  proposals  for  building 
a  new  jail  be  advertised  for.  January  seventeenth,  1857,  a 
contract  was  made  with  Jeremiah  Stumm  for  the  construc- 
tion of  a  jail  after  the  plans  drawn  by  a  committee  appoint- 
ed by  the  board,  Stumm  to  have  the  material  of  the  old 
jail,  and  to  receive  beside,  the  sum  of  $6,445.00,  of  which  two 
thousand  dollars  were  payable,  March  the  sixteenth,  1857, 
and  the  balance  at  diffierent  stages  of  the  progress  of  the 


82 


HISTROY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


work.  The  jail  was  built  iu  a  satifactory  manner,  and  is 
now  the  one  in  use. 

In  1869,  a  handsome  building  was  erected  on  the  poor 
farm.  The  old  court-house,  built  in  1831,  had  been  by  con- 
stant use  for  nearly  half  a  century  before  any  active  steps 
were  taken  toward  the  erection  of  a  more  modern  and  com- 
modious building.  The  first  movement  in  the  matter  by  the 
board  of  supervisors  was  made  in  September,  1877,  when  a 
minority  report  of  the  finance  committee  was  made,  recom- 
mending a  levy  of  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  a  new  court-house.  This  recommendation  was  re- 
jected, as  was  also  a  resolution  offered  two  years  later,  that 
the  board  of  supervisors  take  steps  toward  building  a  court- 
house, whose  cost  should  not  exceed  forty  thousand  dollars, 
and  that  one-third  of  this  amount  should  be  included  in  the 
tax  levy  for  the  year  1879.  On  the  sixteenth  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1880,  the  board  of  supervisors  passed  the  following 
resolution  by  a  vote  of  seven  to  six : 

"  Resolved,  That  in  consideration  of  the  bad  condition  of 
the  court-house  in  the  county  of  Schuyler,  and  State  of 
Illinois,  that  we,  the  supervisors  of  the  aforesaid  county  and 
State,  take  action  at  the  present  term  of  this  board  to  build 
a  new  court  house,  to  stand  where  the  old  court-house  now 
stands,  the  cost  not  to  exceed  forty  thousand  dollars,  one- 
third  of  that  amount  to  be  levied  on  the  taxable  property 
of  said  county  for  the  year  1880,  and  the  balance  in  two 
equal  instalments  for  the  years  1881  and  1882,  and  the 
county  clerk  be  instructed  to  extend  the  first  instalment  of 
813.333.34  on  the  tax  books  for  the  year  1880  " 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  obtain  plans  for  the  build- 
ing, and  on  the  seventeenth  of  December,  18S0,  the  plan  of 
the  court  house  at  Monroe,  Michigan,  was  adopted,  and  a 
committee  appointed  to  enter  into  a  contract  with  Thomas 
Keegan,  of  that  place,  for  the  construction  of  the  building. 
The  selection  of  a  location  was  reserved,  and  the  committee 
requested  to  ascertain  what  the  citizens  of  Rushville  would 
propose  "  in  the  matter  of  a  location  for  the  building  " 
John  C  Bagby,  W.  H.  H.  Rader,  Johu  Glaudon,  William 
Bader,  and  Edwin  M.  Anderson,  were  appointed  a  building 
committee.  A  satisfactory  contract  was  made  with  Thomas 
Keegan,  who  gave  a  bond  approved  by  the  county  clerK  of 
Monroe  county,  Michigan.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1881,  the  action  of  the  board  fixing  the  location  on 
the  site  of  the  old  court-house  was  rescinded,  and  what  was 
known  as  the  Beatty  corner,  at  the  southwest  angle  of  the 
public  square,  comprising  lots  one  and  two  of  blockten  of 
the  original  plat  of  Rushville,  was  selected  as  the  location  of 
the  new  structure.  Of  the  three  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars paid  for  the  lots,  half  are  paid  by  the  county.  The  cor- 
poration of  Rushville  agreed  to  pay  one  thousand  dollars, 
and  private  individuals  agreed  to  raise  the  remaining  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  February  twenty-fourth,  1881, 
the  board  agreed  to  lease  the  public  square,  the  site  of  the 
old  court-house,  to  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  town  of  Rush- 
ville, to  be  kept  and  used  as  a  public  park  for  the  use  of  the 
people  of  the  county,  and  to  be  kept  by  the  town  authorities 
enclosed,  and  in  a  good  condition  for  that  purpose.  This 
lease  was  not  to  take  effect  until  the  new  court  house  should 


be  finished  and  occupied.  The  county  agreed  to  remove  the 
old  court-house  from  the  square.  The  sum  of  eight  thousand 
dollars  was  borrowed  in  September,  1881,  in  anticipation  of 
the  tax  levy  for  the  year,  in  order  to  push  the  work  forward 
as  fast  as  practicable.  The  contract  price  for  the  erection 
of  the  building  was  thirty-six  thousand  dollars,  one  instal- 
ment to  be  paid  on  or  before  March  fifteenth,  1881 ;  the  sec- 
ond, one  year  later,  and  the  third,  in  March,  1883.  The 
court-house  was  completed  iu  the  summer  of  1882,  and  the 
county  has  now  a  commodious  and  handsome  building  in 
which  to  transact  the  public  business. 

COUNTY   GOVERNMENT. 

The  management  of  the  county  affairs  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  county  up  to  the  first  day  of  December,  1849,  was 
in  the  hands  of  boards  of  county  commissioners.  From 
December,  1849,  to  September,  1854,  a  county  court  held 
the  reins  of  government.  In  1854,  township  organization 
was  adopted,  and  boards  of  supervisors  have  since  been 
annually  elected. 

THE   FIRST   BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS, 

Elected  on  the  fourth  of  July,  1825,  was  composed  of 
Thomas  McKee,  Samuel  Horney,  and  Thomas  Blair.  Con- 
cerning their  first  session  the  records  have  the  following 
entry : 

Be  it  remembered  that  the  county  of  Schuyler  having 
been  established  by  an  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  and  Thomas  Blair,  Thomas  McKee,  and 
Samuel  Horney,  having  been  duly  elected  County  Commis- 
sioners of  said  County,  and  having  taken  the  several  oaths 
before  Hart  Fellows,  Esq.,  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  for 
said  County,  thereupon  a  special  term  of  the  County  Com- 
missioners' Court  for  the  County  of  Schuyler  is  begun  and 
held  at  Beardstown,  the  seat  of  Justice  for  said  County,  on 
the  seventh  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen 
hundred  and  twenty-five. 

Present,  Thomas  McKee, 
Samuel  Horney, 
Thomas  Blair, 

County  Commissioners. 

John  B.  Terry  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  court,  and  took 
in  open  court  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  also  the  oath 
required  by  the  "Act  to  suppress  Duelling,"  and  having 
filed  his  bond  on  which  Nathan  Eels  was  security,  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  his  office. 

The  seat  of  justice  for  the  county,  as  located  by  John 
Adams,  Stephen  Olmstead,  and  James  Dunwoody,  was 
named  Beardstown. 

Hart  Fellows,  James  Vance,  and  Willis  O'Neal  were 
recommended  to  the  Governor  as  suitable  persons  to  fill  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace. 

After  ordering  a  venire  of  grand  jurors  to  be  summoned 
the  court  adjourned  to  the  twenty-second  of  the  same  month. 

At  the  session  on  the  twenty -second  of  July,  Jacob  White 
was  allowed  seventy-five  cents  a  day  for  the  use  of  his  house 


COUNTY     BUI  LD  I  NGS  ,    SCHUYLER     C  0.,  I LLI N  O  I  S  . 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


83 


as  a  court-house  on  the  seventh  and  twenty-second  days  of 
July,  1825.  This  order  was  the  first  ever  drawn  on  the 
treasury  of  the  county. 

On  the  petition  of  "  sundry  inhabitants"  the  First  School 
District  was  organized  with  the  following  bounds :  Begin- 
ning at  the  northeast  corner  of  section  four,  in  township 
two,  north,  range  one,  west ;  thence  west  to  the  northwest 
corner  of  section  one,  township  two  north,  range  two  west ; 
thence  south  to  the  southwest  corner  of  section  thirty-six  ; 
thence  east  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  thirty-three  ; 
thence  north  to  the  place  of  beginning. 

William  H.  Taylor  was  appointed  commissioner  to  take 
the  census  of  the  county. 

Jacob  White  and  Joel  Pennington  were  appointed  con- 
stables. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board  of  county  commission- 
ers on  the  fifth  of  September,  1825,  Riggs  Pennington  and 
Nathan  Eels  were  appointed  overseers  of  the  poor,  and 
Samuel  Gooch,  John  Ritchey  and  Jonathan  Reno  fence 
viewers.  The  first  ward  in  the  county,  Elizabeth  Spivy  was 
placed  under  the  guardianship  of  James  Vance.  A  petition 
was  received  asking  that  a  road  be  establised  from  Beard's 
Ferry  on  the  Illinois  river,  to  Beardstown,  the  county  seat, 
thence  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  sixteen,  township 
two  north,  range  one  west.  Ephraim  Eggleston,  Jonathan 
Reno  and  Levin  Green  were  appointed  viewers  of  said 
route,  and  were  ordered  to  report  at  the  next  session  of  the 
court. 

At  the  next  session  of  the  county  commissioners'  court,  on 
the  3d  of  November,  1825,  a  tavern  license  was  granted  to 
Orris  McCartney,  the  first  given  in  the  county.  For  this 
license  three  dollars  was  paid  into  the  county  treasury 
for  the  use  of  the  county,  and  one  dollar  to  the  clerk  of 
the  court.  McCartney  was  allowed  to  ask  the  following 
charges. 

For  diet,  per  meal 18|  cents 

Horse  keeping,  per  night ,  ....  25       " 

Horse  Feed •  .   .    .    .  12J     " 

Lodging 6}     " 

\Vhiskey,  per  half  pint 12}     " 

»*  ""'*.••.  61     li 

Foreign  spirits,  per  half  pint 25      " 

gill 12}    " 

Cider,  Metheglin,  or  Beer 12}" 

On  the  5th  of  December,  1825,  the  county  commissioners 
again  met,  and  having  received  the  report  on  the  proposed 
road  from  Beard's  Ferry  to  the  seat  of  justice,  thence  to  the 
southeast  corner  of  section  sixteen,  it  was  ordered  that  the 
route  should  be  considered  a  public  highway.  For  survey- 
ing it  Levin  Green  and  Ephraim  Eggleston  were  allowed 
one  dollar  each.  Jonathan  Reno  was  appointed  supervisor 
of  said  road,  and  was  instructed  to  open  it  and  render  it  pas- 
sable, with  authority  to  employ  all  persons  living  in  the  First 
Road  district.  The  first  road  district  was  comprised  in  the 
following  bounds :  Beginning  on  the  Illinois  river  at  the 
above  line  ;  thence  along  said  river  to  the  mouth  of  Sugar 
creek;  thence  with  the  main  branch  of  said  creek  to  the 
county  line;  thence  along  said  line  to  the  county  of  Adams  ; 


thence  south  along  said  line  to  the  base  line ;  thence  along 
said  base  line  to  the  place  of  beginning.  It  was  directed 
that  such  persons  who  failed  to  work  on  the  "  before  men- 
tioned highway  "should  pay  seventy-five  cents  for  each  and 
every  day's  work  assessed  to  them. 

Riggs  Pennington,  Nathan  Eels,  and  David  E.  Blair 
were  appointed  judges  of  elections.  James  Vance  seems 
soon  to  have  tired  of  his  responsibility  as  guardian  of  Eliza- 
beth Spivy,  for  he  was  released  from  his  guardianship,  and 
the  clerk  directed  to  return  his  bond.  Levin  Green  sup- 
plied his  place  and  gave  bond  for  fifty  dollars.  Cornelius, 
Vandeveuter,  Thomas  McKee,  Jesse  Bartlett,  and  Levin 
Green  were  recommended  as  suitable  persons  for  justices  of 
the  peace,  John  P.  Terry  forjudge  of  probate,  and  Jonathan 
D.  Manlove  for  county  surveyor.  The  commissioners  made 
an  order  on  the  county  treasury  for  their  attendance  at 
court,  at  the  rate  of  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  a  day,  and 
for  the  clerk  at  the  same  rate,  and  then  brought  their  ses- 
sions to  a  close  for  the  year  1825. 

In  June,  1826,  Riggs  Pennington,  Nathan  Eels,  and 
David  E.  Blair  were  appointed  judges  of  elections  for  the 
county. 

Benjamin  Chadsey,  in  September,  1826,  was  allowed  one 
dollar  and  seventy-five  cents  for  a  ballot-box  furnished  by 
him,  and  Calvin  Hobart  was  allowed  seven  dollars  for  a  coun- 
ty seal,  furnished  on  the  order  of  the  court.  The  order  for 
stationery  for  the  use  of  the  county,  drawn  in  September 
1826,  was  for  the  sum  of  two  dollars. 

Ephraim  Eggleston,  Jacob  White  and  William  McKee 
were  appointed  fence  viewers  March,  1828,  and  Henry  Hills, 
John  Ritchey  and  Philip  Spohnamore  overseers  of  the 
poor. 

Thomas  Blair  was  authorized  to  go  to  Vandalia  and  re- 
ceive out  of  the  state  treasury  the  money  due  the  county 
for  the  year  1827.  For  making  this  trip  he  received  twenty- 
six  dollars. 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1826,  the  county  commissioners 
ordered  that  a  tax  of  one  per  cent,  should  be  assessed  on  all 
taxable  property  within  the  county.  Jesse  Bartlett  was  ap- 
pointed the  overseer,  and  for  his  service  in  assessing  the 
value  of  property  in  the  county,  was  allowed  six  dollars. 
The  taxes  collected  for  this  year  were  one  hundred  and  eigh- 
teen dollars  and  ninety  cents.  A  tax  of  one  per.  cent, 
was  likewise  assessed  in  1827.  David  E  Blair  was  the  as- 
sessor in  1827,  and  was  allowed  seven  dollars  for  seven  days 
services. 

On  March  4th,  1828,  the  following  order  of  taxation  was 
made  by  the  county  commissioners  : 

"  Ordered  that  a  county  tax  of  one-half  (of  one)  per  cent, 
be  levied  on  the  following  described  property,  to  wit: 
On  slaves,  indentured  or  registered  negro  or  m  ulatto  ser- 
vants, on  all  wheel  carriages,  stills  and  distilleries,  on  stock  in 
trade,  on  all  horses,  mules,  mares,  and  asses,  on  all  neat  cat- 
tle, sheep,  goats  and  hogs,  on  watches  with  their  appendages, 
and  clocks." 

The  treasurer  was  required  to  take  a  list  of  "  all  resident 
land,"  subject  to  taxation  in  the  county.  For  making  suit- 
able lists  he  was  allowed  twelve 'dolla  rs. 


84 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


The  followiug  statement  of  the  fiscal  concerns  of  Schuyler 
county  was  made  at  the  December  term  of  the  County  Com- 
•  missioners  Court,  1827 : 

SCHUYLER   COUNTY. 

Cr. 

By  amount  of  county  tax  for  the  year  1826 $118.90 

■        "         *'       specie  received  from  the  State  Treasury  in 

1826  157.50 

By  amount  received  of  Jacob  White  for  E  j  S.  W.  30,  T.  2 

N.E1.W 150.00 

By  amount  received  for  lots  in  the  town  of  Rushville  .    .    .      133  50 
"        "  "  "    fines  assessed  in  the  Circuit  Court  .        21.00 

"        "  "         into  the  treasury  out  of  the  tax  for  the 

year   1827 48.44 

$629.34 
Dr. 
To  amount  of  county  orders  issued  in  1825,  1826  and  1827  .    $467.78 
"    paid  into  "the  land  office  for  theS.  W.  30  T.  2  N. 
R.  1  W 193.60 


§661.38 


Amount  due  on  the  Rushville  town  lots  available  .  §251.25 

"       ''     for  fines  assessed  in  Circuit  Court  .    .  7.00 
Balance  due  on  tax  for  1827  after  deducting  the  7} 

per  cent 27.42 

Amount  in  the  treasury 6.10 


§291.77 


Balance  in  favor  of  the  county,  $259.73. 


The  amount  of  tax  for  the  year  1827  was  884.62  ;  of  this 
amount,  Levin  Green,  the  coroner  and  collector  of  taxes  re- 
turned $5.12  as  delinquent. 

SECOND    BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS.* 

Thomas  McKee,  Samuel  Horney,  Thomas  Davis — 1828- 
1830. 

The  name  of  Thomas  Davis  appears  as  county  commis- 
sioner in  place  of  Thomas  Blair  in  September,  1828.  From 
the  financial  statement  made  in  December,  1828,  it  appears 
that  for  the  year  there  were  issued  county  orders  amounting 
to$391.40i.  Of  these  orders  there  were  outstanding  and 
not  redeemed  $24.00.  The  amount  of  cash  in  the  treasury- 
was  $40.03.  Taxes  due  for  1828,  $21,603.  Due  from  the 
state  treasury,  $275.  Fines  assessed  in  the  Circuit  Court, 
$8.00.     Amount  due  on  Rushville  town  lots,  $307.10J. 

The  financial  statement  made  in  December,  1829,  shows 
that  from  December  first,  1828,  to  December  first,  1829, 
county  orders  were  issued  to  the  amount  of  $505.88.  Of  this 
sum  $413.15  had  been  redeemed.  The  revenue  from  the  State 
for  the  year  was  $375.00.  Amount  of  county  tax  for  the 
year,  $186.02}  ;  amount  of  auditor's  warrants  in  the  treas- 
ury, $75.50  ;  amount  of  specie  received  on  account  of  estrays, 
$55-12;  amount  due  the  county  for  town  lots,  $428,31  i; 

*  Note. — This  division  into  boards  is  not  made  with  reference  to 
the  years,  or  terms,  for  which  the  several  commissioners  were  elected. 
As  long  as  the  commissioners  remain  the  same  in  person  they  are 
considered  for  the  purposes  of  this  chapter,  one  board,  though  in  the 
meantime  one,  or  more,  of  their  number  may  have  been  re-elected. 


making  the  available  income  of  the  county  for  the  year 
$1,119  961.  The  county  treasurer  was  directed  to  receive 
State  paper  and  auditor's  warrants  at  par  in  payment  of  all 
debts  due  the  county  and  to  pay  out  the  same  at  par,  and 
not  otherwise,  but  in  March,  1830,  State  paper  and  auditor's 
warrants,  it  appears  from  the  order  of  the  court,  had  depreci- 
ated eighty-five  cents  on  the  dollar. 

In  the  tax  levy  for  1829  beside  articles  before  enumerated 
as  subject  to  taxation,  town  lots  were  added  to  the  list.  The 
rate  of  taxation  remained  at  one-half  of  one  per  cent. 
Willis  O'Neal  was  the  assessor  for  this  year,  and  was  paid 
eighteen  dollars  for  fourteen  days'  work.  Then,  as  now, 
there  were  complaints  at  the  valuation  made  by  the  assessor. 
On  the  first  of  March,  1830,  Elias  McFadden,hung  for  mur- 
der at  Rushville,  1839,  appeared  before  the  county  commis- 
sioners and  made  oath  that  his  property  listed  for  taxation 
in  Schuyler  county  for  the  year  1829,  was  also  listed  for 
taxation,  for  the  same  year,  in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  where 
he  was  bound  to  pay  the  same.  It  was  thereupon  ordered 
that  the  said  McFadden  be  released  from  the  payment  of 
taxes  for  the  year  1829.  A  tax  of  one-half  of  one  per 
cent,  was  levied  for  the  year  1830. 

THIRD    BOARD  OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

Henrv  Hil!s,  Thomas  Blair,  Samuel  Bogart— 1830- 
1831. 

Willis  O'Neal  was  allowed  thirty-four  dollars  and  fifty 
cents  for  twenty-three  days'  work  in  assessing  the  taxes  of 
1830.  In  September,  1830,  the  commissioners  divided  the 
county  into  eight  districts  for  the  election  of  justices  of  the 
peace.  It  was  ordered  that  the  county  of  McDonough  be 
allowed  to  retain  for  the  benefit  of  said  county  one-half  of 
the  tax  assessed  upon  the  inhabitants  of  said  county  for  the 
year  1830. 

The  fiscal  statements  for  December,  1830,  are  as  follows : 

County  orders  issued  for  the  year §2,397.52 

"        outstanding  December  7, 1829 116.33 

§2,513.85 

"            "         redeemed  at  the  treasury 1,203.85 

,;            "        outstanding 1,310.00 

Amount  of  revenue  received  from  State .  375.00 

"      "    county  tax  for  1830  .   .'.'.' 384.97 

''      "    cash   in  treasury  ..'..".' .50 

Fines  assessed  before  justices '28  00 

Notes  now  collecting 342-50 

Notes  in  the  treasury 399.25 


1,530.22 


This  left  a  balance  in  favor  of  the  treasury  of  $220.22.  The 
tax  assessed  in  McDonough  county  was  $49.95. 

For  building  a  bridge  across  Crooked  creek,  Peter  Wool- 
vertou  and  John  Taggart  were  allowed  three  hundred  dollars 
on  the  22d  of  December,  1830.  Thomas  Davis  and  Samuel 
Brazelton  were  granted  licenses  to  keep  taverns,  the  former 
on  the  payment  of  five  and  the  latter  of  nine  dollars  tax. 
John  Curry,  Alexander  Steel  and  Ansalem  Barnes  were  ap- 
pointed fence-viewers  for  that  part  of  the  county  west  of 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS 


85 


Crooked  creek ;  Matthew  Sparks,  Jithn  Burk«  and  George 
Swan  for  that  part  lying  between  Crooked  and  Sugar  creeks  ; 
and  William  Wolverton,  Baxter  Baker  and  Thomas  T. 
Lancaster  for  that  part  of  the  county  lying  east  of  Sugar 
creek.  The  fee  for  license  to  sell  or  vend  goods  in  the 
county  was  fixed  at  ten  dollars.  The  bridge  across  Crooked 
creek,  built  by  Peter  Woolverton  and  John  Taggart  having 
been  carried  away,  the  clerk,  on  the  9th  of  March,  1831, 
was  directed  to  notify  the  said  Taggart  and  Woolverton 
that  they  cause  another  good  and  sufficient  bridge  to  be 
erected  in  its  place,  with  the  least  possible  delay. 

FOURTH    BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

Thomas  Blair,  Henry  Hills,  Alexander  Curry,  1831-32. 

In  1831  the  jail  must  have  been  full  of  prisoners,  for  the 
allowances  to  Thomas  Hayden  for  boarding  and  feeding 
prisoners  were  liberal,  while  numerous  orders  were  issued  to 
various  persons  in  payment  of  their  services  in  guarding  the 
jail.  James  Taylor  was  on  guard  thirty-seven  nights,  and 
was  paid  at  the  rate  of  fifty  cents  each  night  Appropria- 
tions were  made  in  December,  1831,  to  provide  for  the  re- 
moval of  prisoners  from  Schuyler  to  McDonough  County. 
The  wagons  of  Joel  Pennington,  the  sheriff,  and  Jonathan 
Smith  were  employed,  and  a  number  of  men  went  along  as 
guards.  McDonough  county  had  organized  by  this  time  a 
county  government  of  its  own,  and  henceforth  took  care  of 
its  own  prisoners.  David  Morgan,  the  murderer,  was  in 
confinement  this  year,  and  entailed  considerable  expense  on 
the  county. 

The  financial  statement  for  December,  1831,  showed  the 
amount  of  county  orders  issued  for  the  year  to  be  $1951.56. 

The  county  was  credited  as  follows : 

Balance  in  favor  of  the  treasury,  Dec.,  1830  (notes) $220.22 

Notes  now  in  the  treasury .  86.50 

Fines  collected 36.00 

Received  for  licenses  issued 81.00 

County  tax  for  1831 408.84 

Tax  on  ferries 23.00 

Due  from  the  state ...  450.00 


$1305.56 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  county  the  balance 
was  against  the  treasury.  The  deficit  was  $646.00.  This 
indebtedness  was  due  to  the  building  of  the  court-house. 

FIFTH   BOARD   OF    COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

Samuel  McHattan,  Isaac  Lane,  Erastus  Stone,  1832-34. 

In  August,  1832,  an  entire  new  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners was  elected.  The  financial  statement  for  December 
showed  that  the  balance  against  the  treasury  of  $646.00  had 
been  liquidated,  and  a  surplus  created  of  $102.16.  The 
amount  of  county  orders  issued  for  the  year  was  $1275.93. 
The  amount  received  from  fines  was  $14.00  ;  from  licenses, 
$92.00.  The  county  tax  was  $554.03,  and  the  revenue  from 
the  state  $450.00.  The  sale  of  town  lots  in  Rushville 
amounted  to  $515.25.  To  the  list  of  taxable  property  in 
1832  was  added  town  lots  (except  in  such  towns  as  are  in- 
corporated), household  furniture  and  farming  utensils 


The  year  1833  showed  great  improvement  in  the  financial, 
affairs  of  the  county.  The  amount  of  county  orders  issued  for 
the  year  was  $659.14.  Amount  received  from  the  state,  $450.- 
00;  county  tax,  $764.42.  Orders  issued  for  the  year  were 
$450.00  County  tax,  $764.42.  Amount  received  from  sales  of 
town  lots,  $459.00 ;  from  merchants'  licenses  225.00  from  tax 
on  ferries,  25.00  ;  from  licenses  to  shows,  20.00  ;  from  fines, 
$80.00.  The  balance  in  favor  of  the  treasury  is  $1410.47. 
The  license  to  merchants  had  been  usually  placed  at  ten 
dollars,  so  that  there  must  have  been  more  than  twenty  mer- 
chants doing  business  in  the  county.  The  chief  part  of  the 
ferry  tax  was  paid  by  Thomas  Beard.  The  $20.00  paid  by 
show  men  indicates  that  the  people  of  the  county  were  num- 
erous, and  willing  enough  to  support  some  forms  of  amuse- 
ment. 

In  1833  eight  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  school  laud 
were  sold  in  section  16,  township  1  north,  range  3  west,  and 
section  16,  township  1  south   range  2  west. 

The  clerk  of  the  court  was  directed  to  procure  locks  for 
the  doors  of  the  court-house  and  deliver  the  keys  to  the 
sheriff,  who  was  authorized  to  permit  religious  societies  to 
occupy  the  court  room  for  the  purpose  of  worship,  and  the 
citizens  of  the  county  to  hold  public  meetings. 

Joel  Pennington,  the  sheriff,  who  collected  the  taxes  for 

1832,  having  retained  in  his  hands  the  sum  of  seventy-five, 
dollars  and  thirty-four  cents,  a  citation  was  issued  command- 
ing him  to  appear  before  the  county  commissioners'  court,  and 
show  cause  why  judgment  should  not  be  rendered  against  him, 
for  the  balance  due  with  damages.  In  June,  1834,  judg- 
ment was  rendered  against  Pennington,  with  damages  at  the 
rate  of  one  per  cent,  a  week,  after  the  first  week  in  March, 

1833,  the  whole  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-four 
dollars  and  nine  cents.  Execution  issued  on  this  judgment 
in  August,  1834,  and  was  returned  satisfied  the  following 
December. 

SIXTH    BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

Isaac  Lane,  John  Brown,  Henry  Casteen,  1834 — 1835. 
Alexander  Curry,  commissioner  of  school  lands,  was  autho- 
rized in  September,  1834,  to  loan  any  money  that  might 
come  into  his  hands,  as  such  commissioner,  at  twelve  per 
cent,  per  annum.  For  assessing  the  taxes  for  1834  A.dams 
Dunlap  was  paid  seventy  dollars.  For  painting  the  court 
house,  Starkey  McCabe  was  allowed  thirty-four  dollars  and 
seventy-two  cents,  and  for  lumber  furnished  for  the  court 
house,  an  order  was  issued  to  James  Hunter  for  sixteen  dollars 
and  twenty-eight  cents.  For  bringing  from  Vandalia,  the  state 
capital,  the  county  revenue  for  1833,  Jonathan  G.  Randall  was 
paid  five  dollars.  The  county  had  on  its  hands  a  number 
of  poor  persons.  Five  dollars  was  allowed  for  making  a 
coffin  for  James  Campbell,  and  sixteen  dollars  for  medical 
attendance  on  Mrs.  Campbell  and  child.  A  number  of  like 
entries  are  on  record.  Joel  PenningtoD,  in  December,  1834, 
confessed  judgment  in  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine  dollars  and  seventy-four  cents  for  taxes  collected  for 
the  year  1833,  and  retained  by  him,  and  damages.  The  ex- 
ecution on  this  judgment  was  returned  satisfied,  in  March, 
1836      The  completing  of  the  court  house  was  still  a  source 


86 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


of  expense  to  the  county.  On  the  second  of  December 
1834,  orders  were  issued  to  William  M.  Wright,  James  Hun- 
ter, and  John  Brown  to  the  amount  of  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-five  dollars  for  work  done  on  the  building.  One 
"  Franklin  stove"  and  pipe  for  the  court  house,  cost  thirty- 
two  dollars.  This  year's  ''  stock  in  tan  yard,"  was  added  to 
the  list  of  taxable  articles.  The  fiscal  statement  for  Decem- 
ber, 1834,  is  as  follows: 

Dr. 
To  county  orders  issued  Dec.  1833  to  Dec.  1834  .    .   $837.54 

"  amount  of  delinquents  for  1833 23.48 

"  sheriff's  percent,  for  collecting  taxes  for  1833   .         2206 

885.08 
Cr. 

By  amount  of  county  tax  for  1834 $595.00 

"        "        due  from  the  state  for  1834 450.00 

"         ''        received  from  licenses 90-00 

;         "        "                "          "     fines 78.00 

"         "                "          "     tax  on  ferries 26.00 

1239.00 

SEVENTH    BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

John  Brown,  Henry  Casteen,  Daniel  Owen,  1835,  1836. 
A  special  election  for  county  commissioner  was  held  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1835,  and  Daniel  Owen  took  the  place 
of  Isaac  Lane. 

On  the  third  and  fourth  days  of  March,  1835,  the  county 
commissioners  had  before  them  thirty-five  cases  for  violation 
of  the  Estray  law.  In  some  instances  the  cases  were  dis- 
missed, it  appearing  that  the  estray  animals  had  been  de- 
livered to  the  sheriff  to  be  sold  according  to  law,  and  in  a 
smaller  number,  damages  and  cost  were  collected..  On  the 
seventh  day  of  March,  1835,  the  commissioners  directed  the 
levy  of  the  first  county  tax  on  hand  in  the  following  order  : 

"  It  being  the  opinion  of  the  court,  that  the  public  good 
requires  that  a  tax  should  be  levied  on  every  tract  of  taxa- 
ble land  situated  in  this  county,  of  one-half  the  amount  of 
the  present  state  tax  ;  it  is  therefore  ordered  that  a  county 
tax  of  one-half  of  the  amount  of  the  present  state  tax -be 
levied  and  collected  upon  each  tract  of  land  subject  to  taxa- 
tion within  the  limits  of  this  county,  and  that  the  amount 
of  taxes  so  levid  and  collected  for  the  present  year  be  appro- 
priated to  the  building  of  two  good  substantial  bridges  over 
Crooked  creek ;  one  of  the  said  bridges  to  be  built  over  said 
creek  in  road  district  number  five  at,  or  near,  where  the  state 
road  from  Rushville  to  Quincy  crosses  the  same ;  the  other 
bridge  to  be  built  over  said  creek  in  district  number  nine  at 
a  place,  best  calculated  to  accommodate  a  road  from  Rush- 
ville, via  Riggs'  Ferry  to  Pittsfield." 

On  the  same  day  it  was  ordered  that  each  and  every  able- 
bodied  man  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  fifty  be  re- 
quired to  perform  three  days'  labor  on  the  roads  for  the  year 
1835. 

On  the  nineteenth  of  the  same  month  fines  of  three  dollars 
were  assessed  against  William  A.  Richardson  and  Benjamin 
V.  Teel  for  contempt  of  court.  June  third,  1835,  Joel  Pen- 
nington was  allowed  three  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  for 
advertising  a  runaway  negro,  committed  to  his  custody  while  ' 
sheriff.     In  December,  1835,  Henry  B.  Bertholf  was  ap- 


pointed commissioner  of  school  lands,  in  place  of  Alexander 
Curry,  and  gave  bond  of  sixteen  thousand  dollars,  on  which 
Hart  Fellows,  Joel  Pennington,  Robert  H.  Burton,  John 
Hodge,  Russell  Toneny,  I.  McCutchen,  Norris  Hobart,  W. 
A.  Richardson,  Rensalaer  Wells,  and  William  A.  Minshall 
were  sureties.  For  making  three  guide-boards,  George  W. 
Penney,  was  allowed,  in  March,  1836,  one  dollar  and  twelve 
and  a-half  cents ;  and  Thomas  Jones,  for  painting  and  letter- 
ing them,  three  dollars. 

Harvey  Lester,  treasurer,  reported  that  for  the  year  end- 
ing March,  1836,  he  had  received  from  all  sources  $2055.16. 
He  had  paid  county  orders,  $1788.98 ;  jury  certificates, 
$220.50;  to  the  court,  $5.49,  leaving  a  balance  of  $40.19. 

For  the  year  1836  the  commissioners  directed  that  a 
county  tax  of  one  dollar  and  twenty  cents  be  levied  and  col- 
lected on  each  quarter  section  of  laud  in  the  county  subject 
to  a  state  tax ;  twenty  dollars  to  be  applied  to  the  repairs  of 
the  bridge  at  Skiles'  mill,  and  the  residue  to  building  the 
two  bridges  before  mentioned  across  Crooked  creek.  Thirty- 
's ve  dollars  were  appropriated  from  the  county  treasury  for 
the  purchase  of  standard  weights  and  measures.  From  a 
fiscal  statement  made  March,  1836,  the  revenue  of  the  county 
for  the  year  previous  was  : 


From  county  tax  for  1835, 
"      resident  land  tax, 
"       revenue  from  State, 
''      licenses, 
"       fines, 
"      tax  on  fences, 


$911,99 

814.60 

450.00 

173.00 

47.00 

30.00 

82426.59 


EIGHTH    BOARD   OF   COUNTY    COMMISSIONERS. 

Daniel  Owen,  Willis  O'Neal,  John  Orchard,  1836-1837. 

In  September,  1836,  Abraham  Smith  was  appointed  to 
superintend  the  building  of  a  bridge  across  Crooked  creek 
at  Henley's  mill,  the  contract  for  constructing  the  abut- 
ments of  which  had  been  let  to  Morris  Swan  and  John  B. 
Todd  for  six  hundred  dollars  ;  and  the  frame-work  to  Caleb 
Houston  for  a  like  sum.  The 'commissioners  do  not  seem  to 
have  looked  with  much  favor  on  the  business  of  peddling  of 
clocks.  Fifty  dollars  were  charged  for  a  license  to  E.  Stin- 
son  &  Co.  The  usual  charge  at  this  time  for  a  license  to  sell 
and  vend  goods  was  ten  and  twelve  dollars.  Charges  on 
licenses  to  vend  goods  at  auction  and  otherwise,  issued 
March  7th,  1837,  vary  from  two  to  fifteen  dollars;  the  latter 
amount  was  charged  Dawley  &  Wells  at  Rushville.  On  the 
eighth  of  March,  H.  Hurlburt  &  Co.  were  made  to  pay  twen- 
ty-six dollars.  For  keeping  an  unlawful  grocery  and  gam- 
ing house,  Jesse  Bullard  had  his  license  as  tavern  keeper 
suppressed  in  March,  1837. 

The  fiscal  statement  for  March,  1837,  shows  that  county 

orders    had    betii    issued   during  the   year  for  $2156.33 

The  county  levy  for  1836  was  $1302.64,  and  the  tax  on 

resident  lands  $806.22.     The  balance  in  favor  of  the  county 

was  $55  86. 

NINTH    BOARD   OF   COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

Willis  O'Neal,  John  Orchard,  Levi  Lusk,  1837-1838. 
Three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  were  appropriated  for 


J1IST0RY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


87 


building  a  bridge  across  Sugar  creek.  In  October,  1837, 
three  additional  bridges  were  ordered  to  be  built  on  Crooked 
creek,  one  at  William  C.  Rail's  mill,  one  at  Burton  &  Ai- 
der's mill,  and  the  third  in  section  thirteen,  township  one 
south,  range  two  west  William  C.  Ralls  and  William 
Maxwell  contracted  to  build  the  bridge  at  Rail's  mill  for 
three  thousand  dollars ;  Alden  &  Burton  the  bridge  at  their 
mill  for  four  thousand  dollars,  and  O.  Wilson  the  bridge  at 
section  thirteen,  township  one  south,  range  two  west,  for  four 
thousand  dollars. 

The  fiscal  statement  for  the  year  ending  March  first,  1838, 
shows  the  amount  of  county  orders  issued,  §2,313.00  ;  jury 
orders,  $600.00.  The  county  levy  for  1837  was  $1,926.57  .' 
State  tax,  $1,159.33 ;  amount  received  from  tax  on  ferries 
$65  00  ;  from  tavern  and  store  licenses,  $474.00  ;  from  fines 
and  forfeitures,  $62.00 ;  amount  of  road  fund  in  treasury 
$743.90. 

TENTH   BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

Thomas  Brockman,  Edward  Doyle,  Peter  C.  Vance,  1838, 
1839  Thomas  Brockman,  Edward  Doyle,  and  Peter  C. 
Vance  were  elected  county  commissioners  in  August,  1838. 
At  their  first  meeting  on  the  third  of  September,  three  tickets 
were  placed  in  a  hat,  (as  the  record  recites),  and  Brockman 
drew  the  one  year  term  ;  Doyle,  the  term  of  two  years ;  and 
Vance,  the  term  of  three  years.  Thereafter  one  commis- 
sioner was  elected  annually.  •  Proceedings  were  begun 
against  thirteen  different  parties  for  keeping  taverns  and 
groceries,  and  selling  goods  without  license.  Messrs.  Hill 
and  AfHeck  were  granted  license  to  peddle  clocks  three 
months  in  payment  of  fifty  dollars. 

William  Cox,  the  treasurer,  was  cited  to  appear  and  show 
cause  why  he  should  not  be  removed  from  his  office  for  fail- 
ure to  perform  its  duties  ;  first,  in  neglecting  to  notify  the 
county  commissioners  of  the  failure  of  the  sheriff  to  pay  over 
moneys  in  his  hands  due  the  county  ;  second,  in  failing  to 
finish  taking  a  list  of  taxable  property  and  making  a  return 
thereof;  and  third,  in  failing  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his 
office  in  general.  Cox  tendered  his  resignation,  which,  after 
arguments  by  Jesse  M.  McCutchen  in  his  behalf,  and  by 
Usher  F.  Linder,  counsel  for  the  commissioners,  the  com- 
missioners decided  they  had  no  right  to  accept,  and  therefore 
proceeded  to  remove  him  from  office  on  the  seventh  of  Sep- 
tember, 1838  Twelve  days  afterward,  Clark  Dennis,  of 
Mount  Sterling,  was  appointed  treasurer  pro  tem,  and  gave 
bond  in  the  sum  of  seven  thousand  dollars. 

This  board  of  county  commissioners  seem  to  have  started 
out  with  the  idea  of  thoroughly  reforming  the  management 
of  the  county  affairs.  Several  days  in  September,  183S, 
were  spent  in  investigating  what  they  term  "  the  docket  and 
jury  fee  business  ;"  jurors  previous  to  the  year  18  .5  were  not 
allowed  pay.  They  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Thomas 
Haydon,  former  sheriff,  was  indebted  to  the  county  on  this 
account  five  hundred  and  nine  dollars,  and  directed  that 
suit  be  begun  against  him  in  the  circuit  court.  The  accounts 
of  the  commissioner  of  school  lands  were  likewise  examined, 
and  a  new  bond  directed  to  be  filed.  In  December  the  road 
fund  was  investigated. 


A  fiscal  statement  made  in  December,  1838,  shows  a  bal- 
ance of  the  road  fund  unappropriated  of  $221.05.  The 
amount  of  county  orders  issued  from  December  first,  1887, 
to  December  first,  1838,  was  $3,738.72.  The  county  levy 
for  1837  was  $1,926.57  ;  the  resident  land  tax,  $844.00;  re- 
ceived from  store  and  tavern  licenses,  $734.00 ;  from  fines 
and  forfeitures,  $88.00 ;  from  ferry  licenses,  $66.00. 

In  February,  1839,  possession  was  taken  of  the  new  jail, 
built  by  Alexander  Penney,  at  the  contract  price  of  four 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  An  agreement  was  made 
that  additional  work  should  cost  one  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars. There  was  a  misunderstanding  about  this  last  contract, 
and  Penney  refused  to  give  up  the  keys  till  paid  his  full 
demands.  The  commissioners  appointed  John  Todhunter 
and  A.  Evans,  two  disinterested  carpenters,  to  report  on  the 
value  of  the  work  done,  and  went  on  and  took  possession  of 
the  building. 

In  June,  1»39,  the  county  was  divided  into  eight  districts, 
or  precincts,  in  which  justices  and  constables  should  be  elect- 
ed, and  general  elections  held ;  an  assessor  was  appointed 
for  each  of  these  districts.  The  territory  of  the  county  had, 
by  this  time,  been  reduced  to  its  present  dimensions  by  the 
creation  of  Brown  county  in  February,  1839.  Under  the 
revenue  law,  John  G.  McHatton  was  appointed  collector  of 
the  county,  and  required  to  give  a  bond  often  thousaud  dol- 
lars. A  statement  of  the  fiscal  concerns  of  the  county  made 
in  March,  1839,  shows  that  the  amount  of  county  orders 
unpaid  on  the  first  of  March,  1839,  was  $5,415.55.  The 
balance  of  county  levy  and  land  tax  for  1837  in  the  hands 
of  the  sheriff,  and  the  county  levy  and  land  tax  for  1S38, 
amounted  together  to  $3,936.57.  Deducting  the  amount 
paid  into  the  treasury  by  the  sheriff,  and  his  percentage,  the 
balance  against  the  county  appeared  to  be  $3,16053. 

A  tax  of  forty  cents  on  every  one  hundred  dollars  worth 
of  property,  both  real  and  personal  was  levied  for  1839,  and 
often  cents  for  every  one  hundred  dollars  of  taxable  lands 
for  road  purposes. 

ELEVENTH    BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONEES. 

Edward  Doyle,  Peter  C.  Vance,  David  Manlove,  1839- 
1840.  William  Ellis  was  appointed  School  Commissioner 
September  6,  1839.  The  commissioner  after  investigating 
the  accounts  of  Henry  B.  Bertholf,  the  former  School  Com- 
missioner, declared  him  to  be  in  arrears  in  principal  and  in- 
terest $2,048.56.  This  amount  was  settled  by  taking  notes 
of  James  G.  McCreery,  to  the  amount  $1,575. 00,  secured  by 
mortgage  on  real  estate,  and  the  remainder  secured  by  mort- 
gage on  Bertholf's  real  estate,  and  the  suits  against  the 
delinquent  commissioner  were  ordered  abated  on  payment 
by  him  of  the  costs. 

The  fiscal  statement  for  the  year  ending  March  1st.,  1840, 
was  as  follows: 

Cr. 

By  county  tax  put  in  hands  of  Collector $4,603.70 

"  ferry  taxes 102.00 

"  fines    collected 122.00 

"   licenses 92.50 

Total  income $4,920-20 


88 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Dr. 

To  county  order  issued $1,675.19 

"  per  cent  on  collection  of  taxes 322.25 

"  "        "  paid   treasurer 92  07 


$2,089.51 


Balance  in  favor  of  the  county  $2,830.69.  There  were, 
however,  orders  unpaid  to  the  amount  of  $2,746.35.  The 
county  and  ferry  taxes  uncollected  were  $2,000.61.  The  total 
balance  again  it  the  county  was  $735.74.  In  June,  1840, 
the  county  of  Hancock  was  allowed  a  bill  of  $199.11,  for 
keeping  and  executing  William  Frame,  a  prisoner,  sent 
from  this  county  to  Hancock  and  there  tried  on  a  change  of 
venue. 

Edward  Doyle  resigned  his  office  of  county  commissioner 
June  17th.,  1840,  in  order  to  become  an  applicant  (as  it  is 
expressed  in  the  records),  for  the  office  of  county  collector. 
The  two  remaining  commissioners  however,  appointed,  Alex- 
ander Montgomery,  who  declined  the  office,  whereupon 
Edward  Doyle  received  the  appointment. 

TWELFTH    BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

Peter  C.  Vance,  David  Manlove,  William  H.  Ray,  1840, 
1841.  Edward  Doyle  was  appointed  school  commissioner  in 
September,  1840,  and  was  required  to  give  a  bond  of  twelve 
thousand  dollars.  In  December  Jonothan  D.  Manlove  was 
appointed  to  this  office.  The  assessment  of  the  county  for 
taxes  was  given  to  one  person,  and  Peter  H.  Holmes  ap- 
pointed in  March,  1841,  to  make  the  assessment  for  that 
year.  In  Juue  1841  a  turnpike  road  intended  to  run 
from  Springfield  to  Wassau  was  surveyed  through  the 
county,  extending  from  Beardstown  to  Rushville,  and  thence 
through  Brooklyn  and  Birmingham.  In  the  field  notes  the 
distance  by  the  road  to  Rushville  from  Springfield  is  placed 
at  fifty-five  miles;  of  Brooklyn  sixty-nine  miles,  and  of 
Birmingham  seventy-three-miles  and  three-quarters. 

THIRTEENTH    BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

David  Manlove,  William  H.  Ray,  Peter  C.  Vance,  1841- 
1842. 

William  H.  Ray  resigned  at  the  close  of  1841,  and  in 
January,  1842,  John  Mitcheltree  was  elected  to  fill  the 
vacancy. 

FOURTEENTH    BOARD    OF   COUNTY   COMMISSONERS. 

David  Manlove,  John  Mitcheltree,  Peter  C.  Vance,  Jan- 
uary, 1841 ;  August,  1  842. 

FIFTEENTH   BOARD   OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

John  Mitcheltree,  Isaac  F.  Cady,  Moses  J.  Skiles,  1842- 
1843. 

For  making  a  map  of  Schuyler  county  for  the  use  of  the 
office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  commissioner's  court,  Utton 
Smith  was  allowed  fifteen  dollars.  Edward  Doyle,  elected 
treasurer  in  August,  1842  ;  not  furnishing  a  bond  executed 
according  to  law,  the  commissioners,  on  the  8th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1842,  declared  the  office  vacant,  and  appointed  John 


Scripps  treasurer.  Jonathan  D  Manlove,  the  collector  for 
1841,  having  violated  the  law  in  not  advertising  the  delin- 
tax  list,  proceedings  were  directed  to  be  instituted  against 
him.  These  proceedings  were  successful,  although  the  jury 
which  tried  the  case  united  in  a  petition  to  the  county  com- 
missioners that,  on  account  of  peculiar  circumstances,  the 
penalty  be  not  enforced.  The  commissioners  dissented  from 
this  request,  though  they  expressed  themselves  willing  to 
grant  it,  should  a  majority  of  the  voters  of  the  county  re- 
commend the  same.  Proceedings  were  also  ordered  to  be 
instituted  against  the  circuit  clerk  for  his  failure  to  report 
the  amount  of  his  jury  and  docket  fees. 

The  county  tax  for  1842  amounted  to  $3199.26.  The 
total  liabilities  of  the  county  on  the  11th  of  March,  1842, 
were  $844497. 

SIXTEENTH    BOARD   OF   COUNTY    COMMISSIONERS. 

Isaac  F  Cady,  Moses  J.  Skiles,  Charles  Wells,  1843- 
1844. 

In  March  1844,  an  order  was  made  allowing  two  dollars 
for  the  scalps  of"  large  or  big"  wolves,  and  one  dollar  and 
fifty  cents  for  those  of  prairie  wolves,  killed  within  Schuyler 
county.  A  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars 
was  levied  both  on  real  and  personal  property  for  1844,  and 
fifteen  cents  of  said  assessment  appropriated  to  road  pur- 
poses. A  fiscal  statement  made  in  June,  1844  shows  the 
amount  of  outstanding  orders  unpaid  to  be  $4243.07  ;  liabi- 
lities of  the  c  unty  for  which  orders  had  not  been  issued, 
$2121.66  Amount  received  by  the  county  for  the  year, 
$1115.46. 

SEVENTEKXTH    BOARD    OF    COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

Moses  J.  Skiles,  Charles  Wells,  George  W.  Metz,  1844- 
1845. 

A  reward  of  fifty  dollars  was  offered  to  any  person  who 
should  pursue  and  apprehend  beyond  the  limits  of  the  county, 
any  person  guilty  of  stealing  horses  from  any  person  within 
the  limits  of  Schuvler  county,  payable  on  conviction.  In 
consideration  of  one  hundred  dollars  per  annum  in  county 
orders,  Joseph  Haskell  contracted  with  the  county  commis- 
sioners to  carry  on  a  free  ferry  at  Haskell's  Ferry  on 
Crooked  creek,  and  to  operate  the  same  from  daylight  to 
dark,  with  as  little  delay  as  the  nature  of  the  case  would 
permit,  "  when  it  is  not  good  fording  for  a  horseman,  or  when 
the  water  will  run  into  the  bed  of  a  common  two-horse  wagon 
crossing  at  the  ford  at  or  near  said  ferry."  Haskell's  com- 
pensation was  increased  to  one  hundred  and  ten  dollars  the 
next  year.  In  1849  Jordan  D.  Rhodes  contracted  to  run 
the  ferry  at  this  point,  and  received  one  hundred  and  thirty 
dollars. 

The  fiscal  statement  for  June,  1845,  shows  the  amount  of 
county  and  jury  orders  outstanding  to  be  $2244.46  ;  due  the 
county,  $906.50,  leaving  a  liability  of  $3112.96:  This  was 
increased  by  the  amount  owed  by  the  county  on  account  of 
the  bridge  at  Brooklyn  ($1775.00)  making  the  total  liabi- 
lity of  the  county  $3112.96.  In  1845  a  tax  of  thirty  cents 
on  the  hundred  dollars  was  levied  for  county  purposes,  and 
of  twenty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  for  road  purposes. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


89 


EIGHTEENTH  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

Charles  Wells,  George  W.  Metz,  John  M.  Campbell,  1845- 
1846. 

The  county  orders  were  largely  used  in  paying  taxes  and 
as  currency.  The  court  had  previously  decided  to  issue  an 
order  only  for  full  amount  of  the  claim  against  the  county, 
but  on  the  3d  of  December,  1845,  the  commissioners,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  fact  that "  there  seems  to  be  considerable 
inconvenience  arising  to  the  people  in  paying  taxes  and 
other  county  claims,  and  in  making  change,  &c,"  agree  that 
for  claims  against  the  county  hereafter  allowed  orders  might 
be  issued  'in  less  than  the  full  amount,  so  cut  up  or  divided, 
as  may  be  deemed  reasonable  by  this  court,  so  as  to  accom- 
modate the  wants  of  the  people."  An  order  of  fifty  dollars 
was  then  cut  up  into  eight  or  ten  orders  of  ten,  and  five 
dollars  each,  a  circumstance  which  facilitated  their  use  as  a 
circulating  medium. 

It  appearing  that  docket  and  jury  fees  payable  to  the 
county  had  not  been  paid  according  to  law,  "  and  the  coun- 
ty commissioners'  court  having  endeavored,  from  time  to 
time,  to  ascertain  in  whose  hands  the  same  are  and  make 
collection  thereof,  but  having  measurably  failed  so  to  do," 
Joseph  Montgomery  and  William  Ellis  (the  circuit  and 
county  clerks)  were  appointed  agents  to  collect  all  docket 
and  jury  fees  outstanding  from  1835,  (when  jurors  first  were 
paid)  to  September,  1845,  they  receiving  as  compensation 
one-half  of  all  such  fees,  they  agreeing  to  report  to  the  com- 
missioners the  liability  of  all  officers  for  such  docket  and 
jury  fees,  to  whom  such  fees  may  have  been  paid. 

NINETEENTH  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

George  W.  Metz,  John  M.  Campbell,  John  F.  Allphin, 
1846-1847. 

In  the  circuit  court  of  Mercer  county  a  judgment  had 
been  obtained  by  Mercer  county  against  Schuyler  county  for 
the  cost  of  the  care  of  a  pauper,  said  to  belong  to  Schuyler 
county.  Robert  S.  Black  well  agreed  with  the  county  com- 
missioners to  take  the  same  to  the  supreme  court  on  writ  of 
error  and  have  said  judgment  reversed  for  the  following 
moderate  fees  :  "This  court  to  pay  him  at  this  time  a  fee 
of  ten  dollars,  including  the  cost  of  transcript,  and  an  addi- 
tional fee  of  twenty  dollars,  provided  he  gets  said  judgment  i 
rever.-ed,  and  in  case  he  fails  no  additional  fee  is  to  be 
charged,  said  Blackwell,  further  agreeing  that  in  case 
he  gets  the  judgment  reversed,  and  this  county  is  again  sued 
for  the  claim  of  Mercer  county  to  defend  the  case  without 
additional  fee." 

A  tax  of  three  mills  was  assessed  for  the  year  1847.  of 
which  one-half  was  devoted  to  road  purposes.  A  fiscal  state- 
ment made  June,  1847,  shows  the  county  and  road  tax  for 
1846  to  amount  to  $5985.65.  The  amount  paid  over  by  the 
collector,  less  commission,  was  $2871.96.  Due  from  docket 
fees  and  fines,  $127.50.  Delinquent  list  allowed,  $33.60. 
Specie  in  treasury,  11.35.  Outstanding  county  orders, 
$1328.47. 

TWENTIETH  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

John  M.  Campbell,  John  F.  Allphin,  James   P.    Black, 
August,  1847,  November,  1847. 
12 


George  L.  Greer  was  appointed  to  make  an  index  to  the 
county  records,  and  was  paid  three  hundred  dollars  for  the 
work. 

TWENTY-FIRST  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

John  M.  Campbell,  James  P.  Black,  Robert  H.  Rose, 
1847-1849. 

The  tax  levy  for  1848  was  increased  to  forty  cents  on  the 
one  hundred  dollars,  twenty-five  cents  for  county  purposes, 
and  fifteen  cents  for  roads.  Outstanding  orders  against  the 
county  on  the  1st  of  March,  1848,  amounted  to  $2862.88. 
The  county  tax  due  for  1847  was  $1762.65  ;  road  tax  not 
worked  out,  $595.17;  cash  in  treasury,  $61.35;  and  from 
fines,  &c.,$2850.  The  balance  against  the  county  was  $415.- 
21. 

John  M.  Campbell  was  elected  county  commissioner  in 
August,  1848. 

The  tax  levy  for  1849  was  made  forty  cents  on  every  one 
hundred  dollars  of  real  and  personal  property  for  county 
purposes,  and  ten  cents  additional  on  every  one  hundred 
dollars  of  real  estate  for  the  maintenance  of  the  roads.  A 
fiscal  statement  made  in  March,  1849,  showed  a  balance 
against  the  county  of  $250.69. 

The  time  of  the  county  commissioners  at  this  period  was 
principally  occupied  in  the  location  of  roads,  the  granting  of 
licenses  providing  for  the  pay  of  judges  and  clerks  of  elec- 
tions, and  other  routine  matters.  Whether,  or  not,  the  coun- 
ty officers  performed  their  duties  better  than  their  predeces- 
sors, no  suggestions  at  least  appear  on  the  records,  as  was  the 
case  in  former  years,  of  suits  to  be  brought  against  them 
for  their  failure  to  properly  discharge  their  duties. 

The  1st  of  December,  1849,  brought  to  a  close  the  old 
system  of  boards  of  county  commissioners.  The  new  con- 
stitution of  the  state  substituted  instead  county  courts,  com- 
posed of  one  judge  and  two  associate  justices,  to  be  elected 
for  a  term  of  four  years.  On  the  8th  of  September,  1849 
the  commissioners  held  their  last  session. 

FIRST   COUNTY   COURT — 1849-1853. 

William  Ellis,  county  judge  ;  Joseph  N.  Ward  and  John 
M.  Campbell,  associate  justices. 

The  first  county  court  of  Schuyler  county  convened  on 
the  third  day  of  December,  1849.  The  county  had  a  number 
of  paupers  on  hand  at  this  time,  and  frequent  orders  and 
allowances  are  made  for  their  benefit.  It  appearing  that 
the  county  clerk  had  not  furnished  the  supervisors  of  the 
road  districts  with  the  lists  of  the  road  tax  in  their  respective 
districts,  in  consequence  of  the  laws  of  1849,  under  which 
the  levy  was  made,  not  reaching  the  county  till  August,  and 
"  as  it  is  now  too  late  in  the  season  to  make  and  send  out 
said  lists,  so  as  td  have  the  same  worked  out  as  provided  by 
law;  and  as  it  appears  that  the  expense  of  collecting  said 
road  tax  would  nearly  equal  the  amount  to  be  collected 
from  nonresidents; "  the  court,  therefore,  orders  that  the 
levy  made  by  the  county  commissioners  in  March,  1849,  for 
road  purposes,  be  rescinded,  and  the  sheriff  be  authorized  to 
refund  any  part  of  the  tax  that  he  may  have  collected.  The 
fiscal  statement  for  March,  1850,  is  as  follows: 


90 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Expenditures  March  1,  1849,  to  March  1, 1850, 
Revenue  due  from  sherifffor  1848, 
Revenue  for  1849, 
Fines,  jury  and  docket  fees  collectable, 


$4447  53 

835.97 

5620.43 

75.00 


$6531.40 
County  order  and  jury  certificate  unredeemed  Mar.  1,  1850,     5466.35 


Balance  in  favor  of  the  county, 


$1065.05 


The  tax  levy  for  1850  was  two  and  a  half  mills  on  all  real 
and  personal  property  for  county  purposes,  and  two  mills  on 
real  estate  for  road  purposes. 

In  June,  1850,  the  county  judges  contracted  with  Robert 
H.  Burton  to  keep  a  free  ferry  "  at  the  old  crossing  at  Bur- 
ton &  Montgomery's  mill,  on  the  road  leading  from  Mt. 
Sterling  to  Rushville,"  for  twenty  dollars,  for  three  months 
This  arrangement  only  lasted  three  months. 

At  the  November  election,  in  1849,  a  vote  was  taken  on 
the  question  of  township  organization.  The  whole  number 
of  votes  cast  is  stated  on  the  records  at  1495.  For  township 
organization,  673;  against  township  organization,  205;  ma- 
jority for  township  organization,  468.  In  a  legal  opinion 
furnished  the  county  court  on  request,  R.  S.  Blackwell,  Esq., 
states  that  the  county  court  might  continue  to  exercise  its 
functions  until  a  board  of  supervisors  meet  in  November, 
1850  ;  and,  meanwhile,  the  constitutionality  of  the  law  and 
the  legality  of  the  township  organization  in  Schuyler  county 
might  be  tested  before  the  supreme  court.  The  supreme 
court  decided  that  township  organization  was  not  adopted 
in  any  county  unless  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  in  the 
county  were  in  its  favor.  This  was  not  the  case  in  Schuyler 
county  ;  out  of  1495  votes  cast  at  the  election  only  673  be- 
ing in  favor  of  township  organization.  The  county  court 
system,  therefore,  continued  in  existence.  The  question  was 
again  submitted  at  the  election  in  November,  1850.  The 
result  was  :  For  township  organization,  459.  Whole  num- 
ber of  votes  cast,  1214.  The  measure  was,  therefore,  again 
lost. 

The  care  of  paupers  had  heretofore  been  given  to  different 
individuals.  On  the  fifth  of  ^December,  1850,  appears  the 
following  order  in  reference  to  the  purchase  of  a  farm  and 
the  establishment  of  a  poor-house : 

"  Whereas  the  pauper  population  has  been  on  the  increase 
for  several  years  past,  and  is  likely  to  continue  to  do  so,  as 
the  population  of  the  county  increases ;  and  whereas  there 
are  but  few  facilities  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of 
that  unfortunate  and  truly  to  be  pitied  portion  of  our  com- 
munity :  and  whereas,  under  the  present  system  of  support- 
ing them  the  county  is  put  to  great  and  unnecessary  ex- 
pense for  the  want  of  a  poor-house  ;  and  whereas  the  com- 
fort of  the  pauper  can  not  be  as  well  secured  under  the 
present  system ;  and  whereas  we  believe  that  by  the  county's 
laying  a  small  annual  tax  for  a  few  years,  a  farm  could  be 
purchased  and  all  the  necessary  buildings  erected,  and  that, 
by  so  doing,  the  county  would  save  hundreds  of  dollars  an- 
nually, and  the  happiness  and  comfort  of  that  unfortunate 
portion  of  society  would  be  greatly  enhanced." 

"  Therefore,  ordered,  that  there  be  levied  a  tax  of  one 


mill  on  each  and  every  dollar  of  assessed  property  in  Schuy- 
ler county  for  the  year  1850  ;  and  it  is  further  ordered,  that 
the  clerk  extend  the  said  tax  in  the  collector's  books,  to  be 
collected  as  other  county  taxes  are  collected,  and  when  col- 
lected to  be  held  as  a  fund  for  the  purchase  of  land  on  which 
to  erect  a  poor-house  and  other  necessary  buildings  thereon, 
at  such  times  as  this  court  may  hereafter  determine^" 

In  January,  1851,  the  court  made  an  agreement  with 
Samuel  Grubb,  of  Springfield,  to  erect  a  covered  bridge  over 
Crooked  creek  at  Haskell's  or  West's  ferry,  and  a  similar 
bridge  over  Sugar  creek  at  Schuyler  city,  for  seven  thousand 
dollars.  The  first  thousand  dollars,  in  county  orders,  were 
paid  to  Grubb  on  the  5th  of  March,  1851. 

The  Rushville  Library  Association  was  incorporated,  a3 
appears  from  the  records,  in  March,  1851. 

The  tax  levy  for  1851  was  four  mills  on  real  and  personal 
property  for  county  purposes ;  two  mills  on  real  estate  for 
roads ;  and  one-half  a  mill  on  real  and  personal  property 
for  the  poor-house  The  fiscal  statement  for  March,  1851,  is 
as  follows  : 

County  orders  and  jury  certificates  issued  March  1,  1850,  to 

March  1,  1851,  .  .  .  $5587.54 

Receipts  during  same  period,  •  .  .  4816  09i 

Outstanding  and  unredeemed  orders,     .  .  4746.95 

Assets,  .  .  .  .  4497.50 

The  tax  levy  for  1852  was  the  same  as  that  for  the  pre- 
vious year.  The  fiscal  statement  for  March,  1852,  shows 
that  for  the  year  ending  March  1st,  the  county  orders  and 
jury  certificates  issued  amounted  to'  $9946.24.  The  county 
orders,  jury  certificates,  and  county  clerk's  certificates  of 
non-resident  tax  outstanding  and  unredeemed,  on  the  first 
of  March,  1852,  amounted  to  $7766.84.  The  building  of  the 
brige  across  Crooked  creek  at  Haskell's  ferry  and  the  bridge 
across  Sugar  creek  at  Schuyler  City,  completed  in  Decem- 
ber, 1851,  and  for  which  county  orders  were  issued  to  the 
amount  of  seven  thousand  dollars,  made  an  unfavorable 
balance  against  the  county  for  the  year.  On  the  first  of 
March.  1852,  the  county  had  on  its  hands  four  permanent 
paupers,  for  whose  support  from  one  dollar  and  a-half  to  two 
dollars  and  a-half  per  week  were  paid.  Temporary  relief 
was  also  afforded  to  a  number  of  others. 

The  fiscal  statement  for  March,  1853,  was  as  follows  : 


County  orders  issued  March  |1,  1852  to  March  1, 1853  . 
*  "    outstanding  March  1,  1853 


redeemed  March  1,  1852,  to  March  1,  1853  . 


•8,014.89 
7,634.84 

15,649.73 
7,941.00 


"  "  outstanding  March  1,  1853 7,708.73 

The  county,  road  and  poorhouse  tax  for  the  year  1852 
amounted  to  88,179.66.  In  June,  1853,  the  county  court 
in  conjunction  with  the  county  court  of  Brown  county,  con- 
tracted with  George  Clark,  of  Brown  county,  for  the  build- 
ing of  a  bridge  over  Crooked  creek  at  Ripley  for  five  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  bridge  to  be  one  hundred  and  forty  feet 
between  the  piers,  and  to  be  enclosed  and  roofed  a  length 
of  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


91 


In  September,  1853,  the  court  granted  the  right  of  way 
from  Frederick  to  Ruhville  to  the  Frederick  Ferry  Dyke 
and  Plank  Road  Company,  with  permission  to  the  company 
to  erect  toll  gates  and  collect  toll  on  the  road  it  proposed 
constructing  between  Frederick  and  Rushville.  William 
Ellis,  the  county  judge,  objected  to  this  concession  on  the 
ground  that  the  company  was  bound  by  its  charter  to 
establish  a  ferry  and  make  dykes  across  the  bottoms  of  the 
Illinois  river,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  from  highland  to 
highland,  and  until  said  ferry  and  dykes  were  established 
the  company  had  no  right  to  operate  a  road  from  Frederick 
to  Rushville. 

SECOND  county  court.      1853-1854. 

William  Ellis,  county  judge  ;  Peter  C.  Vance,  associate 
justice;  John  Brown,  associate  justice  William  Ellis  was 
re-elected  county  judge  in  November,  1853,  and  John  Brown 
and  Peter  C.  Vance  were  elected  associate  justices.  Nathan 
Moore  was  re-elected  clerk. 

The  question  of  township  organization  was  again  submit- 
ted to  the  voters  of  the  county  at  this  election.  The  whole 
number  of  votes  cast  wa3  1537.  For  township  organization 
780.  Against  township  organization  261.  The  measure 
having  received  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  votes 
polled,  the  county  court  on  the  eighth  of  December,  1853, 
appointed  John  C.  Bagby,  I.  N.  Ward,  and  Jesse  Darnell, 
commissioners  to  divide  the  county  into  towns,  or  townships, 
as  provided  by  the  township  organization  act.  The  present 
division  with  minor  changes  is  the  result. 

The  fiscal  statement  for  March,  1854,  shows  : 

Amount  of  taxes  for  1852 $8198.69 

Received  from  fines 31.00 

"     ferry  licenses .54.50 

"  "     grocery  licenses 200.00 

Cash  in  treasury 9.08 

County  and  Special  taxes,  1853, 8870.65 

$17,363.92 

Appropriations  for  the  year,  $9139.08  ;  county  orders  and 
jury  certificates  redeemed,  $8484.19  ;  orders  outstanding, 
March  1,  1853,  $7708.73. 

The  assessment  list  for  1853  shows  the  following  items, 
from  which  the  wealth  of  the  county  at  that  time  in  com- 
parison with  the  present  may  be  accurately  judged  : 

Number  of  horses,  3005 value 1123.813 

"       "    cattle,  6914 .      "      66.675 

"       "    mules  and  asses,  190  ...       "      4,750 

"      "    sheep,  6266 "      7,391 

"      "    hogs,  11,091 "      22,444 

"       "    carriages  and  wagons,  1098     "      ...."...  36,121 

"       "    clocks  and  watches,  997    .      "      6,446 

"      "    Pianos,  7 ,'      1,105 

Goods  and  Merchandise 79,315 

Manufactured  articles 5,215 

Moneys  and  credits 115,522 

Property  not  enumerated ]  15,036 

Amount  of  deductions 5,683 

Total  taxable  property 578.150 


Total  taxable  town  lots 164.340 

"  "      lands 1067.640 

Total  taxable  property £1,810,130 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  county  when  township  or- 
ganization went  into  effect. 

FIR8T   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,    1854-1855. 

Township  organization  having  been  adopted,  the  first 
board  of  supervisors  met  on  the  1 1th  day  of  September,  1854. 
The  division  of  the  county  into  townships,  and  the  represen- 
tative of  each  township  on  the  board  of  supervisors  is  thus 
given : 

Oakland,  supervisor,  Nicholas  Pittenger ;  Littleton,  super- 
visor James  DeWitt;  Brooklyn,  supervisor,  C.  M.  Leach; 
Birmingham,  supervisor,  James  G.  King ;  Huntsville,  sup- 
ervisor, William  T.  Clark  ;  Camden,  supervisor,  I.  G.  Cady  ; 
Beuna  Vista,  supervisor,  John  Mitcheltree  ;  Rushville,  super- 
visor, Charles  Neill ;  Browning,  supervisor,  John  Bogue ; 
Hickory,  supervisor,  Amos  Hart;  Frederick,  supervisor, 
Anthony  Messerer ;  Bainbridge,  supervisor,  Allen  Persinger ; 
Woodstock,  supervisor,  John  Brown. 

John  Brown  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  board.  The 
committee  on  finance  reported  on  the  15th  of  September, 
1854,  the  total  indebtedness  of  the  county  to  be  $9651.89. 
The  assets  of  the  county  amounted  to  $1,592  15,  leaving  a 
balance  against  the  county  of  $7,969.74.  A  county  tax 
of  thirty-five  and  two-thirds  cents  on  each  one  hundred 
dollars  of  real  and  personal  property  was  levied  for  the  year 
1854.  George  W.  Metz  became  a  member  of  the  board  from 
Rushville  township  in  March,  1855.  The  swamp  and  over- 
flowed lauds  of  the  county  were  divided  into  three  classes, 
and  appraised  respectfully  at  ninety,  fifty  and  ten  cents  per 
acre.  Some  of  these  lands  were  sold  at  public  auction  in 
September,  1855. 

In  March,  1855,  there  had  been  collected  under  the  poor- 
house  tax  levies  for  the  years  1850,  1851,  1852  and  1853, 
the  sum  of  $3802.56,  and  there  were  in  cash  in  the  treasury, 
$2907.94.  The  treasurer  was  directed  to  charge  himself  with 
the  last  amount  as  a  "  Poor-house  Fund,"  and  to  hold  the 
same  subject  to  the  order  of  the  board.  On  the  30th  of 
March,  1855,  the  board  resolved  on  the  purchase,  from  John 
•Mitcheltree,  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  26,  township 
2  north,  range  2  west,  for  the  sum  of  three  thousand  six  hun- 
dred dollars,  to  be  used  as  a  farm  for  the  support  of  paupers. 
The  board  voted  ten  in  the  affirmative  and  one  in  the  nega- 
tive. The  poor-house  was  opened  for  the  reception  of  pau- 
pers on  the  25th  day  of  June,  1855,  under  the  management 
Michael  G.  Standeford. 

P.  E.  Veatch,  in  March,  1855,  filled  the  vacancy  in  the 
board  caused  by  the  death  of  William  T.  Clark,  of  Hunts- 
ville township. 

SECOND   BOARD  OF   SUPERVISORS,   1855-1856. 

Oakland  township,  Nicholas  Pittenger ;  Littleton  town- 
ship, James  DeWitt ;  Brooklyn  township,  Robert  Blackburn  ; 
Birmingham  towuship,  James  G.  King;  Huntsville  town- 


92 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


ship,  P.  E.  Veatch  ;  Camden  township,  S.  S.  Benson ;  Beuna 
Vista  township,  John  Mitcheltree ;  Rushville  township.  J. 
D.  Maulove :  Browning  township,  John  M.  Campbell ;  Hick- 
ory township,  Amos  Hart;  Frederick  township,  Anthony 
Meserer;  Bainbridge  township,  A.  Persinger;  Woodstock 
township,  John  Brown. 

John  Brown  was  again  elected  chairman.  The  committee 
on  finance  in  September,  1855,  reported  the  amount  of  out- 
standing county  orders  to  be  $5694  00.  The  total  indebted- 
ness of  the  county  is  calculated  at  $7427.00.  A  county  tax 
of  thirty-three  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  was  levied 
for  the  year  1855.  An  additional  levy  was  made  in  each 
township  for  township  purposes,  varying  from  two  cents  on 
the  one  hundred  dollars  in  Rushville  township  to  thirteen 
cents  in  Browning. 

THIRD   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1856-1857. 

Oakland  township,  Nicholas  Pittenger;  Littleton  town- 
ship, E.  D.  Wells ;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard  ; 
Birmingham  township,  James  G.  King ;  Huntsville  township, 
Thomas  J.  Poe ;  Camden  township,  Luke  P.  Allphin  ;  Beuna 
Vista  township,  Thomas  J.Wilson  ;  Rushville  township,  Peter 
C.  Vance;  Browning  township,  Thomas  J.  Kinney;  Hickory 
township,  Daniel  Sheldon ;  Frederick  township,  Anthony 
Meserer;  Bainbridge  township,  Isaac  Black;  Woodstock 
township,  John  Brown. 

John  Brown  was  chosen  chairman.  Five  acres  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  poor  farm  were  leased  to  the  Schuyler 
County  Agricultural  Society  for  twenty-five  years,  at  a  rental 
of  twenty-five  cents  a  year. 

The  fiscal  statement  for  September,  1856,  showed  the  in- 
debtedness of  the  county  to  be  S1976.50.  The  probable  ex- 
penses for  the  year  were  placed  at  $1500.00.  The  amount 
proposed  to  be  raised  for  a  new  jail  was  S'r>00.  Total 
amount  required  for  county  purposes,  $5976.50.  The  assess- 
ment of  real  and  personal  property  was  $-,620,608.00.  A 
county  tax  of  twenty-eight  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars 
was  levied,  producing  a  revenue  for  the  year  of  $7337.70. 

In  January,  1857,  a  contract  was  made  with  Jeremiah 
Stumm  for  the  building  of  a  new  jail  at  the  cost  of  $644-1. 

At  an  election  on  the  1st  day  of  May,  1854,  a  majority  of 
the  voters  of  the  county  voted  in  favor  of  subscribing  seventy- 
five  thousand  dollars  to  the  stock  of  the  Peoria  and  Hanni- 
bal railroad  company.  The  board  of  supervisors  in  March, 
1857,  instructed  the  chairman  of  the  board  to  subscribe  for 
such  an  amount  of  the  stock  of  the  company,  with  the  restric- 
tion that  such  stock  shall  not  be  used  in  the  superstructure 
of  said  road  out  of  the  county  of  Schuyler,  nor  until  said 
superstructure  is  in  a  fair  way  of  completion  to  said  county. 
The  chairman  was  instructed  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the 
stockholders  of  the  railroad  company  at  Vermont,  April, 
1857,  to  subscribe  for  the  stock  on  such  conditions,  and  to 
pav  five  per  cent,  of  such  subscription  in  the  bonds  of  the 
county 

FOURTH    BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1857-1858. 

Oakland  township,  Nicholas  Pittenger ;  Littleton  town- 
ship, Edward  D.  Wells;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leon- 
ard ;  Birmingham  township,  Solomon  T.  Twidwell;  Hunts- 


ville township,  Thomas  J.  Poe;  Camden  township,  Luke  P. 
Allphin;  Buena  Vista  township,  Thomas  J.  Wilson  ;  Rush- 
ville township,  Peter  C.  Vance ;  Browning  township,  Thomas 
J.  Kinney  ;  Hickory  township,  Daniel  Sheldon  ;  Frederick 
township,  Anthony  Meserer;  Bainbridge  township,  Isaac 
Black  ;  Woodstock  township,  John  Brown. 

John  Brown  was  again  chosen  chairman.  The  agent  for 
the  poor-house  reported  ten  paupers  in  that  establishment. 

The  finance  committee,  September,  1857,  reported  amount 

of  outstanding  county  orders $525  00 

Appropriations  at  September  term,  1857 1,641  44 

To  be  paid  for  completion  of  jail 4,000  00 

Probable  expenses  of  county  till  next  revenue 2,500  00 

$S,666  64 

The  assessment  of  taxable  property  in  the  county  had  in- 
creased to  about  three  millions  of  dollars.  A  county  tax  of 
thirty  three  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  was  levied  for 
the  year  1857.  The  tax  for  township  purposes  varied  from 
two  cents  in  Rushville  to  fifteen  in  Buena  Vista  township. 

The  question  of  subscribing  to  the  stock  of  the  Rock 
Island  and  Alton  railroad  was  submitted  to  the  voters  of 
the  county  at  an  election  in  April,  1856.  The  proposition 
having  been  carried,  the  board  of  supervisors  in  September, 
1857,  authorized  the  chairman  of  the  board  to  subscribe 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  com- 
pany, and  ordered  that  county  bonds  be  issued  for  the  first 
five  per  cent  of  said  subscription,  payable  in  twenty  years, 
and  bearing  seven  per  cent  interest. 

In  March,  1*58,  there  is  an  order  of  the  board,  stating 
that  "  wher<  a~  it  was  the  impression  of  this  board  at  their 
September  term,  1857,  that  the  work  on  said  road  was  then 
to  progress  in  the  county,"  and  "  whereas,  it  is  now  ascer- 
tained that  the  aforesaid  impressions  were  incorrect,  and 
that  said  road  is  not  up  to  the  present  time  located  in  said 
county,"  therefore  the  chairman  of  the  board  '•  be  instructed 
to  suspend  all  proceedings  in  relation  to  said  subscription 
and  bonds  until  the  work  is  in  actual  progress  in  said  county, 
as  required  by  the  terms  of  the  order  submitting  the  same  to 
a  vote." 

In  July,  1858,  it  was  resolved  to  issue  bonds  to  the  amount 
of  $37,500  for  the  stock  voted  to  the  Rock  Island  and 
Alton  railroad  company,  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
treasurer,  and  by  him  delivered  to  the  railroad  company  as 
needed,  provided  the  same  be  expended  in  the  county  and 
upon  the  route  as  then  located ;  the  bonds  to  draw  no  in- 
terest till  delivered  to  the  railroad  company. 

December,  1857,  John  Brown  was  appointed  commis- 
sioner, to  act  in  conjunction  with  a  commissioner  from  Brown 
county,  "to  examine  and  ascertain  what  portion  of  each  sec- 
tion, or  parcel  of  land  is  situated  in  each  county." 

FIFTH   BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS,  1858-1859. 

Oakland  township,  Nicholas  Pittenger;  Littleton  town- 
ship, Edward  D.  Wells ;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leon- 
ard ;  Birmingham  township,  James  G.  King ;  Huntsville 
township,  Thomas  J.  Poe ;  Camden  township,  Luke  P.  All- 


HISTORY   OF    SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


93 


phin  ;  Buena  Vista  township,  Simon  Doyle ;  Rushville  town- 
ship, Peter  C.  Vance  ;  Browning  township,  John  M.  Camp- 
bell ;  Hickory  township,  Daniel  Sheldon ;  Frederick  town- 
ship, Anthony  Meserer ;  Bainbridge  township,  Isaac  Black  ; 
Woodstock  township,  John  Howell. 

Samuel  Leonard  was  elected  chairman  of  the  board.  The 
finance  committee  report  September,  1858,  the  amount  of 
county  orders  outstanding  to  be  §2,271.42.  The  probable 
expenses  for  the  remainder  of  the  current  year  were  estima- 
ted at  $2  500.  Iuterest  on  the  Rock  Island  and  Alton 
railroad  bonds,  $2,025.  A  tax  of  twenty-three  (23)  cents 
on  the  one  hundred  dollars  was  levied  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  the  county,  and  of  ten  cents  to  meet  the  railroad  bond 
interest. 

8IXTH    BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1859-1860. 

Oakland  township,  John  Young ;  Littleton  township,  Ed- 
ward D.  Wells  ;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard ;  Bir- 
mingham township,  Solomon  Twidwell ;  Huutsville  town- 
ship, James  Baxter ;  Camden  township,  Luke  P.  Allphin ; 
Buena  Vista  township,  Simon  Doyle ;  Rushville  township, 
John  C.  Scripps ;  Browning  township,  John  M.  Campbell ; 
Hickory  township,  Lewis  Price ;  Frederick  township,  Jesse 
Darnell ;  Bainbridge  township,  George  Strong ;  Woodstock 
township,  James  H.  Browning. 

Samuel  Leonard  made  chairman.  On  the  fifteenth  of 
September,  1859,  the  board  authorized  an  issue  of  bonds  to 
the  amount  of  $33,750,  (a  bond  of  $3,750.  had  previously 
been  issued)  to  the  Peoria  and  Hannibal  railroad  com- 
pany, to  draw  interest  from  April  1,  1859,  and  $37,500, 
to  draw  interest  from  April  1,  1860.  This  made  the 
$75,000,  which  the  county  had  voted  to  subscribe  to  the 
Peoria  and  Hannibal  company.  On  the  same  day  authority 
was  given  for  the  issue  of  $37,500  additional  bonds  to  the 
Rock  Island  anH  Alton  railroad  company,  which  completed 
the  subscription  of  $75,000  to  that  road. 

The  report  of  the  finance  committee  in  September,  1859, 
stated  the  amount  necessary  for  the  year  to  meet  outstand- 
ing county  orders  and  county  expenses  to  be  $7,117.25,  and 
the  amount  necessary  to  meet  interest  on  railroad  bonds, 
$8,840,  assessment  for  the  year,  $2,482,420.20.  A  tax  of 
twenty-nine  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  was  levied  for 
county  purposes,  and  of  thirty-seven  cents  to  meet  the  in- 
terest on  the  railroad  indebtedness,  a  total  of  sixty-six  cents 
on  the  one  hundred  dollars.  This  made  the  rate  of  taxation 
higher  than  ever  before  known  in  Schuyler  county. 

A  strong  opposition  to  the  payment  of  these  railroad  bonds 
soon  became  manifest.  The  board  on  the  first  of  February, 
1860,  after  reciting  that  a  portion  of  the  people  of  the  county 
regarded  the  subscription  by  the  county  to  the  capital  stock 
of  Rock  Island  and  Alton  railroad  company  illegal,  and 
that  the  validity  of  the  bonds  ought  properly  be  determined 
by  the  supreme  judicial  tribunals  of  the  State,  order  that  the 
tax  levy  to  meet  the  interest  on  these  bonds  be  rescinded, 
that  any  such  tax  already  collected  be  returned  to  the  tax 
payers,  that  all  such  bonds,  signed  and  not  actually  delivered, 
be  returned  and  cancelled,  and  that  no  more  bonds  be  issued, 
nor  any  further  tax  levied  till  the  questions  involved  be 


settled  by  the  supreme  court-     A  notice,  giving  the  action 
of  the  board,  was  directed  to  be  published  in  the  "  Rushville 
Times"  and  the  "Schuyler  Citizen." 

SEVENTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1860-1861. 

Oakland  township,  Stephen  Walker;  Littleton  township. 
Edward  D.  Wells :  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard  ; 
Birmingham  township,  Solomon  Twidwell ;  Huntsville, 
township,  James  Baxter ;  Camden  township,  Luke  P.  All- 
phin ;  Buena  Vista  township,  Simon  Doyle ;  Rushville  town- 
ship, John  C.  Scripps  ;  Browning  township,  James  Parish  ; 
Hickory  township,  Lswis  Price ;  Frederick  township,  W.  A. 
J.  Black ;  Bainbridge  township,  Allen  Persinger ;  Wood- 
stock township,  James  H.  Browning. 

Samuel  Leonard  was  chosen  chairman.  In  September, 
1860,  the  board  agreed  to  pay  the  publishers  of  each  of  the 
newspapers  in  the  county  twenty-five  dollars  annually  for 
printing  in  their  papers  the  proceedings  of  the  board,  "so 
that  the  people  may  know  more  fully  how  the  public  funds 
are  expended. 

The  finance  committee  reported  that  it  was  necessary  to 
raise  $5304.80  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  county  for  the 
year.  A  tax  of  twenty-three  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dol- 
lars was  levied  for  county  expenses.  A  tax  of  four  cents 
on  the  one  hundred  dollars  was  levied  to  pay  interest  on  the 
bonds  issued  to  the  Peoria  and  Hannibal  railroad.  The 
finance  committee  recommended  also  that  a  tax  be  levied  to 
meet  the  interest  on  the  bonds  already  issued  to  the  Rock 
Island  and  Alton  railroad  ($59,000,)  on  the  ground  that 
the  committee  were  satisfied  that  the  interest  on  the  bonds 
would  ultimately  have  to  be  paid;  if  withheld  would  been  forc- 
ed by  legal  process ;  "  thereby  increasing  the  enormous  lia- 
bility of  the  county  a  thousand  or  more  dollars  for  court 
costs  and  attorneys'  fees,  and  further  increase  the  almost  in- 
sufferable burden  of  taxation  imposed  upon  the  people  by 
allowing  three  or  four  years  of  back  interest  to  accumulate 
to  be  provided  for  by  one  year's  taxation."  The  committee 
go  on  to  say  that  the  bond  was  regularly  issued,  except  that 
the  county  had  no  authority  to  make  them  payable  in  New 
York,  but  that  they  were  not  for  that  reason  invalid.  The 
board  thought  best  to  refuse  this  recommendation.  It  was  also 
resolved  that  no  more  bonds  be  issued  to  the  Peoria  and 
Hannibal  railroad  company. 

EIGHTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS — 1861-1862 

Oakland  township,  Stephen  Walker ;  Littleton  township- 
Hosea  Davis;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard ;  Birm- 
ingham township,  William  Dron ;  Huntsville  township 
William  S.  Nelson;  Camden  township,  Luke  P.  Allphin; 
Buena  Vista  township,  John  L.  Moore  ;  Rushville  township, 
James  L.  Anderson  ;  Browning  township,  John  M.  Camp- 
bell; Hickory  township,  Lewis  Price;  Frederick  township, 
Walter  A.  J.  Black ;  Bainbridge  township,  Isaac  Black ; 
Woodstock  township,  John  C.  Brown. 

Samuel  Leonard  was  again  elected  chairman  of  the 
board.  Warren  &  Wheat,  for  legal  services  in  the  cause  of 
the  Rock  Island  and  Alton  railroad  company  against  the 
county,  were  paid  $1042.44. 


94 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


A  county  tax  of  thirty  cents  on  one  hundred  dollars  was 
levied  in  1861.  This  included  provision  for  the  payment  of 
interest  on  bonds  issued  to  the  Peoria  and  Hannibal  railroad 
company  amounting  to  $3,000.  Bonds  to  the  amount  of 
$25,000  had  been  issued  to  that  company,  but  of  these 
only  $3000  had  been  sold.  The  agent  of  the  railroad 
company  gave  assurance  that  no  interest  would  be  exacted 
on  the  remainder  of  the  bonds  in  the  hands  of  the  company, 
yet  unsold,  as  long  as  no  progress  was  made  in  building  the 
railroad. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1862  the  supervisors  put  in  force 
an  ordinance  taxing  dogs,  which  on  petition  of  citizens  of 
the  county  was  shortly  afterwards  repealed. 

The  finance  committee  having  been  instructed  to  inquire 
"  into  the  cause  of  the  present  depreciation  of  county  orders, 
and  to  report  what  action  may  be  necessary  by  the  board  to 
maintain  the  credit  of  the  county,  and  to  secure  the  orders 
from  their  present  ruinous  depreciation,"  reported  that  in 
September,  1861  the  balance  against  the  county  was  only 
§90.46 ;  that  the  depreciation  of  orders  did  not  arise  from 
the  failure  of  the  board  of  supervisors  to  make  ample  pro- 
vision for  the  liabilities  of  the  county,  but  from  the  fact  that 
the  late  treasurer  had  failed  to  pay  over  to  his  successor  the 
sum  of  $2,768  in  his  hands,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
present  treasurer  had  no  funds  with  which  to  redeem  orders. 
They  reported  that  the  outstanding  liabilities  and  current 
expenses  for  the  year  1862  would  amount  together  to  $10,- 
860.  The  maximum  levy  of  forty  cents  to  the  one  hun- 
dred dollars  of  taxable  property  would  only  raise  $9096, 
with  the  probability  that  the  depreciation  in  taxable  property 
then  going  on  would  still  further  increase  the  deficiency. 
The  committee  could  see  no  better  way  out  of  the  difficulty 
than  to  make  arrangements  with  some  individual  holders  of 
orders  to  the  amount  of  about  two  thousand  dollars,  to  with- 
hold them  from  circulation  on  the  agreement  of  the  county 
to  pay  interest  thereon. 

NINTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS — 1862-1863. 

Oakland  township,  Samuel  Hickam ;  Littleton  township, 
James  Prather ;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard ;  Bir- 
mingham township,  William  Dron  ;  Huntsville  township, 
William  S.  Nelson  ;  Camden  township,  John  M.  Campbell ; 
Buena  Vista  township,  John  A.  Young ;  Rushville  township, 
James  A.  Teal ;  Browning  township,  John  M*  Campbell ; 
Hickory  township,  William  Robertson  ;  Frederick  township 
Walter  A.  J.  Block  ;  Bainbridge  township,  Simon  J.  Grist ; 
Woodstock  township,  John  C.  Brown. 

Samuel  Leonard  was  elected  chairman. 

The  finance  committee,  in  September,  1862,  recommended 
that  the  interest  on  the  $3000  of  bonds  issued  to  the 
Peoria  and  Hannibal  railroad  be  met  from  the  proceeds  of 
the  sale  of  swamp  land.  A  county  tax  levy  of  forty-five 
cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  was  made.  The  additional 
tax  for  township  purposes  varied  from  nothing  in  Birm- 
ingham, to  fifteen  cents  in  Frederick  township. 

TENTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS — 1863-1864. 

Oakland  township,  Enoch  Gilham  ;  Littleton    township, 


James  Prather  ;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard ;  Bir- 
mingham township,  William  Dron ;  Huntsville  township, 
William  S.  Nelson ;  Camden  township,  Cyrus  W.  Morrell  ; 
Buena  Vista  township,  Samuel  S.  Benson  ;  Rushville  town- 
shiw,  James  A.  Teal ;  Browning  township,  John  M.  Camp- 
bell; Hickory  township,  William  Robertson;  Frederick 
township,  Walter  A.  J.  Black;  Bainbridge  township,  Isaac 
Black;  Woodstock  township,  William  P.  Thompson. 

John  M.  Campwell  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  Board. 
March,  1864,  a  bounty  of  eight  dollars  was  offered  on  all 
scalps  of  wolves  "started,  hunted  and  killed  in  Schuyler 
county,  or  started  and  hunted  in  Schuyler  county  and  final- 
ly killed  in  an  adjoining  county."  In  December,  1863,  the 
board  contracted  with  William  D.  Luptou  for  the  erection  of 
a  dwelling  house  on  the  poor  farm  foi  the  sum  of  $3,257. 
Lupten  was  paid  $1,500.  In  the  June  following  he  was  re- 
leased from  this  contract  on  the  condition  that  he  return  the 
$1,500.  The  same  month  the  erection  of  a  one-story 
frame  building,  containing  two  rooms,  was  authorized. 

ELEVENTH    BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS,  1864   -1865. 

Oakland  township,  Euoch  Gillham  ;  Littleton  township, 
Hosea  Davis  ;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard;  Bir- 
mingham township,  William  Dron ;  Huntsville  township, 
Henry  Cady ;  Camden  township,  Isaac  G.  Cady ;  Buena 
Vista  township,  Simon  Doyle;  Rushville  township,  George 
M.  Greer  ;  Browning  township,  Benjamin  Walton  ;  Hickory 
township,  Robert  Darling ;  Frederick  township,  Walter  A. 
J.  Black ;  Bainbridge  township,  Isaac  Black  ;  Woodstock 
township,  William  P.  Thompson; 

Euocu  G.  1  am  was  chosen  chairman.  The  indebtedness 
of  the  county  on  the  first  of  September,  1864,  amounted  to 
$5,232.63.  1'lie  estimated  expenses  for  the  remainder  of  the 
year  were  $3,555.54;  making  a  total  of  $8,788.17.  A 
county  tax  of  thirty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  w  as 
levied.  Besides  the  usual  additional  tax  in  each  township 
for  township  purposes,  a  special  tax  of  five  cents  on  the  one 
hundred  dollars  was  levied  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  in  each 
township,  "  si.id  fund  to  be  expended  under  the  supervision 
and  direction  of  the  supervisor  of  said  township." 

TWELFTH    BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1865-1866. 

Oakland  township,  Stephen  Walker  ;  Littleton  township, 
Joseph  Walker  ;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard  ;  Bir- 
mingham township,  William  Dron ;  Huntsville  township, 
Henry  Cady ;  Camden  township,  Isaac  G.  Cady ;  Buena 
Vista  township,  Simon  Doyle;  Rushville  township,  George 
W.  Metz ;  Browning  township,  Stephen  Strong ;  Hickory 
township,  Robert  Darling;  Frederick  township,  Walter  A. 
J.  Black  ;  Bainbridge  township,  Simon  J.  Grist ;  Wood- 
stock township,  William  P.  Thompson. 

George  W.  Metz  was  chosen  chairman.  In  September, 
1865,  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  to  the 
repair  of  the  court  house.  The  finance  committee  reported 
the  amount  necessary  to  be  provided  for  the  year  as  $7,350. 
A  county  tax  of  thirty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dol- 
lars was  levied  on  the  real  and  personal  property  of  the 
county  which  was  assessed  at  $2,384,260. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


95 


It  having  been  learned  that  the  holders  of  the  Schuyler 
county  bonds  issued  to  the  Rock  Island  and  Alton  Railroad 
were  about  to  commence  suit  in  the  United  States  courts 
against  the  county,  and  recent  decisions,  in  similar  cases, 
indicating  that  the  collection  of  the  bonds  might  be  enforced, 
the  board  of  supervisors  ordered  that  the  opinion  of  emi- 
nent legal  counsel  be  obtained  as  to  the  liability  of  the 
county.  The  firms  of  Stewart,  Edwards  and  Brown,  of 
Springfield,  and  Skinner  and  Marsh,  of  Quincy,  were  each 
paid  one  hundred  dollars  for  a  legal  opinion  to  the  effect 
that  it  would  be  to  the  interest  of  the  county  to  compromise 
the  bonds.  September  sixteenth,  1865,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed on  the  part  of  the  board  of  supervisors  to  confer 
with  the  holders  of  the  railroad  bonds,  and  ascertain  the 
terms  and  conditions  on  which  a  compromise  could  be  effect- 
ed, and  the  bonds  taken  up  and  caueclled.  On  the  four- 
teenth of  December,  1865,  the  committee  reported  the  terms 
of  compromise  of  the  holders  of  the  Rock  Island  and  Alton 
bonds  to  be  one-half  of  the  principal  and  interest  of  said 
bonds.  In  March,  1866,  a  compromise  was  finally  effected, 
the  holders  of  the  bonds  issued  to  the  Rock  Island  and  Alton 
Railroad  Company  surrendering  the  old  bonds,  and  receiv- 
ing in  lieu  thereof  new  bonds,  at  the  rate  of  fifty  cents  on 
the  dollar  face  value,  drawing  interest  at  the  rate  of  five  per 
cent.  Old  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $45,000  were  at  once 
surrendered  to  the  county,  and  $22,500  in  new  bonds 
issued  in  their  place. 

THIRTEENTH  BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS,    1866-1837. 

Oakland  township,  Israel  Hills ;  Littleton  township,  Hosea 
Davis;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard  ;  Birmingham 
township,  William  Dron ;  Huntsville  township,  Samuel  S. 
Benson  ;  Camden  township,  Abner  Murphy ;  Buena  Vista 
township,  John  F.  Davis ;  Rushville  township,  Ludwell  H. 
Damaree ;  Browning  township,  Jonathan  Reno ;  Hickory 
township,  Wakeman  Thompson  ;  Frederick  township, Charles 
M.  Grimwood ;  Bainbridge  township,  George  W.  Strong ; 
Woodstock  township,  William  P.  Thompson.  Ludwell  H. 
Demaree  was  chosen  chairman.  A  county  tax  of  fifty  cents 
on  the  one  hundred  dollars  was  levied  for  the  year  1866. 

FOURTEENTH   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,    1867-1868. 

Oakland  township,  Isreal  Hills ;  Littletown  township, 
Hosea  Davis;  Brooklyn  township,  Samuel  Leonard ;  Bir- 
mingham township,  William  C  McCreery ;  Huntsville  town- 
ship, Samuel  S.  Benson ;  Camden  township,  Arthur  L. 
Wells;  Buena  Visia  township,  Simon  Doyle;  Rushville 
township,  Ludwell  H.  Damaree  ;  Browning  township,  Jona- 
than Reno ;  Hickory  township,  Wakeman  Thompson  ,  Fred- 
erick township,  Charles  M.  Grimwood ;  Bainbridge  township; 
George  W.Campbell;  Woodstock  township,  William  P. 
Thompson.  Ludwell  H.  Demaree  was  elected  chairman. 
A  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  was  levied 
for  county  purposes  in  1867. 

The  county  had  brought  suit  against  the  president  and 
directors  of  the  Peoria  and  Hannibal  Railroad  Company, 
for  a  return  of  the  bonds  issued  to  that  company.  A  con- 
siderable amount  was  paid  to  Skinner  and  Marsh,  of  Quincy, 


for  attorney's  fees.  A  settlement  of  the  suit  was  effected  in 
accordance  with  which  the  Circuit  Court  of  Schuyler  county,  at 
the  October  term,  1867,  decreed,  by  consent,  that  the  rail- 
road surrender  the  old  bonds  to  the  county,  and  that  the 
county  issue  instead,  bonds  io  the  amount  of  S73.000,  dated 
July  the  first,  1868,  to  draw  six  per  cent,  interest,  and  that 
such  bonds  be  placed  in  hands  of  the  trustees,  who 
were  to  deliver  them  to  the  railroad  company,  as  progress 
was  made  in  building  their  road,  from  the  east  line  of 
Schuyler  county  to  Rushville.  Bonds  to  the  amount  of  four 
thousand  dollars  were  to  be  delivered  to  the  railroad  com- 
pany when  two  miles  of  the  road,  extending  southwestward- 
ly  from  the  county  line,  was  ready  for  the  iron,  and  a  given 
number  of  the  bonds  as  each  successive  mile  of  the  road  was 
completed,  and  when  the  road  should  be  finished  to  Rush- 
ville, and  railroad  communication  established  with  Chicago, 
or  some  eastern  point,  the  residue  of  the  bonds  should  be 
delivered  to  the  railroad  company. 

FIFTEENTH  BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS.       1868-1869. 

Oakland  township,  Richard  Ashcraft ;  Littleton  town- 
ship, Hosea  Davis ;  Brooklyn  township,  Beuham  Bristol ; 
Birmingham  township,  John  T.  Wyckoff;  Huntsville 
township,  John  W.  Scott;  Camden  township,  E.  L.  Fuller  ; 
Buena  Vista  township,  G.  B.  Sharp ;  Rushville  township, 
Ludwell  H.  Demaree;  Browning  township,  John  M.  Camp- 
bell ;  Hickory  township,  Samuel  Burrell ;  Frederick  town- 
ship, Charles  M.  Grimwood ;  Bainbridge  township,  George 
W.  Campbell ;  Woodstock  township,  William  P.  Thompson. 
John  M.  Campbell  was  elected  chairman. 

In  a  suit  of  William  F.  Weld  vs.  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors of  Schuyler  county,  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States  for  the  Southern  District  of  Illinois,  judgment  having 
been  obtained  establishing  the  validity  of  the  bonds  issued 
to  the  Rock  Island  and  Alton  Railroad  Company  in  the 
hands  of  an  innocent  holder,  a  compromise  was  effected  in 
September,  1868,  by  which  bonds  to  the  amount  of  811,500, 
held  by  Weld,  were  returned  and  cancelled,  and  in  their 
stead  new  bonds  issued  according  to  the  terms  of  a  compro- 
mise on  the  basis  of  seventy-five  cents  on  the  dollar.  A  tax 
of  fifty  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  was  levied  in  1868 
to  defray  county  expenses ;  also  a  special  tax  of  thirty-five 
cents  to  pay  the  county  indebtness,  and  a  special  tax  of  ten 
cents  to  build  a  new  house  on  the  poor  farm. 

SIXTEENTH    BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS.       1869-1870. 

Oakland  township,  Israel  Hills ;  Littleton  township,  Hosea 
Davis ;  Brooklyn  township,  Benham  Bristol ;  Birmingham 
township,  W.  T.  McCreery  ;  Huntsville  township,  John  W. 
Scott ;  Camden  township,  E.  L.  Fuller ;  Buena  Vista  town- 
ship, Isaac  Linley  ;  Rushville  township,  Jonathan  R.  Neil ; 
Browning  township,  Jonathan  Reno ;  Hickory  township, 
Samuel  Burrel ;  Frederick  township,  Jesse  Darnell ;  Bain- 
bridge township,  Adam  Riggs  ;  Woodstock  township,  John 
S.Stutsman.     Jesse  Darnell  was  chosen  chairman. 

A.  L.  Noble  in  March,  1870,  took  the  place  of  Isaac 
Linley  as  supervisor  from  Buena  Vista  township.  The  erec- 
tion of  a  house  on  the  poor  farm  was  begun  in  the  spring  of 


96 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


1869,  under  the  direction  of  a  building  committee  appointed 
by  the  board  of  supervisors.  On  the  fifteenth  of  September. 
1869,  $6,461.78  had  been  expended,  and  the  total  cost  of 
the  building  was  estimated  at  $10,000.  The  cost  exceeded 
this  estimate.  Thirty-five  paupers  were  on  the  farm  in  Sep- 
tember, 1869. 

SEVENTEENTH   BOARD    OF  SUPERVISORS.      1870-1871. 

Oakland  township,  Stephen  Walker  ;  Littleton  township, 
John  M.  Dennis ;  Brooklyn  township,  Henry  W.  Taylor ; 
Birmingham  township,  William  T.  McCreery ;  Huntsville 
township,  Zebulon  Allphin  ;  Camden  township,  Eli  Unger  ; 
Buena  Vista  township,  A.  L.  Noble ;  Rushville  township, 
John  C.  Scripps  ;  Browning  township,  William C.  Venters; 
Hickory  township,  Samuel  Burrell ;  Frederick  township, 
Jesse  Darnell ;  Bainbridge  township,  Adam  M.  Briggs  ; 
Woodstock  township,  John  C.  Brown.  Jesse  Darnell  was 
elected  chairman, 

The  tax  for  defraying  county  expenses  for  the  year  1870, 
was  fifty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars,  and  for  meeting 
the  indebtedness  of  the  county  forty-five  cents  on  the  one 
hundred  dollars. 

EIGHTEENTH    BOARD    OF    SUPERVISORS.       1871-1872. 

Oakland  township,  George  Wheelhouse;  Littleton  town- 
ship, James  De  Witt;  Brooklyn  township,  Henry  W.  Tay- 
lor; Birmingham  township,  Edward  Whipple  ;  Huntsville 
township,  Zebulon  Allphin;  Camden  township,  Philander 
Avery :  Buena  Vista  township,  Charles  Ryan  ;  Rushville 
township,  Robert  G.  Walker ;  Browning  township,  William 
C.  Reno ;  Hickory  township,  Samuel  Burrell ;  Frederick 
township,  Jesse  Darnell ;  Bainbridge  township,  George  W. 
Campbell;  Woodstock  township,  John  S.  Stutsman. 

Jesse  Darnell  was  elected  chairman  December,  1871. 
John  W.  Curless  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  board  to 
fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Samuel  Burrell  of 
Hickory  township.  The  county  tax  for  1871  was  $13,940.34. 
After  abatement  commissions,  etc.,  a  net  amount  was  paid 
into  the  treasury  of  $12,796.33. 

NINETEENTH   BOARD   OF    SUPERVISORS.      1872-1873. 

Oakland  township,  George  Wheelhouse;  Littleton  town- 
ship, James  De  Witt ;  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon  ; 
Birmingham  township,  William  T.  McCreery;  Huntsville 
township,  A.  J.  Anderson ;  Camden  township,  Philander 
Avery ;  BuenaVista  township,  Simon  Doyle ;  Rushville  town- 
ship, John  H.  Irvin  ;  Browning  township,  A.  R.  Marshall ; 
Hickory  township,  John  W.  Curless  ;  Frederick  township, 
Emanuel  Hinderer;  Bainbridge  township,  George  W. 
Campbell ;  Woodstock  township,  John  Stutsman. 

George  W  Campbell,  on  the  seventh  ballot,  was  elected 
chairman.  September,  1872,  the  salary  of  the  circuit  clerk 
was  fixed  at  twelve  hundred  dollars  per  annum  with  neces- 
sary allowance  for  stationary  and  office  expenses,  the  salaries 
of  the  sheriff  and  treasurer  at  the  same  figure,  and  the 
salaries  of  the  county  surveyor  and  coroner  at  one  thousand 
dollars  per  annum.  September  1874,  the  salary  of  the 
coroner  was  fixed  at  three  hundred  dollars,  the  sheriff's  sal- 


ary at  fourteen  hundred  dollars,  and  the  salary  of  the  super- 
intendant  of  schools  at  three  hundred.  The  salary  of  the 
treasurer  was  afterward  reduced  to  seven  hundred  dollars  as 
was  also  that  of  the  county  surveyor. 

TWENTIETH   BOARD  OF   SUPERVISORS.     1873-1874. 

Oakland  township,  William  Baxter ;  Littleton  township, 
William  Pollock ;  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon ; 
Birmingham  township,  William  T.  McCreery;  Huntsville 
township,  William  H.  H.  Rader,  Camden  township,  Phil- 
ander Avery  ;  Buena  Vista  township,  William  R.  McCreery  ; 
Rushville  township,  John   H    Irwin  ;  Browning  township, 

A.  R.  Marshall ;  Hickory  township,  John  W.  Curless ; 
Frederick  township,  Emanuel  Hinderer ;  Bainbridge  town- 
ship, John  H.  Lawler ;  Woodstock  township,  John  C 
Brown. 

William  T.  McCreery  was  made  chairman.  The  finance 
committee  estimated  the  amount  required  to  be  raised  by 
the  county  for  the  year  at  $15,000,  of  this,  |$11,000  was 
intended  to  meet  the  current  expenses  of  the  county,  and 
$4,000  the  cost  of  construction  of  the  Schuyler  bridge. 
A  levy  for  this  amount  was  made. 

TWENTY-FIRST   BOARD    OF   SUPERVISORS.      1874-1875. 

Oakland  township,  Henry  J.  Houston  ;  Littleton  town 
ship,  William  Pollock  ;  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon  ; 
Birmingham  township,  William  T.  McCreery ;  Huntsville 
township,  W.  H.  H.  Rader ;  Camden  township,  George  E. 
Harvey;  Buena  Vista  township,  John  Tullis;  Rushville 
township,  Robert  McMaster  ;  Browning  township,  Sherman 

B.  Dray  ;  Hickory  township,  Valentine  Fisher  ;  Frederick 
township,  Emanuel  Hinderer ;  Bainbridge  township,  Adam 
Briggs  ;  Woodstock  township,  John  S.  Stutsman. 

William  T.  McCreery  was  elected  chairman  of  the  board. 
The  sum  of  $12,000  was  c  Elected  by  taxation  in  1874  as 
revenue  for  ordinary  county  purposes. 

TWENTY-SECOND   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS.     1875-1876. 

Oakland  township,  Henry  E.  Pemberton ;  Littleton  town- 
ship, Hosea  Davis :  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon  ; 
Birmingham  township,  Marcas  Whetstone;  Huntsville 
township,  Zebulon  Allphin  ;  Camden  township,  James  N. 
Rigg  ;  Buena  Vista,  township,  John  H.  Tullis ;  Rushville 
township,  Edgar  Anderson  ;  Browning  township,  Sherman 
B.  Dray;  Hickory  township,  Valentine  Fisher;  Frederick 
township,  Walter  A.  J.  Black;  Bainbridge  township, 
Samuel  Dodds ;  Woodstock  township,  Perry  Logsdon. 

Sherman  B.  Dray  was  made  chairman.  December,  1875, 
William  T.  McCreery  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  board 
from  Birmingham  township  in  place  of  Marcus  Whetstone. 
Ten  thousand  dollars  was  raised  by  taxation  for  county  pur- 
poses in  1875. 

TWENTY-THIRD   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1876-1877. 

Oakland  township,  Henry  J.  Houston  ;  Littleton  town- 
ship, Hosea  Davis ;  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon ; 
Birmingham  township,  William  T.  McCreery ;  Huntsville 
township,  Andrew  J.  Anderson ;  Camden  township,  James 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


97 


N.  Rigg ;  Buena  Vista  township,  John  N.  Roach ;  Rush- 
ville  township,  Edgar  Anderson  ;  Browning  township,  Wil- 
liam C.  Reno;  Hickory  township,  John  W.  Curless ;  Fred- 
erick township,  Jesse  Darnell ;  Bainbridge  township,  Charles 
W.  Davis  ;  Woodstock  township,  Perry  Logsdon. 

Hosea  Davis  was  made  chairman.  On  application  of  the 
committee  on  the  Centennial  celebration  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  1876,  the  sum  of  seventy-five  dollars  was  appropriated 
to  aid  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  procuring  the  history  of 
Schuyler  county. 

TWENTY-FOURTH    BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1877-1878. 

Oakland  township,  Israel  Hills ;  Littleton  township,  Ho- 
sea Davis;  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon  ;  Birmingham 
township,  A.  L  Beard ;  Huntsville  township,  Zebulon  All- 
phin ;  Camden  township,  Philander  Avery ;  Buena  Vista 
'ownship,  Thomas  Cunningham  ;  Rushville  township,  Edgar 
Anderson ;  Browning  township,  Mark  Bogue ;  Hickory 
township,  Valentine  Fisher ;  Frederick  township,  Jesse 
Darnell ;  Bainbridge  township,  Samuel  Dodds ;  Woodstock 
township,  John  S.  Stutsman. 

Jesse  Darnell  was  elected  chairman.  William  C.  Reno 
became  a  member  of  the  board  in  December,  1877,  from 
Browning  township,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resigna- 
tion of  Mark  Bogue,  elected  county  clerk.  Twelve  thousand 
dollars  was  the  amount  necessary  to  meet  the  county  ex- 
penditures for  1877,  as  reported  by  the  finance  committee. 
A  member  of  this  committee  made  a  minority  report  re- 
commending a  further  levy  of  $10,00n,  that  amount  to  be 
expended  in  building  a  court-house.  This  recommendation 
was  rejected  by  the  board. 

TWENTY-FIFTH   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1878-1879. 

Oakland  township,  Israel  Hills  ;  Littleton  township,  Ho- 
sea Davis  ;  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon  ;  Birmingham 
township,  A.  L.  Beard;  Huntsville  township,  William  II. 
H.  Rader ;  Camden  township,  Philander  Avery;  Buena 
Vista  township,  Thomas  Cunningham  ;  Rushville  township, 
Edgar  Anderson ;  Browning  township,  William  C.  Reno ; 
Hickory  township,  Valentine  Fisher ;  Frederick  township, 
Jesse  Darnell ;  Bainbridge  township,  Adam  M.  Briggs ; 
Woodstock  township,  John  F.  Langford. 

Jesse  Darnell  was  elected  chairman  of  the  board.  March, 
1879,  James  De  Witt  became  a  member  of  the  board  to  fill 
the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Hosea  Davis  of 
Littleton  township.  The  sum  of  $12,400  wa3  raised  by 
taxation  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  county  for  the  year 
1878. 

TWENTY-SIXTH    BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1879-1880. 

Oakland  township,  William  H.  Baxter;  Littleton  town- 
ship, James  De  Witt ;  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon ; 
Birmingham  township,  Marcus  Whetstone ;  Huntsville 
townshp,  Nathaniel  J.  Milby ;  Camden  township,  James  N. 
Rigg,  Buena  Vista  township,  Thomas  Cunningham  ;  Kush- 
ville  township,  Edgar  Anderson  ;  Browning  township,  Wil- 
liam C.  Reno ;  Hickory  township,  Addison  D.  Stambaugh  ; 
Frederick  township,  Jesse  Darnell ;  Bainbridge  townshipi 
A.dam  M.  Briggs ;  Woodstock  township,  John  C.  Taylor. 
13 


Jesse  Darnell  was  elected  chairman.  September,  1879,  Ed- 
win M.  Anderson  became  a  member  of  the  board  from  Rush- 
ville township  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of 
Edgar  Anderson.  A  resolution  offered  by  Supervisor  Ander- 
son, September,  1879,  that  the  board  take  steps  toward 
building  a  court-house,  not  to  exceed  in  cost  $40,000,  and 
that  one-third  of  this  amount  be  provided  for  in  the  tax  levy 
for  1879  was  rejected.  The  finance  committee  reported  the 
sum  of  $17,000  necessary  to  bi  raised  by  taxation  to  meet 
the  indebtedness  at  that  time,  and  provide  for  the  expenses 
of  the  county  of  the  next  year. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1880-1881. 

Oakland  township,  Henry  C  Pemberton  ;  Littleton  town- 
ship, James  De  Witt,  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon 
Birmingham  township,  Marcus  Whetstone;  Huntsville  town- 
ship, Nathaniel  J.  Milby ;  Camden  township,  M.  M.  Cleek  ; 
Buena  Vista  township,  Thomas  Cunningham ;  Rushville 
township,  Edwin  M.  Anderson ;  Browning  township,  Wil- 
liam C.  Reno ;  Hickory  township,  Addison  D.  Stambaugh ; 
Frederick  township,  Jesse  Darnell ;  Bainbridge  township 
Adam  M.  Briggs ;  Woodstock  township,  John  C.  Taylor. 

Jesse  Darnell  was  chosen  chairman.  February,  1881, 
Sherman  B.  Dray  took  his  place  in  the  board  as  supervisor 
from  Browning  township,  in  place  of  William  C.  Reno,  re- 
signed. This  board  resolved  on  building  a  new  court-house, 
and  ordered  a  tax  levy  of  $1,333.34  as  the  first  instalment 
of  the  proposed  cost.  A  contract  was  made  with  Thomas 
Keegan  of  Monroe,  Michigan,  to  construct  the  building  after 
the  model  of  the  court  house  at  Monroe.  A  location  was 
selected  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  public  square,  and 
lots  purchased  for  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  of 
which  the  county  paid  half,  and  the  corporate  authorities 
and  private  citizens  of  Rushville  the  balance.  The  square 
of  ground,  the  site  of  the  old  court-house,  it  was  resolved  to 
lease  to  the  town  of  Rushville  for  use  as  a  public  park. 

TWENTY-EIGHTH   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS. — 1881-1882. 

Oakland  township,  Jamas  P.  Clarke  ;  Littleton  township, 
William  Pollock  ;  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon  ;  Bir- 
mingham township,  Mark  Whetstone  ;  Huntsville  township, 
Nicholas  Burmood  ;  Camden  township,  Philander  Avery ; 
Buena  Vista  township,  Thomas  Cunningham;  Rushville 
township,  Edwin  M.  Anderson ;  Browning  township,  Wil- 
liam Bader;  Hickory  township,  Herman  C.  Schultz  :  Frede- 
rick township,  John  Hinton  ;  Bainbridge  township,  Adam 
M.  Briggs ;  Woodstock  township,  John  C.  Taylor. 

Thomas  Cunuinghara  was  elected  chairman.  September, 
1881,  a  tax  levy  was  ordered  of  $12,700.00  for  ordinary 
county  purposes,  and  of  $13,333.33  for  building  the  new 
court-house,  September,  1881.  The  committee  having  in 
charge  the  construction  of  the  new  court-house  was  author- 
ized to  borrow  eight  thousand  dollars  for  five  months  at  six 
per  cent,  interest,  to  facilitate  the  rapid  construction  of  the 
court-house  building,  the  amount  to  be  repaid  from  the  tax 
levy  of  the  year  for  that  purpose,  when  collected. 

The  salaries  of  the  county  officers,  as  now  fixed,  are  as 
follows  :     County  judge,  $800  ;  county  clerk,  $1200  ;  circuit 


98 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


clerk,  $1200;  sheriff,  $1200;  treasurer,  $700;  and  coroner, 
$1200. 

TWENTY-NINTH   BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS — 1882-1883. 

Oakland  township,  Edward  J.  Jones ;  Littleton  township, 
William  Pollock ;  Brooklyn  township,  John  Glandon ;  Bir- 
mingham township,  Marcus  Whetstone;  Huntsville  town- 
ship, Zebulon  Allphin  ;  Camden  township,  Philander  Avery; 
Buena  Vista  township,  Thomas  Cunningham  ;  Rushville 
township,  George  VV.  Bellomy;  Browning  township,  William 
Bader ;  Frederick  township,  Herman  C.  Schultz  ;  Bainbridge 
township,  Charles  M.  Davis  ;  Woodstock  township,  John  C. 
Taylor. 

THE  BONDED  INDEBTEDNESS  OF  SCHUYLER  COUNTY. 

Bonds  issued  to  the  Peoria  and  Hannibal  Railroad 
Company— 38  bonds,  $500  each ;  36  bonds,  $1,000 
each ;  28  bonds,  $500  each;  dated  July  1,  1868,  drawing 
6  per  cent,  interest.     Total  amount $73  000,00 

Bonds  issued  to  Rock  Island  and  Alton  Railroad  Com- 
pany—49  bonds   of  $250  each,  dated   March  1,  1866, 
payable  July  i,  1886,  drawing  5   percent, 
interest, $12,250.00 

Amount  redeemed, 7,962.50 

Due  on  same 4,287.50 

Twenty-two  bonds  of  $500  each,  dated  March  1,  1866, 

payable  July  1,  1886,  drawing  five  per  cent. 

interest $11,000.00 

Amount  redeemed' 7,150.00 

Due  on  same 3,850.00 

One  bond  of  $1,000,  dated  March  17,  1869,  payable 
July  1,  1886,  six  per  cent,  interest  and  five  per  cent,  of 

principal  payable  each  year 51,000.00 

Amount  redeemed 55000 

Due  on  same :    .   .    .   .  450.00 

581,587.50 

FERRIES. 

The  first  liceuse  to  establish  a  ferry  was  given  to  Thomas 
Beard  on  the  5th  of  June,  1826.  This  ferry  was  at  Beard's 
house,  on  the  Illinois  river,  opposite  the  site  of  the  present 
Beardstown.  For  crossing  the  channel  of  the  river  he  was 
allowed  to  charge  the  following  rates  of  ferriage :  Wagon 
and  four  horses  or  oxen,  75c. ;  wagon  and  two  horses  or 
oxen,  50c. ;  wagon,  or  cart,  and  one  horse,  37Jc  ;  man  and 
horse,  12}c  ;  loose  horse,  61c. ;  footman,  6}c ;  cattle  per 
head,  5c. ;  sheep,  hogs  and  goats,  per  head,  2c. ;  and  double 
the  above  rates  whenever  it  was  necessary  to  take  passengers 
from  or  near  the  foot  of  the  bluff.  It  appearing  to  the 
county  commissioners  that  a  difference  of  opinion  existed  in 
the  minds  of  some  persons  respecting  the  rates  of  ferriage 
allowed  Beard,  they  ordered  in  December,  1826,  that  Beard 
be  allowed  to  receive  no  more  ferriage  for  crossing  a  loaded 
wagon  than  an  empty  one. 

On  the  fourth  of  September,  1826,  Andrew  Vance  ob- 
tained license  for  a  ferry  at  the  upper  landing  on  the  Illi- 
nois river.  The  rates  of  ferriage  were  the  same  as  those  at 
Blair's  ferry. 

An  order  of  the  county  commissioners'  court  of  the  first 
of  September,  1828,  allows  Thomas  Beard,  who  carried  on 


the  ferry  where  Beardstown  now  is,  to  charge  the  same  rates 
of  ferriage  given  above,  with  the  exception  that  he  was 
allowed  to  collect  six  and  a  quarter  cents  for  each  head  of 
loose  cattle,  and  three  cents  for  each  head  of  sheep,  goats 
or  hogs ;  and  when  it'was  necessary,  on  account  of  the  high 
water,  to  run  the  ferry  from  or  near  the  bluff,  he  had  the 
privilege  of  imposing  a  tax  of  one  dollar  and  twenty-five 
cents  on  each  two-horse  wagon  ;  one  dollar  on  a  one-horse 
wagon  or  cart ;  fifty  cents  for  a  man  and  horse ;  twenty-five 
cents  for  a  footman  ;  twelve  and  a-half  cents  a  head  for  loose 
cattle ;  and  six  cents  for  each  head  of  sheep,  goats,  or  hogs. 

In  March,  1830,  William  Wilson  was  licensed  to  keep  a 
ferry  on  the  Illinois  river,  "  at  a  place  called  the  Narrow*., 
about  three  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Crooked  creek." 

In  March,  1831,  Benjamin  V.  Teel,  who  seems  to  have 
looked  with  a  covetous  eye  at  the  profits  that  might  be 
reaped  from  the  travel  across  the  Illinois  river  at  the  town 
of  Beardstown,  appeared  before  the  county  commissioners' 
court,  and  prayed  for  a  license  to  establish  a  ferry  across  the 
Illinois  river  in  township  one  north,  lange  one  east.  He 
proved  that  he  had  given  regular  notice  of  his  intention  to 
make  application ;  but  Thomas  Beard  appeared  and  op- 
postd  -the  issuance  of  the  license  on  the  ground  that  he  was 
lhe  owner  and  occupier  of  a  ferry  across  the  said  river  at  the 
same  place.  The  court  refused  to  graut  Teel  license  for  a 
second  ferry. 

For  the  years  1829  and  1830  the  sum  of  twenty-six  dol- 
lars were  collected  by  the  county  from  the  ferries,  and  in 
March,  1831,  this  amount  was  appropriated  to  the  improve- 
ment of  that  part  of  the  direct  road  from  Rushville  to  Beard's 
ferry,  beginning  on  the  east  side  of  section  11,  town  1  north, 
range  1  west,  tlience  to  the  Illinois  river. 

In  March,  1830,  Willis  O'Neal  was  authorized  to  keep  a 
ferry  over  Crooked  creek,  "  at  or  near  where  the  road  from 
Rushville  to  Quincy  "  crosses  that  stream.  The  rates  of  fer- 
riage which  he  was  permitted  to  charge  were  in  excess  of 
those  charged  on  the  Illinois  river  ferries,  perhaps  on  account 
of  the  ferry  being  only  a  temporary  matter  until  a  new  bridge 
across  Crooked  creek  could  be  constructed. 

The  ferry  across  the  Illinois  at  the  Narrows  were  trans- 
ferred from  William  Wilson  to  Isasc  T.  Riggs,  and  the 
license  of  the  latter  was  confirmed  by  the  county  commis- 
sioners on  the  6th  of  March,  1833.  The  same  day  a  tax  of 
three  dollars  was  levied  on  Rigg's  ferry,  and  of  twenty  dol- 
lars on  Thomas  Beard's  ferry.  The  last  named  amount  was 
directed  to  be  expended  "  in  improving  the  road  from  said 
ferry  up  to  the  Forks  above  Hall's." 

On  the  5th  of  December,  1842,  David  Tallman  was 
licensed  to  keep  a  ferry  on  Crooked  creek,  at  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  11,  town  1  south,  range  2  west.  A  tax 
of  five  dollars  was  levied  on  this  ferry.  The  ferry  rates  were 
established  as  follows : 

Wagon  and  two  horses  or  oxen 50  cents. 

Each  additional  pair  of  horses  or  oxen 50     " 

Wagon  with  one  horse 25 

Man  and  horse     .     .     , 1-i 

Footman "t 

Cattle,  sheep  or  hogs  per  head 3      " 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


99 


On  the  7th  of  of  March,  1833,  a  tax  of  twenty  dollars  was 
assessed  against  Thomas  Beard  on  his  ferry,  and  the  amount 
was  directed  to  be  expended  under  the  supervision  of  Moses 
Perkins  in  the  improvement  of  the  road  leading  from  Beard's 
ferry  to  the  bluff.  Five  dollars  was  assessed  against  Isaac  T. 
Riggs  on  account  of  his  ferry  privilege,  and  he  was  directed 
to  expend  the  amount  on  the  road  from  the  Narrows  to  the 
top  of  the  bluff. 

Haskell's  ferry  on  Crooked  creek,  on  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  23,  town  2  north,  range  3  west,  was  established  in 
1 834,  license  having  been  granted  to  the  proprietor,  Joseph 
Haskell  on  the  2d  of  June  of  that  year.  He  was  required 
to  give  a  bond  of  two  hundred  dollars,  was  taxed  five  dollars 
for  the  current  year,  and  was  authorized  to  impose  the  fol- 
lowing charges : 

Wagon  with  two  horses  or  oxen 3TJ  cents. 

Horse  and  dearborn  wagon 25       " 

Man  and  horse 12J     " 

Footman ' 6J     •' 

Additional  horses  or  oxen  per  head 6}     " 

Cattle,  sheep  or  hogs  per  head 3       " 

March  4th,  1835,  Allen  Alexander  was  licensed  to  keep  a 
ferry  across  Cr6oked  creek,  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 33,  township  1  north,  range  2  west  (at  the  present  town 
of  Ripley.) 

A  ferry  across  Crooked  creek,  on  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  13,  town  1  south,  range  2  west,  was  licensed  to  be 
kept  by  William  Wilson,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1836.  The 
tax  assessed  against  it  for  the  year  1836  was  three  dollars. 
The  rates  of  ferriage  were  nearly  the  same  as  those  given 
above.  F>r  a  wagon  and  four  horses,  sixty-two  and  a  half 
cents  were  charged  ;  a  cart  with  two  oxen  or  horses,  twenty- 
five  cents ;  loose  cattle  per  head,  five  cents ;  and  sheep  or 
hogs  per  head,  three  cents. 

Benjamin  V.  Teel,  whose  efforts  in  1831  to  secure  license 
to  carry  on  a  ferry  in  opposition  to  Thomas  Beard,  opposite 
Beardstown,  had  not  been  successful,  on  the  6th  of  June, 
1836,  was  granted  license  for  a  ferry  across  the  Illinois  river 
from  a  point  immediately  below  the  mouth  of  Sugar  creek 
to  a  point  directly  opposite  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  He 
was  allowed  to  charge  the  same  rates  as  at  Beard's  Ferry. 
A  tax  of  three  dollars  was  assessed  against  this  ferry  for 
the  year  1836. 

In  1837  the  ferry  taxes  were  increased,  aud  for  that  year 
we  find  thirty-five  dollars  assessed  against  Thomas  Beard  by 
reason  of  his  ferry  privilege ;  ten  dollars  against  Thomas  C. 
Riggs ;  five  dollars  against  Allen  Alexander ;  five  dollars 
against  William  Wilson,  and  five  dollars  againt  Joseph 
Haskell.  From  this  it  can  be  seen  that  Beard's  Ferry  must 
have  been  by  far  the  most  remunerative.  A  great  part  of 
the  travel  to  the  military  tract  crossed  the  Illinois  river  at 
this  point.  In  1839,  Beard  was  required  to  pay  seventy 
dollars,  and  the  other  ferries  in  the  county  from  three  to  ten. 

John  Night,  in  September,  1837,  was  licensed  to  carry  on 
a  ferry  across  the  Illinois  river  at  the  foot  of  Grand  Island, 
and  Benjamin  V.  Teel  in  December,  1837,  across  the  Illinois 
at  the  mouth  of  Sugar  creek,  and  also  a  ferry  across  Sugar 
creek.     . 


EARLY    ROADS. 

One  of  the  most  important  duties  of  the  early  boards  of 
county  commissioners  was  to  provide  the  county  with  suita- 
ble roads.  The  first  public  highway  opened  by  the  county 
commissioners'  court  was  the  road  leading  from  Beard's 
Ferry  on  the  Illinois  river  to  Beardstown,  the  original  county 
seat,  near  Pleasant  View,  thence  to  the  southeast  corner  of 
section  16,  township  2  north,  range  1  west.  For  surveying 
this  road  Levin  Green  and  Ephraim  Eggleston  were  allowed 
each  one  dollar.  Jonathan  Reno  was  appointed  the  road 
supervisor.  This  road  was  declared  a  public  highway  in 
December,  lb25.  After.  Rushville  was  fixed  upon  as  the 
permanent  seat  of  justice,  this  road,  in  March,  1826,  was 
ordered  to  be  straightened  so  that  the  old  town  of  Beardstown 
was  left  to  one  side  of  the  route. 

Sundry  inhabitants  having  petitioned  for  a  road  leading  from 
Rushville,  by  the  nearest  and  best  route,  to  intersect  a  road 
leading  from  Lewistown,  in  Fulton  county,  to  the  county  line, 
near  the  northwest  corner  of  Fulton  county,  Levin  Green 
and  Joel  Pennington  were  appointed  viewers  of  the  proposed 
road,  and  having  made  a  favorable  report,  it  was  ordered  by 
the  county  commissioners'  court  on  the  5th  of  March,  1827, 
that  said  road  be  declared  a  public  highway.  For  viewing 
this  road  Green  and  Pennington  were  each  allowed  seventy- 
five  cents,  the  usual  compensation  in  that  day  for  such  ser- 
vices. 

On  the  fifth  of  March,  1827,  the  county  was  divided  into 
road  districts  as  follows  : 

First  District :  Commencing  at  the  junction  of  Crooked 
creek  and  the  Illinois  river,  thence  up  said  creek  to  the  mid- 
dle of  range  two  west,  thence  to  the  north  edge  of  town 
one  north,  thence  east  along  said  line  to  the  middle  of  section 
thirty-two  in  township  two  north,  range  one  west,  thence 
north  to  the  south  edge  of  section  seventeen,  thence  east  to 
Sugar  creek,  thence  down  said  creek  to  the  Illinois  river, 
thence  down  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  Edward 
White,  supervisor. 

Second  District:  Commencing  on  Sugar  creek,  thence  due 
south  through  the  middle  of  sections  eight  and  seventeen  in 
town  two  north,  range  one  west,  to  south  line  of  said  town- 
ship, thence  west  to  the  middle  of  range  two  west,  thence 
south  to  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  four,  township  one 
south,  range  two  west,  thence  west  to  the  county  line, 
thence  north  to  the  northwest  corner  of  this  county,  thence 
east  to  Sugar  creek,  thence  down  said  creek  to  the  place  of 
beginning.     Manlove  Horney,  supervisor. 

Third  District :  From  the  southwest  corner  of  section  six- 
teen, township  two  north,  range  one  west,  thence  east  to 
Sugar  creek,  thence  up  said  creek  until  it  touches  the  line 
due  north  of  the  starting  place,  thence  south  to  the  place  of 
beginning.  (Amended,  March  30,  1827,  so  that  the  west 
line  of  the  district  should  pass  through  the  middle  of  section 
seventeen,  township  two  north,  range  one  west.  William 
Pennington,  supervisor. 

Fourth  District :  All  that  part  of  the  county  north  of 
Sugar  creek,  William  Stephens,  supervisor.        » 

Fifth  District:  All  that  part  of  the  county  south  of 
Crooked  creek.     Frequent  changes  were  subsequently  made 


100 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


in  the  road  districts  in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
growiug  population  of  the  county.  In  March,  1828,  ten  dis- 
tricts were  established.  The  tenth  district  comprised  Mc- 
Donough county,  which,  at  that  time  was  attached  to  Schuy- 
ler. March,  1829,  the  districts  were  reduced  to  nine  in  num- 
ber, and  a  year  later  increased  to  fourteen.  A  petition  was 
presented  to  the  county  commissioners  in  June,  1827,  pray- 
ing that  a  road  be  marked  out  leading  from  Rushviile,  to 
the  north  boundary  line  of  McDonough  county  "where 
Beard's  stakes  strike  said  line."  Riggs  Pennington,  William 
McKee,  and  Stephen  Osburn  were  appointed  viewers  of  the 
route,  and  having  rendered  a  favorable  report,  the  road  was 
declared  a  public  highway  the  following  September. 

In  September,  1827,  sundry  inhabitants  of  the  county 
petitioned  for  a  road  from  Rushviile  to  intersect  a  road  from 
Atlas,  at  the  south  line  of  Schuyler  county,  and  on  the  fa- 
vorable report  of  Cornelius  Vandeventer,  Levin  Green,  and 
George  Stewart,  who  were  appointed  to  view  the  route,  a 
public  highway  was  established  in  December,  1827.  A  road 
was  established,  March,  1828,  from  the  intersection  of  the 
state  road  with  the  old  county  road  from  Beard"s  Ferry, 
running  thence  .to  intersect  the  road  leading  from  Rushviile 
to  the  north  line  of  McDonough  county.  In  March,  1828, 
the  county  commissioners  ordered  William  O'Neal,  Ephraim 
Eggleston,  and  Henry  Hills  to  report  on  a  proposed  road 
from  Rushviile  direct  to  Beard's  Ferry.  On  the  twentieth 
of  the  same  month  these  gentlemen  reported  that  they  had 
viewed  the  route,  and  believed  such  a  road  to  be  necessary, 
whereupon,  the  road  was  duly  declared  a  public  highway. 
This  road  was  called  the  Kellogg  road.  On  the  sixth  of  June, 
1831,  the  county  commissioners  placed  on  record  the  fact  that 
this  road  was  useless  and  burdensome  to  the  people,  and 
thereupon  rescinded,  and  made  void  the  order  establishing 
said  road. 

The  county  commissioners  ordered  in  April,  1828,  on  the 
report  of  Thomas  Davis,  William  Burrus,  and  Garret 
Wvcoff,  viewers,  that  a  cart  road,  at  least  fifteen  feet  wide, 
be  opened  from  Calvin  Hobart's  mill,  (on  section  sixteen, 
town  two  north,  range  one  west)  to  intersect  the  old  county 
road  at  the  southeast  corner  of  section  sixteen,  town  two  north, 
range  one  west.  This  order  was  afterward  rescinded.  On 
the  recommendation  of  the  same  persons,  an  order  was  made 
that  a  cart  road  be  opened  from  Calvin  Hobart's  to  Thomas 
Mi-Kee's,  thence  to  intersect  the  road  from  Rushviile  to  the 
north  line  of  McDonough  county,  between  Joel  Tullis'  and 
James  Trainer's.  A  public  highway  was  established  from 
Rushviile  to  the  mouth  of  Crooked  creek,  on  the  first  of 
December,  1828  From  the  southeast  corner  of  Schuyler 
county  (now  Brown)  to  the  west  line  of  said  county,  in  the 
direction  of  Quincy,  in  Adams  county,  known  as  the  Mere- 
dosia  and  Quincy  road,  on  the  second  of  March,  1829. 

From  Rushviile  to  Beard's  Ferry  on  the  2d  of  March, 
1829. 

From  the  Narrows  on  the  Illinois  river  to  Rushviile,  on 
June  7th,  1830. 

From  Rflsliville,  by  the  ford  of  Crooked  creek,  where  the 
old  state  road  crossed  that  stream,  to  the  west  line  of  the 
county  in  the  direction  of  Quincy,  on   the    7th  of  June, 


From  Rushviile,  crossing  Crooked  creek  at  the  Big  bend, 
running  through  section  sixteen,  township  one  north,  rauge 
three  west,  (in  Brown  county)  to  the  High  mound  in  range 
four  west,  near  the  base  line,  on  the  7th  of  September,  1830. 

From  the  Narrows  on  the  Illinois  river  to  the  Long  point, 
in  Six's  prairie,  April  24,  1830. 

From  Beard's  Ferry  to  the  north  line  of  the  county,  near 
McNeal's  settlement,  in  the  direction  of  Lewistown,  June 
7th,  1830. 

From  section  twenty-seven,  township  three  north,  range 
two  west,  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  county,  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  county  seat  of  Hancock  county,  on  the  4th 
of  December,  1832. 

From  Beard's  Ferry  to  the  bridge  on  Crooked  creek,  there 
to  intersect  the  Rushviile  and  Quincy  road,  on  the  6th  of 
December,  1830. 

From  Rushviile  through  sections  eighteen  and  nineteen,  in 
township  two  north,  range  one  west,  to  intersect  the  public 
road  from  William  McKee's  to  Joel  Tullis',  September  5th, 
1831. 

From  the  south  line  of  Schuyler  county  (now  Brown) 
where  the  road  to  Atlas  crosses  the  same,  along  under  the 
bluffs,  by  the  Narrows  on  the  Illinois  river,  to  the  south  line 
of  section  thirty-one,  township  two  north,  range  one  west,  on 
the  6th  of  December,  1831. 

The  settlement  of  road  matters  occupied  a  greater  portion 
of  the  time  of  the  early  county  commissioners'  court.  After 
the  roads  were  located  numerous  complaints  were  forthcom- 
ing of  grievances  to  which  various  persons  were  subjected 
by  the  road  being  laid  out  across  their  lands.  To  satisfy  all 
parties  the  county  commissioners  found  a  difficult  task. 

FIRST  BRIDGE  ACROSS  CROOKED  CREEK. 

The  following  extract  from  the  records  recites  the  facts 
concerning  the  building  of  the  first  bridge  across  Crooked 
creek : 

"  Be  it  remembered  that  the  General  Assembly  of  this 
state,  having  at  their  last  session  enacted  a  law  making  ap- 
propriations for  building  bridges,  &c-,  the  county  commis- 
sioners for  this  county  having  given  notice  as  provided  in 
said  act  did  on  the  31st  day  of  March,  proceed  to  let  the 
building  of  a  bridge  across  Crooked  creek  at  the  place  where 
the  state  road  from  Rushviile  to  Quincy,  in  Adams  county, 
crosses  the  same,  which  said  bridge  was  stricken  off  to  Ben- 
janmin  Chadsey  for  the  sum  of  four  hundred  dollars,  he 
being  the  best  bidder,  and  the  said  Chadsey  having  filed  his 
bond  for  the  faithful  performance  of  the  same,  which  was 
approved  by  the  court,  it  was  ordered  that  the  same  be  ad- 
mitted to  record." 

This  bridge  was  near  where  the  Ripley  bridge  now 
stands.  Mr.  Chadsey  completed  it  in  a  satisfactory  manner 
and  received  the  contract  price.  The  abutments  were  built 
by  Thomas  McKee,  who  received  for  the  work  one  hundred 
and  sixty  dollars.  For  going  to  Vandalia  and  bringing  the 
money  appropriated  .to  the  county  for  building  the  bridge 
Mr.  Chadsey  was  allowed  twelve  dollars.  The  high  water, 
caused  by  the  melting  of  the  deep  snow   of  1831,   carried 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


101 


away  this  bridge  and  performed  much  other  damage  through- 
out the  county. 

MILL  SEATS. 

In  the  early  county  records  appear  the  proceedings  in  sev- 
eral cases  "n  writs  of  ad  qiiod  damnum  in  which  the  county 
commissioners  ordered  the  establishment  of  mill  seats  and 
authorized  the  building  of  mill  dams. 

On  the  7th  of  June,  1830,  the  commissioners,  after  receiv- 
ing the  report  of  a  jury  of  inquest  summoned  to  examine  a 
proposed  mill  seat  on  Sugar  creek,  in  section  six,  township 
two  north,  range  one  east,  and  being  satisfied  that  no  injury 
would  be  sustained  by  individuals,  the  health  of  the  neigh- 
borhood not  affected,  and  that  the  mill  would  be  of  public 
utility  order,  "  that  the  said  mill  seat  be  established  and  the 
said  Benjamin  V.  Teel  have  leave  to  build  his  dam  twelve 
feet  high  above  the  surface  of  low  water." 

On  the  same  day,  on  the  application  of  James  Clark,  the 
commissioners  authorized  the  establishment  of  a  mill  seat 
and  the  building  of  a  dam  on  Crooked  creek  in  sec- 
tion thirty-three,  township  six  north,  r  inge  three  west.  This 
was  in  McDonough  county. 

At  the  same  date  a  mill  seat  was  established  on  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  thirty-three,  township  one  north, 
range  two  west,  (at  the  present  town  of  Ripley)  and  authority 
given  to  John  Ritchey  to  build  a  dam  eighth  feet  high  from 
the  bed  of  the  creek. 

David  Wallace,  on  the  same  day,  was  authorized  to  build 
a  dam  across  Sugar  creek,  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion twenty,  township  two  north,  range  one  east,  "ten  feet 
high  above  the  low  water  mark."  At  the  same  session  of 
the  court  a  mill  seat  was  established  on  Crooked  creek  in 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  seventeen,  township  two 
north,  rauge  one  east,  and  authority  given  to  Thomas  Justice 
to  build  a  dam  nine  feet  high  above  low  water  mark. 

On  the  6th  of  September,  1831,  three  mill  seats  were  es- 
tablished by  the  county  commissioners.  One,  on  the  appli- 
cation of  Benjamin  Chadsey  and  John  Johnson,  on  Sugar 
creek,  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  five,  township  one 
north,  range  one  east.  The  proprietors  were  given  authori- 
ty to  build  a  dam  twelve  feet -in  height.  The  second  on 
Crooked  creek  in  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  twenty, 
township  three  north,  range  three  west,  (the  site  of  the 
present  town  of  Brooklyn).  William  C.  Ralls  was  author- 
ized to  build  a  dam  nine  feet  above  the  bed  of  the  stream  at 
this  place.  The  third  on  Crooked  creek,  in  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  eleven,  township  one  north,  range  three 
west.  Ozborn  Henley  was  here  given  authority  to  build  a 
dam  to  a  height  of  ten  feet  above  the  bed  of  the  stream. 

On  the  fifth  of  March,  1833,  the  county  commissioners 
granted  authority  to  James  A.  Chadsey  to  construct  a  mill, 
and  build  a  dam,  on  Sugar  creek  in  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  thirty-two,  township  two  north,  range  one  east. 
The  dam  was  not  to  exceed  twelve  feet  in  height  above  the 
bed  of  the  stream.  On  the  same  day  permission  was  given 
to  Messrs.  Olcott  and  Bull  to  construct  a  dam  across  Crooked 
creek  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  eleven,  township 
three  north,  range  four  west  (where  the  town  of  Birming- 
ham now  is). 


The  jury  of  inquest,  composed  of  twelve  men,  in  each 
instance  report  that  "  having  viewed  the  land  at  the  place 
proposed  for  erecting  said  dam  and  above  and  below  the 
same,"  they  "are  of  opinion  that  no  person  owning  land 
above  or  below,  the  said  dam  will  sustain  any  damages  by 
reason  of  said  dam,"  and  they  further  believe  "  that  no 
dwelling  house,  out-house,  garden,  or  orchard  will  be  over- 
flowed by  the  said  dam,  and  that  the  health  of  the  neigh- 
borhood will  not  be  injuriously  affected  by  such  overflowing." 

Abel  Logan  was  given  authority  to  build  a  dam  seven 
feet  high  across  Crooked  creek  in  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  three,  township  one  south,  range  two  west,  on  the 
twentieth  of  March,  1835.  William  McKee  and  John 
Taggart  were  granted  leave  to  build  a  mill  dam  on  the 
eighth  of  December,  1835,  across  Crooked  creek  on  the 
southwest  quarter  section  eleven,  township  two  north,  range 
three  west.  The  dam  was  not  to  exceed  nine  feet  in  height. 
On  the  ninth  of  June,  1836,  William  A  Hinman  and  Sam- 
uel A-  Clift  were  authorized  to  construct  a  dam  across 
Crooked  creek,  fourteen  feet  in  height  above  the  bed  of  the 
stream,  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  two,  township 
one  south,  range  two  west. 

On  the  sixth  of  September,  1836,  authority  was  given  to 
Asa  Benton  to  build  a  dam,  eight  feet  above  low  water 
mark,  across  Crooked  Creek  in  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  twenty-nine,  township  one  south,  range  two  west. 
March  10th,  1837.  Robert  Henry  was  authorized  to  build  a 
dam  nine  feet  high  across  Little  creek  on  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  one,  township  two  south,  rauge  two  west 
in  the  present  county  of  Brown.  June  fifth,  1837,  Robert  H. 
Burton  and  Eli  Alden  were  given  permission  to  erect  a  mill 
dam  across  Crooked  creek  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion twenty-nine,  township  one  north,  range  two  west.  The 
dam  was  not  to  exceed  eight  feet  in  height  above  the  surface 
of  low  water. 

Asa  Benton  was  granted  authority  on  the  sixth  of  June, 
1837,  to  establish  a  mill  seat  on  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  four,  township  one  south,  range  two  west.  Peter  F. 
Jonte,  on  the  fifth  of  June,  1838,  was  given  authority  to 
build  a  mill  dam  on  Grain  creek  on  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  twenty,  township  one  north,  range  one  west,  nine 
and  one-half  feet  in  height.  Across  Crain  creek,  on  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  twenty-eight,  township  one 
north,  range  one  west,  Samuel  S.  Claughbergh  was  author- 
ized, on  the  fifth  of  June,  1838,  to  establish  a  mill  seat  and 
build  a  dam  eight  feet  high  above  the  bed  of  the  stream. 
On  the  fourth  of  September,  1838,  a  mill  seat  was  established 
on  the  Little  Missouri,  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
twenty-eight  iu  township  two  north,  range  three  west,  and 
Adams  Dunlap  authorized  to  construct  a  dam  not  more  than 
ten  feet  in  height  above  the  bed  of  the  stream.  The  same 
day  authority  was  given  to  build  a  mill  and  construct  a  dam 
not  more  than  eight  feet  high  on  the  north  half  of  section 
fifteen,  township  three  north,  range  four  west,  was  given  to 
James  G.  King. 

KARLY    ELECTION    PRECINCTS. 

The  first  division  of  the  county  into  election  districts  was 


102 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


made  on  the  fourth  of  June,  1827.  The  first  precinct  began 
at  the  center  of  the  west  line  of  township  one  north,  range 
four  west,  thence  due  east  to  within  one  mile  of  the  meridian, 
thence  south  to  the  Illinois  river,  thence  down  said  river  to 
where  the  line  between  ranges  four  and  five  west  intersects 
the  same,  thence  north  to  the  place  of  beginning.  Elections 
at  the  house  of  Isaac  Naught,  John  A.  Reeve,  Willis  O'Neal 
and  Isaac  Vandeventer,  judges.  The  second  precinct  was 
bounded  by  lines  passing  through  the  centers  of  sections 
sixteen,  seventeen  and  eighteen  in  townships  one  and  two 
north.  Elections  at  the  houses  of  Henry  Hills,  John 
Ritchey  and  Manlove  Horney,  judges.  The  third  precinct 
was  bounded  on  the  south  by  a  line  passing  through  the 
centers  of  section  sixteen,  seventeen  and  eighteen  in  town 
two  north,  extending  to  the  west  line  of  the  county,  thence 
north  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  county,  thence  east 
along  the  county  line  to  the  northeast  corner  of  the  county, 
thence  north  to  the  place  of  beginning.  Elections  at  the 
house  of  Joel  Pennington, — Joel  Pennington,  Joel  Tullus, 
and  Garrett  Wyckoff,  judges.  The  fourth  precinct  was 
comprised  in  boundaries  beginning  one  mile  west  of  the 
meridian,  on  the  line  between  townships  two  and  three 
north,  thence  south  to  the  river,  thence  up  the  river  to  where 
the  north  line  of  the  county  intersects  the  same,  thence 
west  to  the  place  of  beginning.  Elections  at  the  house  of 
Daniel  Robertson.  Daniel  Robertson,  Andrew  Vance  and 
Thomas  Wilson,  judges.  The  fifth  precinct  embraced  the 
whole  of  McDonough  cou  nty,  at  that  time  an  attached  por- 
tion of  Schuyler.  Elections  at  the  house  of  James  Vance. 
Riggs  Pennington,  Stephen  Osburn,  and  Hugh  Wilson 
judges. 

The  boundaries  of  the  second  and  third  precincts  were 
changed  in  June,  1829,  and  a  sixth  district  was  organized, 
embracing  parts  of  the  present  Woodstook.  Buena  Vista, 
Camden,  and  Huntsville  townships,  and  the  northern  part 
of  what  is  now  Brown  county.  In  March,  1830,  on  petition 
of  sundry  inhabitants  a  new  election  precinct  was  formed 
bounded  as  follows: 

Beginning  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Schuyler  county 
(now  Brown),  thence  east  to  the  Illinois  river,  thence  up  said 
river  to  the  mouth  of  Crooked  creek,  thence  up  said  creek 
to  the  north  line  of  said  county,  thence  west  to  the  north- 
west corner  of  said  county,  thence  south  to  the  place  of 
beginning.  This  precinct  included  the  whole  of  the  present 
Brown  county  and  that  part  of  Schuyler  county  west  of 
Crooked  creek.  Elections  were  ordered  to  be  held  at  the 
house  of  Bentley  Ballard,  and  Willi*  O'Neal.  Alexander 
Steel,  and  Asa  Benton,  were  appointed  the  judges  of  election. 

At  the  same  date  McDonough  county,  still  attached  to 
Schuyler  for  county  purposes,  was  divided  into  two  election 
precincts.  Crooked  and  Drowning  creeks  formed  the  boun- 
dary between  the  two  precincts.  In  the  eastern  precinct 
James  Vance,  William  Carter  and  John  Rogers  were  ap- 
pointed judges,  and  the  elections  were  ordered  to  be  held  at 
the  house  of  James  Vance,  sen.  In  the  western  precinct 
Ephraim  Perkins,  Francis  Reding,  and  John  Vance  were 
appointed  judges,  and  the  elections  were  to  be  held  at  the 
house  of  William  Job. 


In  1832  the  county  was  divided  into  six  election  precincts. 
The  first  precinct  included  townships  one  and  two  south, 
ranges  three  and  four,  the  four  southwestern  townships  of 
the  present  Brown  county.  Benjamin  Kendrick,  Joseph  Cox, 
and  David  Six  were  appointed  judges  of  the  elections  which 
were  directed  to  be  held  at  the  house  of  Alexander  Curry. 

Precinct  number  two  embraced  townships  one  and  two 
south,  ranges  one  and  two  west  The  greater  part  of  this 
precinct  was  also  in  the  present  Brown  county.  Elections 
at  the  house  of  Isaac  T.  Riggs.  Judges,  Isaac  T.  Riggs, 
Erastus  Root  and  Elijah  Bell. 

The  third  precinct  comprised  all  of  the  county  north  of 
the  base  line  and  west  of  Crooked  creek.  Nearly  half  of 
this  precinct  was  in  what  is  now  Brown  county.  George 
Stewart,  Richard  W.  Rigg,  and  Stephen  Sallee  were  ap- 
pointed judges,  with  the  elections  to  be  held  at  the  house  of 
Stephen  Sallee. 

The  fourth  preciuct  included  all  of  Schuyler  county  lying 
east  of  the  meridian  line.  Elections  at  the  house  of  Isaac 
Lane.  Judges  Moses  J.  Skiles,  Thomas  Davis  and  Isaac  Jarrett. 

The  fifth  precinct  included  all  of  townships  three  north, 
ranges  one  and  two  west,  and  so  much  of  three  west  as  lay 
east  of  Crooked  creek.  Riley  Pennington,  James  McKee, 
and  David  Snider,  judges.  Elections  at  the  house  of  Thomas 
McKee. 

The  sixth,  or  center,  precinct  embraced  that  part  of  the 
county  lying  north  of  the  base  line,  west  of  the  meridian, 
east  of  Crooked  creek,  and  south  of  the  line  between  town- 
ships two  and  three  north,  Nathaniel  E  Quinby,  David 
Watson,  and  David  S.  Taylor,  judges  of  election.  Elections 
to  be  held  at  the  brick  court  house  in  Rushville. 

The  present  division  of  the  county  into  townships  has  been 
in  existence  since,  1854,  in  which  year  township  organiza- 
tion went  into  effect.  The  names  of  the  townships,  now  in 
use,  were  then  adopted,  and  with  one  or  two  unimportant 
exceptions  no  change  has  been  made  in  the  township  boun- 
daries. 

REVOLUTIONARY   PENSIONERS. 

The  declarations  of  a  number  of  revolutionary  soldiers, 
sworn  to  in  order  to  obtain  the  provision  made  by  acts  of 
Congress  for  their  benefit,  are  found  in  the  earlier  pages  of 
the  county  records. 

Henry  Green  a  resident  of  Schuyler  county,  appeared 
before  the  county  commissioners  court  on  the  fourth  of  June, 
1827,  and  made  such  declaration.  He  enlisted  in  March, 
1779,  in  Maryland,  "  in  the  regiment  commanded  by  Col 
Thomas  Wolford  in  the  line  of  the  state  of  Maryland  on  the 
old  continental  establishment. "  He  served  till  the  close  of 
the  war  and  was  discharged  at  Annapolis,  Maryland. 
Green  received  the  desired  pension  which  he  enjoyed  till  his 
death  on  the  first  of  May,  1837- 

William  Blair,  a  resident  of  Rushville,  declared  on  the 
third  day  of  September,  1832,  that  he  was  born  in  1760  in 
Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  that  in  May,  1878, 
while  living  in  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,  he  en- 
tered the  continental  service  as  a  substitute  for  his  father, 
Alexander  Blair,  and  served  two  months.  He  was  stationed 
at  Penn's  Valley,  Pennsylvania.     In  May,  1779,  he  enlisted 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


103 


as  a  private,  and  served  under  Gen.  Sullivan  in  his  cam- 
paign against  the  Indians  on  the  upper  Susquehanna.  He 
again  enlisted  in  1780,  and  served  seven  months  on  the 
frontier  in  Northumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  vi- 
cinity, till  his  discharge  in  1781. 

Benjamin  Carpenter,  on  the  third  day  of  September,  1832, 
made  declaration  that  he  enlisted  in  May,  1776,  in  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  as  a  minute  man,  for  four  years,  at 
Amherst  Court  House,  in  Amherst  county,  Virginia.  He 
served  under  various  commands  in  Virginia.  His  company 
joined  the  army  of  Gen.  Lafayette  on  its  arrival  in  Virginia, 
and  he  was  present  at  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  York- 
town  Though  likely  a  brave  soldier,  he  was  not  much  of  a 
scholar,  and  his  mark  is  affixed  to  his  declaration. 

James  Lanman,  on  the  same  date,  being  eighty-one  years 
of  age,  stated  that  he  enlisted  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States,  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  July,  1776.  He 
served  as  orderly  sergeant  in  the  first  regiment  of  riflemen 
in  the  South  Carolina  line,  and  in  the  fall  of  1776  accom- 
panied an  expedition  to  the  Cherokee  nation.  He  enlisted  a 
second  time  in  March,  1781,  near  Hillsborough,  North 
Carolina.  He  was  orderly  sergeant  and  was  attached  to  a 
troop  of  horse  in  the  first  regiment  of  horse,  commanded  by 
Col.  William  Henderson,  under  Gen.  Nathaniel  Greene. 
He  was  in  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court  House,  and  thence 
inarched  to  South  Carolina,  and  was  in  the  battle  at  Eutaw 
Springs  where  he  was  wounded  in  the  thigh.  His  com- 
mander, Gen.  Henderson,  was  also  wounded,  and  both  were 
taken  to  a  widow  Nelson's  on  the  Santee  river  where  he 
remained  till  he  recovered  from  his  wound. 

George  Taylor,  a  resident  of  the  county,  on  the  3d  day  of 
September,  1833,  made  declaration  that  in  September,  1777, 
in  Amherst  county,  Virginia,  he  enlisted  in  the  regiment 
commanded  by  Col.  Broadhead,  attached  to  the  command 
of  Gen.  Mcintosh  His  regiment  marched  (o  Fort  Cumber- 
land, thence  to  the  place  of  Braddock's  defeat  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, thence  to  the  Ohio  river  where  a  fort  called  Mcintosh 
was  built,  thence  in  the  direction  of  Detroit,  Michigan.  On 
the  Muskingum  river  in  Ohio  he  assisted  in  building  Fort 
Defiance.  He  soon  afterwards  returned  to  Virginia.  He 
enlisted  the  second  time  in  1778,  and  helped  guard  the 
prisoners  captured  at  Saratoga  confined  in  Albemarle,  Vir- 
ginia. He  also  served  afterward  in  1779  and  1780.  Of 
those  who  vouched  for  Taylor's  standing  in  the  community, 
and  avowed  their  belief  in  the  truth  of  his  statement,  are 
the  Rev.  Peter  Cartwright,  the  celebrated  pioneer  Methodist 
preacher.  He  describes  himself  as  a  resident  of  the  county 
of  Sangamon. 

CIRCUIT   COURTS. 

The  first  circuit  court  for  Schuyler  county  began  its  ses- 
sions at  Beardstown,  the  original  county  seat,  on  the  4th 
day  of  November,  1825 ;  John  York  Sawyer,  judge  of  the 
first  judicial  circuit,  presided.  The  other  officers  present 
were  John  Turney,  the  attorney-general  pro  tern.,  Hart 
Fellows,  clerk,  and  Orris  McCartney,  sheriff.  - 

A  grand  jury,  the  first  in  the  county,  was  empanelled, 
composed  of  the  following  persons :  Jesse  Bartlett  (foreman), 


David  E-  Blair,  William  Pennington,  Peter  Perkins,  Philip 
Spohnamore,  Ephriam  Eggleston,  Nathan  Eels,  James  H. 
Smith,  Henry  Green,  sr.,  George  Green,  Henry  Green,  jr., 
John  Green,  John  Ritchey,  Martin  L.  Lindsley,  James  B. 
Atwood,  William  Spohnamore. 

The  grand  jury  returned  three  indictments  and  were  then 
discharged.  The  first  of  these  indictments  was  against  Bird 
Brewer  for  perjury,  the  second  against  Samuel  Gooch  for 
assault,  and  the  third  against  Orris  McCartney  for  selling 
liquor  without  license.  Gooch  pleaded  guilty  and  was  fined 
five  dollars  and  costs,  McCartney  also  pleaded  guilty  and 
was  fined  twelve  dollars  and  costs,  Bird  Brewer  pleaded  not 
guilty,  and  having  given  bond  for  his  appearance  in  the  sum 
of  three  hundred  dollars,  his  trial  was  deferred  until  the 
following  day.  Biggs  Pennington,  Jonathan  Reno,  Thomas 
Beard,  Levin  Green,  Jacob  Reno,  and  Jonathan  D.  Man- 
love  were  also  required  to  give  bond  in  the  sum  of  fifty 
dollars  for  their  appearance  as  witnesses.  The  case  was 
tried  on  the  fifth  of  November  before  a  jury  composed  of 
John  B.  Terry,  Asa  Cook,  Benjamin  Chadsey,  John  Ooton, 
Jacob  White,  Willis  O'Neal,  Oliver  Lund,  George  Stewart 
James  Lamuey,  Edward  White,  Levin  Green,  and  Joseph 
Jackson.     The  defendant  was  found  not  guilty. 

It  was  ordered  by  the  court  that  the  fourth  day  of  June 
1826,  be  appointed  for  holding  the  next  circuit  court 
There  is  no  record,  however,  of  any  session  of  the  court 
being  held  at  that  time.  The  next  circuit  court  convened 
at  Rushville,  October  12th,  1826.  The  first  case  tried  was 
that  of  Daniel  Lamont  vs.  John  B.  Terry,  an  action  in 
assumpsit  to  recover  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  three 
dollars.  Judgment  was  rendered  for  plaintiff*  by  default. 
Five  indictments  were  returned  by  the  grand  jury  at  this 
term,  two  for  assault  and  battery,  two  for  assault,  and  one 
for  malconduct.  David  Wallace,  on  the  oath  of  James 
Vance  that  he  verily  believed  his  property  was  in  danger  of 
sustaining  injury,  was  bound  to  keep  the  peace ;  and  James 
Vance,  on  a  similar  oath  made  by  David  Wallace,  gave 
bond  "  to  be  of  good  behaviour  and  keep  the  peace  toward 
all  the  good  people  of  the  state  of  Illinois,  and  more  espe- 
cially toward  the  said  David  Wallace." 

The  first  attorney,  whose  admission  to  the  bar  is  referred 
to  in  the  records,  was  Benjamin  Cox,  admitted  as  a  counsellor 
at  the  October  term,  1826. 

At  the  October  term,  1827,  David  Wallace  was  indicted 
for  giving  a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel. 

THE   FIRST    DIVORCE 

obtained  was  at  the  October  term,  1827.  Succeeding  that 
year  divorce  cases  are  frequent,  a  fact  which  proves  that 
matrimonial  infelicities  were  as  common  at  that  day  as  in 
this.     The  bill  in  this  first  case  is  as  follows : 

To  the  Honorable,  the  judge  of  the  Schuyler  Circuit  Court 
in  chancery  sitting. 

"Humbly  complaining  your  orator  Stephen  Osborn,  a  citizen 
of  Schuyler  county  for  three,  and  of  the  state  of  Illinois  for 
ten  years,  respectfully  represents  and  alleges,  that  some  time 
in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  four  he  was  legally  married 
to  one  Phebe  Lewis,  now  Phebe  Osborn,  whom  your  orator 


104 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


prays  may  be  made  a  defendant  to  this  bill.  Your  orator 
alleges  that  he  lived  with  the  said  Phebe  as  her  lawful  hus- 
band for  the  term  of  six  years,  when  she  voluntarily,  and 
without  any  apparent  cause,  abandoned  him  and  his  house ; 
since  which  time  she  has  utterly  and  positively  refused  to 
live  with  him  as  his  lawful  wife  further.  Your  orator  fur- 
ther alleges  that  the  said  Phebe  has  frequently  been  guilty 
of  adultery,  and  has  for  the  last  ten  years  been  living  in  open 
adultery  with  one  Alexander  Toney.  Your  orator  further 
prays  your  honor  to  dissolve  the  bonds  of  matrimony  now 
existing  between  him  and  the  said  Phebe,  and  grant  him 
such  other  and  further  relief  as  to  equity  belongs,  and  as  in 
duty  bound  he  will  ever  pray." 

This  bill  was  filed  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  May,  1827- 
Return  is  made  as  having  been  served  on  Phebe  Toney, 
formerly  Phebe  Osborn,  in  Vermillion  county  of  this  state, 
on  the  following  eighth  of  September.  The  cause  came  be- 
fore the  court  at  the  October  term,  1827,  when  "  the  defen- 
dant being  regularly  served  with  process,  and  not  having 
entered  her  appearance  herein  according  to  law,  it  is  ordered 
that  the  complainant's  bill  be  taken  for  confessed,  and  the 
cause  being  heard  by  the  court  it  is  ordered  and  decreed  that 
the  complainant  be  divorced  from  the  marriage  contract 
with  the  defendant,  and  be  for  ever  discharged  and  dissolved 
therefrom."  The  plaintiff  was  doubtless  willing  to  pay  the 
costs  which  the  court  required  him  to  do. 

THE   FIRST   NATURALIZATION. 

The  first  person  to  whom  naturalization  papers  were 
granted  by  the  circuit  court  of  Schuyler  county  was  William 
McCreery,  who  was  made  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  on 
the  fourteenth  day  of  June,  1830.  The  following  is  the 
record : 

United  States  of  America,  ~\ 
State  of  Illinois,  v  ss. 

County  of  Schuyler.       ) 

Be  it  remembered  that  heretofore,  to  wit,  at  the  February 
term  of  the  county  court  of  Morgan  county,  in  the  State  of 
Alabama,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-six,  and  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  the  fiftieth,  personally  appeared  before  the 
said  county  court,  in  the  said  State  of  Alabama,  (the  same 
being  a  court  of  record  having  and  exercising  common  law 
jurisdiction  with  a  seal,  and  clerk),  William  McCreery,  an 
alien  born,  free,  male,  white  person  of  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years,  and  upwards,  and  presented  to  the  said  court  a  writ- 
ten declaration  of  his  intention  to  make  application  to  be 
admitted  as  a  naturalized  citizen  of  the  United  States,  in 
conformity  with  the  several  acts  of  Congress  on  that  subject, 
with  the  desire  that  the  same  might  be  accepted,  registered, 
and  certified  accordingly,  which  declaration  was  subscribed 
by  the  said  McCreery,  and  is  in  the  words  and  figures  fol. 
lowing,  to  wit : 

State  of  Alabama,  |  County  Court, 
Morgan  County,     j  February  Term,  1826. 

William  McCreery,  an  alien,  who  wishes  to  become  natu- 


ralized, and  to  enjoy  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  this  day  makes  the  following  report  of 
himself,  to  wit :  Name,  William  McCreery ;  age,  twenty- 
five  years;  allegiance,  King  of  Great  Britain  ;  county  from 
whence,  from  Omagh,  Tyrone,  in  Ireland  ;  place  of  intended 
residence,  Morgan  county,  State  of  Alabama.  That  he 
landed  at  New  Orleans,  in  the  State  of  Louisiana,  on  the 
seventh  day  of  February,  1825,  and  the  said  William  Mc- 
Creery declares  it  to  be  his  bona  fide  intention  to  become  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  hereby  revoking  his  allegiance 
to  all  kings,  princes,  potentates  and  powers  in  the  known 
world,  and  more  especially  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  ex- 
cept it  be  the  United  States  of  America. 

(Signed)  William   McCreery. 

Which  said  report,  registry,  and  certificate  (on  the  record 
is  the  certificate  of  the  clerk  of  the  Morgan  county  court, 
Alabama),  duly  made  in  conformity  with  law,  was  this  day 
presented  to  the  Judge  of  the  circuit  court,  in  and  for  the 
said  county  of  Schuyler,  and  State  of  Illinois,  the  court 
judicially  sitting,  and  an  application  made  by  the  said  Wil- 
liam McCreery  to  be  admitted  as  a  naturalized  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  according  to  the  several  acts  of  Congress 
above  recited,  who  thereupon  by  permission  of  the  court  took 
and  subscribed  the  following  oath,  to  wit : 

I,  William  McCreery,  do  solemnly  swear  in  the  presence 
of  Almighty  God,  that  I  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  I  do  absolutely  and  entirely  re- 
nounce and  abjure  all  allegiance  and  fidelity  which  I  any- 
wise owe  to  George  the  Fourth,  King  of  the  said  kingdom 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  whereof  I  was  heretofore  a 
subject.  Subscribed  and  sworn  to  William  McCreery  in 
open  court  this  14th  June,  1830. 

Hart  Fellows,  Clerk: 

Also  appeared  in  open  court,  Thomas  McKee,  and  Samuel 
Homey,  natural  born  citizens  of  the  United  States,  above 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  resident  citizens  of  the  said 
county  of  Schuyler,  and  State  of  Illinois,  who  being  first 
duly  sworn,  declare  upon  their  oaths  that  they  have  been 
personally  acquainted  with  the  said  William  McCreery  for 
two  years  past,  and  upwards,  that  during  the  whole  of 
said  time,  he  has  continued  to  reside  within  the  limits,  and 
under  the  jurUdiction  of  the  United  States,  to  wit,  in  the 
said  county  of  Schuyler  and  State  of  Illinois,  and  that  so  far 
as  their  information  and  knowledge  has  extended,  the  said 
William  McCreery  has  behaved  as  a  man  of  good  moral 
character,  and  appeared  to  be  attached  to  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  well  disposed  to  the  good 
order  and  happiness  of  the  same.  And  the  court  being 
satisfied  that  the  said  William  McCreery  has  resided  within 
the  limits,  and  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States* 
for  at  least  two  years  past,  and  more  than  one  year  in 
the  said  State  of  Illinois  next  preceding  the  day  of  the  date 
hereof;  that  during  the  time  aforesaid  he  has  behaved  as  a 
man  of  good  moral  character,  attached  to  the  principles  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  well  disposed  to 
the  good  order  and  happiness  of  the  same,  and  two  years 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


105 


and  upwards  having  elapsed  since  the  said  William  Mc- 
Creery  reported  himself  in  the  State  of  Alabama,  in  manner 
and  form  as  aforesaid,  it  is  therefore  considered  and  adjudged 
by  the  court  that  he,  the  said  William  McCreery,  be  hence- 
forth admitted  to  all  and  singular  the  rights,  privileges,  and 
immunities  of  a  naturalized  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

FIRST   TRIiL   FOR   MURDER. 

The  first  murderer  indicted  in  the  courts  of  Schuyler 
county  was  David  Morgan,  against  whom  an  indictment 
was  returned  at  the  October  term  of  the  circuit  court,  1831, 
for  the  killing  of  George  Everett.  The  murder  took  place 
in  May,  1831,  on  the  top  of  Coal  creek  hill,  on  the  lower 
road  from  Rushville  to  Frederick.  The  coronor's  jury, 
which  held  an  inquest  on  the  body  of  the  deceased,  re- 
turned a  verdict  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  that  month,  "  that 
the  said  George  Everett  came  to  his  death  by  being  shot 
by  David  Morgan  with  malice  aforethought."  Morgan 
was  arraigned  before  the  circuit  court  on  the  fifth  day  of 
October,  1831.  Not  having  been  able  to  procure  counsel, 
Adolphus  F.  Hubbard  and  James  Turney  were  assigned  by 
the  court  for  his  defence.  Two  days  afterwards  on  motion 
of  the  defendant's  counsel,  a  change  of  venue  to  McDon- 
ough  county  was  granted,  and  the  cause  was  ordered  to  be 
set  for  trial  at  Macomb  on  the  Friday  succeeding  the  third 
Monday  in  October  of  the  same  year. 

Morgan  was  tried  in  McDonough  county,  and  was  found 
guilty.  His  counsel  moved  an  arrest  of  judgment  which 
was  sustained,  the  court  ordering  "  that  all  further  pro- 
ceedings be  stayed  on  said  indictment  and  that  the  same  be 
quashed."  His  next  trial  was  in  Schuyler  county.  There  is 
an  order  of  the  judge'of  the  circuit,  bearing  date  the  13th 
of  December,  1831,  stating  that  whereas  information  had 
been  received  in  writing  that  David  Morgan  had  been  com- 
mitted to  the  custody  of  the  sheriff  of  Schuyler  county, 
charged  with  the  murder  of  George  Everett  (the  same  being 
an  offence  not  bailable  by  law),  and  that  the  said  Morgan 
desired  a  trial  of  his  case  before  the  next  regular  term  of 
the  circuit  court  of  Schuyler  county,  therefore  the  sheriff  is 
commanded  to  immediately  summon  twenty-three  grand 
jurors  and  thirty-six  petit  jurors  to  attend  at  the  court- 
house in  Rushville  on  Monday  the  second  day  of  January, 
1832,  in  order  that  a  special  term  of  the  circuit  court  may 
then  and  there  be  held  for  thv  trial  of  the  said  David 
Morgan. 

At  this  special  term  of  the  circuit  court  Richard  M 
Young,  judge  of  the  fifth  judicial  district,  was  on  tbe  bench. 
Thomas  Ford,  was  the  state's  attorney  and  conducted  the 
prosecution.  Hart  Fellows,  the  popular  citizen  who  in  the 
early  history  of  the  county  held  more  offices  than  any  other 
man,  was  clerk.     The  sheriff  was  Joel  Pennington. 

John  Scripps  (foreman),  Amos  Scott,  Granville  Bond, 
Samuel  Brazelton,  John  Burk,  George  Swan,  David  Lenox, 
John  L.  Scott,  Robert  Murphy,  John  M.  Jones,  William 
Lafon,  Robert  N .  Chadsey,  Samuel  Baty,  Harvey  Berry, 
James  Martin,  Proctor  P.  Newcomb,  Andrew  Friend,  Wil- 
liam H.  Taylor,   David  Manlove,  William    Manlove,   Sr., 

14 


Henry  Green,  Sr.,  Samuel  Turner  and  Jonathan  D.  Manlove, 
composed  the  grand  jury,  which  on  the  morning  of  the 
third  of  January  brought  in  an  indictment  for  murder 
against  Morgan  as  a  true  bill.  The  indictment  was  as 
follows : 

State  of  Illinois  ) 

>     88. 

Schuyler  county.  ) 

The  grand  jurors  chosen,  selected  and  sworn  in  and  for 
the  county  of  Schuyler,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of 
the  people  of  the  state  of  Illinois  upon  their  oaths  present : 
That  David  Morgan,  late  of  the  county  of  Schuyler,  not 
having  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes,  but  being  moved 
and  seduced  by  the  instigations  of  the  devil,  on  the  twenty- 
sixth  day  of  May  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-one,  with  force  and  within  the 
county  of  Schuyler  aforesaid,  in  and  upon  one  George 
Everett  in  the  face  of  God  and  of  the  people  of  the  state  of 
Illinois  then  and  there  being,  feloniously,  wilfully,  and  of 
his  malice  aforethought,  did  make  an  assault,  and  that  the 
said  David  Morgan  a  certain  rifle  gun  of  the  value  of  ten 
dollars  then  and  there  loaded  and  charged  with  gunpowder 
and  one  leaden  bullet  (which  rifle  gun  he,  the  said  David 
Morgan  with  both  his  hands  then  and  there  had  and  held) 
to,  against  and  upon  the  said  George  Everett,  then  and 
there  feloniously,  unlawfully,  wilfully,  and  of  his  malice 
aforethought,  did  shoot  and  discharge,  and  that  the  said 
David  Morgan,  with  the  leaden  bullet  aforesaid,  then  and 
there  by  force  of  the  gunpowder  shot  and  sent  forth  as 
aforesaid  the  said  George  Everett,  in  and  upon  the  right 
side  of  the  belly  of  him  the  said  George  Everett,  about  the 
short  ribs  of  him  the  said  George  Everett,  then  and  there 
feloniously,  unlawfully,  wilfully  and  of  his  malice  afore- 
thought, did  strike,  penetrate  and  wound,  giving  to  the  said 
George  Everett  then  and  therewith  the  leaden  bullet  aforesaid, 
so  as  aforesaid,  shot,  discharged,  and  sent  forth  out  of  the 
rifle  gun  aforesaid  by  the  said  David  Morgan,  in  and  upon 
the  right  side  of  the  belly  of  him  the  said  George  Everett, 
about  the  short  ribs  of  him  the  said  George  Everett,  one 
mortal  wound  of  the  depth  of  ten  inches  and  the  breadth 
of  one  inch,  of  which  said  mortal  wound  the  said  Goorge 
Everett  did  then  and  there  instantly  die.  And  go  the 
jurors  aforesaid,  upon  their  oaths  aforesaid,  do  say  that  the 
said  David  Morgan  the  said  George  Everett,  in  manner  and 
form  aforesaid,  feloniously,  unlawfully,  wilfully,  and  of  his 
malice  aforethought,  did  kill  and  murder  contrary  to  the 
form  of  the  statute  in  such  case  made  and  provided  and 
against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  same  people  of  the 
state  of  Illinois.  Thomas  Ford, 

State's  Attorney. 

Some  difficulty  was  experienced  in  securing  a  jury.  Six 
jurors  was  secured  when  the  panel  being  reduced  below  the 
number  of  twelve,  the  sheriff  was  commanded  to  summon 
twenty-four  talesmen  to  complete  the  panel  from  the  by- 
standers. Out  of  this  number  three  more  jurors  were  again 
chosen,  and  the  panel  being  again  exhausted  by  challenges, 
resort  was  again  had  to  the  bystanders,  from  whose  number 


106 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


two  more  jurors  were  chosen.  This  left  only  one  to  be  sup- 
plied, but  two  requisitions  on  the  bystanders  was  necessary 
before  a  twelfth  ruan  could  be  obtained  satisfactory  to  both 
prosecution  and  defense.  The  jury  as  completed  included 
James  Blackburn,  William  Cox,  John  Davis,  Alexander 
Penney,  David  Jenkins,  David  Owen,  George  Green,  Wil- 
liam Rose,  John  Durall,  Samuel  P.  Darke.  Daniel  Louder- 
back  and  Francis  Albury. 

The  work  of  the  day  having  been  spent  in  securing  a  jury , 
the  court  adjourned  till  Thursday,  the  jurors  being  permit- 
ted to  disperse  by  agreement  of  the  parties,  under  the 
proper  charge  from  the  court  to  meet  again  at  nine  o'clock 
to-morrow.  Thursday  an  adjournment  was  again  had  till 
Friday,  the  counsel  for  the  defendant  asking  for  further 
time  to  procure  the  attendance  of  witnesses,  whose  impor- 
tance he  alleged  to  have  discovered  since  the  procuring  of 
the  jury.  Attachments  were  issued  to  compel  the  attend- 
ance of  these  witnesses.  The  case  was  put  before  the  jury 
on  Friday,  January  the  sixth. 

The  principal  witness  for  the  prosecution  was  J.  Wal- 
lis,  who  testified  that  he  was  in  the  woods  with  George 
Everett,  the  murdered  man,  engaged  in  sawing  some  timber, 
when  Morgan  came  to  them,  apparently  in  a  very  angry 
mood,  and  said  to  Everett  that  he  (Morgan)  must  have  some 
money  before  sunset,  or  he  would  kill  him  ;  that  he  (Everett) 
had  broken  up  his  family,  and  that  he  intended  to  kill  him 
anyhow.  Morgan  then  attempted  to  shoot  Everett,  and 
after  a  scuffle  did  shoot  him,  and  afterward  shot  at  him  a 
second  time  with  a  gun  belonging  to  Wallis.  Wallis  then 
left  Morgan  and  went  home.  Morgan  soon  came  down 
after  him  and  requested  Wallis  not  to  tell  what  had  been 
done.  He  then  made  several  attempts-to  shoot  himself,  and 
did  shoot  himself  through  the  jaw.  ThU  witness  also  testi- 
fied that  Morgan  seemed  to  be  in  his  natural  senses,  and  not 
insane  at  the  time.  Other  witnesses  for  the  prosecution 
were  John  P.  Skiles,  the  coroner,  Hart  Fellows,  and  Betsey 
Fudge.  The  jury  on  the  same  day  rendered  a  verdict  of 
guilty. 

A  motion  in  arrest  of  judgment  was  made  by  counsel  for 
defendant,  but  this  was  overruled  the  next  day.  "And 
upon  this,"  the  record  recites,  "  it  is  forthwith  demanded  of 
the  said  David  Morgan,  if  he  hath,  or  knoweth  anything  to 
say,  wherefore,  the  said  judge  here  ought  not,  upon  the  pre- 
mises and  verdict  of  the  jury  aforesaid,  to  proceed  to  judg- 
ment and  execution  against  him ;  who  nothing  further  sayeth 
unless  as  he  before  had  said.  Whereupon  all  and  singular 
the  premises  being  seen,  and  by  the  said  judge  now  here 
fully  understood,  it  is  considered  and  adjudged  by  the  court 
here,  that  the  said  David  Morgan  be  taken  from  the  bar  to 
the  jail  of  the  said  county  of  Schuyler,  from  whence  he 
came,  and  there  be  kept  in  safe  aud  secure  custody  by  the 
sheriff  of  said  county,  until  Tuesday,  the  thirty-first  day  of 
the  present  month  of  January,  a.  d.  1832,  and  from  thence 
on  said  day  to  some  convenient  place  of  execution  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  town  of  Rushville  and  within  the  said  county 
of  Schuyler,  between  the  hours  of  ten  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing and  two  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  said  day,  and  that  he 
be  then  and  there  hanged  by  the  neck,  by  the  said  sheriff, 


or  his  deputy,  until  he  is  'dead  in  the  usual  mauner,'  and 
that  afterwards  his  body  be  delivered  to  his  friends  for 
burial.  And  it  is  further  ordered  that  the  said  defendant 
pay  the  costs  of  this  prosecution." 

The  sentence  of  the  court  was  carried  into  effect,  and  on 
the  thirty-first  day  of  January,  183*2,  Morgan  expiated  his 
crime— the  first  murderer  ever  hung  in  Schuyler  county. 
The  place  of  execution  was  on  the  hill  of  Crane  creek,  near 
what  became  known  as  Gallows  Ford.  On  the  county  com- 
missioners' books  appear  several  items  of  expense  connected 
,  with  the  confinement  aud  hanging  of  Morgan.  Thomas 
Hayden,  deputy  sheriff,  was  allowed  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  board  and  attention  to 
him  while  he  was  confined  as  prisoner.  Various  persons  were 
paid  for  guarding  the  jail.  Dr.  Benjamin  V.  Teel  was  paid 
fifty  dollars  for  medical  services,  and  the  bill  of  Joel  Pen- 
nington, sheriff,  for  the  expenses  attending  his  execution  was 
thirty  dollars  and  thirty-seven  cents.  . 

The  only  other  executions  for  murder  in  the  county  were 
those  of  Elias  and  David  McFadden  who  were  hung  on  the 
sixth  day  of  July,  1835.  Elias,  Wiley  and  David  McFad- 
den who  were  indicted  for  murder  in  the  circuit  court  of 
McDonough  county,  and  their  cases  came  for  trial  at  the 
June  term  of  circuit  court  of  Schuyler  county  in  1835,  on 
a  charge  of  venue.  The  state's  attorney,  William  A.  Rich- 
ardson, entered  a  nolle  pros,  as  to  Wiley  McFadden,  and  he 
was  thereupon  discharged  from  cus'ody.  David  McFadden 
was  tried  on  the  fifth  of  June,  1835,  and  the  next  morning 
the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty.  Elias  McFadden 
was  tried  aud  convicted  on  the  ninth  of  June,  1835,  and 
both  on  the  el-  venth  of  June  were  sentenced  "to  be  taken 
to  the  jail  of  the  said  county  of  Schuyler,  and  there  be  kept 
in  safe  and  secure  custody  by  the  sheriff  of  said  county, 
until  the  sixth  day  of  July,  a.  d.,  1835,  and  from  thence 
on  said  day  to  some  convenient  place  of  execution  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  town  of  Rushville,  and  within  said  county  of 
Schuyler,  between  the  hours  of  ten  in  the  morning  and  four 
o'clock  in  the  evening  of  said  day,"  and  that  they  be  then 
and  there  hanged  by  the  neck  by  said  sheriff  or  his  deputy 
"until  dead  in  the  usual  mauner." 

The  crime  for  which  the  McFaddens  were  convicted  was 
the  murder  of  John  Wilson  in  McDonough  county.  Wilson 
was  killed  on  the  sixth  of  November,  1831.  Stephen  T 
Logan  was  on  the  bench  during  the  trials.  The  state's 
attorney  was  William  A.  Richardson  The  McFaddens 
were  defended  by  William  A.  Minshall.  They  were  hanged 
on  Crane  creek  hill,  where  Crane  creek  is  crossed  by  the 
lower  road  leading  to  Frederick,  the  same  place  where  David 
Morgan  was  executed  iii  1832,  and  their  execution  was  wit- 
nessed by  a  large  concourse  of  people. 

The  jury  which  tried  David  McFadden  was  composed  of 
Benjamin  Hinman,  Samuel  Dennis,  Ferguson  Graham, 
James  Teel,  Samuel  Hinman,  George  Lampkins,  John  W. 
Malone,  John  Whitmore,  Robert  A.  Glenn,  Benjamin  Gold- 
son,  Samuel  Baty  and  Philip  W.  Howes.  The  jury  in  the 
trial  of  Elias  McFadden  was  made  up  of  William  Peak, 
William  Barker,  Ransalear  Wells,  Samuel  Eads,  Richard 
Louderback,  Seeley  Owen,  Luke  Owen,   William  Brooks, 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


107 


John  Strong,  Elijah  Morris,  Thomas  Hewlin,  and  George  D. 
Kirkhaus. 

William  Fraim  was  indicted  at  the  June  term  of  the  cir- 
cuit court,  1838,  for  a  murder  committed  in  this  county. 
At  the  next  term  of  court  he  was  granted  a  change  of  venue 
to  Hancock  county,  and  there  directed  to  be  tried  in  April, 
1839.     He  was  tried  there,  convicted  and  executed. 

JUDGES  OF   THE   CIRCUIT   COURT. 

On  the  organization  of  the  county  it  belonged  to  the  First 
Judicial  .Circuit,  of  which  John  York  Sawyer  was  judge. 
He  presided  over  the  first  session  of  the  circuit  court  held  in 
the  county,  November,  1825,  and  also  over  the  October 
term,  1826.  During  the  years  1827  and  1828,  Samuel  D. 
Lockwood  held  court  in  Schuyler  county.  The  Fifth  Judi- 
cial Circuit  was  created  in  January,  1829,  and  Richard  M. 
Young  was  elected  by  the  General  Assembly  judge  of  this 
circuit  His  name  is  signed  to  the  proceedings  of  the  circuit 
courts  of  Schuyler  county  from  1829  to  1836,  except  the 
June  term,  1835,  which,  in  the  absence  of  Judge  Young, 
was  presided  over  by  Stephen  T.  Logan,  then  Judge  of  the 
First  Judicial  District.  On  the  resignation  of  Judge  Young 
in  January,  1837,  James  H.  Ralston  was  commissioned  as 
Judge  of  the  Fifth  Circuit,  and  was  on  the  bench  at  the  cir- 
cuit courts  of  Schuyler  county  till  1839.  His  successor  was 
Peter  Lott,  who  held  the  December  term,  1839. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas  then  held  the  different  terms  of  court 
from  April,  1841,  to  April,  1843.  The  September  term, 
1843,  and  the  April  and  September  terms,  1844,  were  pre- 
sided over  by  Jesse  B.  Thomas.  Richard  M.  Young  was  on 
the  bench  at  the  April  term,  1845.  From  the  September 
term,  1845,  to  the  year  1848,  Norman  H.  Purple  was  judge. 
David  M.  Woodson  was  on  the  bench  at  the  March  term, 
1849.  From  the  November  term,  1849,  to  the  April  term, 
1853,  William  A.  Minshall  was  judge.  Pinckney  H. 
Walker  then  presided  over  the  sessions  of  the  cotirt  from 
the  April  term,  1853,  to  the  October  term,  1*57,  with  the 
exception  of  the  October  term,  1853,  when  Judge  H.  M. 
Weed  was  present.  John  S.  Bailey  then  held  the  terms  of 
court  from  October,  1858,  to  the  May  term,  1-861.  Chaun- 
cey  L.  Higbee  then  began  a  long  term  of  service  on  the 
bench  of  the  Schuyler  circuit  court,  extending  from  the 
October  term,  1861,  to  the  May  term,  1877.  He  presided 
over  every  term  of  the  circuit  court  held  in  the  county  dur- 
ing this  period  of  sixteen  years.  Simeon  P.  Shope  held  the 
October  term,  1877,  and  each  term  subsequently  till  after 
the  October  term,  1881.  John  H.  Williams  presided  at  the 
April  term,  1882. 

Since  1873  Schuyler  county  was  composed  in  part  of  the 
Sixth  Judicial  Circuit,  the  judges  of  which  are  ChauuceyL. 
Higbee,  Simeon  P.  Shope  and  John  H.  Williams. 

PROSECUTING   ATTORNEYS. 

At  the  November  term,  1825,  John  Turney,  Attorney- 
General  pro  tern.  At  the  term  in  1826,  James  Turney,  the 
Attorney-General.'' May  term,  1827,  Jonathan  H.  Pugh. 
October  term,  1827,  and  subsequently,  William  Thomas, 
1831,  and  subsequently,  Thomas  Ford.     November,  1835, 


and  afterward,  William  A.  Richardson.  March,  1837( 
Henry  L.  Bryant.  December  term,  1839,  and  subsequently, 
William  Elliott.  April  term,  1846,  James  Johnson.  Au- 
gust term,  1846,  and  afterward,  Onias  C  Skinner.  August 
term,  1850,  to  April  term,  1852,  Robert  S.  Blackwell.  April 
term,  1853,  to  October  term,  1857,  John  S.  Bailey.  Octo- 
ber term,  1858,  to  October  term,  1860  (with  exception  of 
May  term,  1859,  when  De  Witt  C.  Johnston  acted  as  States 
attorney  pro  tern.)  L.  H.  Waters.  May  term,  1861,  to  Oc- 
tober term,  1867,  Thomas  E.  Morgan.  October  term,  1867, 
and  May  and  October  terms,  1868,  L.  H.  Waters.  May 
term,  1869,  to  October  term,  1872,  Lisle  W.  James.  May 
term,  1873,  to  October  term,  1876,  Edward  P.  Vail.  May 
term,  1877,  and  to  present  time,  Sylvanus  B.  Montgomery. 

PROBATE   COURT. 

Hart  Fellows  was  appointed  the  first  judge  of  probate 
and  took  the  oath  of  office  before  the  judge  of  the  circuit 
court  at  the  October  term,  1826.  The  first  records  of  the 
court  begin  with  the  28th  of  July,  1827,  when,  "  in  pursu- 
ance of  the  statute  in  such  cases  made  and  provided,"  a 
court  of  probate  was  begun  and  held  at  Rushville  in  and  for 
the  county  of  Schuyler. 

The  first  action  of  the  court  was  in  reference  to  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  guardian  for  Anderson  Walker.  "  It  having 
been  represented  to  this  court,"  says  the  record,  "  that  An- 
derson Walker  is  an  orphan  minor  under  the  age  of  four- 
teen years,  and  no  reason  being  shown  why  John  Thompson 
is  not  a  proper  person  to  be  appointed  guardian,  and  he  hav- 
ing entered  into  bond  as  required  by  law :  It  is  ordered, 
That  the  said  John  Thompson  be  and  he  is  hereby  appointed 
guardian  of  the  said  Anderson  Walker."  The  arrangement 
of  this  matter  concluded  the  business  of  the  session. 

The  next  probate  court  was  held  on  the  eighteenth  of  the 
following  August.  On  the  oaths  of  Thompson  Stanberry  and 
Jesse  Bartlett,  that  Solomon  Stanberry  was  deceased,  and 
that  he  died  intestate,  the  two  first  named  parties  were  ap- 
pointed administrators  of  the  estate.  A  schedule  and  ap- 
praisement of  the  estate,  exhibited  to  the  court  on  the  17th 
of  September,  showed  a  valuation  of  $159.75.  Debts  of  the 
deceased  were  paid  amounting  to  $47.46,  and  eighty  dollars 
allowed  to  Stanberry,  one  of  the  administrators,  for  money 
loaned  deceased  before  his  death,  leaving  a  balance  of 
83229. 

The  appraisement  of  the  Stanberry  estate  was  as  follows, 
as  shown  by  the  list  now  on  the  records : 

1  yoke  of  oxen  and  1  yoke 135.00 

1    "           "                 " 30.00 

1    "            "                 " •  25.00 

1     "            "                  " 25.00 

1  steer 10.00 

1  rifle  gun  • 10.00 

1  turning  lathe •  .    .  , 4.00 

1  ax  .    .   • 50 

1  split  basket 50 

5  deer  skins 2.50 

10  bushels  of  corn 2.50 

300  pounds  of  pork 6.75 

1  kip  skin • 3.00 


108 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


J  side  sole  leather •    ....      2.00 

1  old  copper  watch , 1.00 

1  cow  bell 2.00 


1 159.75 
It  appearing  to  the  court  that  Thompson  Stanberry  was  a 
partner  of  the  said  Solomon  Stanberry,  deceased,  and  equal- 
ly interested  in  the  property  described  in  the  above  schedule, 
It  is  ordered  that  $79,871  be  set  apart  to  the  said  Thomp- 
son Stanberry  and  deducted  from  the  above  amount.  79.87J 

$79  87J 

Subsequently  is  this  order :     It  appearing  to  this  court 
that  Thompson  Stanberry  has  appropriated  to  his  own  use 
and  benefit  the  property  valued  as   the  estate  of  Solomon. 
Stanberry,   deceased — It   is  therefore    ordered   that   he  be  • 
charged  and  made  liable  to  said  estate  in  the  sum  of  $79.87  i. 

The  second  estate  appraised  under  the  direction  of  the 
probate  court  was  that  of  Samuel  Root.  There  are  two 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  items  on  the  appraisement  list, 
amounting  in  all  to  $1050.14.  This  personal  property  was 
sold  on  the  5th  of  January,  1830,  and  brought  720.19. 

February  1828,  on  the  choice  of  Reuben  Locke,  an  or- 
phau  minor  over  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  the  court  ap- 
pointed Samuel  Locke  to  be  his  guardian  in  the  place  of 
Samuel  Turner  who  had  previously  acted  in  that  capacity. 
February,  1829,  Cornelius  Vandeventer  was  appointed  guar- 
dian to  four  of  his  own  children,  minors,  they  having  become 
possessed  of,  and  entitled  to,  certain  real  and  personal  estate 
not  derived  from  their  father. 

There  is  an  entry  on  the  record  in  July,  1831,  reciting 
that  George  Everett  (killed  iu  May,  1831,  by  David  Morgan, 
for  which  the  latter  was  tried  aud  executed)  had  died  intestate, 
having  at  the  time  of  his  decease  personal  property  in  this 
state,  and  appointing  Benjamin  Chadsey  administrator  of 
his  goods  and  chattels,  rights  and  credits,  and  Elijah  M. 
Wilson,  John  Green  and  Moses  G.  Wilson,  appraisers.  His 
effects  were  appraised  at  $39.37*  cents,  and  when  sold  on  the 
1st  day  of  August,  1831,  brought  $30.45.  A  cloth  coat 
sold,  by  far,  for  the  largest  sum,  bringing  eleven  dollars. 
An  axe  wassold  for  $3.37  i  and  a  "  fine  Marseilles  vest"  for 
twelve  and  a  half  cents.  Among  the  allowances  against 
the  estate  was  that  of  $11.25,  made  to  John  P.  Skiles,  coro- 
ner, for  holding  the  inquest  and  burial  expenses.  The  auc- 
tioneer charged  fifty  cents  for  his  services.  The  probate 
court  fees  were  $1.15.  On  the  settlement  of  the  estate 
$6.48  remained  after  payment  of  all  allowances. 

FIRST  WILLS  OX  RECORD. 

The  making  of  wills  seems  to  have  been  unusual  with  the 
early  residents  of  the  county.  The  earliest  will  recorded  is 
that  of  Roswell  B.  Fenner,  which  was  admitted  to  probate 
on  the  14th  of  December,  1832.     It  is  as  follows  verbatim  : 

Schuyler  county  \ 
State  of  Illinois  ) 

Know  all  persons  by  these  presents  that  I,  Roswell  B. 
F  enner,  know  on  a  bed  of  affliction  perfectly  in  my  senceys 
and  reason  doo  will  all  my  personal  property  and  real  es- 


tate to  my  loving  wife  Mary  Fenner  her  lifetime,  at  her 
diseas  to  belong  to  Henry  and  Parmela  Hampton  and  their 
heairs  forever.  Signed  sealed  and  delivered  in  the  presents 
of  this  the  20  twenteth  of  November  1832  eighteen  hundred 
and  thirty  too. 

R.  B.  Fennor.  [seal] 

John  M.  Campbell,  [seal.] 

his 

John  x  Hollisgsworth.  [seal.] 

mark. 

Stephen  A.  St.  Cyr.  [seal.]  . 

The  above  will  was  evidently  'drawn  by  an  unpracticed 
and  unscholarlv  hand.  The  second  will  probated  shows,  on 
the  other  hand,  marks  of  legal  knowledge  and  skill  in  the 
use  of  language.     It  is  as  follows  : 

I,  William  Maulove,  of  the  county  of  Schuyler,  and  State 
of  Illinois,  being  weak  in  body,  but  of  sound  mind  and 
memory,  do  make  and  establish  this  my  last  will  and  testa- 
ment, hereby  revoking  all  others  : 

First  It  is  my  will  that  after  my  death  my  body  be  in- 
terred by  the  side  of  my  deceased  wife  in  a  plain,  decent 
coffin,  not  stained. 

Second.  That  all  my  just  debts  be  paid  ;  that,  if  necessary, 
sufficient  of  my  personal  property  be  sold  for  that  purpose. 

Third.  After  payment  of  all  my  just  debts  and  funeral  ex- 
penses, I  do  hereby  devise  and  bequeath  to  David  R 
Manlove,  George  W.  Manlove,  and  John  H.  Manlove 
my  farm,  to  wit :  The  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  eighteen,  in  township  two,  North,  in  range  one, 
west,  and  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  thirteen,  in 
township  two,  north,  in  range  two,  west  of  the  4th  prin- 
cipal meridian,  together  with  all  aud  singular  the  improve- 
ments, privileges,  and  appurtenances  thereof,  all  my  stock 
consisting  of  horses,  and  cattle,  hogs,  and  sheep,  and  all  my 
household  furniture,  (except  such  as  shall  be  hereinafter  ex- 
cepted), to  be  held  in  common  until  the  said  John  H.  Man- 
love shall  arrive  to  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  then  the 
said  farm  aud  other  property  above  mentioned  to  be  divided 
between  the  said  David  R,  George  W.,  and  John  H., 
equally,  each,  i.ne-third  part,  to  be  divided  by  three  men  to 
be  chosen  by  them,  the  said  David  R.,  John  H.,  and  George 
W.,  each  to  choose  one. 

Fourth.  I  do  also  bequeath  to  my  son,  Jonathan  Q.  Man- 
love, one  yoke  of  steers,  called  Bully  and  Duke. 

Fifth.  I  give  aud  bequeath  to  my  son,  William  L.  Man- 
love, one  yoke  of  steers,  called  Buck  and  Berry,  the  said 
steers  to  be  delivered  to  the  said  Jonathan  and  William  in 
the  month  of  January  a.  d.  1834. 

Sixth.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  daughter,  Sally  Howell, 
thirty  dollars. 

Seventh.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  daughter,  Mary 
Beard,  sixty  dollars. 

Eighth.  I  give  aud  bequeath  to  my  daughter,  Anna  Tharp, 
twenty  dollars. 

Ninth.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  daughter,  Rachel 
Chadsey,  ninety  dollars. 

Tenth.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  Polly  Betts,  fifty  dollars, 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


109 


if  she  remain  and  live  with  my  family  until  she  shall  arrive 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  years. 

Eleventh.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  two  grandsons, 
Manlove  R.  Raper,  and  Augustus  F.  Raper,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  each,  to  be  paid  to  them  when  they  shall 
arrive  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years. 

Twelfth.  It  is  my  will  that  in  case  my  sons,  Jonathan  Q. 
and  William  L.  shall  lose  their  land,  or  any  part  thereof,  to 
wit :  The  southeast  quarter  of  section  thirty-six,  in  town, 
ship  one,  north,  in  range  two,  west,  and  eighteen  acres,  part 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  said  section  thirty-six  by  reason 
of  the  title  being  bad,  the  loss  shall  be  sustain  ed  by  my  five 
sons,  each  bearing  an  equal  share  of  the  loss,  including  the 
expenses  of  defending  the  title. 

Thirteenth.  It  is  my  will  that  my  sons,  David  R.,  George 
W.,  and  John  H.,  receive  from  my  executors  moneys 
sufficient  to  complete  their  education,  not  exceeding  the 
value  of  their  personal  property,  and  also  to  complete  the 
dwelling-house  and  barn  now  being  built  on  the  farm  herein 
bequeathed  to  them. 

Fourteenth.  It  is  my  will  that  whatever  balance  shall  be 
found  remaining  in  the  hands  of  my  executors  after  paying 
my  just  debts,  funeral  expenses,  and  the  legacies  hereinbe- 
fore mentioned  be  equally  divided  between  my  five  sons,  to 
wit:  William  L.  Manlove,  Jonathan  Q.  Manlove,  David  R- 
Manlove,  George  W.  Manlove,  and  John  H.  Manlove. 

Fifteenth.  It  is  my  will  that  if  any  open  account  shall  be 
found  by  executors  standing  against  any  of  my  children  that 
the  same  be  considered  as  closed  and  paid. 

Sixteenth.  It  is  my  will  that  my  executors  immediately 
after  my  decease  take  possession  of  all  my  moneys  and  papers 
and  dispose  of  them  as  herein  directed,  and  I  do  hereby  ap- 
point Hart  Fellows  and  David  E.  Blair,  executors  of  this 
my  last  will  and  testament. 

Seventeenth-  It  is  my  will  that  any  stock  of  leather  now 
in  tan  be  received  by  my  executors  when  worked  out  and 
sold  on  a  credit  of  one,  two,  and  three  years,  and  that  means 
be  furnished  by  my  executors  to  purchase  whatever  bark, 
oil,  and  tallow  may  be  necessary  to  finish  the  leather  now  in 
tan  as  aforesaid. 

Eighteenth.  It  is  my  will  that  seventy  dollars  worth  of 
leather,  or  more,  if  wanted,  be  sold  to  John  B.  Maffett  and 
David  S.  Taylor,  by  my  executors,  out  of  the  first  of  my 
leather  tanned  out  on  a  credit  of  one  year.  In  testimony 
whereof,  I  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal,  and  publish  and 
declare  this  to  be  my  last  will  and  testament,  this  sixteenth 
(16)  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thifty-three. 

Wm.  Manlove,  seal. 

Signed,  sealed,  and  acknowledged  in  the  presence  of  us. 

John  F.  Charles, 
Will  Mayfield, 
-      I.  B.  Teery, 

Cyrus  L.  Watson. 

To  this  will  there  is  a  codicil  directing  that  his  executors 
purchase  nine  family  Bibles  of  the  best  quality  and  give  to 


each  of  his  children  one  (except  his  son,  William,  to  whom 
he  had  given  the  family  Bible),  and  one  also  to  each  of  his 
two  grandsons,  Manlove  and  Augustus  Raper. 

probate  judges. 

Hart  Fellows,  1 826, 1833 ;  Henry  B.  Bertholf,  1833,  1837 
Adams  Dunlap,  1837, 1847;  James  L.  Anderson,  1847, 1849. 
Dunlap  and  Anderson  were  probate  justices  of  the  peace. 
After  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1848  and  the  organ- 
ization of  the  county  court,  the  county  judge  was  given  juris- 
diction of  probate  matters,  which  he  has  since  retained. 
William  Ellis,  1849,  1857;  De  Witt  C.Johnston,  1857,1861 ; 
James  L.  Anderson,  1861,1865  (died  in  office);  Ephraim 
J.  Pemberton,  1865  to  present  time. 

FIRST    DEED    RECORDED. 

The  first  deed  on  record  is  a  conveyance  for  the  consider- 
ation of  fifty  dollars,  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
31,  township  2  north,  range  1  west,  from  William  W.  Sayles 
to  Edward  Boyleston,  both  of  the  town  of  Manlius,  Onon- 
daga county,  New  York.     The  deed  is  as  follows : 

This  Indenture,  made  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  September, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twenty-four,  between  William  W.  Sayles,  of  the  town  of 
Manlius,  in  the  county  of  Onondaga,  of  the  first  part,  and 
Edward  Boyleston,  of  the  same  place,  of  the  second  part. 
Witnesseth,  That  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  for  and  in 
consideration  of  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars  current  money  of  the 
United  States  to  him  in  hand  paid  by  the  said  party  of  the  sec- 
ond part  the  receipt  whereof  is  hereby  confessed  and  ac- 
knowledged has  remised  released  and  quit  claimed  and  by 
these  presents  doth  remise  release  and  quit  claim  unto  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part  in  his  actual  possession  now  being  and 
to  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever.  All  that  certain  part  or  parcel 
of  land  known  and  distinguished  as  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  31  in  township  2  north  in  range  1  west  of  the  tract 
appropriated  by  the  Act  of  Congress  for  Military  Bounties 
in  the  territory  of  Illinois  containing  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  together  with  all  and  singular  the  hereditaments  and 
appurtenances  thereunto  belonging  or  in  anywise  appertain- 
ing and  the  reversion  and  reversions  remainder  and  remain- 
ders rents  issues  and  profits  thereof  and  also  all  the  estate  right 
title  interest  claim  or  demand  whatsoever  of  the  said  party 
of  the  first  part  either  in  law  or  equity  of  in  and  to  the  above 
bargained  premises  and  every  part  and  parcel  thereof  to  the 
said  party  of  the  second  part  his  heirs  and  assigns  to  the  sole 
and  only  proper  use  benefit  and  behoof  of  the  said  party  of 
the  second  part  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever. 

In  witness  whereof  the  party  of  the  first  part  hath  here- 
unto set  his  hand  and  seal  the  day  and  year  first  above 
mentioned. 

(Signed)  William  W.  Sayles,  L.S. 

Sealed  and  delivered  in  the  presence  of — 
Alvan  Marsh. 

This  deed  was  acknowledged  on  the  25th  of  September, 
1824,   before    John  Fleming,   commissioner  of  Onondaga 


110 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


county,  New  York,  and  was  recorded  in  this  county  on  the 
1st  day  of  November,  1825. 

The  second  deed  on  record  is  from  Ossian  M.  Ross  and 
Mary,  his  wife,  of  the  county  of  Fulton,  and  state  of  Ill- 
inois, to  Thomas  Blair,  and  for  the  consideration  of  five 
dollars  conveys  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  8,  township 
1  north,  range  1  west.  The  land  is  described  in  the  deed 
(made  in  October,  1824)  as  in  the  county  of  Pike,  Schuyler 
county  not  then  having  been  organized. 

The  third  recorded  deed  was  executed  at  Baltimore  Mary- 
land, on  the  29th  day  of  July,  1824,  between  William 
Stansbury  and  Louis  Barney,  both  of  the  city  of  Baltimore. 
Stansbury,  for  the  consideration  of  eighteen  hundred  dollars 
conveys  to  Barney  nineteen  quarter  sections  of  land  in  the 
Military  Tract,  noue  of  which  is  now  in  Schuyler  county- 
One  quarter  section  is  now  in  Brown  county,  then  a  part  of 
Schuyler. 

EARLY   MARRIAGES. 

The  following  list  includes  the  first  one  hundred  marriages 
in  Schuyler  county  after  its  organization  as  appears  from 
the  licenses  and  certificates. 

No.  ofLicen.    Date.  Name.  By  Whom  Married.  Date  of  Marriage. 

William  H.  Taylor  to     T     .    „  T     „      «,       „-    ,„„- 

1  November  21,  1826,  Elizabeth  Spoonamore,   Levln  Grcen'  L'  P-'    1,m'  **'  182°' 

Jaiues  Lamney  to  De- Thomas  Blair,  _.     .„    1(K)C 

2  February    8,    1826,  Ilia  I  Keller County  Commissioner.  e°-   "■   1Sib- 

Samuel  Green,  toCaro-  T     •     ^-  *  m     -.r      v «»  tuu 

3  March  14,  1826  .   .  line  Trainer  .....   Lcvln  Gre€n-  L-  P->  March  16,  1826. 

4  June  27,  1826  ....  SailyTean8"'*?"   .l°   J««e  Bartlett,  Esq.,  June  28, 1826. 

James  Dean  to  Rachel  T  „.      ,,    „„    T     „     „„,    ,„   100c 

5  Sept.  16,  1826  .  .   .  Davis Levin  Green,  L.  P.,  Sept.  19,  182C. 

Cornelius  Vandeventer  ™,,  «  v      v        ^  .    n.    ,D,e 

6  October  25, 1826  .   .  to  Susan  McFarlin.  .   .   Thomas  McKee,  Esq.,  Oct.  25,  1826. 

John  P.  Skiles  to  Elea-  T     .      „  T     „     „       „,  ,0„_ 

7  May  30,  1827  ..  .  nor  Spoonemore  .   .   .   LeTln  Green-  L-  P'  May  31- 182T- 

William  Skiles  toSaruh  „    .     ^  „  .,         ..       „n  ,ofw 

8  Nov.  26,  1827.   .   .   .Perkins Hart    Fe»ows,    ESQ-.  Nov.  29, 1827. 

9  Januaiy  25, 1828  ..  .  to'&phr'ooU  Cnadse"  Tho»  D"™'  ^^  ■  ■    Jan'  26>  1828' 

10  Feb.  3,  1828 i™TerLO88,°nt.0l)0llyH»rtFel"'w8.E»1-  •  Feb-    3- 1828- 

11  March  14, 1828  ..  .  Lema^terT  T.  *?"**  M-  W-  Pe«'8"».  Eaq.  March  18,1828 

12  April  4,  1828  ...  .  Sau'yXgesf0"''    '°  *  »■  PettiSrew'  **•  APril  * 1828' 

13  May  3, 1828. pShff^  '"  ^  M-  *■  *"«««•».  **■  M<*  5-  1828" 

Koswell   Brines  to  De- .,.  t,     •     x.  x,      . ,  ,ono 

14  Aug.  12, 1828..  .   .  lila  Norton Thomas  Davis,  Esq.   .    May  14, 1828. 

David  Beebe  to  Rebec-  »__.«.«         r>  ■  ^  .    k    ,o<»o 

15  October  4, 1828  .  .  .  M  Dllpty Hart  Fellows,  Esq  .   .    Oct.  5,  1828. 

John  Wilson  to  Martha  T  .     T       „  T    „  ~  ,    ~n  ,OOQ 

16  Oct.  19, 1628 Vance John  LoK"n>  L-  p-  •    ■     O0*-  3°'  1828- 

James  Trainer  to  Mary  .,.,  .,  v      n 

17  Dec.  25, 1828  .   .   .   -Shields t    ConTmMoner  Dec.  25, 1828. 

18  April  2, 1829  ...    .  c^Hoilln^worth  ^  'rbcSTSVTW-  '•  April  2, 1829. 

19  May  12, 1829.  .  .   .  £«&???*  ^  Hart  Fellow9-  Es«  ■  ■  May  14, 1829. 

20  June  6,  1829 SXr1nRU8e"OLydiaj»mea  Vance,  Esq  .  .  June  7,1829. 

21  July  8,  1829 ggS.  IZh*""'     ,0  John  Logan,  L.  P.  .   .  July  9,  1829. 

22  July  8,  1829.   .   .   .  Sh  ctr^  !°  .^James  Vance,  Esq.   .  July  9,  1829. 

23  July  8,  1829  .   .   .  •AulaA1"'   t0    KaDCy  John  Logan,  "L.  P  .  .  Ju'y  9,  1829. 

24  Ju.y  8,  1829  ...   .  **£»«  &*Z£  ***>  Green,  L.  P  .  .  Ju!y  9,  1829. 

25  July  8,  1829 ^S^!'. Xan'  Thomas  Davis,  Esq  .  .  July  9,  1829. 

26  July  30,  ..829 ^t"j;uUtNMltu   Uar- John  Logan,  L.  P.    .  Aug.  2,   1829. 

•27  Aug.  2,  1829 ^ %%$?  ">   Ttn- Levin  Green,  L.  P  .    .  Aug.  6,   1829. 

28  Aug.  5,  1829  ....  M^VnntgTn  *  Th°ma8  McKeC'  **  "  *"*'  6'  1829' 

29  Aug.  7,  1829.   .    .    •  Ley  Carter. '."  !    ]    '.    '.   James  Vance,  Esq  .   .  Aug.  13,  1829. 

30  Sept.  8,  1829  .   .   .    .  ^n  Hanuncr  t0  Jane  P.  Cartwright,  L.  P   .  Sept.  8,  1829. 

31  Sept.  24, 1829.    .    .    .  *^rGa-v  to  """^  Hart  Fellows,  Esq  .    .  Sept.  24, 1829. 

32  Sept.  26,  1829.  .   .    .  ^ScKee"""8  K^!"!"  *™  McKee,  Esq  .  Oct.   1,   1829. 

33  Sept.  29,1829  .   .   .   .  {^a^artin""  l°  **"  ThomM  McKee  Esq.  Oct.   2,   1829. 

34  Nov.  5,  1829  .  .  .  .  ^j^^ .'°  *?T  James  Vance,  Esq  .   .  Nov.  22, 1829. 

35  Dec.  2, 1829. Jv"  Pe'imington  °  ^^  Thomas  McKce'  ^  '  DeC-  2>  1829- 


No.  of  Lieen.    Date. 
30  Dec.  16,  1829  .    .    . 

37  Dec.  18,  1829  .    .    . 

38  Dec.  20,  1829  .    .    . 

39  Jan.  13,  1830  .    .    . 

40  Jan.  13,1830.   .    . 

41  Feb.  6,  1830  .   .  . 

42  Feb.   6,  1830  .   .    . 

43  Mar.  21,  1830  .  .    . 

44  Mar.  21,  1830 .  .    . 

45  April  18, 1830  .  .   . 

46  May  15, 1830  .   .   . 

47  May  18,  1830  .    .    . 

48  June  5,  1830  .    .    . 

49  June  9,  1830  .    .    . 

50  June  12,  1830  .  .   . 

51  June  25,  1830  .  .  . 
'52  Aug.  16, 1830  .  .  . 
53  Sept.  11, 1830  .  .  . 
64  Sept.  14,  1830 .  .    . 

55  Sept.  29, 1830.    .    . 

56  Oct.  7,  1830.   .    .    . 

57  Oct.  8, 1830 .... 

58  Oct.28,  1830   .    .    . 

59  Nov.  7,  1830.  .    .    . 

60  Nov.  22, 1830  .    .    . 

61  Nov.  25,  1830  .   .    . 

62  December  2,  1830  . 

63  Decembor  6, 1830  . 

64  December  11,  1830 

65  December  14,  1830 

66  December  18, 1830 

67  Jan.  11, 1831  .   . 

68  Jan.  31,1831  .   . 

69  Feb.  5, 1831 .  .    . 

70  Feb;  7, 1831 .  .   . 

71  Feb.  17, 1831  .   . 

72  Feb.  26,  1831  .  . 

73  Mar.  18, 1831 .  . 

74  Mar.  23,1831.  . 

75  Mar.  30, 1831 .  . 

76  April  2, 1831  .   . 

77  April  12, 1831 .  . 

78  April  27, 1831 .  . 

79  April  25,  1831 .  . 

80  May  28, 1831  .   . 

81  June  6, 1831  .   . 

82  June  23,  1831 .  . 

83  June  30, 1831 . . 

84  July  16, 1831  .   . 
86  July  16, 1831  .    . 

86  July  23,1831  .   . 

87  July  29, 1831  .   . 

88  July  29, 1831  .    . 

89  August  10, 1831 . 

90  August  11,  1831. 

91  Sept.  24, 1831 .  . 


Name.  By  Whom  Married.  Date  of  Marriage 

SSft^S^f '°  '««• v-™-  *<>  •  •  D-  «.  *8*>- 

HnTnun  "U'"C  ,U  Ma"  C-  Vandeventer,  Esq  .    Dec.  20,  U». 


Robert     B.   Sexton    to  ,     ,»,,,,     x- 
■  Lucinda  Wright  .   .    ■  )oei  Tul118-  ^  ■   • 
David    Richardson    to  ,M  r,  ....  Xf  - 
I'at-.v  Stewart  .    .    .    .    A»D.We*,M.G. 

•  SaeTartPm""  ".'  B<'tSt'y  AM  D-  WV1»-  MG  •   ■    J*»-  ".  «*» 

•il,a"iv;ns"i"S":M!ir"'1-  W.lVttigrew,Esq.  Feb.  7.  !>:;„. 
Abraham  Brown  to  Kli-  „ 
zabeth  Kiitly  . 


Dec.  21,  IBtt. 
Jan.  14,  1KWI. 


'  Thomas  l>avi*,  Esq  .  .    Feb.  14,  lXMi. 


Nicholas  B.    Ropery  to  _,  „  T    _    _,      M  tnnn 

Betsey  Hammer    .   .   .   Thomas  Hew  son,  L.  P.  Mar.  21, 1830. 


Joseph  Mullen  to  Susm  T      .    „__       T    ,, 
•Brit.on.  Levm  Green,  LP. 


Mar.  21,  1830. 
April  18.1830. 


Joseph  Reno  to  Betsey  „  _,  ,,  ,,  „    « 

•  Hollhigsworth  ...        Hart  Kllows.  M 

•  MclntTrle'l0r  "  Ade"'ne  Thoma8  McK«-  *«  ■  «*  "■  18:»- 

•  %£&££?*  ^  *•  »•  Tavlor,  L.  P  .  .  May  24,  ,m 
Jmwm   Allen     to   Nicv  ,.   ...   B  .„.            _  T  _   ,„„,, 

•  Norace                         .     L  v  *  *  ettl6r(,w'  Esq.  June  5t  1830, 
Moses  Manlore  to  Bet-  _.   _,.  _  . . .             _,  T         ,_  ,_.. , 

■  geV  Hotigh M"  M  •  Pettigrew,  Esq.   June  16, 1830. 

Jesse  Lincoln  to  Rachel  .,T  TT1  T         ,„  ,rt.lrt 

'  Norton                             °      Lo^an»  L-  p-  ■  •  June  UiM88l 

Joshua  Blankenship  to  ,.  _..  ,  „.             _  _         __  ___. 

•lEay  Wilsie.   ...   M.  W.  Pettigrew,  Esq.  June 27, 1830. 

William  Soiva  to   Phe-  .     .  _  ...     _.  „.  -___ 

■  be  Van  Winkle  .   .  .    .  Joel  Tull.s,  Esq  .   .   .  Aag.J8.18Sa 

Redmau  H.  Logsdon  to..      „,         _    _  ■__«.•**  ,.. 

•  Emelim  DicksJn  .    .    .   John  Baker,  L.  P.  .    .    -Sept.  12, 1830. 

Thoma  W.  Taylor   to  -    .  .. 

'BotbCudntaaw.  .   .   Hart  lellows.  Esq.  .  .    Sept.  14, 1830. 

Samuel    B.    Shaffer    to  „     .  .,  „  „ .       '  _  ,.,  , 

•  Harriet  Emerich  .    .    .    Hart  lellows,  Ls.]  .  .     Sept.  30,  1830. 
Joel  Conrod  to  Hannah  ,.  „.  „  ...           _        -_.    m    ,„„„ 

'  BdmotMtoo M.  W.Pettigrew,  Esq.  Oct.    7,  1830. 

Jonathan     Clifton     to  • 

'  Marv  Teas  nart  •"•"«,  Esq  .    .  Oct.    8,  1830. 

William  Putnam  to  Pat-  ...  T     „  ~_.    _-  ____ 

■  sey  Smith John  Ixjgan,  L.  P  .   .  Oct.  28, 1830. 

Nicholas  Rice  to  Eliza  ,    ,  _,  „.    „  _        ^   ,_„ 

•  jj^  k  Joel  Tullis,  E6q.  .   .    .     Nov.  7,  1830. 

Daniel  A.  Edmonston  to  ,_  ...  _,  ...  _         /.  ^    ,-  ,„.,„ 

'  Cynthian  Naught  .  .    .    M.  V.  Pettlgrew,  Esq  .   Oct.  2o,  1830. 

AVilliam     Briscoe,     to  ,  ,     „    t      T    „ 

•  Mary  Ausemus  ....   John  Foster.  h  P  •  ■ 
William  Noble  to  Nan-  T    ,  _,   ...     ^ 

■cy  Van  Winkle.  .   .    .  Joel  Tullis,  Esq  .  .   . 
Stephen  D.   Hanibaugh  -  _     .         ^     „ 
toElmiiaStone..   .   .   C.  V andeventer Esq 


William    S.    Berry  to 

Catherine  Johnson  .   .  John  ^Pin,  L.  P  . 

Frederick  Noble  to  Ag-  ^.  _, ^ 

'  nes  Dark  Thomas  McKee.  Esq  . 


Oct.  27,  1830. 
Dec.  5,  1830. 
Dec  22,  mm. 
Dec.  16.  18:K). 
Dec.  15, 1830. 
Dec.  20,  1830. 


'  Tocke 

Preston  Ishmael  to  Pol- ,,  ,.      .  „  T.-, ..... 

"  lv  Mi  \niisli  C.  V  Mideventer,  Esq.  .  Jan.  In,  18:11. 

Caleb  Rilev  to  Sophia  ,,T  TT,  t,...,  ,.„ 

'  Black  Jolin  ^OKa11'  L-  '  •    ■    •  Feb-  4>  ,H''1- 

John    Kinuer  to  Mary  „  ,  „        .  _,  ^  ,     .  ,„„, 

•Reynolds Samuel  Bogart,  Esq.    .  Feb.   5,1831. 

Samuel    Hall  to  Nancy  -.    „  ,aort- 

•  Thomson IsMC  lMBe-  »*•--■  F<*-  10, 1830. 

^::;'"rtWa"d  .'°  ."!*  James  Bankson.  H.  G.  Feb.  17,  USL 
Thninas  T.  Lancaster  to  T         _  _, 

•  Elizabeth  Jacks,  m.  .   .   Isaac  Lane,  Esq  .  . 
William   Robertson   to  T  ,  _, 

•  Bet-ey  Kirkland  .  .  .  Is"ac  Lan«.  ^"l-  • 
A\  illiain  S.  Manlove  to  „  _  ...  .  _  „ 
HUabatoBurk..  .  .  '  ■  L  " atwn,  L.  P 
Thomas  Redicks  to  Eli-         i(L 

•  za  DcWitt Hartfellows,  Esq 

R„t»'rt  N.  Chaosej  to  .  .      _    .      .    „ 

•  Rachel    Manlove  .    .    .   John  Foe,CT.  L-  P 
Clement    Cavender   to  ,  ,      .    .      .    _ 

•  Oomfortfflaven  .   .   .   .  John  Foster.  L.  P  . 
Reason  Pniter  to  Lavi-  _         .  „ 

•  na  Saltabai  v ^^  **—•  "K  ■ 

•  EThiriT11 ,0  .M.artha  Hart  Ft*lluws-  *« 

John  J.  Keaton  to  Eli    T  ,      T  -    — 

•  ubeth  Shelton  ....  J"hn  ^W'  L-  p  ■ 
Thomas  Morgan  to  Emi-  ,  .  „ 

'  ly  Ilol»-rts,,n ,*",e  Lane"  ■"  ■    ' 

John   Young  to  Sarah  T  .     c .  ra  t    „ 

M.<r,,rv.      John  senppa,  L.  P 

•2n"z»£^to8r  **»*«*-," 

■:^:ru::r",".'Vre-nartFe.U,«,,-„ 

Georg,-   Wilson   to    Re-.,    .   cl.:1^.  -,Jrt 

•beccaWallis M.  J.  Sklles.  Esq. 

_j>.lm  ..gl,-»  to  Byntha s(UV|k, 

^r!fnS:l"U;  '°  M"rtlm  Levin  Green  LP. 
ThcHMlore    Hitt   to   Re-  ,,     ,  ..  ,,  ,       ,. 
beoeaBro-m.      -   .   .   "art  trtlo*.,  Esq 
John  s.  MjutbIi  to  Marv,,    ,  nun  .      ■ 
AnnGibaon..   .    .    ,,;  Hart  1  elk™ n  1.-,,  . 

William      Trainer    to  n^^.  v  —         x-„„ 
Hannah  Owen  Hart  Fellows,  hsq 


^nT,,-;aym,:',,a-',--''^-,Ks,1 


Mar.  1,  1831. 
Ku.ZL.t8SL 

Mar.  29. 1831. 
Mar.  30,1831. 
April  3,  1B31, 
April  17,1831. 
April  tt,  1831. 
April  26,  1831. 
May  29.  MIL 
June  8,  MB. 
June  23, 1831. 
June  30, 1831. 
July  16,  1831. 
July  17,  1831. 
July  14,  1831. 
Aug.  2,  1831. 
July  29,  1831. 
Aug.  11.  1831. 
Sept.  1.  MSI. 
Sept.  2.i.  1831. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Ill 


No.  of  Lican.    Date.        Name.  By  Whom  Married. 

92  Sept.  29, 1831.  .  .   .^nD,«^rtJ'toAm8-HartreUow8,E.q. 

93  Oct  0  1831  James     H.     Spiva     to  Nathaniel  ]iarrjs   Esq.   Oct.   9,    1831. 
w  uu.  o,  iwi Kh  euuniv  t  nend  .    .    .  °, —i  i 


Date  of  Marriage 
Sept.  29, 1831. 


94  Oct.  9, 1831  . 


•  Kh  euamy  Frie 
Alfred  Wallace  to  Bet- 


'  sey   Skilert 

Harvey  Sk: 
•  I).  M.  Justi 

John  Thurnian  to  Ma- 


Isaac  Lano,  Esq  . 


95  Oct.  6, 1831 SaMej«8n'se8,OLe"y  Hart  Fell0WS'  B<1- 


%  Oct.  15,1831 n^Loude'rbTck':  '.— Hart  Fellow.,  Esq  .   . 

97  Dec.  5,  1831  ...  •  llaiVart.1.'™'0  *  ^f  Hten»  Lester,  Esq 

98  Dec.  12, 1831  ...  .  ^e  IsaaM  to  Sinia  Thomas  McKee,  Esq 

99  Dec.  12,  1831  ...   .  %*J&     ,0.  N""Cy  **■  Logan,  L.  P  . 
100  Dec.  12, 1831  ...   .  §££  **?*  ^""^  Juhn  ^'PP8'  L'  P'  ■ 


Oct.  9,  1831. 
Oct.  13,  1831. 
Oct.  10,  1831. 
Dec.  8,  1831 
Dec  14, 1831. 
Dec.  16,  1831. 
Dec.  12,  1831. 


The  spelling  of  the  above  uames  is  according  to  that  of  the 
original  licenses.  The  "L.  P."  following,  the  name  of  the 
person  performing  the  marriage  ceremony  indicated  that  he 
was  a  Local  Preacher.  Where  "  Esq."  is  found  it  is  under- 
stood of  course,  as  a  designation  for  "  Justice  of  the  Peace.'' 

DELEGATES  TO  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION. 

In  the  constitutional  convention  of  1847  William  A. 
Minshall  was  the  delegate  from  Schuyler  county.  John  P. 
Richmond  represented  the  county  in  the  constitutional 
convention  of  1862.  The  constitution  framed  by  this 
convention  was  rejected  by  the  people.  In  the  consti- 
tutional convention  of  1870,  which  gave  to  the  people  of  the 
state  their  present  constitution,  Jesse  C.  Fox  was  the  dele- 
gate from  this  county. 

THE  COUNTY  IN  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

On  the  organization  of  the  county  it  was  placed  in  a  sen- 
atorial district  with  Pike,  Fulton,  Adams,  Morgan  and 
Peoria  counties.  Archibald  Job^  of  Morgan  county,  was 
the  state  senator  from  this  district  in  the  Fifth  General  As- 
sembly, 1826-1828.  The  representative  in  the  same  Gen- 
eral Assembly  was  William  Sim,  who  was  elected  from  a 
district  comprising,  beside  Schuyler,  Pike,  Adams,  Fulton 
and  Peoria.  In  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  General  Assemblies, 
1828-1830  and  1830-1832,  the  senatorial  and  representative 
districts  in  which  Schuyler  county  was  included  were  the 
same,  and  embraced  Schuyler,  Pike,  Adams,  Fulton,  Peoria) 
and  Jo  Daviess  counties.  In  the  Sixth  General  Assembly 
Henry  J.  Ross  was  the  senator  from  this  district  and  John 
Turney  the  representative.  In  the  Seventh  General  Assem- 
bly Henry  J.  Ross  senator,  and  Joel  Wright,  representative. 

In  1832  Schuyler  was  in  a  senatorial  district  with  Fulton, 
Knox,  Henry,  Calhoun,  Mercer,  McDoTiough  and  Warren. 
William  McCreery  was  the  senator  in  the  Eighth  General 
Assembly  1832-1834.  In  this  assembly  Schuyler  county 
formed  a  representative  district  by  itself  and  elected  Wil- 
liam A.  Minshall  to  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature. 

When  the  Ninth  General  Assembly,  1834-1836,  convened, 
George  W.  P.  Maxwell  was  the  senator  from  the  district 
comprising  Schuyler,  Fulton,  Knox,  Calhoun,  McDonough, 
and  Warren  counties  Jacob  Vandeventer  was  in  the  house 
of  representatives  from  Schuyler. 

In  1836  Schuyler  county  was  in  a  senatorial  district  by 
itself,  as  well  as  representative.  George  W.  P.  Maxwell 
was  the  senator  and  William  A.  Minshall  the  representative 
in  the  Tenth  General  Assembly,    1836-1838.     In  the  Elev- 


enth General  Assembly,  1838-1840,  William  A  Richardson 
was  senator  and  John  Brown,  representative.  In  1840 
Schuyler  and  Brown  comprised  together  a  senatorial  district 
with  William  A.  Richardson  the  state  senator  in  the 
Twelfth  General  Assembly,  1840-1842,  William  A.  Min- 
shall was  elected  to  the  house  of  representatives.  Jacob 
Vandeventer  was  state  senator  from  Schuyler  and  Brown  in 
the  Thirteenth  General  Assembly,  1842-1844,  and  Samuel 
Horner  the  representative  from  Schuyler.  In  the  Four- 
teenth General  Assembly,  1844-1846,  the  senatorial  repre- 
sentation was  the  same,  and  John  Brown  represented  the 
county  in  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature.  In  the 
Fifteenth  General  Assembly,  1846-1848,  John  Brown  was 
promoted  to  be  state  senator  from  the  Schuyler  and  Brown 
district,  and  Lewis  D.  Erwin  became  the  represeutative 
from  Schuyler. 

In  the  Sixteenth  General  Assembly,  1848-1850,  John  P. 
Richardson  of  Schuyler,  was  state  senator  from  the  sixteenth 
senatorial  district,  and  Jesse  Darnell  the  representative  in 
the  lower  house.  In  the  seventeenth,  the  senator  was  the 
same,  and  the  representative  from  Schuyler,  Allen  Persinger. 
In  the  Eighteenth  General  Assembly  1852-1854,  James  M. 
Campbell  of  McDonough,  was  the  state  senator  from  the 
sixteenth  district  of  which  Schuyler  county  was  a  part. 
Francis  E.  Bryant  represented  the  county  in  the  lower 
house.  The  next  state  senator  from  Schuyler  was  John  P. 
Richmond  who  was  in  the  Twenty-First  and  Twenty-Sec- 
ond General  Assemblies,  1858-1860  and  1860-1862. 

In  the  Twenty-First  General  Assembly  Lewis  D.  Erwin 
was  the  representative,  and  was  reelected  to  the  twenty- 
second.  Joseph  Sharon  represented  the  county  in  the 
Twenty-Third  and  Twenty-Fourth  General  Assemblies, 
1862-1864,  and  1864-1866  ;  George  W.  Metz  in  the  Twenty- 
Fifth,  1866-1868  ;  John  Ewing  in  the  Twenty-Sixth,  1868, 
1870  ;  Samuel  S.  Benson,  in  the  Twenty-Seventh,  1870-1 872 ; 
John  M.  Darnell  in  the  Twenty-Eighth,  1  872-1874 ;  James 
De  Witt  in  the  Twenty-Ninth,  1874-1876  ;  William  T.  Mc- 
Creery in  the  Thirtieth,  1876-1878-  Hosea  Davis  and 
William  T.  McCreery  in  the  Thirty-First,  1878-1880,  and 
William  C.  Reno  in  the  Thirty-Second,  1880  1882. 

Robert  Brown  of  Schuyler  county  was  state  senator  in  the 
Twenty-Ninth  and  Thirtieth  General  Assemblies.  The 
county  at  present  is  in  the  Thirty-Fourth  senatorial  district 
with  Cass,  Mason,  and  Menard  counties. 

CONGRESSIONAL. 

Until  the  year  1832  the  state  of  Illinois  formed  one  con- 
gressional district. 

In  the  apportionment  under  the  act  of  1831  Schuyler 
county  was  in  the  Third  district  with  the  counties  of  Greene 
Morgan,  Sangamon,  Tazewell,  Macon,  McLean,  La  Salle 
Cook,  Putnam,  Peoria,  Henry,  Knox,  Jo  Daviess,  Mercer, 
Warren,  Hancock,  McDonough,  Fulton,  Adams,  Pike  and 
Calhoun. 

In  1843  it  was  placed  in  the  Fifth  district  with  Greene, 
Jersey,  Calhoun,  Pike,  Adams,  Brown,  Fulton,  Peoria,  and 
Macoupin  counties.  For  three  terms,  1849-1851  Schuyler 
county    supplied    the    representative    from    this    district, 


112 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


William  A.  Richardson.  He  was  elected  for  six  conse- 
cutive terms,  but  during  the  last  three  terms  of  his  service 
was  a  resident  of  Adams  county. 

The  apportionment  act  of  1852  placed  it  in  the  Fifth  dis- 
trict composed  of  Adams,  Pike,  Calhoun,  Brown,  Schuyler, 
McDonough,  Hancock,  and  Henderson. 

In  1861  the  county  was  placed  in  the  Ninth  district  with 
Fulton,  Mason,  Menard,  Cass,  McDonough,  Brown  and  Pike 
counties. 

In  the  apportionment  under  the  act  of  1872  the  tenth 
district  embraced  Mercer,  Henderson,  Warren,  Hancock. 
McDonough  and  Schuyler  counties.  William  H.  Ray,  of 
Schuyler,  was  the  representative  from  this  district  1873- 
1875,  and  John  C.  Bagby,  of  Schuyler,  1875-1877- 

In  1882  Schuyler  was  placed  in  the  Eleventh  Congress- 
ional District  with  Rock  Island,  Mercer,  Henderson,  War- 
ren, Hancock  and  McDonough  counties. 

COUNTY   JUDGES. 

William  Ellis,  1849-57  ;  De  Witt  C.  Johnston,  1857-61 ; 
James  L.  Anderson,  1861-65  (Died  in  office)  ;  Ephriam  J. 
Pemberton,  since  1865. 

COUNTY   CLERKS. 

John  B.  Terry,  1825-27  (Resigned  December,  1827);  Hart 
Fellows,  1827  -37  ;  William  Ellis,  1837-47  ;  Nathan  Moore, 
1847-56  (Resigned  Sept.  1856);  Edward  Bertholf,  Sept. 
1856-Dec.  1856;  Chas.  Neill,  1856-61 ;  De  Witt  Johnston. 
1861-65 ;  A.  L.  Noble,  1865-69 ;  John  M.  Spangler,  1869- 
73 ;  John  C  Scripps,  1873-77  ;  Mark  Bogue,  since  1877. 

CLERKS   OF  THE  CIRCUIT   COURT. 

Hart    Fellows,    1825-36  (Resigned  December  28,  1836) 
Robert  A.  Glenn,  1836-40;  Joseph  Montgomery,  1840-52 
Lewis  D.  Erwin,  1852-56 ;  Joseph  Montgomery,  1856-60 
Thomas  J.  Kinney,  1860-64 :  Simon  Doyle,  1864-68  ;  Ed- 
ward Bertholf,  1868-72;  William  Paris,  1872-80;  William 
H.  H.  Rader,  since  1880 

RECORDERS. 

John  B.  Terry,  1825-27 ;  Hart  Fellows,  1827-39  ;  Rich- 
ard Dougherty,  1839-47  ;  Thomas  I.  Garrett,  1847-49. 

Since  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1848  the  circuit 
clerks  have  filled  the  office  of  Recorder,  Joseph  Montgom- 
ery from  1849  to  1852,  and  then  the  other  circuit  clerks  in 
succession  as  given  in  the  list  above. 

SHERIFFS. 

Orris  McCartney,  1825-28;   Joel   Pennington,  1828-34 
Thomas  Hayden,  1834-38;   John  G-  McHattan,  1838-42 
Joseph  T.  Campbell,  1842-44 ;  Enoch  Edmonston,  1844-48 
Asa  Goodwin,  184S-50;    Lewis   D.   Erwin,  1850  52;    Asa 
Goodwin,  1852-54:   Charles  Neill,   1854-56;    John   Hugh 
Lawler,    1856-58;    Enoch    Edmonston,   1858-60;    Edward 
Bertholf,  1860-62 ;  Joseph  Dyson,  1862-64 ;  John  C.  Brown, 
1864-66 ;  Joseph  Dyson,  1866-68  ;  Henry  J.  Sapp,  1868-70 
Joseph    Dyson,   1870-72;     George  T.   Whitson,    1872-74 
George  M.  Campbell,  1874-76;  John  A.  Harvey,  1876-78 
John  C.  Brown,  1878-80 ;  John  Neill,  since  1880. 


COUNTY    TREASURERS. 

David  E.  Blair,  1827-28 ;  Willis  O'Neal,  1828-33 ;  Ed- 
ward Doyle,  1833-34;  Adams  Dunlap,  1834  35;  Haryy 
Lester,  1835-36 ;  Robert  H.  Burton,  1836-37  ;  Marshall 
Smith,  March,  1837,  September,  1837  ;  William  Cox,  1837- 
38  (Removed)  ;  Clark  Dennis,  1838-39 ;  Joseph  T.  Camp- 
bell, 1839-42 ;  John  Scripps,  1842-43 ;  (Edward  Doyle  was 
elected  in  August,  1842,  but  not  furnishing  bond  the  county 
commissioners  declared  the  office  vacant,  and  appointed 
John  Scripps.)  James  De  Witt,  1843-45 ;  Felix  G.  Clark, 
March,  1845  September,  1845  (To  fill  vacancy  caused  by 
resignation  of  James  De  Witt)  ;  Nathan  Moore,  1845  47  ; 
Enoch  Edmonston,  1849-51 ;  Peter  L.  Campbell,  1851  61  ; 
Simon  Doyle,  1861-63  ;  Enoch  Edmonston,  63-65  ;  Elias  D. 
Leach,  1865-67;  Joseph  N.  Ward,  1867-69;  Edwin  M. 
Anderson,  1869-71 ;  George  H.  Nelson,  1871-73  ;  Edward 
D.  Wells,  1873  77  ;  Edwin  Dyson,  1877-79;  Augustus  Nell, 
1879-83 ; 

COUNTY   ASSESSORS. 

Jesse  Bartlett  was  the  first  assessor.  The  county  treasur- 
ers usually  made  the  annual  assessments.  Peter  H.  Holmes, 
filled  the  office  in  1841  and  1842  ;  Nathan  Moore  in  1843, 
and  1844.  From  the  latter  year  to  1854,  the  county  treas- 
urers were  the  assessors  by  virtue  of  their  office.  After 
township  organization  went  into  effect  the  assessments  have 
been  made  by  township  officers. 

COUNTY    COLLECTORS. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  county  the  sheriff  commonly 
collected  the  revenue,  but  for  some  years  the  board  of 
county  commissioners  appointed  an  officer  for  that  purpose. 
Edward  Doyle  was  appointed  collector  in  1840 ;  Walter  D. 
Scott  and  Jonathan  D.  Manlove  in  1841,  and  Thomas  Good- 
win in  1842.  John  T.  Worthington  was  appointed  in  1843, 
but  declined  to  accept  the  office,  when  Joseph  T.  Campbell> 
the  sheriff,  collected  the  taxes  for  that  year.  The  sheriffs 
were  made  ex-officio  collectors  in  1844,  and  discharged  the 
duties  of  the  office  till  township  organization  went  into  oper- 
ation in  1854,  when  the  county  treasurer  became  ex-officio 
collector. 

SURVEYORS. 

The  first  county  surveyor  was  Jonathan  D.  Manlove  who 
filled  the  office  from  1825  to  1829.  He  was  succeeded  by 
William  P.  Manlove,  who  was  first  chosen  to  the  office  in 
1829  and  was  reelected  for  several  subsequent  terms.  Le- 
onidas  Homey  was  elected  in  1847,  and  held  the  office  till 
1861.  The  other  incumbents  have  been  :  Charles  Prather, 
1861-63 ;  Jeremiah  Stumm,  1863-65 ;  John  M.  Campbell, 
1865-67;  James  W.  Watts,  1867-69;  Jeremiah  Stumm, 
1869-75;  James  W.  Watts,  1875  76;  Jeremiah  Stumm, 
1876-79  ;  William  J.  Homey,  since  1879. 

SCHOOL   COMMISSIONERS   AND   SUPERINTENDENTS. 

Alexander  Curry  served  as  school  commissioner  till  De- 
cember, 1835,  when  Henry  B.  Bertholf  was  appointed  his 
successor.  ij|William  Ellis  was  appointed  to  the  office  in 
September,  1839,  and  Edward  Doyle,  in  September,  1840- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


113 


After  Doyle,  Jonathan  D.  Manlove  filled  the  office  till  the 
election  of  John  Scripps,  in  August,  1843.  George  Little 
filled  the  office  by  appointment,  in  June,  1847,  and  Wheeler 
W.  Wells,  in  March,  1848.  John  Scripps  was  elected  in 
August,  1848,  and  served  till  1849.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Daniel  T.  Berry,  and  he,  by  John  C.  Bagby.  Since  then  the 
office  has  been  filled  as  follows  : 

Charles  Neill,  1850-1857;  William  Ellis,  1857-1859; 
George  R.  Benton,  1859  1861  ;  Anderson  D.  Davies,  1861- 
1863;  Henry  Smither,  1863-1865;  Jesse  C.  Fox,  1865-1869  ; 
Jonathan  R.  Neill,  1869-1873;  William  A.  Clark,  1873- 
1877  ;  Henry  H.  Foley,  1877,  to  present. 

CORONERS. 

The  first  coroner  of  the  county  was  Levin  Green.  He 
served  till  1829.  His  successors  were  Thomas  Raines,  Alex- 
ander Penney,  and  John  P.  Skiles;  Since  1848,  the  office 
has  been  filled  by  the  following  persons  : 

Peter  Wampler,  1848  1850  ;  A.  H.  Perkins,  1850-1852  ; 
Peter  Wampler,  1852-1854;  A.  H.  Perkins,  1854-1856; 
Peter  Wampler,  18561858  ;  William  G.  Denny,  1858-1860  ; 
John  R  Randall,  1860-1862;  Alexander  Montgomery,  1862- 
1864;  Henry  J.  Sapp,  1864-1866;  John  P.  Skiles,  1866- 
1869 ;  Adam  Trone,  1869-1870 ;  Hudson  M.  Deane,  1870- 
1874;  C.  M.  Grim  wood ;  1874-1876;  Barnett  P.  Watts, 
1876-1878;  Hudson  M.  Deane,  1^78-1880;  John  S.  Vance, 
1880-1882. 

EARLY   JUSTICES   OF   THE   PEACE. 

James  Vance,  Hart  Fellows,  and  Willis  O'Neal,  the  three 
first  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  county,  were  sworn  into  office 
on  the  nineteenth  of  September,  1825.  Vance  took  the  oath 
before  Hart  Fellows,  the  clerk  of  the  circuit  court,  and  then 
Fellows  took  his  oath  as  justice  of  the  peace  before  Vance. 
Levin  Green  became  justice  of  the  peace  in  February,  1826  ; 
Jesse  Bartlett,  and  Thomas  McKee,  in  May,  1826,  and  Cor- 
nelius Vandeventer  in  August  of  the  same  year. 

David  E.  Blair,  Isaac  Linder,  Thomas  McKee,  Riggs 
Pennington,  Benjamin  Chadsey,  and  Thomas  Davis,  all  be- 
came invested  with  the  duties  of  magistrate  in  the  year  1827. 
The  next  year,  Moses  W.  Pettigrew  was  made  a  justice.     In 

1830,  Jacob  T.  Reno,  Moses  Skiles,  Isaac  Lane,  Ansalem 
Barnes,  and  Granville  Bond  were  elected  to  this  office.     In 

1831,  the  new  justices  were  Nathaniel  Harris,  Samuel  Oram, 
Peter  C.  Vance,  Harvey  Lester,  Thomas  Christian,  Stephen 
Sallee,  Jeremiah  O.  Bridge,  Alexander  Curry,  David  Man- 
love,  and  Joseph  Bell  were  the  new  justices.  Samuel  Mc. 
Hatton  and  James  Power  became  justices  in  1832.  James 
W.  Riley,  Henry  B.  Bertholf,  Joel  Tullis,  and  Abraham 
Hollingsworth  were  elected  to  the  office  in  lb33.  The  new 
justices  in  1834  were  John  Strong,  Price  B.  Hume',  George 
Harper,  John  Brown,  Henry  Casteen,  and  John  A.  Drake; 
in  1835,  Isaac  M.  McCutchen,  Jeremiah  B.  Walker,  Robert 
A.  Curry,  Joel  Pennington,  Martin  De  Witt,  Thomas  Clark, 
Philip  Briggs,  Eli  Heartley,  James  Brown,  Moses  J.  Skiles, 
Balaam  Buzley,  Enoch  Edmonston,  James  W.  Riley,  Joshua 
Chitwood,  Robert  Wilson,  and  Richard  P.  Applegate. 
William  Ellis  was  sworn  into  the  office  in  1836,  and  Wil- 

15 


liam  Sackman,  John  L.  Ewing,  Milo  Ewing,  Erastus  Stone, 
Abraham  Smith,  and  John  Wilson  in  1837. 

Additional  justices  in  1838 ;  James  Lawler,  William 
Crewdson,  David  Long,  Levi  Lusk,  James  McRae,  Allen 
Alexander,  Caleb  Stone,  James  W.  Singleton,  Edward 
Doyle,  and  Peter  C.  Vance.  In  1839,  Adams  Dunlap 
James  Marshall,  James  P.  Black,  Levi  Sparks,  Isaac  Gar- 
rett, Samuel  Horney,  James  McKee,  Morris  Swan,  John 
Thornhill,  James  Graham,  William  Lewis.  In  1840,  Charles 
Wells,  Richard  Ashcraft,  Joab  L.  Moore,  William  L. 
Wisdom. 

Among  others  elected  to  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace 
from  the  year  1840  to  1849  were  James  W.  McElwan, 
James  L.  Anderson,  Nathaniel  Glover,  Robert  N.  Chadsey, 
Albert  G.  Dupuy,  Thomas  Dewees,  Rice  Dunbar,  Amos 
Hart,  William  Klepper,  Jacob  O.  Jones,  Thomas  Bronough, 
>V  illiam  Dron,  James  Evans,  Thomas  H.  Woods,  Edward 
Bertholf,  William  Callison,  Samuel  McCreary,  Samuel 
Dark,  Joseph  N.  Ward,  Tidence  W.  Lane,  William  Noel, 
John  Norvell,  Daniel  Shelden,  Jesse  H.  Ellis,  Alfred  C. 
Wallace,  Thomas  Pemberton,  Abraham  Rue,  William  Pyle, 
and  George  M.  Wells. 


BROWN   COUNTY. 

The  unwieldy  size  of  Schuyler  county,  as  originally 
formed,  and  the  great  difficulty  the  inhabitants  of  the 
southwest  portion  had  in  reaching  Rushville,  the  county 
seat,  created,  about  the  year  1835,  a  strong  sentiment  in 
favor  of  the  division  of  the  county.  The  residents  south  of 
Crooked  creek  generally  favored  it,  while  those  of  the  north 
opposed  it.  For  some  time  there  was  considerable  talk  of  a 
compromise  by  which  the  county  seat  should  be  moved  from 
Rushville  to  Ripley,  a  location  not  far  from  the  center  of 
the  old  county  of  Schuyler.  The  efforts  made  to  secure  the 
passage  of  an  act  in  the  State  legislature  organizing  a  new 
county  were  opposed  by  the  representative  of  Schuyler 
county,  who,  of  course,  favored  the  interests  of  that  part  of 
the  county  from  which  he  came — the  vicinity  of  Rushville. 
Finally,  at  the  Session  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  win- 
ter of  1838-1839,  on  the  petition  of  almost  every  man  living 
within  the  boundaries  of  what  is  now  Brown  county,  the 
passage  of  the  following  measure  waa  secured: 

"  An  Act  to  create  the  County  of  Brown  out  of  theCounty 
of  Schuyler. 

"Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of 
Illinois  represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  That  all  that 
tract  of  country  lying  and  being  within  the  following  boun- 
daries, to  wit :  beginning  at  the  southwest  corner  of  township 
two,  south  of  range  four,  west  of  the  fourth  principal  meri- 
dian ;  thence  east  to  the  Illinois  river ;  thence  up  said  river 
to  the  mouth  of  Crooked  creek ;  thence  up  said  creek  to  the 
township  line  between  townships  one  and  two  north  ;  thence 
west  to  the  range  line  between  four  and  five  west  of  the  me- 
ridian aforesaid  ;  thence  south  with  said  range  line  to  the 
place  of  beginning,  shall  constitute  a  new  county  to  be  called 
the  County  of  Brown. 


1U 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


"Sec.  2.  That  John  M.  Canipl>ell,  of  Schuyler  coun- 
ty ;  John  B.  Curl,  of  Adams  county,  and  Wil- 
liam \V.  Baily,  of  McDonough  county,  be,  and  they 
are  hereby,  appointed  commissioners  to  locate  the  seat  of 
justice  for  said  county :  the  said  commissioners,  or  a  ma- 
jority of  them,  shall  meet  at  the  town  of  Mount  Sterling  on 
the  first  Monday  in  June  next,  or  within  twenty  days  there- 
after ;  and,  after  being  duly  sworn  before  some  justice  of  the 
peace,  faithfully  to  perform  the  duties  required  of  them  by 
this  act,  shall  proceed  to  locate  and  establish  a  permanent 
seat  of  justice  in  said  county,  having  due  regard  to  the  geo- 
graphical situation,  present  and  future  population,  as  well 
as  donations  which  may  be  offered  for  the  erection  of  public 
buildings  ;  and  if  any  donations  shall  be  made  for  the  pur- 
poses aforesaid,  the  said  commissioners  shall  do  and  perform 
such  acts  and  things  as  they  may  deem  necessary  to  secure 
the  payment  thereof  to  the  County  Commissioners'  Court  of 
said  county,  for  the  use  of  said  county. 

"Sec.  3.  That  the  citizens  of  said  county,  hereby  created, 
are  and  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  allowed  in 
general  to  citizens  of  other  counties  in  this  state ;  and,  until 
public  buildings  shall  be'erected  for  that  purpose,  the  courts 
shall  be  held  at  such  place,  in  Mount  Sterling,  as  shall  be 
provided  by  the  County  Commissioners'  Court  of  said  county ; 
and  if  the  permanent  seat  of  justice  shall  be  located  at  any 
place  other  than  Mount  Sterling,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
commissioners  hereby  appointed  to  locate  the  same  and  to 
give  it  a  name :  but  if  they  shall  select  Mount  Sterling  for 
the  seat  of  justice,  then,  and  in  that  case,  Mount  Sterling 
shall  be  the  name  of  the  said  seat  of  justice. 

"  Sec.  4.  That  an  election  for  county  officers  shall  be  held 
in  the  said  county  of  Brown,  at  the  several  places  of  hold- 
ing elections,  and  by  the  same  judges  heretofore  appointed 
by  the  Schuyler  county  court,  on  the  first  Monday  in  May 
next ;  which  election  shall  be  conducted  in  all  respects 
agreeably  to  the  laws  regulating  elections.  It  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  said  judges  to  make  returns  of  the  poll-books  of 
said  election  to  Robert  N.  Curry  and  James  W.  Singleton 
two  justices  of  the  peace  at  M.>unt  Sterling,  within  seven 
days  from  and  after  said  election ;  aud  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  said  justices  of  the  peace  to  open  aud  compare  the 
saidpolls,  and  to  make  out  and  deliver  certificates  to  the  per- 
sons elected,  and  to  return  an  abstract  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  in  the  same  manner  as  is  now  required  of  clerks  of  the 
county  commissioners'  courts  in  such  cases  : 

Provided,  That  this  act  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  re- 
peal out  of  office  any  justice  of  the  peace,  or  constable,  who 
may  be  in  office  within  the  liroiti  of  said  county  at  the  pas- 
sage of  this  act ;  but  they  shall  continue  to  hold  their  offices 
the  same  as  if  this  act  had  not  been  passed. 

"  Sec.  5.  That  at  the  next  general  election,  and  until  a 
new  apportionment  of  representation  shall  be  made  among 
the  several  counties  of  this  state,  the  County  of  Schuyler 
shall  elect  one  representative,  and  the  County  of  Brown  one 
representative  to  the  General  Assembly  ;  and  in  case  a  va- 
cancy 3hall  happen  in  the  office  of  Senator  from  the  County 
of  Schuyler,  the  said  County  of  Schuyler  and  the  County  of 
Brown  shall  vote  together  to  fill  such  vacancy,  and  until  a 


new  apportionment  of  representation  shall  be  made;  and  in 
case  of  an  election  for  a  Senator,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
clerk  of  the  county  commissioners'  court  of  Brown  county 
within  four  days  after  returns  of  such  election  shall  be  made 
to  him,  to  meet  the  clerk  of  Schuyler  county  at  Rushville, 
and  the  two,  together,  shall  compare  the  polls,  and  deliver  a 
certificate  to  the  person  elected,  and  also  return  a  transcript 
of  the  votes  given  for  Senator  to  the  Secretary  of  State. 

Sec.  6.  That  the  said  county  of  Brown  shall  be  attached 
to  and  form  a  part  of  the  fifth  Judicial  circuit ;  and  it  shall 
be  the  duty  of  the  Judge  of  said  circuit  to  hold  two  terms 
of  the  circuit  court  in  said  county,  annually,  at  such  time  as 
the  said  Judge  shall  order  and  appoint,  or  at  such  time  as 
may  be  provided  by  law. 

Sec.  7.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  county  commis- 
sioners' court  of  said  county  to  appropriate,  set  apart,  and 
pay  into  the  county  treasury  of  Schuyler  county,  one-half 
of  the  sum  which  shall  remain  due  and  payable  to  Alden 
and  Burton  from  the  said  county  of  Schuyler  for  building 
a  bridge  across  Crooked  creek,  after  the  said  county  of 
Schuyler  shall  have  expended  the  money  already  appropria- 
ted to  that  object  ;  the  said  amount  so  to  be  paid  by  the 
county  of  Brown  to  be  made  and  certified  by  the  county 
commissioners'  court  of  Schuyler  county,  so  soon  as  the 
amount  can  be  ascertained  ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
county  commissioners'  court  of  Brown  county  to  provide  the 
means  to  make  such  payments  annually,  and  at  the  time  the 
same  become  due  from  the  county  of  Schuyler  to  the  said 
Alden  and  Burton. 

Sec.  8.  That  the  Sheriff  of  Schuyler  county  shall  have 
power  to  collect  all  taxes,  fines,  and  forfeitures  heretofore  as- 
sessed, and  to  serve  all  process  necessary  to  the  prosecution 
and  disposal  of  all  causes  now  pending  in  the  Schuyler  cir- 
cuit court,  the  same  as  if  no  change  had  been  in  the  boun- 
daries of  said  county,  and  as  if  this  act  had  not  been  passed. 

Sec  9.  That  the  commissioners  hereby  appointed  to 
locate  the  seat  of  justice  shall  be  allowed  and  paid  out  of 
the  county  treasury  of  said  county,  the  sum  of  three  dollars 
per  day  each. 

Sec.  10.  That  so  soon  as  the  school  commissioners  of 
Schuyler  county  shall  be  notified  by  the  county  commis- 
sioners' court,  of  Brown  county,  that  a  school  commissioner 
for  that  county  has  been  appointed,  to  deliver  to  said  com- 
missioner all  moneys  and  papers  belonging  to  the  several 
townships  in  the  said  county  of  Brown. 

Approved  February  1,  1839. 

The  name  of  Brown  was  given  to  the  new  county  in  com- 
memoration of  Gc-n.  Jacob  Brown,  a  distinguished  soldier  in 
the  war  of  1812-1814.  He  was  born  in  Bucks  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  the  ninth  of  May,  1775,  and  was  desended  from 
members  of  the  society  of  Friends.  He  taught  school  in 
early  life,  and  was  also  employed  for  some  time  in  survey- 
ing the  public  lands  in  Ohio.  He  settled  in  Jefferson  county, 
New  York,  then  a  wilderness,  in  the  year  1799.  In  1812,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war  with  England,  he  was  a  militia 
general,  but  soon  afterward  was  appointed  a  brigadier  gen- 
eral in  the  regular  army.     In  1814  he  was  made   a  major 


HISTORY  VF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


115 


general.  He  took  part  in  the  defence  of  Sackett'sHarbor 
in  1813,  and  the  following  year  exhibited  much  bravery  in 
the  battle  of  Chippewa  and  Niagara  Falls,  and  at  the  siege 
of  Fort  Erie,  receiving  the  thanks  of  Congress  and  a  gold 
medal.  At  the  termination  of  the  war  he  continued  in  the 
army  as  major  general,  and  in  1821  succeeded  to  the  chief 
command  of  the  United  States  regular  army.  He  died  at 
Washington  on  the  twenty  fourth  of  February,  1828. 

SEAT   OF   JUSTICE. 

By  the  act  organizing  the  county,  John  M.  Campbell,  of 
Schuyler  county,  John  B  Curl,  of  Adams,  and  William  A. 
Bailey,  of  McDonough  county,  were  appointed  commis- 
sioners to  locate  the  seat  of  justice  of  Brown  county.  These 
commissioners  were  directed  to  meet  at  Mount  Sterling  on 
the  first  Monday  in  June,  1839,  or  within  twenty  days 
thereafter,  and  locate  and  establish  a  permanent  seat  of 
justice,  "having  due  reference  to  the  geographical  situation, 
p  esent  and  future  population,  as  well  as  donations  which 
may  be  offered  for  the  erection  of  public  buildings." 

The  commissioners  met,  according  to  their  instructions, 
and  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  June,  1839,  selected  Mount 
Sterling  as  the  county  seat.  Several  other  points  in  this 
county  were  applicants  for  the  honor,  but  the  advantages  of 
Mount  Sterling  were  so  apparent,  and  the  subscriptions  of 
the  people  of  that  town  and  vicinity  to  a  fund  for  the  erec- 
tion of  public  buildings,  so  liberal,  that  the  commissioners 
had  little  difficulty  in  arriving  at  a  determination.  The 
following  is  the  report  of  their  decision  to  the  board  of 
connty  commissioners : 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
Legislature  of  Illinois  to  locate  the  seat  of  justice  in  the 
county  of  Brown,  have  this  day  located  the  same  in  the 
town  of  Mount  Sterling,  on  the  public  square  adopted  by 
the  Legislature ;  provided  the  payment  of  the  several  sums 
submitted  by  the  citizens  of  Mount  Sterling  and  vicinity 
for  the  erection  of  public  buildings  for  the  use  of  said 
couuty  commissioners  of  the  aforesaid  county  for  the  afore- 
said purpose,  on  or  before  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  the 
present  month  ■  and  if  the  above-named  subscribers  shall 
fail  to  come  forward  and  comply  with  the  above  requisi- 
tions, then  and  in  that  case,  the  location  of  the  above- 
named  county  seat  is  to  remain  as  not  located  by  us. 

Given  under  our  hands  this  15th  day  of  June,  1839. 
[Signed]  John  B.  Curl, 

Jonn  M.  Campbell. 

N.  B. — "  It  is  fully  understood  that  if  either  or  any  of  the 
above-named  subscribers  shall  fail  to  comply  with  the  above 
requisitions,  and  any  other  person  shall  make  the  deficiency  ' 
good,  so  that  the-  amount  subscribed  is  secured  to  the 
county,  then  in  that  case,  it  shall  be  as  though  it  was  done 
by  the  person  first  subscribing." 

There  is  an  order  of  the  county  commissioners'  court,  made 
on  the  fourteenth  of  June,  1838,  appropriating  twenty-four 
dollars  as  payment  for  eight  days'  services  of  John  B.  Curl 
in  locating  the  county  seat,  and  a  like  amount  in  payment 
of  the  services  of  John  M.  Campell. 


The  "subscriptions  of  the  citizens  of  Mount  Sterling  and 
vicinity  to  the  erection  of  public  buildings,  referred  to   in 

the  above  report  of  the  commissioners,  was  as  follows,  as 
appears  from  a  statement  in  the  county  records.  (As  this 
is  the  list  of  the  secured  notes  as  made  out  by  the  couaty  com- 
missioners, the  first  name  of  those  given  below  is  in  all 

probability  the  subscriber,  and  the  second  that  of  the  in- 
dorserj : 

Samuel  Sidner,  S.  W.  Miller, $  40  00 

William  Patterson,  William  Stapleton, 15  00 

S.  W.  Miller,  Samuel  Sidner, 30  00 

J.  W.  Singleton, 150  00 

H.  Casteen,  J.  Robinson 200  00 

J.  Koberts,  G.  Roberts, 15  00 

J.  T.  Debell,  T.  M.  Sparks, 15  00 

W.  T.  Rigg,  W.  Parker 5  00 

Wm.  Bucbanan,  S.  Sidener, 10  00 

W,  H.  R.  Homey,  G.  W.  Ballard 25  00 

W.C.  Smith,  J.  Smith, 15  00 

B.  P.  Stubblefield,  A.  Parker, 25  00 

G.  Estes,  S.  H.  B.  Clarkson, 20  00 

J.  Vandeventer,  J.  H.  McClary 45  00 

J.  H.  McClary,  J.  Vandeventer, 50  00 

J.  Brockman,  E.  Davis, 30  00 

T.  S.  Brockman,  A.  MeKean 125  00 

J.  M.  Irwin,  W.  Irwin 100  00 

R.  N.  Curry,   (secured  by  mortgage), 1035  00 

\V.  D.  Price,  S.  H.  Richey 10  00 

L.  W.  Dunlap,  J.  Means, 100  00 

A.  Curry,  R.  H.  Hurlbut, 700  00 

B.  Kendrick,  G.  R.  Givens, 25  00 

G.  R.  Givens,  B.  Kendrick 40  00 

C.  H.  Horney,  S.  Sidener, 20  00 

G.  C.  Robinson,  T.  S.  Adams 296  00 

E.  W.  B.  Newby,  W.  Patterson 50  00 

H.  P.  Grover,  J.  Putnam 10  00 

H.  Orr,  Max.  Orr, 40  00 

E.  Davis,  B.  Hayley 67  00 

J.  Smith,  G.  Smith 175  00 

B.  D.  Stout,  W.  Taylor, 20  00 

G.  S.  Myres,  S.  H.  Richey 60  00 

A.  W.  Ream,  T.  S.  Brockman 100  00 

W.  Patterson,  E.  W.  B.  Newby, 100  00 

O.  Griffith,  J.  B.  Brown, 30  00 

S.  H.  Richey,  <i.  S.  Myres, 25  00 

R.  H.  Hurlbut,  Alex.  Curry, 1200  00 

W.  Parker,  W.  Patterson, 50  00 

J.  Myer,  W.  Patterson, 75  00 

J.  H.  Bates,  T,  Y.  Bates, 25  00 

T.  Y.  Bares,  J.  H.  Bates 25  00 

Margery  Orr,  T.  S.  Brockman, 20  00 

L.  Brockman,  T.  S.  Brockman, 25  00 

J.  Price,  J.  Vandeventer, 50  00 

E.  Ross,  E.  Davis, 12  00 

A.  S.  Hobbs,  T.  S.  Brockman, '.   .    . 10  00 

J.  Walker,  A.  Shields,  .    .*...., .13000 

G.  B.  Orr,  T.  S.  Brockman, \  10  00 

C.  Jennings,  J.  Vandeventer 25  00 

S.  Suffycool,  J.  Putnam, 20  00 

D.  Higgins,  J.  Higgins, 20  00 

H.  Husman,  D.  Kendrick, , 50  00 

D.  Kendrick.  H.  Husman 25  00 

G.  Husman,  II.  Husman, • 25  00 

W.  A.  Singleton,  A.  Parker, 12  00 

R.  Trabue,  (secured  by  mortgage), 50  00 


116 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


8.  Sanson,  W.  Parker 15  00 

William  Reid,  A.  Parker, '.    .  40  00 

S.  Evens,  A.  Pauley, • 12  00 

J.  Lomax,  A.  Pauley, 20  00 

A.  Pauley,  J.  Means 150  00 

J.  Means,  A.  Pauley, 150  00 

T.  Ingles,  B.  Hayley 10  00 

J.  Putnam,  E.  Davis 20  00 

H.  Cheseldine,  (secured  by  mortgage), 100  00 

J.  P.  Patterson,   N.  B.  Bullard 50  00 

E.  W.  B.  Newby,  W.  Patterson 25  00 

W.  Irwin,  J.  M.  Irwin, 30  00 

S.  H.  B.  Clarkson,  A.  Curry, 40  00 

The  following  persons  subscribed  after  the  location  was 
made : 

W.  Supleton,  W.  Patterson 25  00 

J.  Fry,  W.  Stapleton 20  00 

N.B.Ballard,  S.H.  B.  Clarkson, 15  00 

G.  Harper,  S.  H.  B.  Clarkson, 30  00 

J.  Trabue 25  00 

J.  Jsye 25  00 

$6,399  00 

On  the  second  of  September,  1839,  eight  lots  in  the  town 
of  Mount  Sterling,  which  had  come  into  the  possession  of 
the  county,  were  sold  to  different  individuals  for  the  aggre- 
gate sura  of  $359.50.  The  county  was  also  the  owner  of  other 
town  property,  which  was  sold  as  opportunity  offered. 

PUBLIC  BUILDINGS. 

The  court-house  now  in  use  is  the  second  that  has  been 
built  in  the  history  of  the  county.  An  earlier  jail  also  pre- 
ceded the  present  one.  The  subscriptions  of  the  residents 
of  Mt.  Sterling  and  vicinity,  amounting  to  upward  of  six 
thousand  dollars,  made  a  liberal  fund  for  the  erection  of  the 
first  public  buildings.  The  county  commissioners  having 
determined  on  the  kind  of  buildings  to  be  constructed,  ad- 
vertisements were  inserted  in  the  "Illinois  Republican," 
"Illinoisan,"  and  the"Quincy  Argus,"  to  the  effect  that 
contracts  for  the  building  of  a  court-house  and  jait  would 
be  let  at  Mt.  Sterling  on  the  first  Monday  in  September, 
1839.  It  was  proposed  that  one-third  of  the  contract  price 
for  the  erection  of  the  buildings  should  be  paid  each  year 
on  the  first  day  of  May,  till  the  whole  should  be  paid.  A 
bond  for  double  the  amount  was  required  from  the  contrac- 
tor, and  the  first  day  of  May,  1842,  was  fixed  as  the  time 
for  the  completion  of  the  work. 

The  county  commissioners,  at  their  meeting  on  Monday, 
September  2d,  1839,  the  letting  of  the  contracts  was  post- 
poned for  three  day.  The  plan  of  a  court-house,  drawn  by 
C.  Howland,  was  adopted,  with  some  modifications,  while 
Mr.  Newby 's  plan  of  the  jail  building  was  taken.  The  bid 
of  George  Tebo  was  found  the  lowest,  and  to  him  was 
awarded  the  contract  for  the  erection  of  both  court-house 
and  jail.  He  furnished  a  bond  in  the  sum  of  fifteen  thous- 
and dollars,  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  contract. 
The  commissioners  directed  that  the  jail  be  built  on  lot 
number  6ve,  in  block  number  three,  of  Robert  N.  Curry's 
and  Ralph  H.  Hurlbut's  addition  to  the  town  of  Mt.  Ster- 
ling, and  the  court-house  in  the  public  square  at  such  place 
as  should  afterward  be  designated.     Afterward,  on  exami- 


nation of  the  lot  above  mentioned,  the  commissioners  deci- 
ded that  it  did  not  furnish  a  suitable  site  for  the  jail  build- 
ing, and  lot  number  twenty-two  in  block  number  three  (.3), 
was  purchased  of  S.  H.  B.  Clarkson,  and  here  the  jail  was 
erected,  twenty  feet  back  from  North  street.  Clarkson  had 
purchased  this  lot  from  the  county  at  the  sale  on  the  second 
of  September,  1839,  but  as  no  deed  had  yet  been  made  out, 
the  matter  was  arranged  by  crediting  in  full  the  notes  for 
the  purchase  money  which  Clarkson  had  given. 

Some  trouble  was  had  in  the  collection  of  the  individual 
contributions  to  the  fund  for  the  erection  of  public  build- 
ings. Several  suits  were  brought.  In  June,  1840,  the 
commissioners  allowed  S.  H.  B.  Clarkson,  justice  of  the 
peace,  a  bill  of  costs,  amounting  to  $21.50,  on  suits  of  this 
kind  against  sundry  persons 

The  exact  place  on  the  public  square  which  the  court- 
house should  occupy  was  not  settled  till  the  sixth  of  July, 
1841.  On  that  day  there  is  an  order  of  the  county  commis- 
sioners that  "  the  court-house  be  set  on  the  Public  Square, 
adjoining  to,  and  noth  of  the  alley  that  runs  up  to  the 
Square  by  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  centre  of  the 
front  end  to  be  in  a  line  with  the  centre  of  main  Cross 
street." 

By  the  contract  with  Tebo  the  jail  was  to  be  completed 
on,  or  before,  the  first  day  of  May,  1841.  It  was  constructed 
of  brick,  and  was  twtnty-two  feet  wide  by  thirty-two  feet 
long;  two  stories  in  height,  the  first  story  eight  feet  and  the 
second  story  seven  and  a  half  feet  in  the  clear.  The  foun- 
dation walls  were  sunk  two  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  and  were  two  feet  in  thickness,  except  the  walls 
under  "the  criminals'  room"  which  were  four  feet  in  thick- 
ness. The  room  for  the  confinement  of  prisoners  was  liued 
with  timbers  one  foot  square,  fitted  closely  together  and 
extending  into  the  walls.  The  sleepers  and  joists  in  this 
room  were  made  of  timber  one  foot  square,  laid  close 
together,  and  covered  with  inch  and  a  quarter  oak  plank. 
The  windows  were  guarded  by  bars  of  iron,  four  inches 
apart,  and  ''running  into  the  wall  one  foot,  the  flat  bars 
two  inches  and  a  half  wide  and  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
thick  and  the  square  bars  one  inch,  framed  together."  The 
shutters  were  made  of  boiler  iron.  The  prisoner's  room  had 
two  windows,  each  window  with  six  small  panes  of  glass. 
There  were  two  doors  to  this  room,  the  inner  one  of  which 
was  made  of  boiler  iron,  and  the  outer  one  of  inch  and  a 
half  oak  plank.  There  was  a  debtors'  room,  the  doors  of 
which  were  made  after  the  pattern  of  the  outside  door  of  the 
criminals'  room.  The  windows  of  the  debtors'  room  were 
furnished  with  grates  made  of  iron  bars  an  inch  and  a  half 
wide  by  half  an  inch  thick,  framed  cross  wise. 

The  court-house  was  built  of  brick.  It  was  forty-five  feet 
square  and  two  stories  in  height.  The  first  story  was  thir- 
teen feet  in  the  clear,  and  the  second  story  fourteen.  The 
walls  of  the  building  to  the  top  of  the  first  story  were  eigh- 
teen inches  in  thickness,  and  from  that  up  thirteen  inches. 
The  partition  walls  were  nine  inches  thick.  The  upper  floor 
was  taken  up  by  three  rooms,  two  of  these  were  eleven  by 
fifteen  feet,  designed  for  jury  rooms,  while  the  circuit  court- 
room occupied  the  remainder  of  this  floor.     The  lower  floor 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


117 


was  occupied  by  rooms  for  the  use  of  the  county  officers. 
The  contractor  agreed  to  complete  the  court-house  by  the 
1st  of  May,  1843. 

The  county  agreed  to  pay  the  contractor  twenty-five  hun- 
dred dollars  on  the  1st  of  May,  1840;  thirty-six  hundred 
dollars  on  the  1st  day  of  May,  1841 ;  thirty-six  hundred 
dollars  on  the  1st  day  of  May,  1812,  and  thirteen  hundred 
dollars  on  the  1st  day  of  May,  1843 — in  all,  eleven  thousand 
dollars.  The  amounts  due  were  to  draw  twelve  per  cent, 
interest  if  not  paid  on  presentation  of  the  orders. 

May,  1843,  the  date  at  which  the  court-house  should  have 
been  completed,  the  contractor  not  having  finished  the  build- 
ing, he  was  given  an  additional  year  in  which  to  do  the  work. 
He  was  required  to  give  another  bond  in  the  sum  of  ten 
thousand  dollars,  and  the  county  was  to  have  the  privilege 
of  retaining  the  last  payment  of  thirteen  hundred  dollars 
till  the  building  should  be  completed  and  accepted,  and  pay 
no  interest  thereon. 

The  following  order  of  the  county  commissioners,  made 
March,  1844,  is  of  interest  in  connection  with  the  public 
building  subscription : 

Whkreas,  it  has  been  represented  to  this  court  that  Ralph* 
H.  Hurlbut  of  Mt.  Sterling,  did,  in  1839,  donate  to  the 
county  of  Brown  twelve  hundred  dollars,  and  the  undivided 
half  of  twelve  lots  in  Mt.  Sterling  in  consideration  of  the 
county  seat  being  located  at  Mt.  Sterling ;  and,  whereas,  said 
Hurlbut  has  paid  eight  hundred  dollars  of  said  donation  ;  and 
whereas,  through  the  vicissitudes  of  trade,  the  said  Hurlbut 
has  become  unable  to  pay  the  remaining  four  hundred  dol- 
lars of  said  donation  without  distressing  his  family  :  There- 
fore, ordered,  that  the  said  R.  H.  Hurlbut  be  released  from 
all  obligations  to  the  said  county,  in  and  for  the  said  four 
hundred  dollars,  and  that  his  note  for  the  said  four  hundred 
dollars  be  returned  to  him. 

A  subsequent  board  of  county  commisioners  considered 
this  action  illegal,  and  it  was  proposed  to  bring  suit  to  re- 
cover the  note  returned  to  Hulburt.  The  matter  was  com- 
promised by  Hulburt,  in  January,  1848,  paying  the  county 
fifty  dollars,  and  giving  two  promissory  notes,  with  security, 
of  seventy-five  dollars,  each  payable  in  one  and  two  years 
from  date. 

The  old  jail  did  service  in  the  confinement  of  prisoners  for 
nearly  twenty  years.  hi  1858  it  was  resolved  to  build 
another  jail,  and  on  the  4th  of  June  of  that  year,  the  contract 
for  its  construction  was  let  to  John  Maltby.  The  contract 
price  was  five  thousand  dollars.  A  building  committee  ap- 
pointed by  the  board  of  supervisors,  composed  of  Jacob 
Hersman,  Alexauder  Campbell  and  B.  F.  DeWitt,  superin- 
tended the  erection  of  the  building,  which  the  contractor 
agreed  to  have  completed  by  the  1st  of  November,  1859.  It 
was  stipulated  that  in  case  of  any  disagreement  between  the 
contractor  and  the  building  committee,  in  relation  to  the 
quality  of  the  material orthe  manner  of  doing  the  work,  that 
the  matter  be  referred  to  three  arbitrators,  one  of  whom  should 
be  chosen  by  each  party  and  the  third  by  the  other  two. 
T,he  contractor  was  to  receive  three  thousand  dollars  on  the 
1st  day  of  March,  1859,  with  interest  on  one  thousand  dol- 
lars from  June  5th,  1858,  at  ten   per  cent,  per  annum,  and 


the  remainder,  two  thousand  dollars,  on  the  1st  day  of  March, 
1860. 

The  new  jail  was  built  on  the  north  end  of  the  court-house 
square.  Previously  on  the  10th  of  March,  1858,  the  lot  on 
which  the  old  jail  was  built,  had  been  ordered  to  be  sold  at 
public  sale  It  was  sold  on  the  1st  day  of  September,  1860, 
for  three  hundred  dollars. 

The  bad  condition  of  the  old  court-house  attracted  atten- 
tion as  early  as  1859,  when,  in  June  of  that  year,  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  make  necessary  repairs.  Nine 
years  later,  in  June,  1864,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
examine  into  the  condition  of  the  building,  and  report  as  to 
the  propriety  and  expense  of  having  it  repaired.  This  com- 
mittee reported  that  the  courthouse  could  not  be  repaired 
so  as  to  make  the  building  safe  without  taking  down  the 
entire  north  wall,  and  sections  of  the  east  and  west  walls, 
and  putting  a  new  foundation  under  the  same,  and  building 
new  walls  thereon.  Even  then  it  would  be  doubtful  whether 
the  building  would  be  safe.  The  entire  cost  of  such  repairs, 
with  a  new  roof,  was  estimated  at  four  thousand  ($4,000) 
dollars. 

Nearly  two  years  passed  before  any  definite  steps  were 
taken  toward  the  erection  of  a  new  building.  April,  1866, 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  employ  an  architect  and 
secure  plans  and  specifications  On  the  fourth  of  June, 
1866,  David  House  appeared  before  the  board  of  supervisors 
and  exhibited  a  plan  of  a  court  house  which,  on  motion,  was 
adopted.  The  next  step,  and  a  most  important  one  in  the 
then  backward  condition  of  the  county  finances,  was  the 
procuring  of  the  necessary  means.  Daniel  Six,  Esli  Shurt- 
lifT,  Adam  E.  Martin,  William  L.  Taylor,  and  William  L. 
Vandeventer,  were  commissioned  on  the  fourth  of  June, 
1866,  to  borrow  money  at  a  rate  not  exceeding  ten  per  cent, 
per  annum.  When  sufficient  money  had  been  procured  to 
authorize  a  commencement  of  the  work,  this  committee  was 
empowered  to  advertise  for  proposals  and  let  the  contract  to 
the  lowest  responsible  bidder. 

On  the  tenth  of  September,  1866,  David  K.  Watson, 
Daniel  Six,  and  William  L.  Taylor  were  appointed  to  rent 
rooms  for  the  accommodation  of  the  county  clerk,  circuit 
clerk,  sheriff,  and  other  public  officers,  and  to  sell  the  old 
court-house  at  public  auction  after  twenty  days'  notice.  It 
was  directed  that  county  orders  might  be  received  in  pay- 
ment, one  half  of  the  purchase-money  to  be  paid  on  the  first 
of  September,  1867,  and  the  remainder  on  the  first  day  of 
September,  1868.  It  was  also  stipulated  that  the  old  court- 
house should  be  removed  by  the  first  of  June,  1867. 

The  old  building  was  sold  to  Thomas  H.  Lynch  for  thir- 
teen hundred  dollars.  The  contract  to  erect  the  new  court- 
house was  let  to  Thomas  Jones  at  the  contract  price  of  nine- 
teen thousand  dollars.  It  was  afterward  thought  best  to 
build  the  second  story  two  feet  and  six  inches  higher  than 
was  called  for  in  the  specifications,  and  for  this  and  other 
alterations  the  contractor  was  paid  the  additional  sum  of 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety-nine  dollars.  On  the 
eighteenth  of  January,  1868,  the  board  of  supervisors  held 
a  meeting  in  the  new  building  and  agreed  to  receive  the 
court-house   from  the    contractor,  retaining,  however,  one 


118 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


thousand  dollars  in  the  hands  of  the  building  committee 
until  the  work  on  the  building  was  entirely  completed. 

The  building  committee,  under  whose  superintendence  the 
building  was  constructed,  was  composed  of  William  L.  Tay- 
lor, Alexander  Campbell,  Adam  E.  Martin,  Daniel  Six,  and 
William  L.  Vandeventer.  These  gentlemen  borrowed  the 
money  with  which  the  court-house  was  built,  on  the  faith 
and  credit  of  the  county,  and  promptly  paid  the  contractor 
whenever  his  money  was  due  him. 

COUNTY   GOVERNMENT. 

From  the  organization  of  the  county  till  the  year  1849, 
the  affairs  of  the  county  were  managed  by  boards  of  county 
commissioners,  composed  of  three  members.  The  new  state 
constitution  adopted  in  1848,  created  a  change,  and  gave 
the  administration  of  county  matters  wiihiu  the  hands  of  a 
county  court,  the  members  of  which  were  a  county  judge 
and  two  associate  justices.  This  arrangement  lasted  till  the 
adoption  of  township  organization  in  1854. 

FIRST   BOARD  OF  COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

Thomas  S.  Brockman,  Joseph  Robinson,  Joseph  Stoner, 
1S39-1840.  The  act  creating  the  county  directed  that  an 
election  for  county  officers  should  be  held  on  the  first  Mon- 
day in  May,  1839.  At  this  election,  Thomas  S.  Brockman, 
Joseph  Robinson,  and  Joseph  Stoner  were  chosen  county 
commissioners.  These  commissioners  held  their  first  term  of 
court  May  fifteenth,  1839.  The  following  is  the  first  entry 
on  the  records  of  the  board  of  county  commissioners: 

"  Be  it  remembered  that  the  county  of  Brown  having  been 
established  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  state 
of  Illinois,  and  Thomas  S.  Brockman,  Joseph  Robinson, 
and  Joseph  Stoner  having  been  duly  elected  county  com- 
missioners for  said  county,  and  having  taken  the  several 
oaths  before  Robert  N.  Curry,  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  and 
for  said  county,  thereupon  a  special  term  of  the  county 
commissioners'  court  for  the  county  of  Brown  is  begun  and 
held  at  Mt.  Sterling  the  seat  of  justice  for  said  county  on 
the  fifteenth  day  of  June,  1839." 

Thomas  S.  Brockman  was  chosen  presiding  commissioners. 
Jacob  Vandeventer,  having  been  duly  elected  clerk  of  the 
county  commissioners'  court,  took  in  open  court  an  oath  to 
support  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the 
state  of  Illinois,  and  the  oath  required  by  an  act  entitled 
'An  Act  to  suppress  duelling,"  together  with  the  oath  of 
office.  He  also  gave  bond  for  the  faithful  performance  of 
the  duties  of  his  office  on  which  William  Taylor  was  surety. 

The  commissioners  began  the  financial  record  of  the 
county  by  directing  the  clerk  to  borrow  fifty  dollars  "  upon 
the  faith  of  the  county  upon  the  best  terms."  No  taxes 
could  be  levied  and  collected  for  some  time,  and  meanwhile, 
the  county  was  in  immediate  need  of  ready  money. 

At  their  session  in  the  afternoon  the  commissioners  ordered 
that  the  county  should  be  divided  into  four  districts  for  the 
a^t'ssmeut  of  taxable  property. 

The  first  district  included  all  that  part  of  the  county 
lying  north  of  the  base  line.  District  number  two  embraced 
townships  one  and  two  south,  range  four  west.     The  third 


district  coincided  with  townships  one  and  two  south,  range 
four  west,  and  the  fourth  district  was  the  balance  of  the 
county.  S.  H.  B.  Clarkson  was  appointed  assessor  in  the 
first  district ;  Robert  Trabue  in  the  second ;  Isam  Nye  in 
the  third,  and  James  H.  McClary  in  the  fourth.  The 
assessors  were  required  to  make  return  of  the  list  of  taxable 
property  by  the  seventh  day  of  June  next,  twenty-two  days 
from  the  date  of  their  appointment. 

Harvey  Lester  was  appointed  county  collector,  and  then, 
after  having  fined  Robert  Dawson  five  dollars  for  contempt 
of  court,  the  commissioners  adjourned  for  the  day.  At  the 
next  day  session  (May  the  eighteenth)  the  county  was  divi- 
ded into  road  districts  of  which  Reuben  Smith,  John  Lomax, 
Jonathan  Miller  Henry  Ausmus,  Thomas  Benton,  Benoni 
R.  Parke,  John  P.  Hambaugh,-John  Sides,  Lyman  Prentice, 
Benjamin  Kendrick,  Thomas  Reeves",  William  Evens  and 
Willian  Lee  were  appointed  supervisors. 

The  supervisors  are  authorized  to  call  upon  each  able 
bodied  man,  within  their  respective  districts,  between  the  ages 
of  twenty-one  and  fifty  years,  to  perform  three  days'  labor 
on  the  road. 

•  On  the  17th  day  of  May,  1839,  the  county  was  laid  off 
into  six  districts  for  the  election  of  justices  of  the  peace. 
That  part  of  the  county  lying  north  of  the  base  line  and 
west  of  Curry's  branch,  constituted  district  number  one. 
The  boundaries  of  the  second  district  began  at  the  mouth  of 
Curry's  branch,  thence  up  said  branch  to  the  line  between 
townships  two  and  three  west,  range  one  north,  thence  south 
with  said  line  to  the  southwest  corner  of  township  one  south* 
range  two  west,  thence  east  to  the  Illinois  river,  thence  up 
said  river  to  the  mouth  of  Crooked  creek,  and  thence  np 
said  creek  to  the  place  of  beginning.  The  third  district  in- 
cluded township  two  south,  range  two  west,  and  the  east  half 
of  township  two  south,  range  two  west,  and  also  fractional 
township  two  south,  range  one  west.  The  fourth  district 
was  the  west  half  of  township  two  south,  range  three  west, 
and  township  two  south,  range  four  west.  The  fifth  district 
coincided  with  township  one  south,  range  three  west.  The 
sixth  district  was  township  one  south,  range  four  west. 

The  appointment  of  grand  jurors  consumed  the  balance  of 
the  day. 

At  this  term  an  allowance  of  fifty  dollars  was  made  to 
Robert  N.  Curry  for  money  borrowed  for  the  purchase  of 
record  books  for  the  use  of  the  county.  This  amount  was 
to  draw  twelve  per  cent,  interest  from'  the  20th  of  May  till 
paid  "  out  of  the  first  money  coming  into  the  county  funds." 
After  the  transaction  of  other  business,  voting  themselves 
each  ten  dollars  for  their  four  days  service,  and  directing  the 
clerk  to  procure  a  suitable  seal  for  the  court  with  a  pair  of 
scales  in  the  center  and  the  words  '•  Commissioners'  Court, 
Brown  Co.  111.,"  engraved  thereon,  adjournment  was  had  to 
the  regular  term. 

At  the  regular  term  of  court  which  begau  on  Monday,  the 
3d  day  of  June,  1839,  and  which  lasted  six  days,  a  variety 
of  business  was  transacted.  On  the  petition  of  S.  H.  B. 
Clarkson,  a  review  was  ordered  of  the  road  commencing  aj 
Mt.  Sterling,  and  running  in  the  direction  of  Huntsville,  in 
Schuyler  county.     John  Price,  Robert  Trabue  and  Richard 


: •     - 


<OUSE . 


COUNTY      BU  I  LDI  N  GS  ,  S  Ff  OWN     CO.    ILLINOIS 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER  .AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


119 


W.  Rigg  were  appointed  reviewers,  with  directions  "  to  lo- 
cate and  mark  out  said  road,  said  road  to  be  opened  thirty- 
five  feet  wide."  Clarkson  was  directed  to  deposit  six  dol- 
lars in  the  hands  of  the  clerk  to  defray  expenses  if  the  road 
should  not  be  considered  of  public  utility. 

Considerable  time  was  spent  in  settling  with  the  school 
commissioners.  The  rate  of  interest  for  money  loaned  out  of 
the  school  fund  was  fixed  at  twelve  per  cent,  per  annum. 
Robert  Trabue  was  appointed  overseer  of  the  poor  farm 

It  seems  that  there  was  some  delay  in  the  receipt  of  the 
commission  of  Elisha  Davis,  who  had  been  elected  sheriff, 
and  so  the  commissioners,  by  especial  appointment,  made  him 
their  agent  to  serve  all  notices  of  appointment,  and  transact 
other  business  for  which  the  services  of  a  sheriff  required, 
until  a  sheriff  would  be  duly  commissioned  .and  sworn 
in  according  to  law.  Davis  was  also  appointed  by  the 
commissioners  to  request  the  county  commissioners'  court 
of  Schuyler  county  to  permit  the  county  of  Brown 
to  retain  all  the  copies  of  the*  Laws  of  Illinois,  now 
in  the  hands  of  the  different  officers  of  Brown  county, 
and  also  to  ask  that  the  commissioners  of  Schuyler  coun- 
ty furnish  to  the  county  of  Brown  a  proportional  part 
of  the  digest  of  the  laws  of  Illinois,  in  relation  to  common 
schools  and  school  lands.  Furniture  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  court  while  in  session  was  provided  by  the  purchase 
of  six  chairs,  and  appropriations  were  made  for  the  pur- 
chase of  seals  for  the  clerk's  office  of  the  circuit  court  and 
the  office  of  the  probate  justice.  A  table  and  a  book  case 
for  the  clerk's  office  cost  twenty  dollars. 

No  court-house  had  of  course  at  that  time  been  erected. 
The  time  for  holding  the  term  of  the  circuit  court  was  ap- 
proaching, and  Thomas  S.  Brockman  was  appointed  to  ascer- 
tain whether  the  Presbyterian  church  could  be  secured  in 
which  to  hold  its  services.  Brockman  reported  that  he  had 
seen  the  majority  of  the  trustees  and  that  they  had  autho- 
rized Alexander  Curry  to  make  a  contract  with  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  court  for  the  use  of  the  building.  The  com- 
missioners thereupon  appointed  Elisha  Davis  to  take 
possession  of  the  church  and  directed  him  to  set  up  three 
notices  in  said  house,  forewarning  all  persons  from  injuriug 
the  building  in  any  way  by  cutting,  working,  or  writing  on 
the  walls  with  ink,  chalk,  or  other  substance.  All  the  of- 
fenders against  these  regulations  were  to  be  repor:ed  by 
Davis  to  the  county  commissioners.  He  was  also  directed 
to  prepare  a  suitable  bar  and  make  other  arrangements 
necessary  for  the  convenience  of  the  court,  and  report  his 
expenses.  The  county  paid  fifty  cents  for  each  day's  use  of 
the  church. 

On  the  eighth  of  June,  1828,  the  commissioners  made  the 
first  tax  levy.  A  tax  of  thirty  cents  on  every  one  hundred 
dollars'  worth  of  real  and  personal  property  was  levied  for 
county  purposes,  and  an  additional  tax  of  ten  cents  on  real 
estate  for  road  purposes.  This  order  for  a  road  tax  was 
subsequently  (December,  1839)  rescinded. 

Clark  Dennis,  the  treasurer  chosen  at  the  May  election, 
filed  his  bond  which  was  in  the  sum  of  $4691.46.  A  license 
to  keep  a  grocery  in  the  town  of  Versailles  was  ordered  to 
issue  to  George  Lampkins  on  the  payment  of  twenty-five 


dollars.  Two  more  licenses  to  keep  a  grocery  in  the  same 
town  were  granted  the  same  day,  one  to  Samuel  Ullery  and 
one  to  Josiah  Newton  on  payment  of  a  similar  sum.  For 
making  the  assessment  of  taxable  property  in  district  num- 
ber one,  S.  H.  B.  Clarkson  was  allowed  $21.50.  In  district 
number  two,  the  assessor,  Robert  Trabue,  was  allowed . 
$20.25.  Isara  Nye,  in  the  third  district,  was  paid  $36.50. 
In  the  fourth  district,  James  H.  McClary,  assessor,  was  al- 
lowed $26.00,  and  William  D.  Price,  assistant  assessor, 
$6.12J.  One  half  of  the  compensation  of  the  assessors  was 
directed  to  be  paid  out  of  the  county  funds. 

For  transcribing  the  tax  lists,  the  clerk  was  allowed 
$11.94.  J  \V.  Singleton,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  was  charged 
twelve  dollars  for  not  reporting  two  fines  of  three  dollars 
each. 

A  special  term  was  held  June  fourteenth,  1839.  Elisha 
Davis  was  appointed  collector  and  was  required  to  give 
bond  in  the  sum  of  $6305.  S.  W.  Miller,  Matthew 
Alexander,  H.  P.  Grover,  William  Stapleton,  William 
Patterson,  sen.,  Calvin  Clark  and  James  Brockman  were 
the  securities  on  the  bond. 

Several  days  of  a  special  term  of  court,  beginning  on  the 
seventeenth  of  June,  1839,  were  chiefly  spent  in  taking  notes 
for  the  subscriptions  to  the  erection  of  the  public  buildings, 
and  securing  them  by  mortgages  and  endorsements.  The 
list  of  these  notes,  as  made  out  by  the  commissioners,  foots 
up  to  $6399.  This  matter  having  been  satisfactorily 
arranged,  calculations  and  arrangements  for  letting  the  con- 
tract to  construct  the  court-house  and  jail  next  occupied  the 
attention  of  the  commissioners.  E.  W.  B.  Newby  was  em- 
ployed to  draft  a  plan  of  these  buildings  as  proposed  to  be 
built  by  the  commi-sioners'  court.  Three  insertions  of  an 
advertisement  that  the  contract  for  building  the  court-house 
would  be  let  at  Mt.  Sterling  on  the  first  Monday  of  Sep- 
tember next  (1838),  were  ordered  to  be  inserted  in  the 
"  Illinois  Republican,"  the  "  Illinoisan,"  and  the  "  Quincy 
Argus." 

At  the  regular  September  term,  1839,  considerable  time 
was  given  to  the  settlement  of  road  matters.  The  commis- 
sioners to  locate  a  road  from  Mt.  Sterling  to  La  Grange 
under  an  act  of  the  legislature,  approved  February,  1839, 
to  establish  a  state  road  from  Mt  Sterling,  by  way  of  La 
Grange  to  Springfield,  made  their  report,  and  the  commis- 
sioners' court  ordered  that  the  supervisors  of  the  several  road 
dis'ricts  be  notified  to  open  said  state  road  sixty  feet  wide. 
Afterward,  part  of  the  road  leading  from  Mt.  Sterling  to 
Rushville  was  reviewed  and  located  on  the  state  road  above 
mentioned,  and  that  part  of  the  county  road,  lying  between 
Mt.  Sterling  and  where  the  state  and  county  roads  come  to- 
gether, was  vacated.  The  state  road  running  from  Mt. 
Sterling  to  Quincy,  a  road  from  La  Grange  to  Versailles,  a 
road  from  Mt.  Sterling  to  Liberty  in  Adams  county,  a  road 
from  section  twenty-two  of  township  one  south,  range  two 
west,  to  the  state  road,  and  a  road  from  Versailles  to  South 
Prairie,  were  among  the  roads  in  regard  to  which  the  com- 
missioners took  action  during  the  first  year  of  the  existence 
of  the  county.  The  March  term,  1840,  of  the  county 
commissioners'  court  was  principally  taken  up  in  the  con- 


120 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


sideration  of  road  matters.  Many  claims  for  damages  were 
ma'de  by  persons  whose  property  had  been  injured  by  the 
state  road. 

The  first  statement  of  the 

FINANCIAL   AFFAIRS 

of  the  county,  made  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1840,  gave 
a  fair  showing  for  the  first  year  of  the  county's  history 
It  was  as  follows : 

Amount  of  county  orders  issued $714  54 

"      redeemed  and  burned, 517  41 

"      of  orders  outstanding, 197  13 

Cash  in  the  treasury, 105  20 

Amount  of  revenue  raised  by  tax, $1891  69 

Expenses  of  the  county, 714  50 

Balance  uncollected, $1177  19 

A  mount  of  revenue  from  fines  reported, 33  00 

Revenue  from  licenses, • 85  00 

The  delinquent  tax  for  the  year  was  85.28. 

The  county  in  April,  1840,  had  as  yet  no  coroner.  On 
the  body  of  a  man  named  Reigle,  found  dead  in  the  Illi- 
nois river,  in  the  above-named  month  and  year,  an  inquest 
was  held  by  Joseph  Trabue,  justice  of  the  peace.  His  fees 
and  the  sheriff's  costs  amounted  to  $5.75.  The  county  paid 
ten  dollars  for  the  burial  of  the  body.  The  jurors  were  paid 
twenty-five  cents  each. 

September,  1840,  Clark  Dennis  was  appointed  commis- 
sioner to  take  the  census  of  the  county  on  behalf  of  the  State, 
and  Elisha  Davis  was  made  collector  of  taxes.  The  tax 
levy  for  1840,  for  county  purposes,  was  fixed  at  fifty  cents 
on  every  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  taxable  property. 
Thomas  S.  Brockman,  who  had  in  charge  the  collection  of 
the  contributions,  for  the  erection  of  the  public  buildings, 
reported  that  on  the  first  day  of  June,  1840,  he  had  col- 
lected 81008.53  This  left  a  balance  of  $1170.03  in  his 
hands  yet  to  be  collected.  Thomas  B.  Pain  was  allowed 
fifty-five  dollars  for  services  as  attorney  in  behalf  of  the 
county. 

SECOND   BOARD  OF   COINTY  COMMISSIONER". 

Joseph  Robinson,  William  J.  Davis,  Edward  W.  B. 
Newby,  1840-1841. 

September,  1840,  James  W.  Singleton,  sr.,  Hugh  Kin- 
kade,  and  J.  L.  Ewing,  commissioners  appointed  by  the  leg- 
islature, surveyed  a  State  road  leading  from  Mt.  Sterling  to 
Macomb,  which  the  commissioners  ordered  to  be  opened,  for 
part  of  the  distance  through  Brown  county,  March,  1841. 

The  commissioners,  in  June,  1841,  established  the  follow- 
ing rates  of  ferriage  at  William  Wilson's  ferry  on  Crooked 
creek: 

Man  and  horse, 12]  cts. 

Footman, 6\    " 

Eacli  horse  led 3     " 

Hogs,  sheep,  and  goats,  per  head, 3     " 

Cattle • 4     " 


Two-horse  wagon  and  team, • 37}  cts. 

One-horse  wagon  and  horse,  .    .    .    : 25     ** 

Wagon  and  three  horses, 50     " 

Wagon  and  four  horses, 62}   " 

Cart  and  one  horse, 18     " 

Cart  and  two  horses  or  oxen, 37}    " 

Every  additional  yoke  of  oxen, 12}    ' 

At  Isaac  T.  Bigg's  ferry,  on  the  Illinois  river  at  La  Grange, 
the  rates  are  the  same,  except  as  mentioned  below : 

Two-horse  wagon  and  team, 50  cts_ 

One  horse  wagon, r 37  " 

Wagon  and  three  horses, 62}  " 

Wagon  and  four  horses, 75  " 

Cart  and  one  horse, 37  " 

For  every  yoke  of  oxen  to  any  wagon  or  cart, 25  " 

Single  horse  led, 6\  " 

June,  1S41,  the  court  ordered  that  "  the  papers  of  Jordan, 
a  colored  man,  in  relation  to  his  freedom,"  be  placed  on 
the  records.  He  was  first  apprenticed  in  Morgan  county,  in 
the  year  1831.  The  document  by  which  he  was  apprenticed 
wears  so  serious  an  air,  at  this  day,  that  we  give  it  as  recorded : 
"  State  of  Illinois,  Morgan  county,  ss. 

"  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come :  Know  ye,  that 
whereas  I,  Aaron  Wilson,  Judge  of  Probate,  in  and  for  the 
county  of  Morgan  and  State  of  Illinois,  do  bind  and  put 
apprentice  unto  Hannah  Taylor,  of  the  county  and  State 
aforesaid,  and  of  the  town  of  Jacksonville,  in  the  county 
-aforesaid,  Jordan,  a  colored  male  child,  aged  eleven  years 
and  eight  months,  this  fifth  day  of  December,  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one ,  to  serve  the  said  Hannah  Taylor  nine 
years  and  four  months  from  this  date,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  time  the  said  Jordan  will  be  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
All  which  term  the  said  Jordan  the  said  Hannah  Taylor, 
his  mistress,  shall  faithfully  serve. 

„  "  He  shall  not  absent  himself  from  his  said  mistress  with- 
out her  leave,  during  his  apprenticeship.  He  shall  not  con- 
tract matrimony  nor  commit  fornication  during  said  term, 
but  shall  demean  himself  in  all  respects  as  a  faithful  appren- 
tice to  his  said  misstress  and  to  her  said  goods,  which  he  the 
said  Jordan  shall  not  embezzle  himself,  or  suffer  it  to  be  done 
by  others  without  forthwith  giving  his  mistress  knowledge 
thereof.  And  she  the  said  Hannah  Taylor  doth  covenant 
and  agree  with  the  said  Aaron  Wilson,  that  she  will  teach, 
or  cause  him  the  said  apprentice  to  be  taught,  during  the 
aforesaid  term,  to  read  and  write,  and  the  ground  rules  of 
arithmetic,  and  at  the  expiration  of  said  term  will  give  him 
a  new  Bible  and  three  suits  of  wearing  apparel,  two  suitable 
for  week  days  and  one  for  Sabbath  days,  and  that  she  the 
said  Hannah  Taylor  will,  during  said  term,  furnish  the  said 
apprentice  with  good  and  sufficient  meat,  drink,  lodging,  and 
washing,  and  wearing  apparel  suitable  for  an  apprentice,  and 
medical  aid  when  the  said  apprentice  shall  require  the  same 
during  the  said  term.'' 

Hannah  Taylor  (who  made  her  mark  to  this  document, 
and  therefore  could  not  have  been  a  very  competent  person 
to  teach  her  apprentice  "  to  read  and  write  and  the  ground 
rules  of  arithmetic),  transferred  the  care  of  the  boy  to  Ben- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


121 


jamin  Hailey,  of  Brown  county,  then  Schuyler,  and  thus  the 
papers  showing  his  freedom  were  placed  on .  the  records  of 
this  county,  on  his  becoming  of  age. 

A  settlement  with  Thomas  S.  Brockman,  collector  of 
Brown  county,  made  June,  1841,  shows  that  of  the  county 
revenues  amounting  to  $2821.  97,  he  had  collected  $2118.28, 
leaving  a  balance  of  §710.69. 

THIRD  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

Edward  W.  B.  Newby,  William  J.  Davis,  Stephen  D. 
Hambaugh,  1841-1842. 

James  D.  McPherson  was  paid  854.25  for  assessing  the 
taxable  property  of  the  county  for  1841.  The  report  of 
George  Harper  aud  other  commissioners,  appointed  by  the 
legislature  to  survey  and  locate  a  turnpike  road  from 
Beardstown  to  Quincy,  was  not  received,  for  the  reason  that 
the  commissioners  had  not  been  sworn  before  entering  upon 
their  duties  and  also  that  the  road  was  not  surveyea  and  lo- 
cated as  contemplated  by  the  act  appjinting  the  commis- 
sioners. 

County  orders  issued  from  March  1,  1841  to  March  1,   1812-$2779.51 

Orders  returned  and  burned 3105  26 

Outstanding  orders 737.38 

Amount  due  the  county,  uncollected 1250  21 

FOURTH  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

William  J.  Davis,  R  >bert  Dawson,  Luke  Perry,  181218 13- 

On  the  eleventh  of  August,  1812,  Jaob  Van.leventer  re- 
signed the  office  of  clerk,  and  John  S.  Bailey  was  appointed 
clerk  pro  tem.,  took  the  necessary  oath,  and  filed  his  official 
bond. 

On  the  sixth  of  September  authority  was  given  to  Lewis 
Gay  and  Eli  Bunton  to  construct  a  din  across  Crooked 
creek,  below  Greenwell's  mills,  on  condition  that  the  dam 
should  be  made  with  a  lock,  or  slope,  so  as  to  afford  a  free 
and  safe  passage  for  such  boats  as  navigite  that  stream,  and 
that  the  dam  be  not  high  enough  to  back  water  above  the 
foot  of  the  riffle  below  Greenwell's  mill. 

The  commissioners  appoiuted  Clark  Dennis  collector  of 
taxes  for  the  year  1842.  Greenberry  Orr  assessed  the  tax- 
able property  in  1842,  and  was  paid  sixty-nine  dollars  for 
thirty-four  and  a  half  day's  work.  The  tax  levy  for  county 
purposes  this  year  was  forty-five  (45)  cents  on  the  one  hun- 
dred dollars  of  real  and  personal  property.  The  financial 
condition  of  the  county  in  March,  1841,  can  be  gathered 
from  the  following  statement : 

Outstanding  county  orders,  March  1842 $737.38 

County  orders  issued  March  1842-March,  1843 '4568.75 

Jury    Warrants 225.20 

$5631.33 

Orders  redeemed  and  burned,  March,  1843,      $1484.27 

Docket  Fees  collected 112.00 

$1596.27 

Orders  outstanding  and  unpaid $4045.06 

This  differs  by  a  small  amount  from  the  calculation  made 
16 


by  the  clerk  on  the  reords  But  his  additi  >n  is  evidently 
wrong,  and  his  item  "  c  mnty  orders  outstanding  March, 
1843  "  should  read  March,  1842. 

Among  the  items  allowed  in  May,  1813  by  the  county 
commissioiers  was  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cen's  to  IsamNye 
for  a  tumbler  broken  during  the  April  term  of  the  circuit 
court. 

FIFTH  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

Robert  Dawson,  Luke  Perry,  Alexander  Campbell,  1843- 
1844. 

The  tax  levied  for  county  purposes  for  the  year  1843  was 
forty  cents  on  every  one  hundred  dollars  of  taxable  property, 
and  ten  cents  additional  on  every  one  hundred  dollars  for 
road  purposes,  of  the  road  fund  seventy-five  dollars  was  di- 
rected to  be  expended  on  the  road  from  Mt.  Sterling  to 
Burton's  mill;  the  same  amount  on  the  road  from  Mt.  Ster- 
ling to  Meredosia;  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  on  the  road 
from  Mt.  Sterling  to  La  Grange;  and  twenty-five  dollars  for 
the  improvement  of  the  road  from  Mt.  Sterling  to  Clayton 
at  Sackett's  Harbor. 

The  tax  list  for  the  year  1843  footed  up  82573.06.  The 
delinquent  list  in  the  collectors'  settlement  with  the  county 
was  $139.38. 

SIXTH  BOARD  OF  COMMISSIONERS. 

For  the  year  1844,  a  tax  of  thirty  cents  on  every  one 
hundred  dollars  of  taxable  property  was  levied  for  county 
purposes,  and  an  additional  tax  of  ten  cents  for  road  pur- 
poses. The  latter  might  be  discharged  by  labor  on  the  pub- 
lic road,  under  the  direction  of  the  proper  supervisor,  at 
one  dollar  per  day.  These  taxes  amounted  to  $2749.66  ac- 
cording to  the  list  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  collector. 

March, 1845,  a  bounty  on  scalps  of  wolves  killed  within  the 
county  of  Brown  was  offered,  four  dollars  when  the  wolf  was 
over  six  months  old,  and  two  dollars  when  under  the  age  of 
six  months.  The  scalps  were  required  to  be  exhibited  to  the 
county  clerk  within  twenty  days  after  they  were  taken.  The 
following  June,  John  Norton  and  Joseph  Ferguson  were 
each  allowed  fourteen  dollars  "for  catching  fourteen 
wolves.  " 

June  1844,  Edward  W.  B.  Newby  was  appointed  overseer 
of  the  poor  for  the  county,  "  to  act  at  will. "  The  tax  levied 
for  the  year  was  thirty  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  of 
taxable  property  for  county  purposes,  and  fifteen  cents  ad- 
ditional for  road   purposes.     Amounting  to  $3255.95. 

The  commissioners  for  the  year  1845-1846,  were  the  same 
as  the  previous  year,  no  change  in  the  board  having  been 
made  at  the  subsequent  election. 

The  road  tax  in  1846  was  raised  to  twenty  cents  on  each 
one  hundred  dollars  of  taxable  property.  The  county  tax 
was  twenty-five  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars.  Total  tax 
levy  $3205.12. 

SEVENTH  BOARD  OF   COUNTY   COMMISSIONERS. 

Alexander  Campbell,  William  Harp,  G.  C.  Robinson, 
1846-1847.  March,  1847,  the  commissioners  removed  Al- 
bert G.  Alexander  from  the  office  of  clerk  for  "  gross  neglect 


122 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


,  of  his  official  duty. "  Robert  N.  Curry  was  appointed  to 
fill  the  vacancy. 

The  tax  levy  for  the  year  1847  was  low,  fifteen  cents  for 
county  purposes  and  fifteen  cents  for  road  purposes  on  each 
one  hundred  dollars  iu  valuation  of  taxable  property. 
Every  able-bodied  man  in  the  county  was  required  to  per- 
form two  days  labor  on  the  public  roads. 

The  clerk  of  tbe  circuit  court  was  notified  to  pay  over, 
according  to  law,  on  or  before  the  twentieth  day  of  August, 
1847,  the  amount  of  docket  fees  that  had  accrued  since  he 
had  been  acting  clerk.  On  failure  to  do  so  the  commission- 
ers resolved  that  suit  should  be  brought  for  the  same  at  the 
next  September  term  of  the  circuit  court.  Albert  G.  Alex- 
ander and  George  S.  Myers,  formerly  county  commissioners' 
clerks,  were  also  notified  to  pay  over  all  moneys  or  other 
funds  that  might  have  come  into  their  bands,  otherwise  suit 
would  be  brought  against  them  and  their  securities. 

EIGHTH  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

Alexander  Campbell,  G.  C.  Robinson,  Orris  M.  Henry, 
1847-1848.  For  county  purposes  for  the  year  1848  a  tax  of 
ten  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  of  taxable  property 
was  levied,  and  a  road  tax  of  twenty  cents,  amounting  to- 
gether to  $2322.  50.  J  une,  1848,  David  C.  Long  was  au- 
thorized to  keep  a  ferry  across  Crooked  creek, at  or  near  the 
town  of  Ripley.  The  rates  of  ferriage  for  a  wagon  and  two 
horses  was  twenty-five  cents,  wagon  and  one  horse  fifteen 
cents ;  footman  five  cents,  and  each  head  of  cattle  three  cents. 

The  consideration  of  road  matter  occupied  a  good  part  of 
the  time  of  tbe  commissioners  at  their  several  sessions  during 
the  year. 

NINTH  BOARD  OF  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 

Alexander  Campbell,  Orris  M.  Henry,  David  Six,  1848- 
1849.  The  tax  levy  for  1849  was  twenty  cents  on  every  one 
hundred  dollars  for  county  purposes,  and  the  same  amount 
for  road  purposes.  The  whole  amount  was  $2008.24  The 
state  constitution  adopted  in  1848  did  away  with  the  county 
commissioners'  courts,  and  substituted  in  thtir  place  a  county 
court,  composed  of  one  county  Judge  and  two  associate 
justices. 

FIRST  COUNTY   COURT,  1849-50. 

Samuel  S.  Black,  County  Judge,  George  A.  Taylor,  Philip 
Briggs,  Asssociate  Justices. 

The  first  county  court  of  Brown  county  met  on  tbe  third 
day  of  December,  1849,  its  members  having  been  chosen  at 
the  preceding  election.  The  bond  of  George  S.  Myers,  who 
had  been  elected  clerk,  was  placed  on  record,  as  was  also  the 
commission  of  Samuel  S.  Black,  the  county  judge.  The  first 
action  of  the  court  was  to  make  the  usual  allowance  for  the 
payment  of  the  judges  and  clerks  at  the  August  election. 

March,  1850,  a  tax  of  forty  cents  on  each  one  hundred 
dollars  of  taxable  property  was  levied.  Each  able-bodied 
man  was  required  to  perform  three  days'  labor  on  the  public 
roads  for  the  year  1850. 

George  Elroy  was  authorized  to  establish  a  ferry  across 
Crooked  creek,  near  Scott's  mill,  and  R.  H.  Burton  one 
across  the  same  stream  at  Burton's  mill. 


On  the  third  of  September,  1850,  there  is  an  order  of  the 
court  that  the  petition  of  Joseph  Maservey  and  fifty  others, 
praying  the  court  to  cause  the  question  of  township  organiza- 
tion to  be  submitted  to  the  voters  of  the  county,  be  received, 
and  that  the  clerk  cause  public  notice  to  be  given  in  all  the 
precincts  of  the  county  that  the  question  "  For  Township 
Organization "  and  "  Against  Township  Organization  " 
would  be  voted  on  at  the  succeeding  November  election. 

SECOND  COUNTY   COURT.  — 1850-1853. 

Samuel  S-  Black,  County  Judge;  Fhilip  Briggs,  Associate 
Justice ;  Benjamin  F.  De  Witt,  Associate  Justice. 

The  county  clerk,  George  S.  Myers,  having  died  since  the 
previous  September  term,  James  Brockman,  in  December, 
1850,  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

A  number  of  entries  appear  on  the  records  from  1839  to 
1850  making  allowances  for  medical  attention  to,  and  for 
the  care  of  paupers.  The  latter  year  the  purchase  of  a  poor 
farm  was  decided  on,  and  December  fourth,  1850,  Granville 
Bond,  Robert  Dawson,  and  John  S.  Bailey  were  appointed 
agents  for  Brown  county  to  purchase  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land  for  a  county  farm  and  poor  house,  with  direc- 
tions to  report,  at  the  next  term  of  court,  specifications  of 
the  plan  of  a  building,  and  improvements  necessary  to  create 
a  home  for  the  paupers  of  Brown  county,  and  the  probable 
expense  of  the  same.  The  following  March  the  above-named 
agents  were  discharged,  on  their  request.  Granville  Bond 
and  John  S.  Bailey  were  then  re-appointed,  and,  with  Lewis 
Brockman,  were  authorized  to  purchase  a  suitable  tract  of 
land  for  a  poor  farm,  and  have  the  same  deeded  to  the 
county.  The  southwest  quarter  of  section  ten,  township  one 
south,  range  four  west,  was  purchased  of  James  W.  Singleton 
for  the  sum  of  fourteen  hundred  dollars,  orders  on  the  trea- 
sury for  which  were  issued  to  Singleton  on  the  eighth  of 
March,  1851.  Fifty -two  and  a  half  acres  of  this  land  were 
at  that  time  under  cultivation.  Lewis  Brockman  was 
appointed  agent  to  secure  the  erection  of  the  building,  for 
which  seven  hundred  dollars  was  appropriated  on  the  eighth 
of  March,  and  on  the  seventeenth  of  the  same  month  three 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  more  should  the  same  be  needed. 

On  the  second  Saturday  of  April,  1851,  a  special  election 
was  held  to  determine  whether  the  county  should  subscribe 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  the  capital  stock  of  the 
Northern  Cross  Railroad  Company  (now  a  part  of  the 
Wabash,  St  Louis  and  Pacific  Railway).  A  majority  voted 
against  the  subscription. 

A  tax  of  forty  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  was  assessed 
in  1851,  and  an  additional  tax  of  ten  cents  on  the  hundred 
dollars  for  the  support  of  the  poor.  A  tax  of  forty  cents  on 
the  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  support  of  the  poor  was 
levied  in  18.32.  These  poor  taxes  furnished  the  means  for 
the  purchase  of  the  county  farm  and  the  building  of  a  poor 
house.  The  report  of  Granville  Bond,  treasurer  in  June, 
1852,  shows  one  dollar  of  internal  improvement  scrip  in  the 
treasury,  and  that  the  only  funds.  The  following  memo- 
randum ends  his  report:  "N.B.  There  has  nothing  come  to 
my  hands  since  the  last  report  at  March  court  from  any 
source  whatever ;  neither  have  I  received  any  report  of  any 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


123 


coming  in."  The  county  tax  of  1851  amounted  to  $5320.70, 
and  of  1852,  $5075.70. 

Another  special  election  was  ordered  for  the  twenty-first 
day  of  August,  1852,  at  which  the  voters  of  the  county 
should  vote  on  the  proposition  of  subscribing  the  sum  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  Northern 
Cross  Railroad  Company,  and  issuing  county  bonds  for  that 
amount  bearing  eight  per  cent,  interest.  At  the  same  time 
the  court  expresses  its  resolution  not  to  subscribe  to  any 
Northern  Cross  Railroad  stock  "unless  said  company  enter 
into  an  obligation  to  pay  all  interest  arising  on  county  bonds 
until  said  railroad  shall  pay  the  interest." 

July,  1852,  Dr.  H.  J.  Rockwell  was  employed  as  county 
pbysiciaa  for  one  year,  to  attend  all  cases  of  sickness  among 
the  paupers  at  the  county  prison.  As  compensation,  he  re- 
ceived ninety  cents  for  each  visit  and  attention  to  one 
patient,  and  fifty  cents  for  each  additional  patient  examined 
and  prescribed  for  at  that  visit,  the  county  to  furnish  such 
medicines  as  were  generally  used  in  ordinary  practice.  Dr. 
Rockwell  resigned  this  position,  December,  1852. 

THIRD  COUNTY  COURT,  1852-1853. 

Samuel  S.  Black,  county  judge  ;  B.  F.  De  Witt,  associate 
justice;  Archibald  A.  Glenn,  associate  justice.  Archibald 
A.  Glenn  was  elected  associate  justice  in  the  place  of  Philip 
Briggs,  November,  1852.  The  county  tax  in  1853  was  four 
mills  on  the  dollar  for  ordinary  county  purposes,  and  one 
mill  for  the  care  of  the  poor.  June,  1853,  the  county  of 
Brown  joined  with  the  county  of  Schuyler,  in  making  a 
contract  for  the  construction  of  a  bridge  over  Crooked  creek, 
at  Ripley,  at  the  cost  of  five  thousand  dollars,  to  be  borne 
equally  by  the  two  counties. 

FOURTH  county  court,  1853-1854. 

Jacob  Vandeventer,  county  judge ;  A.  D.  Ravenscroft, 
associate  justice ;  John  L  Briggs,  associate  justice.  John 
Bullard,  B.  R.  Parke,  and  William  O.  F.  Campbell  were 
appointed  commissioners  December,  1853,  to  divide  Brown 
county  into  townships  for  the  purpose  of  township  organiza- 
tion. They  made  their  report  on  the  ninth  of  January,  1854, 
dividing  the  county  into  nine  townships,  with  the  names  and 
boundaries  as  known  at  present  : 

Ripley  ;  that  part  of  township  one  north,  range  two  west, 
lying  in  Brown  county.  Missouri ;  Township  one  north, 
range  three  west.  Pea  Ridge ;  Township  one  north,  range 
four  west.  Lee ;  Township  one  south,  range  four  west.  Mt. 
Sterling;  Township  one  south,  range  three  west.  Coopers- 
town  ;  Township  one  south,  range  two  west,  and  fractional 
township  one  south,  range  one  west,  yersailles ;  Fractional 
township  two  south,  range  one  west,  and  two  south,  range 
two  west.  Elkhorn  ;  Township  two  south,  range  three  west. 
Buckhorn  ;  Township  two  south,  range  four  west. 

The  following  Statement  of  the  fiscal  concerns  of  the  county 
was  made  in  March,  1854. 

Orders  issued  March  term,  1853 $1,210  10 

"     June      "         "       584  13 

"     Sept.      "         "       495  43 


Orders  issued  Oct.,  special  term,  1883 .  699  15 

««  «        "         "         » .  509  00 

m  «     Dec.      «         «       1,166  61 

$4,664  42 

Orders  issued  March  term,  1854 1,653  43 

Jury  certificates,  1853  .  • 809  00 

$7,126  85 


Orders  cancelled  March  term 

1853.   . 

$3  681  29 

«            «f 

June        *' 

•< 

951  83 

M                  M 

Sept        " 

<t 

151  34 

it                 it 

October    " 

a 

39  79 

"                  << 

Dec.         * 

u 

9  00 

«<                     U 

March      " 

1854  .   . 

3,854  04 

$8,678  29 

INDEBTEDNESS  OF   TUK   COUNTT. 

Orders  outstanding  issued  previous  to  December  term, 

1849,  supposed  to  be $1,500  00 

Orders  issued  from  December  term,  1849,  up  to  and  in- 
cluding December  term,  1853 3,189  71 

Orders  issued  March  term,  1854 1,653  43 

Balance  of  revenue  of  1853  deducted    .   .   -• $6,343  14 

Indebtedness,  Marcb  9,  1854 2,660  00 


$3,683  14 


At  a  special  election  on  the  twenty-seventh  (27)  of  May, 
1854,  the  question  of  voting  forty  thousand  dollars  to  the 
capital  stock  of  the  Peoria  and  Hannibal  railroad  company, 
and  of  issuing  bonds  for  said  capital  stock  in  such  instal- 
ments as  might  be  called  for  by  the  president  and  directors 
of  the  railroad  company,  the  bonds  to  run  ten  years,  and 
bear  seven  per  cent,  interest  per  annum,  was  submitted  to 
the  voters  of  the  county.  The  subscription  of  the  county 
was  to  be  made  with  the  express  understanding  that  no 
bonds  should  be  issued  till  the  railroad  was  put  under  con- 
tract through  Brown  county.  The  ordering  of  this  election, 
was  the  last  act  of  the  old  county  court,  after  voting  the 
officers  and  members  of  the  court  pay  for  their  attendance, 
the  court  adjourned,  never  to  meet  again.  The  voters  of 
the  county  had  decided  to  organize  in  townships,  and  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  the  same  month  the  first  board  of  super- 
visors held  its  initial  session. 

first  board  of  supervisors.    1854-1855. 

Ripley  township,  John  N.  Ebey :  Missouri  township, 
Alexander  Campbell ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Daniel  Roberts; 
Lee  township,  S.  C  Haymond ;  Mt.  Sterling  township, 
Jacob  Hersman ;  Cooperstowu  township,  Benoni  R  Parke, 
(chairman) ;  Versailles  township,  Stephen  D.  Hambaugh  ; 
Elkhorn  township,  Moses  Winslow;  Buckhorn  township, 
Arthur  Martin. 

Benoni  R.  Parke  was  chosen  chak-man.  After  a  few 
allowances  for  expenses  connected  with  the  April  term  of 
the  circuit  court,  and  for  the  attendance  of  the  members  of 
the  board,  adjournment  was  had  to  the  regular  meeting  in 
June. 

June,  1854,  the  board  directed  that  notice  be  given  of  a 
special  election  on  the  fallowing  twenty-second  day  of  July, 


124 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


at  which  the  same  proposition  in  regard  to  subscription  to 
the  Peoria  and  Hannibal  railroad  stock  would  be  submitted 
as  the  county  court  had  ordered  to  be  submitted  at  an  elec- 
tion on  the  twenty-seventh  of  May  of  the  same  year.  The 
people  voted  against  the  subscription. 

The  tax  for  county  purposes  lor  the  year  1854  was  made 
forty-five  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  worth  of  tax- 
able property.  A  separate  tax  for  township  purposes  was 
levied  in  each  township,  varying  from  three  cents  on  the  one 
hundred  dollars  in  Cooperstown  to  eight  cents  in  Ripley> 
Pea  Ridge  and  Buckhorn. 

SECOND   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS.      1855-1856. 

Ripley  towns-hip,  William  H.  Glenn  ;  Missouri  township 
Alexander  Campbell,  (chairman)  ;  Pea  Ridge  township, 
David  K.  Watson  ;  Lee  township,  John  Maltby ;  Mt.  Ster- 
ling township,  Jacob  Hersmau ;  Cooperstown  township, 
Orris  M.  Henry  ;  Versailles  township,  Cortz  Hume;  Elk- 
horn  township,  Sanford  McDauiel;  Buckhorn  township, 
Charles  B.  Adams. 

Alexander  Campbell  was  elected  chairman.  A  tax  of 
twenty  cents  for  county  purposes  was  levied  for  the  year 
1855. 

Orders  and  jury  certificates  to  the  amount  of  $1139.46 
were  cancelled  at  the  March  tirm  1856.  The  sum  of  fifty 
dollars  was  appropriated  to  assist  in  purchasing  fire  appara- 
tus for  the  town  of  Mt.  Sterling. 

THIRD   BOARD  OF   SUPERVISORS.      1856-1857. 

Ripley  township,  William  H.Glenn;  Missouri  township, 
Alexander  Campbell ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  David  K.  Wat- 
son ;  Lee  township,  John  Maltby ;  Mt.  Sterling  township, 
Jacob  Hersman  (chairman)  ;  Cooperstown  township,  Hiram 
Baker;  Versailles  township,  A.  D.  Ravencroft ;  Elkhorn 
township,  Sewell  Gerrish  ;  Buckhorn  township,  Philip  Linn. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  board  on  the  fifteenth  of 
May,  18;>6,  a  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  calling  a 
special  election  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  June,  1856,  at 
which  the  voters  of  the  county  could  express  their  wishes 
o  1  the  proposition  of  the  count}-  subscribing  one  hundred, 
thousand  dollars  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  Northern  Cross 
Railroad  Company  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  con- 
structioh  of  a  road  from  Camp  Poiut  in  Adams  county, 
through  the  county  of  Brown,  to  the  Illinois  river  at  or 
near  Meredosia,  said  subscription  to  be  paid  in  the  bonds  of 
Brown  county,  at  their  par  value,  payable  ten  years  after 
date  with  eight  per  cent,  interest  Should  the  subscription 
be  authorized  the  county  judge  was  instructed  to  make  the 
subscription  in  due  form. 

Another  resolution  was  carried  unanimously  on  the  same 
day  to  the  effect  that  should  the  voters  of  the  county  author- 
ize the  subscription,  the  county  judge  or  county  clerk,  should 
be  empowered  to  receive  in  lieu  of  said  stock  of  the  Northern 
Cross  Railroad  Company,  an  equal  amount  of  the  Lake 
Erie,  Wabash  and  St.  Louis,  the  Toledo  and  Illinois, 
and  the  Great  Western  Railroad  Companies,  with  which 
organization  it  was  expected  the  Northern  Cross  Rail- 
road Company  would  consolidate. 


This  proposition  to  vote  aid  to  the  railroad  was  carried. 
On  the  twenty-fifth  of  May,  1857,  the  board  of  supervisors 
requested  the  county  judge,  Jacob  Vandeventer,  to  cause  to 
be  prepared  and  executed  one  hundred  bonds  of  the  county 
of  Brown,  of  one  thousand  dollars  each,  payable  ten  years 
after  date  at  the  Metropolitan  bank  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
with  interest  at  the  rate  of  eight  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable 
semi-annually  on  the  first  day  of  July  and  January  of  each 
year.  The  county  judge,  on  receiving  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  of  the  stock  of  the  Toledo,  Wabash  and  Western 
Railroad  Company  at  par,  was  directed  to  deliver  said  bonds 
of  Brown  county  to  the  Quincy  and  Toledo  Railroad  Com- 
pany. 

These  bonds  were  delivered  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Quin- 
cy and  Tol«Jo  railroad  company  on  the  eighteenth  of  June, 
1857,  as  appears  from  the  following  receipt : 

"  Rec'd  Quincy,  June  18,  '57,  of  Brown  county,  State  of 
I  linois,  by  J.  B.  Moore,  Esq.,  one  hundred  bonds  of  said 
county  for  the  sura  of  one  thousand  dollars  each,  amt'g  to 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  am't  of  their  subscription  to 
the  Northern  Cross  R.  Road  from  Camp  Point  to  Illinois 
River.  (signed)  J.  Woodruff,  Treas. 

Q.  &  T.  R.  Road  Co." 

March  tenth,  1858,  the  county  judge  delivered  to  the 
board  of  supervisors  two  certificates  of  stock  of  one  thou- 
sand shares  each  (each  share  being  fifty  dollars),  in  the  To- 
ledo. Wabash  and  Western  Railroad  Company,  the  amount 
of  stock  received  by  the  county  for  its  subscription  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  treasurer '8  report  for  the  year  preceding,  September, 
1Q56,  shows  that  the  revenue  to  the  county  from  taxation  in 

1855  was  $3256  55.  The  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  paid 
over  for  jury' fees  amounting  to  '$21.75.  The  income  from 
licenses,  including  $15.00  for  show  license,  was  $25  00.     In 

1856  he  tax  for  county  purposes  was  two  and  one-half  mills 
t  ii  each  dollar  of  taxable  property.  The  township  taxes 
varied  from  three  cents  in  Ripley  to  thirteen  cents  in  Mt. 
Sterling  township. 

September,  1856,  the  poor  farm,  which  had  been  under 
the  care  of  Patterson  H.  Merritt,  was  rented  to  Fielding  T. 
Glenn,  who  paid  $3.05  for  each  acre  of  land  under  cultiva- 
tion. 

FOURTH   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1857-1858. 

Ripley  township,  Willis  O'Neal ;  Missouri  township,  Alex- 
ander Campbell,  chairman ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Isaac 
Parker ;  Lee  township.  John  Maltby ;  Mt.  Sterling  town- 
ship, Jacob  Hersman ;  Cooperstown  township,  Benjamin  F. 
De  Witt;  Versailles  township,  Cortez  Hume;  Elkhorn 
township,  Sewell  Gerrish  ;  Buckhorn  township,  Charles  B. 
Adams. 

The  railroad  subscription  made  taxes  in  Brown  county 
high  in  1857.  The  county  tax  was  twenty  cents  on  each 
one  hundred  dollars  of  taxable  property.  The  railroad  tax 
was  fifty  ceuts  on  each  one  hundred  dollars.  The  township 
taxes  ranged  from  six  cents  in  Missouri,  Mt.  Sterling  and 
Lee  townships  to  fifteen  in  Ripley  and  Versailles. 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


125 


On  the  tenth  of  March,  1858,  James  B.  Moore  was  ap- 
pointed a  commissioner  to  sell  and  transfer  the  two  thousand 
shares  of  Toledo,  Wabash  and  Western  Railroad  stock  be- 
longing to  the  county,  on  the  condition  that  the  stock  should 
not  be  sold  at  less  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  its  par  value. 
Moore  was  required  to  give  a  bond  in  the  sum  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars.  August,  1858,  he  was  authorized  to 
transfer  to  Azanah  Boody,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  the 
one  hundred  thousand  dollar*  of  stock  in  the  Toledo,  Wa- 
bash and  Western  Railroad  Company,  and  receive  in  lieu 
thereof  an  equal  amount  of  stock  of  the  Quincy  &  Toledo 
Railroad  Company,  which  exchange  was  accordingly  made. 

FIFTH   BOARD  OF   SUPERVISORS. 

Ripley  township,  B.  C.  Vincent ;  Missouri  township, 
Alexander  Campbell ;  Pea  Ridge,  David  K.  Watson ;  Lee 
township,  John  Maltby,  (chairman)  ;  Mt.  Sterling  township, 
Jacob  Hersman  ;  Cooperstown  township,  Benjamin  F.  De 
Witt ;  Versailles  township,  John  R.  Briggs ;  Elkhorn  town- 
ship, Sanford  McDaniel ;  Buckhorn  township,  Cornelius 
Vandeventer. 

The  needs  of  the  county  having  outgrown  the  accommo- 
dations of  the  old  jail,  in  May,  1858,  the  board  of  supervi- 
sors determined  on  the  erection  of  a  new  building.  Alex- 
ander Campbell,  Jacob  Hersman  and  B.  F.  De  Witt,  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  superintend  its  construction.  June 
fourth,  1858,  the  contract  for  building  the  jail  was  let  to 
John  Maltby,  at  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars. 

The  tax  levy  for  1858  was  forty  cents  on  the  one  hundred 
dollars  for  county  purposes,  and  fifty-five  cents  to  pay  rail- 
road indebtedness — the  highest  tax  the  county  had  known 
at  that  time.  The  township  taxes  varied  from  three  cents 
in  Lee  to  fifteen  in  Ripley  township.  The  treasurer's  re- 
port shows  that  for  the  previous  year,  1857,  the  net  amount 
of  railroad  tax  collected  was  $8120.20,  which  was  used  in 
cancelling  coupons.  The  county  tax  for  the  same  year  was 
$3419  88.  The  real  and  personal  taxable  property  of  the 
cjunty  in  1857  was  assessed  at  $1,709,941.  The  net  rail- 
road tax  collected  in  1858  was  $7987.55;  county  tax, 
$5892.30.    The  assessment  for  1858  was  $81,721,305. 

SIXTH   BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1859-1860. 

Ripley  township,  William  H.  Glenn  ;  Missouri  township, 
Alexander  Campbell ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  David  K. 
Watson ;  Lee  township,  John  L.  Briggs ;  Mt-  Sterling 
township,  Jacob  Hersman ;  Cooperstown  township,  Benja- 
min F  De  Witt,  chairman  ;  Versailles  township,  John  R. 
Briggs;  Elkhorn  township,  Moses  Winslow ;  Buckhorn 
township,  Alfred  Payne. 

A  proposition  to  sell  the  poor  farm  had  been  made  in 
1858,  and  the  board  of  supervisors  had,  on  the  tenth  of 
March  of  that  year,  ordered  it  to  be  sold  at  public  sale.  It 
remained,  however,  in  the  possession  of  the  county.  Wil- 
liam Brake  rented  the  farm  of  the  county  in  1858,  and  Rob 
ert  Lester  and  James  Plew  in  1859. 

The  county  tax  for  1859  was  forty  cents,  and  the  railroad 
tax  fifty  cents  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  of  taxable 
property. 


December  Gth,  1859.  the  board  offered  a  reward  of  one 
hundred  dollars  for  the  arrest  of  one  Henry  Parish,  who 
had  murdered  Jonah  Clark  in  this  county,  on  the  previous 
26th  of  November. 

Dissatisfaction  at  the  payment  of  the  railroad  indebted- 
ness had  become  mauifest  throughout  the  county,  and  on 
the  6th  of  March,  1860,  the  following  entry  appears  on  the 
records : 

"In  accordance  with  the  prayer  of  numerous  petitions 
presented  to  this  board  by  legal  voters  and  taxpayers  of 
Brown  county,  amounting,  we  believe,  to  an  expression  of 
opinion  from  the  majority  of  said  county:  It  is,  therefore 
ordered  that  the  county  treasurer  of  Brown  county  be,  and 
he  is  hereby,  directed  to  retain  in  his  hands  all  moneys  by 
him  received,  or  which  may  be  received,  as  railroad  tax  for 
the  year  1859,  and  that  the  said  treasurer  be,  and  is  hereby, 
enjoined  from  paying  out  any  of  said  money  on  railroad 
coupons,  or  otherwise  until  further  ordered  by  this  board." 
This  order  was  rescinded  in  April,  1860. 

SEVENTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1860-1861. 

Ripley  township,  A.  E.  Martin;  Missouri  township,  Wil- 
liam Cullinau;  Pea  Ridge  township,  David  K.  Watson; 
Lee  township,  William  Campbell ;  Mt.  Sterling  township, 
Jacob  Hersman  (chairman) ;  Cooperstown  township,  John 
Chapman;  Versailles  township,  John  R.  Briggs;  Elkhorn 
township,  Moses  Winslow;  Buckhorn  township,  Alfred 
Payne. 

A  tax  of  thirty-three  cents  on  every  one  hundred  dollars 
of  taxable  property  was  levied  in  1860.  No  levy  of  a  tax 
was  made  with  which  to  meet  the  railroad  indebtedness. 
The  taxable  property  of  the  county  was  assessed  this  year 
at  $1,602,395. 

December,  1860,  the  board  passed  a  resolution  earnestly 
requesting  the  senator  and  representative  of  Brown  county 
to  oppose  and  defeat  all  bills  that  might  be  introduced  at 
the  approaching  session  of  the  legislature  for  the  purpose  of 
legalizing  the  outstanding  bonds  of  Brown  county. 

A.  A.  Glenn,  school  commissioner,  March,  1861,  reported 
the  seminary  and  state  fund  for  1859,  to  amount  to  $4985.55, 
which,  less  his  commissions,  was  distributed  among  the  diff- 
erent townships. 

James  Plew  rented  the  county  farm  in  1861,  at  two  dol- 
lars and  fifty  cents  for  each  acre  under  cultivation.  J.  R. 
Gordon  in  March,  1861,  was  appointed  attorney  for  the 
county  to  collect  the  forfeited  recognizances  that  had  been 
accumulating  in  the  circuit  court.  He  was  instructed  to 
exercise  reasonable  discretion  in  regard  to  the  parties 
against  whom  he  proceeded.  Twenty  per  cent,  of  the 
amount  collected  he  was  to  retain  as  fees,  and  eighty  per 
cent,  was  to  be  paid  to  the  school  commissioner  of  the 
county. 

EIGHTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1861-1862. 

Ripley  township,  A.  E.  Martin ;  Missouri  township,  Alex* 
ander  Campbell ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  David  K.  Watson, 
Lee  township,  Isham  Scroggan;  Mt.  Sterling  township, 
Jacob   Hersman;    Cooperstown   township,   John  Chapman 


126 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


(chairman);  Versailles  township,  A.  D.  Ravenscroft;  Elk- 
horn  township,  Thomas  Russell ;  Buckhorn  township,  Alfred 
Payne. 

A  dog  law,  providing  that  one  dog  might  be  kept  free  of 
all  tax;  for  the  second  a  tax  of  one  dollar  should  be  paid; 
for  the  third  two  dollars,  and  double  thereafter;  the  money 
arising  from  said  tax  to  be  applied  to  school  purposes,  was 
passed  on  the  27th  of  April,  1861,  five  supervisors  voting  in 
the  affirmative  and  four  in  the  negative. 

September  9th,  1861,  the  board  of  supervisors  appropri- 
ated one  thousand  dollars  for  the  benefit  of  the  families  of 
the  volunteers  from  Brown  county,  then  serving  in  the  war 
of  the  Rebellion.  The  supervisors  acted  as  agents  in  dis- 
tributing this  fund  in  their  respective  townships. 

A  county  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars 
was  levied  for  the  year  1861. 

Suit  had  been  brought  against  Brown  county  in  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 
Illinois  on  unpaid  coupons  of  the  bonds  issued  by  the 
county  to  the  Toledo,  Wabash  and  Western  Railroad  Com- 
pany. June,  1861,  the  board  of  supervisors  appointed  a 
committee  to  employ  counsel  and  make  arrangements  to 
defend  these  suits.  The  firms  of  Hay,  Campbell  &  Cullom 
and  Stuart,  Edwards  &  Brown,  of  Springfield,  were  em- 
ployed as  counsel.     The  court,  at  the  trial  in  September, 

1861,  decided  that  in  the  hands  of  bona  fide  assignees  the 
bonds  and  coupons  were  valid  against  the  county.     March, 

1862,  the  board  of  supervisors  appropriated  83,447.67  for 
the  payment  of  the  judgment  against  the  county  in  the 
above  suits. 

NINTH   BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS,  1862-1863. 

Ripley  township,  A.  E.  Martin  ;  Missouri  township, 
William  Cullinan  ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Thomas  Dawson ; 
Lee  township,  Alexander  Hetrick  ;  Mt  Sterling  township, 
Henry  P.  Grover ;  Cooperstown  township,  John  Chapman 
(chairman)  ;  Versailles  township,  A.  D.  Ravenscroft  ;  Elk- 
horn  township,  John  George  ;  Buckhorn  township,  William 
Orr. 

The  county-tax  levy  in  1862  was  fifty  cents  on  every  one 
hundred  dollars.  The  township  taxes  ranged  from  three 
cents  in  Lee,  to  fifteen  in  Versailles,  Elkhorn  and  Ripley.  . 

TENTH   BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS,  1863-1864. 

Ripley  township,  A.  E.  Martin  ;  Missouri  township, 
William  O.  F.  Campbell ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Thomas 
Dawson ;  Lee  township,  William  Campbell ;  Mt  Sterling 
township,  Henry  P.  Grover ;  Cooperstown  township,  John 
Chapman  (chairman)  ;  Versailles  township,  Edward  Pur- 
cell  ;  Elkhorn  township,  John  George ;  Buckhorn  township 
William  Orr. 

The  county-tax  for  the  year  1863  was  fifty  cents  on  the 
one  hundred  dollars.  The  property  within  the  county  of 
the  Quincy  and  Toledo  Railroad  Company,  which  had  been 
assessed  at  the  company's  valuation  the  preceding  year,  was 
in  1863  increased  twenty  per  cent,  above  the  value  set  by  ■ 
the  railroad  company,  making  the  assessed  value  858,171.98, 
of  which  $45,264.00  was  the  value  of  the  fixed  and  stationary 
personal  property. 


ELEVENTH   BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1834-1865. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martin  ;  Missouri  township, 
William  O.  F.  Campbell ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Thomas 
Dawson  (chairman)  ;  Lee  township,  King  Kerley ;  Mt. 
Sterling  township,  Henry  P.  Grover ;  Cooperstown  town- 
ship, John  Chapman  ;  Versailles  township,  Thomas  J. 
Russell ;  Elkhorn  township,  John  George ;  Buckhorn  town- 
ship, William  Orr. 

The  county-tax  for  1864  was  fixed  at  fifty  cents  on  the 
one  hundred  dollars.  The  taxes  in  the  township,  for  town- 
ship purposes,  varied  from  four  cents  in  Lee,  to  twenty-five 
and  thirty  cents  in  Versailles  and  Ripley. 

Thomas  Dawson  having  been  elected  sheriff",  John  Chap- 
man was  made  chairman  of  the  board,  December,  1864. 
Sanford  Bond  supplied  Dawson's  place  as  supervisor  from 
Pea  Ridge  township. 

February  eleventh,  1865,  the  board  ordered  that  a  tax  of 
four  per  cent  on  each  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  taxable 
property  in  the  county,  as  appeared  from  the  assessment 
thereof  in  1864,  be  levied  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money 
to  pay  bounties,  of  not  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  each, 
to  the  number  of  volunteers,  or  drafted  men,  necessary  to 
fill  the  quotas  of  the  several  townships  in  the  county  under 
the  call  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  for  three 
hundred  thousand  more  men  to  serve  in  the  war  of  the  re- 
bellion. The  county  clerk  was  directed  to  prepare  one 
hundred  and  thirty-two  orders  upon  this  special  fund,  these 
orders  to  be  countersigned  by  the  treasurer  and  registered, 
and  then  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  committee' to  be  paid 
out  to  persons  volunteering  or  drafted.  William  Taylor, 
Archibald  A.  Glenn,  and  William  L.  Vandeventer  were  ap- 
pointed the  committee  to  take  charge  of  and  pay  out  these 
orders.  A  special  collector  for  each  township  was  appointed, 
and  the  collectors  were  instructed  to  collect  the  tax  in  gold 
or  silver,  United  States  Treasury  notes  or  national  and 
postal  currency. 

The  tax  charged  under  this  levy  was  $60,809.68,  and  after 
deductions  on  account  of  delinquents  and  commissions  paid 
township  collectors,  the  sum  of  855,203.61  reached  the  hands 
of  the  county  collector.  His  commission  was  five  hundred 
dollars.  Warrants  on  this  fund  were  cashed  to  the  amount 
of  $53,252.25.  The  balance  ($1 ,451.36)  was  on  the  twelfth 
of  September,  1865,  ordered  to  be  distributed  among  the 
several  townships  of  the  county,  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
levied  in  each  township,  to  be  paid  out  by  the  several  super- 
visors to  cases  needing  charity  or  assistance,  or  for  such 
other  purposes  as  each  township  might  deem  best  The 
county  collector,  into  whose  hands  this  tax  came,  was  re- 
quired to  give  bond  in  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  , 
thousand  dollars. 

TWELFTH   BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS,   1865-1866. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martin ;  Missouri  township, 
Esli  Shirtliff ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  John  P.  Richmond ; 
Lee  township,  King  Kerley ;  Mt.  Sterling,  Archibald  A. 
Glenn  (chairman) ;  Cooperstown  township,  John  Chapman ; 
Versailles  township,  Saul  Vandeventer ;  Elkhorn  township.. 
John  George  ;  Buckhorn  township,  Jesse  Harris. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


127 


The  county  farm  was  rented  to  James  Plew  for  the  year 
1866,  at  a  rental  of  two  dollars  and  seventy  cents  an  acre 
for  all  the  tillable  land.  Plew  contracted  to  board  the 
paupers  that  might  be  sent  to  the  farm  at  the  rate  of  two 
dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  per  week. 

A  couuty  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars 
was  levied  in  September,  1865.  The  following  December, 
the  board  ordered  that  a  special  tax  of  one  per  cent,  on  all 
the  taxable  property  in  the  county,  be  levied  to  pay  the 
county  orders,  then  issued  and  registered  with  the  treasurer, 
which  the  ordinary  tax  for  the  year,  already  levied,  would 
be  insufficient  to  meet. 

This  order  of  December,  1865,  was  rescinded  September 
10th,  1866  ;  but  on  the  same  day  a  special  tax  of  one  per 
cent,  was  levied  under  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Illinois,  approved  February  16th,  1863,  for  the 
purpose  of  paying  off  the  couuty  indebtedness. 

THIRTEENTH   BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS — 1866-1867. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martin ;  Missouri  township, 
Esli  Shirtliff;  Pea  Ridge  township,  David  K.  Watson ;  Lee 
township,  King  Kerley ;  Mouut  Sterling  township,  Daniel 
Six  ;  Cooperstown  township,  John  Chapman  (chairman)  ; 
Versailles  township,  Saul  Vaudeventer;  Elkhorn  township, 
Sewell  Gerrish  ;  Buckhorn  township,  William  Orr. 

This  board  resolved  on  building  a  new  court-house.  April, 
1866,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  employ  an  architect  to 
draw  plans.  June,  1866,  a  plan  for  the  new  building  was 
adopted.  On  the  same  day  a  committee  was  authorized  to 
borrow  money.  The  following  September  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  sell  the  old  building  at  public  auction,  and  to 
rent  suitable  rooms  for  the  couuty  officers  till  a  new  build- 
ing should  be  erected.  Several  attempts  were  also  made 
during  the  year  to  compromise  the  bonded  indebtedness  of 
the  county. 

FOURTEENTH   BOARD    OF    SUPERVISORS — 1867-1868. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martin  ;  Missouri  township, 
Alexander  Campbell ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  John  J.  Peve- 
house  ;  Lee  township,  King  Kerley ;  Mount  Sterling  town- 
ship, Daniel  Six  ;  Cooperstown  township,  John  Chapman, 
(chairman) ;  Versailles  township,  Saul  Vaudeventer ;  Elk- 
horn  township,  John  George;  Buckhorn  township,  William 
Orr. 

The  sum  of  eighteen  thousand  dollars  having  been  fur- 
nished the  county  with  which  to  build  the  new  court-house, 
borrowed  on  the  authority  of  the  county,  the  board,  on  the 
ninth  of  September,  1*67,  ordered  that  thirty-six  orders  of 
five  hundred  dollars  each  be  issued  to  William  L.  Vaude- 
venter, Adam  E.  Martin,  Alexander  Campbell,  Daniel  Six, 
and  William  L.  Taylor,  and  that  the  said  orders  be  paid  out 
of  the  funds  raised  to  pay  county  indebtedness,  in  pursuance 
of  the  statute  of  February  16, 1863. 

And,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money  to  pay  and  dis- 
charge said  indebtedness,  it  was  further  ordered  that  a  tax 
of  one  per  cent,  be  levied  on  all  the  taxable  property  of  the 
county,  to  be  used,  when  collected,  for  the  purpose  named 
aud  none  other.    A  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  each  one  hundred 


dollars  of  taxable  property,  for  ordinary  county  purposes, 
was  levied  the  same  day. 

The  railroad  indebtedness  of  the  county  yet  remained  un- 
adjusted, with  the  decision  of  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court  that  the  bonds  and  coupons  in  the  hands  of  bona  fide 
assignees,  were  valid  against  the  county.  June  5th,  1865, 
Archibald  A.  Glenn  was  appointed  an  agent  to  negotiate 
with  the  holders  of  railroad  bonds  in  Brown  couuty,  and  try 
to  effect  a  settlement  upon  the  basis  of  forty  cents  upon  the 
dollar.  On  the  28th  of  April,  1866,  the  board  of  supervisors 
appointed  a  committee  of  three  to  correspond  with  the  hold- 
ers of  bonds  and  ascertain  if  possible  the  best  terms  on 
which  a  compromise  could  be  made.  June  26th,  1866,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  adjust  and  settle  the  bonded 
debt  of  the  county  according  to  their  best  judgment,  by  the 
exchange  of  new  county  bonds  for  the  old  bonds,  according 
to  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  approved  February  13th, 
1865. 

A  committee,  on  the  28th  of  December,  1867,  was  ap- 
pointed to  confer  with  the  law  firm  of  Skinner  &  Marsh,  of 
Quincy,  attorneys  for  parties  who  had  begun  suits  against 
the  county  in  the  United  States  courts  on  these  bonds,  which 
fell  due  January  1st,  1867.  This  committee  reported  that 
the  best  arrangement  that  could  be  made  was  to  give,  in 
exchange  for  the  old  bonds,  new  bonds  running  twenty  years, 
drawing  six  per  cent,  annual  interest,  with  five  per  cent,  of 
the  principal,  also,  payable  annually.  This  arrangement 
was  accordingly  made  as  to  the  bonds  controlled  by  the  firm 
of  Skinner  &  Marsh.  The  new  bonds  bore  date  July  1st, 
1868.  The  annual  interest,  and  five  per  cent,  sinking  fund, 
were  represented  by  coupons  attached  to  the  bond.  March 
2d,  1868,  the  board  of  supervisors  ordered  that  the  chair- 
man and  clerk  of  the  board  issue  such  new  bonds  in  place 
of  the  old  ones,  as  the  latter  were  surrendered. 

To  provide  the  means  to  carry  out  this  arrangement  on 
the  2d  of  March,  1868,  a  special  tax  of  one  per  cent,  was 
levied  on  all  the  taxable  property  of  the  county.  It  was 
directed  that  the  proceeds  of  this  tax  should  be  kept  sepa- 
rate, and  applied  specially  to  the  payment  of  the  judgments 
obtained  on  the  bonds. 

FIFTEENTH   BOARD  OF   SUPERVISORS,  1868-1869. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martin ;  Missouri  township, 
Alexander  Campbell ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  James  Brady ; 
Lee  township,  King  Kerley ;  Mt.  Sterling  township,  Geo. 
W.  McCoy ;  Cooperstown  township,  John  Chapman ;  Ver- 
sailles township,  W.  -W.  Glaze ;  Elkhorn  township,  John 
George  (chairman) ;  Buckhorn  township,  William  Orr. 

The  county  having  become  indebted  to  Thomas  W.  Scott, 
of  Rushville,  in  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars,  with  in- 
terest at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent,  per  annum  from  the  fourth 
day  of  September,  1866,  which  amount  would  become  pay- 
able on  the  fourth  day  of  September,  1868,  and  there  being 
no  money  in  the  treasury  to  discharge  said  indebtedness,  the 
board  of  supervisors,  on  the  8th  of  August,  1868,  author- 
ized the  court  house  building  committee  to  borrow  sufficient 
money  to  pay  such  obligation,  on  the  faith  and  credit  of  the 
county.     It  was  directed  that  orders  should  be  issued  in  de- 


12S 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


nomination*  to  suit  the  lenders  for  whatever  sums  should  be 
borrowed,  including  whatever  premium,  or  interest  the  com- 
mittee in  their  discretion  'might  agree  to  pay  as  the  difference 
in  value  between  the  lawful  money  to  be  received  from  such 
lenders  and  the  county  orders  to  be  issued  in  payment  of  such 
bonds,  "the  board  of  supervisors,"  the  order  concludes, 
"  pledging  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  county  to  each  and 
every  person  lending  money  upon  the  faith  and  in  pursu- 
ance of  this  order,  to  issue  such  orders  in  payment  of  such 
loans  at  the  regular  annual  meeting  of  this  board  in  Sep- 
tember next." 

The  following  September,  orders  for  $7353.S0  were  allowed 
for  the  $5515.35  cash  borrowed  to  liquidate  the  county's  in- 
debtedness to  Scott. 

SIXTEENTH   BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS,  1869-1870. 

Ripley  township,  William  H.  Glenn  ;  Missouri  township, 
William  Forsythe ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Joseph  E.  Mann ; 
Lee  township,  Lewis  Briggs ;  Mt  Sterling  township,  Thomas 
H.  Lynch ;  Cooperstown  township.  Benjamin  F.  De  Witt 
(chairman)  ;  Versailles  township,  W.  AV.  Glaze ;  Elkhorn 
township.  Henry  D.  Bitter;  Buckhorn  township,  Abel  D. 
Berry. 

It  will  be  seen  that  almost  an  entire  new  board  of  super- 
visors was  elected  in  1809,  W.  W.  Glaze,  of  Versailles,  being 
the  only  one  returned  who  was  a  member  of  the  previous 
board. 

The  board  was  again  obliged  to  resort  to  a  high  rate  of 
taxation,  the  reasons  for  which  are  given  in  the  following 
order : 

"  Whereas,  John  R.  Knox  did,  on  the  eighth  day  of  Jan- 
uary, 1*63,  recover  a  judgment  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States  for  the  Southern  District  of  Illinois,  against 
the  County  of  Brown,  for  about  the  sum  of  seven  thousand 
seven  hundred  dollars,  a  part  of  which  yet  remains  unpaid ; 
and  whereas,  a  Miss  Webster  also  obtained  a  judgment  of 
said  court  against  said  county  for  about  the  sum  of  seven- 
teen hundred  dollars,  which  like  sum  remains  due  and  un- 
paid ;  and  whereas  the  county  of  Brown  is  iudebted  to  sun- 
dry persons  in  the  sum  of  about  twelve  thousand  dollars,  for 
which  orders  on  the  treasurer  of  the  county  have  been  issued 
by  the  clerk  of  the  board  of  supervisors  of  said  county, 
countersigned  by  the  treasurer  of  said  Brown  couuty,  which 
county  orders  have  been  duly  presented  to  the  treasurer  of 
said  county  for  payment,  and  by  him  duly  registered  accord, 
ing  to  law,  thereby  being  entitled  to  have  paid  on  them  the 
first  money  that  comes  into  the  said  county  treasury;  there- 
fore it  is  ordered  by  the  board  of  supervisors  of  said  county, 
'•  that  a  tax  of  one  per  cent-  on  each  dollar's  worth  of  taxable 
property,  both  real  and  personal,  in  said  county,  be  levied 
for  the  year  1809,  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  above- 
mentioned  indebtedness,  and  that  the  county  treasurer  of 
said  county  be  instructed  and  directed  to  collect  said  tax 
and  apply  the  same  on  said  indebtedness  so  far  as  the  same 
will  go,  and  make  report  of  his  doings  to  said  board." 

The  tax  for  ordinary  county  purposes  this  year  was  also 
fixed  at  fifty  cents. 

On  the  9th  of  March,  1870,  Archibald  A.  Glenn   was 


allowed  $7350.76  in  county  orders,  for  the  purpose  of  paying 
the  remainder  of  the  county  debt  created  for  the  purpose  of 
building  the  court-house.  The  balance  due  in  cash,  March 
8th,  1870,  was  §5513.07;  so  that  the  county  orders  were 
only  received  at  the  rate  of  seventy-five  cents  on  the  dollar. 
The  same  day  the  county  clerk  was  authorized  to  pay  the 
judgment  in  the  case  of  Emeline  Webster  against  the  county, 
amounting  to  $2753.00,  with  money  to  be  borrowed,  and 
county  orders  to  be  issued  therefor,  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar 
for  each  seventy-five  cents  of  cash  procured. 

SEVENTEENTH  .BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1870-1871. 

Ripley  township,  William  H.  Glenn  ;  Missouri  township, 
Nathaniel  Clark:  Pea  Ridge  township,  Joseph  E.Mann; 
Lee  township,  Alexander  Orr;  Mt.  Sterling  township,  Tho- 
mas Jones;  Cooperstown  township,  WTilliam  Taylor;  Ver- 
sailles township,  John  Bond  ;  Elkhorn  township,  John 
George  (chairman) ;  Buckhorn  township,  William  Orr. 
.  September,  1870,  in  compliance  with  the  mandate  of  the 
circuit  court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  southern  district 
of  Illinois,  in  the  ca*e  of  Frederick  H.  Brooks  vs.  The  Board 
of  Supervisors  of  Brown  county,  a  special  tax  of  fifty  cents 
on  the  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  taxable  property  was 
levied  to  pay  the  judgment  decreed  in  that  case.  A  special 
tax  of  one  dollar  on  each  one  hundred  dollars  of  taxable 
property  was  also  levied  for  the  purpose  of  paying  county 
indebtedness  previously  contracted,  as  evidenced  by  the 
county  orders  issued  and  presented  for  registration.  The 
collector  was  instructed  to  collect  such  taxes  in  current 
money,  and  to  hold  and  pay  out  the  same  for  the  above  pur- 
poses and  none  other. 

A  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  was  also 
levied  for  ordinary  county  purposes.  The  township  taxes 
for  the  year  1870  varied  from  ten  cents  in  Missouri,  Lee, 
and  Cooperstown  to  forty  cents  in  Mt.  Sterling. 

December,  1870,  the  compensation  of  the  sheriff  was  fixed 
at  twelve  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  and  the  coroner  at 
fifty  dollars  per  annum,  to  be  earned  out  of  the  fees  of  the 
office.  Provision  was  made  for  the  payment  of  the  sheriff's 
deputies. 

EIGHTEENTH   BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS,  1871-1872. 

Ripley  township,  William  H.  Glenn  ;  Missouri  township, 
Alexander  Campbell  (chairman)  ;  Pea  Ridge  township, 
Joseph  E.  Mann ;  Lee  township,  Alexander  Orr  ;  Mt.  Ster- 
ling township,  Thomas  Jones ;  Cooperstown  township,  John 
Burgesser ;  Versailles  township,  John  Bond ;  Elkhorn 
township,  Frederick  W.  Wenneker ;  Buckhorn  township, 
Abel  D.  Berry. 

A  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars  fordefray- 
ing  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  county  was  levied  for  the 
year  1871.  The  township  taxes  this  year  were  forty  cents 
in  Ripley,  Missouri,  Mt.  Sterling,  Versailles  and  Buckhorn 
townships.  A  special  tax  of  one  dollar  was  beside  levied  to 
pay  county  indebtedness.  The  collectors  were  authorized  to 
receive  this  tax  in  county  orders,  or  other  evidences  of  county 
indebtedness  The  taxable  property  of  the  county  was  as- 
sessed at  $1,405,284.00.  The  net  revenue  for  the  year  was 
$20,004.22. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


129 


NINETEENTH    BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS,  1872-1873. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martiu ;  Missouri  township, 
Alexander  Campbell  (chairman) ;  Pea  Ridge  township. 
Joseph  E.  Mann  ;  Lee  township,  Alexander  Orr  ;  Mt.  Ster- 
ling township,  Henry  P.  Grover ;  Cooperstown  township, 
John  Burjiesser:  Versailles  township,  Obadiah  Summy ; 
Elkhorn  township,  Frederick  W.  Wenneker ;  Buckhorn 
township,  William  Orr. 

July,  1872,  the  board  ordered  that  twelve  thousand  dol- 
lars be  raised  by  taxation  as  county  revenue  for  the  current 
year.  , 

TWENTIETH    BOARD   OF   SUPERVISORS.    1873-1874. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martin;  Missouri  township, 
Richard  Cook ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Joseph  E.  Mann 
(chairman);  Lee  township,  Daniel  M.  Sides;  Mt.  Sterling 
township,  Robert  A.  Cox ;  Cooperstown  township,  Stephen 
D.  Cox;  Versailles  township,  Obadiah  Summy;  Elkhorn 
towuship,  Amos  N.  Baldwin ;  Buckhorn  township,  Gran- 
ville B.  Scanlan- 

A  county  tax  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  levied  in 
1873  ;  of  this  six  thousand  do'lars  was  directed  to  be  collected 
in  money  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  first  instalment  on 
the  contract  for  the  bridges  on  McKee's  creek,  and  the  re- 
mainder in  cash  county  orders  or  jury  certificates. 

December,  1873,  the  salaries  of  county  officers  were  fixed 
as  follows: 

County  judge,  six  hundred  dollars,  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
county  treasury  on  order  of  the  chairman  of  the  board  of 
supervisors.  County  clerk,  one  thousand  dollars  and  four 
hundred  dollars  additional  for  clerk  hire  and  office  expenses, 
to  be  retained  out  of  the  fees  of  his  office.  County  treasurer, 
and  ex-officio  collector,  seven  hundred  dollars,  to  be  retained 
out  of  the  fees  of  his  office.  County  superintendent  of 
schools,  four  hundred  dollars,  to  be  retained  out  of  the  fees  of 
his  office.  Restricted  to  one  hundred  days'  service  in  visiting 
the  schools  of  the  county,  and  for  every  day  of  such  service 
to  be  paid  out  of  the  county  treasury. 

TWENTY-FIRST  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1874-1875. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martin ;  Missouri  township, 
R.  N.  Clark  ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  David  K.  Watson  (chair- 
man); Lee  township,  King  Kerley ;  Mt.  Sterling  town- 
ship, W.  C.  Crawford  ;  Cooperstown  township,  Ira  Howell ; 
Versailles  township,  Edward  Walsh  ;  Elkhorn  township,  H. 
C.  Northern  ;  Buckhorn  township,  Abel  D.  Berry ; 

A  county  tax  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  levied  in 
1874,  nine  thousand  of  which  was  to  be  applied  to  the  pay- 
ment of  bridge  contracts  already  made. 

TWENTY-SECOND  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1875-1876. 

Ripley  township,  William  H.  Glenn  :  Missouri  township, 
R.  N.  Clark ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Joseph  E.  Mann ;  Lee 
township,  King  Kerley  (chairman ;)  Mt-  Sterling  township, 
George  W.  McCoy  ;  Cooperstown  township,  Ira  Howell ;  Ver- 
sailles township,  Edward  Walsh ;  Elkhorn  township,  H.  C. 
Northern  ;  Buckhorn  township,  Abel  D.  Berry. 

A  county  tax  of  seven  thousand  dollars  was  levied  in 
1875. 

'17 


TWENTY-THIRD  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1876-1877- 

Ripley  township,  R.  R.  Randall ;  Missouri  township,  Ed- 
ward J.  Healy  ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Thomas  J.  Nolan ; 
Lee  township,  King  Kerley  ;  Mt.  Sterling  township,  W.  C 
Crawford  (chairman;)  Cooperstown  township,  Joseph  A. 
Cox ;  Versailles  township,  Thomas  J.  Russell ;  Elkhorn 
township,  David  H.  Terry ;  Buckhorn  township,  Abel  D. 
Berry. 

The  equalized  value  of  taxable  property  in  Brown  county 
in  1876  was  $3,349,643.00.  The  county  tax  charged  for  the 
year  was  $10,366.45,  of  which  the  county  received  a  net 
revenue  of  $10,011.63. 

TWENTY-FOURTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1877-1878. 

Ripley  township,  R.  R.  Randall ;  Missouri  township,  Ed- 
ward J.  Healy;  Pea  Ridge  township,  James  Brady;  Lee 
township,  King  Kerley  (  chairman  ;)  Mt.  Sterling  township, 
George  W.  McCoy ;  Cooperstown  township,  Joseph  A.  Cox  ; 
Versailles  township,  B.  L.  Rowknd ;  Elkhorn  township, 
David  H.  Terry ;  Buckhorn  township,  Abel  D.  Berry. 

A  county  tax  of  twelve  thousand  dollars  was  levied  in 
1877. 

TWENTY-FIFTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1878-1879. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martin ;  Missouri  township, 
James  W.  Singleton  ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  James  Brady ; 
Lee  township,  King  Kerley  ;  Mt.  Sterling  township.  George 
W.  McCoy  (chairman;)  Cooperstown  township,  Joseph  A 
C_>x  ;  Versailles  township,  Harrison  Burgesser  ;  Elkhorn 
township,  Jesse  W.  Hill ;  Buckhorn  township,  Abel  D. 
Berry. 

August  5th,  1878,  the  board  resolved  to  build  a  new  house 
on  the  county  poor  farm,  suitable  for  the  paupers.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  draw  a  plan  and  make  specifica- 
tions for  such  a  house,  and  to  ascertain  the  probable  cost.  A 
large  two  story  frame  house  was  built  at  a  cost  of  upward  of 
three  thousand  dollars.  On  account  of  the  insufficient  ac- 
commodations at  the  county  farm  there  had  been  for  some 
years  past  no  settled  arrangement  in  regard  to  the  care  of 
paupers.  At  one  time  each  township  cared  for  its  own  pau- 
pers, and  different  persons  had  at  other  times  been  paid  for 
the  care  of  individual  cases.  The  board,  which  previously 
had  made  an  order  depriving  the  paupers  at  the  county 
farm  of  the  use  of  tobacco,  in  December,  1 878,  rescinded 
this  order  and  decided  that  tobacco  should  be  furnished  at 
the  expense  of  the  county.  A  tax  of  thirteen  thousand  dol- 
lars was  levied  in  1878. 

TWENTY-SIXTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1879-1880. 

Ripley  township,  Adam  E.  Martin  (chairman  ;)  Missouri 
township,  James  W.  Singleton  ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  T.  C. 
McMurry ;  Lee  township,  Lewis  Briggs  ;  Mt.  Sterling  town- 
ship, George  W.  McCoy ;  Cooperstown  township  Joseph 
A.  Cox;  Versailles  township,  Harrison  Burgesser;  Elkhorn 
township,  Jesse  "W.  Hill;  Buckhorn  township,  Abel  D. 
Berry. 

September,  1879,  a  county  tax  of  eleven  thousand  dollars 
was  levied. 


130 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS 


TWENTY-SEVENTH  BOARD   OF  SUPERVISORS,  1880-81. 

Ripley  township,  R  R.  Randall ;  Missouri  township,  E. 
J.  Healty  ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Thomas  Brady  ;  Lee  town- 
ship Lewis  Briggs;  Ht  Sterling  township,  Frederick  W. 
Rottger;  Cjoperstown  township,  Joseph  A.  Cox,  (chair- 
man) ;  Versailles  township,  Harrison  Burgesser;  Elkhorn 
township,  Jesse  W.  Hill ;  Buckhorn  township,  Abel  D. 
Berry. 

December,  18S0,  James  McCormick  took  his  place  on  the 
board  as  a  member  from  Versailles  township  in  the  place  of 
Harrison  Burgesser,  deceased. 

A  tax  of  thirteen  thousand  dollars  was  levied  in  1880 

TWENTY  EIGHTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1881-82. 

Ripley  township,  William  A.  Canada  ;  Missouri  township, 
Edward  J.  Healey  ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Thomas  C.  Mc- 
Murry ;  Lee  township,  King  Kerley  ;  Mt.  Stirling  township, 
John  J.  Teefey ;  Cooperstown  township,  Joseph  A.  Cox, 
(chairman) ;  Versailles  township,  James  McCormick  ;  Elk- 
horn  township,  Henry  D.  Ritter  ;  Buckhorn  township,  Abel 
D.  Berry. 

The  county  jail  had  been  for  some  time  in  au  unsatisfac- 
tory condition,  and  a  number  of  prisoners  had  recently  made 
their  escape.  A  proposition  to  build  a  new  Jail  was  voted 
down  in  the  board  of  supervisors,  and  on  the  twelfth  of 
July,  1881,  John  H.  Michelman  of  Quincy,  was  employed 
to  line  the  cells  with  boiler  iron.  This  was  done  at  a  cost 
of  about  one  thousand  dollars.  While  these  repairs  were 
in  progress  the  prisoners  of  the  county  were  removed  to 
Quincy,  and  there  confined. 

A  county  tax  of  ten  thousand  dollars  was  levied  in  1881 

TWENTY  NINTH  BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS,  1882  83. 

Ripley  township,  Charles  W.  Kieth  ;  Missouri  township, 
Alexander  Campbell,  Jun ;  Pea  Ridge  township,  Thomas  C. 
McMurry;  Lee  township,  King  Kerley  ;  Mt.  Sterling  town- 
ship, John  J.  Teefey  .(chairman)  ;  Cooperstown  township,  Wil- 
liam C.  Berry ;  Versailles  township  James  McCormick  ;  Elk- 
horn  township,  Henry  C.  Northern  ;  Buckhorn  township, 
Abel  D.  Berry. 

The  present  salaries  of  the  county  officers,  fixed  in  Sep- 
tember, 1881,  are  as  follows:  County  Judge,  six  hundred 
dollars.  County  Clerk,  twelve  hundred  dollars,  and  two 
hundred  dollars  additional  for  clerk  hire  and  officeexpenses. 

County  Treasurer  six  hundred  dollars.  County  Super- 
intendent of  Schools  four  hundred  dollars.  Sheriff,  one 
thousand  dollar's  and  two  hundred  dollars  additional  com- 
pensation for  deputy  sheriff. 

Circuit  Clerk,  twelve  hundred  dollars  and  two  hundred 
dollars  additional  for  clerk  hire  and  office  expenses. 

EARLY  ROADS. 

Among  the  roads  laid  out  in  the  territory  of  Brown  county 
while  it  was  yet  a  part  of  Schuyler  were  the  following : 

A  road  from  Willis  O'Neal's  (near  Ripley)  to  Cornelius 
Vandeventer's,  surveyed  in  1829  ;  A  road  from  the  Narrows 
(La  Grange)  to  I<ong  Point  in  Six's  prairie ;  A  road  from  the 
west  line  of  the  county,  through  Levin  Green's  settlement, 


to  Henly's  mill  on  Crooked  creek,  surveyed  in  1831  ;  A 
road  from  the  south  line  of  the  county  to  Willis  O'Neal's 
(near  Ripley;,  laid  out  in  1832  ;  A  road  from  the  Illinois 
river,  opposite  Meredosia,  to  the  state  road  in  section  six- 
teen of  township  one  south,  range  three  west,  surveyed  in 
1832;  A  state  road  from  Beardstown  to  Quincy,  passing 
through  Brown  county,  surveyed  in  1833  ;  A  road  from 
sections  one  and  twelve,  township  one  south,  range  three 
west,  to  section  eleven,  township  one  south,  range  two  west, 
surveyed  in  1833 ;  A  road  from  Rushville  to  Atlas,  passing 
through  Brown  county,  established  in  1834. 

A  road  frcum  the  bank  of  the  Illinois  river,  opposite 
Meredosia,  to  New  York,  surveyed  1831.  An  early  road 
was  surveyed  from  the  southwest  corner  of  section  thirty- 
three,  township  two  south,  range  two  west,  by  way  of  the 
Narrows  (La  Grange),  on  the  Illinois  river  to  Crooked  creek, 
and  thence  over  to  Rushville.  A  state  road  from  the  west 
hank  of  the  Illinois  river,  opposite  Meredosia,  by  way  of  Mt. 
Sterling,  to  the  Adams  county  line,  surveyed  1835.  A  road 
from  section  twenty-two,  township  one  south,  range  two  west, 
to  section  twenty-six,  township  one  south,  range  three  west- 
A  road  from  Mt.  Sterling  to  the  Adams  county  line.  A  road 
from  Mt.- Sterling  to  Rushville,  surveyed  December,  1835. 
A  road  from  Mt  Sterling  to  the  Pike  county  line,  near. 
White  Oak  Springs,  September,  1836.  A  road  from  Mt, 
Sterling  to  Henly's  Mill. 

MILL   SEATS. 

The  earliest  mill  seats  in  what  is  now  Brown  County 
were  established  by  the  Schuyler  county  commissioners' 
court  before  the  organization  of  this  county.  The  first  mill  seat 
authorized  by  the  county  commissioners  of  Brown  county 
was  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  fifteen,  township  two  south,  range  two  west.  Jesse 
Lowder  was  authorized  to  build  a  dam  four  feet  high,  and 
a  race  thirty-three  feet  wide,  for  said  mill  on  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  sixteen,  on  the  payment  of  86.58  per  acre 
to  the  school  commissioner  for  the  benefit  of  said  township, 
for  the  land  so  occupied. 

FIRST   ELECTION    PBECIHCT8. 

The  county  commissioners,  on  the  third  day  of  June,  1839, 
divided  the  county  into  four  election  precincts.  No  boun- 
daries are  given.  The  voting  place  is  simply  mentioned, 
which  in  the  first  district  was  at  the  clerk's  office  in  Mt. 
Sterling ;  in  the  second  at  the  house  of  Benoni  R.  Parke ; 
in  the  third  at  the  house  of  Stephen  Lets,  in  the  town  of 
Versailles ;  and  in  the  fourth  at  the  house  of  George  Hack- 
ett.  In  the  first,  or  Mt.  Sterling  precinct,  John  Taylor,  sen., 
John  Means,  and  Robert  Trabue  were  appointed  judges  of 
election ;  in  the  second  district,  Ezekiel  Rose,  Joseph  Cox 
and  James  Orchard  were  appointed  the  judges ;  Stephen  D. 
Hambaugh,  George  Lampkins  and  Miranda  Stone  were 
made  the  judges  in  precinct  number  three  ;  and  in  the  fourth 
Samuel  Gerrish,  George  Hackett  and  Benjamin  Manell. 
June,  1840,  a  fifth  election  precinct  was  formed.  The  voting 
place  was  the  public-school  house  in  the  town  of  Ripley. 
The  judges  at  the  August  election,  1840,  were  George  Har- 
per, William  Taylor  and  Allen  Alexander.     On  the  fourth 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


131 


of  March,  1844,  the  county  was  divided  into  eight  election 
districts,  or  precincts,  each  precinct  to  be  entitled  to  two 
justices  of  the  peace  and  two  constables,  and  precinct  number 
four  to  be  entitled,  beside,  to  an  additional  justice.  These 
precincts  were  as  follows  : 

Precinct  No.  1. — Township  one  north,  range  three  west. 
Election  at  the  house  of  Alexander  Campbell.  John  C. 
-Burns,  James  Harvey  Bates  and  John  Bell,  judges.  Pre- 
cinct No.  2. — Township  one  north,  range  four  west.  Elec- 
tions at  the  house  of  John  Lomax.  Conrad  Long,  Alfred 
Wilgus  and  John  Lomax,  Judges.  Precinct  No.  3. — Town- 
ship one  south,  range  four  west.  Elections  at  the  Maservey 
school  house.  Judges,  Nathaniel  Cleaves,  William  Camp- 
bell and  William  Lee.  Precinct  No.  4. — Township  one 
south,  range  three  west.  Elections  at  Mt.  Sterling.  Henry 
P.  Grover,  Mitchel  Kendrick  and  G.  C.  Robinson,  judges. 
Precinct  No.  5. — Township  one  south,  range  two  west,  and 
fractional  township  one  north,  range  two  west.  Elections  at 
the  house  of  John  Emerich.  Judges,  J.  J.  Stites,  B.  ,F. 
De  Witt  and  B.  K.  Parke,  judges. 

Precinct  No.  6.  Township  two  south,  range  two  west, 
fractional  township  two  south,  range  two  west,  and  two  miles 
of  the  east  side  of  township  two  south,  range  two  west. 
Elections  in  the  town  of  Versailles.  Judges  John  Briggs, 
Sen.,  Alexander  Sumney,  and  Henry  Casteen. 

Precinct  No.  7.  The  eastern  four  miles  of  township  two 
south,  range  three  west.  Elections  at  the  house  of  Samuel 
Gerrish.  Joshua  P.  Williams,  Joseph  Stoner,  and  Jacob 
K.  More,  judges. 

Precinct  No.  8.  Townships  two  south,  range  four  west. 
Elections  at  the  bouse  of  Burrel  Stintson.  Judges,.  John 
Bullard,  John  W.  VVardwell,  and  Elias  Bixlir. 

There  seems  to  be  no  provision  in  this  arrangement  for 
fractional  township  one  south,  range  one  west,  which  in- 
cluded the  town  of  La  Grange. 

When  township  organization  was  adopted,  the  county  was 
divided  into  townships,  with  names  and  boundaries,  which 
have  since  existed  without  change. 

CIRCUIT   COURTS. 

The  first  circuit  court  of  Brown  county  began  its  session  at 
Mt.  Sterling  on  the  sixth  day  of  April,  1840.  Peter  Lott, 
circuit  judge  of  the  Fifth  Judical  Circuit  presided.  The 
prosecuting  attorney  was  William  Elliott;  the  clerk  was 
James  M.  Burt,  and  Elisha  Davis,  the  sheriff  in  attendance. 
The  first  grand  jury  was  composed  as  follows:  Benjamin 
F.  Hill,  foreman,  Eli  Hartley,  Henry  Huffman,  John  Martin, 
Samuel  Wiuslow,  John  Bullard,  W.  H.  Blanchett,  Edmund 
Perry,  I.  P.  Ingraham,  Thomas  Davis,  G.  B.  Orr,  Luke 
Perry,  George  W.  Coffman,  Stephen  Harper,  Mitchel  Ken- 
drick, Calvin  Clark,  Henry  H.  B.  Sidener,  Benjamin  Perry, 
and  Philip  Ausmus. 

The  venire  of  the -petit  jurors  returned  into  court  by  the 
sheriff  com  prised  the  following  persons:  Keneth  McCoy, 
James  Harper,  H.  Hersinau,  Benjamin  Adams,  T.'  S. 
Adams,  Joseph  Fry,  P.  R.  Keith,  W.  C  Price,  David 
Six,  Thomas  B.  Newby,  N.  B.  Ballard,  E.  W.  B.  Newby, 
J.  M.  Philips,   J.  H.  McClary,  John  Curry,  C  H.  Harney, 


George  I.  Myres,  Samuel  Estis,  Thomas  Garrett,  Stephenson 
Erwin,  and  Abel  Lark  in.  All  answered  to  their  names  but 
Thomas  Garrett  James  Harper  was  excused  from  further 
attendance.  John  Means,  James  W.  Singleton,  Harvey 
Lester,  Benjamin  Kendrick,  and  William  A.  Gilman  were 
summoned  from  among  the  bystanders  as  additional  jurors. 
The  first  case  before  the  court  was,  The  People  of  the  State 
of  Illinois  vs.  William  Stapleton,  Recognizance  for  the 
Peace. 

On  hearing  the  evidence  the  recognizance  was  ordered  to 
be  discharged,  which  was  also  done  in  a  similar  case  against 
Francis  aud  William  Stapleton  which  came  next  on  the 
docket.  The  next  two  cases,  one  a  recognizance  to  appear, 
and  the  other  a  recognizance  for  the  peace,  and  were  stricken 
from  the  docket  on  motion  of  the  state's  attorney.  Forty- 
three  cases  occupied  the  attention  of  the  court  at  the  first 
day's  session  many  of  which  were  dismissed.  On  a  number 
judgment  was  rendered  by  default. 

On  the  third  day  of  the  term,  April  eighth,  the  grand 
jury  came  into  court,  and  returned  seventeen  bills  of  indict- 
ment. Four  of  these  indictments  were  against  one  person  for 
selling  liquor  without  license.  There  was  one  against  C. 
Sedwell  for  keeping  open  a  tippling  houseon  theSabbath  day, 
and  there  were  also  indictments  against  Richard  Kinneman 
and  William  Reed  for  the  same  infringement  of  the  law. 
There  were  nine  other  indictments  against  various  parties 
for  selling  liquor  without  license.  The  only  indictment  of 
the  whole  number  not  found  for  the  unlawful  selling  of 
liquor  was  the  one  against  Strother  Stapleton  for  an  assault 
with  a  deadly  weapon.  In  each  of  the  liquor  cases  a  capias 
was  issued  against  the  defendant,  returnable  to  the  next  term 
of  court,  and  the  defendant  was  admitted  to  bail  in  the  sum 
of  one  hundred  dollars.  In  the  indictment  for  assault  with 
a  deadly  weapon  the  defendant  was  admitted  to  bail  in  the 
sum  of  five  hundred  dollars. 

The  first  cause  placed  before  a  jury  was  that  of  Reuben 
T  Smith  vs  Abraham  F.  Pope,  on  the  second  day  of  the 
term  It  was  an  appeal  on  an  attachment.  The  following 
is  the  entry  on  the  record :  Reuben  T.  Smith  m  Abraham 
F.  Pope,  on  appeal. 

This  day,  came  the  parties  by  their  attorneys,  and  the  de- 
fendant having  filed  an  affidavit  traversing  the  plaintiff's 
original  affidavit  of  attachment  in  the  cause,  upon  which 
traverse  issue  being  joined  the  parties,  for  trial,  put  them- 
selves upon  the  county,  and  thereupon  came  the  jurors  of  a 
jury  to  wit.  John  R.  Curry,  Beujamin  Adams,  George  S. 
Myers,  William  D.  Price,  David  Six,  Abel  Larkin,  Benja- 
min Kendrick,  John  M.  Phillips,  Harvey  Lester,  Thomas  W. 
Newby,  Samuel  Estes  and  Stephen  Irwin,  who  having  been 
sworn  to  well  and  truly  try  the  issue  joined,  upon  their  oath 
do  say.  "  We  of  the  jury  find  for  the  Defendant."  "  It  is 
therefore  considered  by  the  court  that  this  suit  abate,  and 
that  the  defendant  recover  of  the  said  plaintiff  his  costs 
about  his  suit  on  this  behalf  expended,  as  well  in  this  court 
as  in  the  court  below,  and  have  execution,  &c." 

The  next  jury  case  was  likewise  an  appeal  on  an  attach- 
ment against  the  same  defendant,  and  like  the  previous  case 
was  decided  in  his  favor.     In  the  next  case,  however,  tried 


132 


HIS TOR Y   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


before  a  jury,  that  of  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois  vt. 
Michael  Killion,  on  appeal,  the  defendant  was  found  guilty, 
and  a  fine  of  three  dollars  was  assessed  against  him  with  the 
costs  of  prosecution. 

George  W.  P.  Maxwell  had  been  appointed  clerk  of  the 
circuit  court  in  1839  by  James  H.  Ralston,  then  judge  of  the 
fifth  judicial  circuit  in  which  Brown  county  was  included. 
Judge  Peter  Lott,  who  succeeded  Judge  Ralston,  on  the 
thirtieth  of  January,  1840,  appointed  James  M.  Burt  as 
circuit  clerk,  who  filed  a  satisfactory  bond  and  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  the  office.  There  was  some  misunderstanding 
about  the  matter,  and  on  the  9th  of  April,  1840,  the  court 
issued  a  rule  on  James  M.  Burt  to  appear  on  the  second  day 
of  the  next  term  of  court  and  show  cau-e  why  an  informa- 
tion in  the  nature  of  a  quo  warranto  should  not  be  filed  against 
him  for  usurping,  intruding  into,  and  unlawfully  holding, 
the  office  of  clerk  of  the  circuit  court  of  Brown  county. 

Death  put  an  end  to  these  proceedings.  When  the  case 
of  "  The  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  on  the  relation  of 
George  W.  P.  Maxwell,  vs.  James  M.  Burt,  a  rule  to 
show  cause  why  an  information  in  the  nature  of  a  quo  war- 
ranto should  not  be  filed,"  was  reached  at  the  September 
term  of  court,  1840,  the  death  of  George  W.  P.  Maxwell, 
the  relator,  was  suggested,  and  on  motion  of  his  attorney, 
James  H.  Ralston,  the  court  ordered  the  suit  abated. 

The  first  term  of  the  circuit  court  lasted  four  days.  The 
second  term  was  held  in  September,  1840,  the  same  judge  and 
state's  attorney  in  attendance.  The  court  was  also  four 
days  in  session  at  this  term.  Some  of  the  defendants  who 
had  been  indicted  at  the  previous  term  for  the  unlawful  sel- 
ling of  liquor  were  found  not  guilty,  and  the  prosecution  of 
several  of  the  cases  was  abandoned  by  the  state's  attorney. 
One  of  the  defendants,  Richard  KinntmaD,  plead  guilty, 
and  was  fined  ten  dollars  and  costs.  William  Reed,  who 
had  been  indicted  for  keeping  open  a  tippling  house  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  plead  not  guilty.  The  jury  disagreed  and 
were  discharged  without  rendering  a  verdict. 

The  first  terms  of  the  circuit  court  were  held  in  a  build- 
ing, then  used  as  a  Presbyterian  church,  which  stood  where 
the  chapel  of  the  present  Presbyterian  church  now  stands. 
It  is  now  occupied  as  a  carpenter  shop  by  Louis  Herbster. 
The  church  building  was  fitted  up  with  a  bar,  and  especial 
pains  were  taken  by  the  officers  of  the  court  to  prevent  its 
desecration  by  the  whittling  and  marking  of  the  benches 
and  walls.  It  was  used  till  the  first  court-house  was  com- 
pleted. The  county  paid  the  Presbyterian  church  society 
a  rent  of  fifty  cents  per  day  for  its  use. 

At  the  third  term  of  the  circuit  court,  which  convened  on 
the  twelfth  of  April,  1841,  Stephen  A  Douglas  was  on  the 
bench,  and  also  presided  afterward  over  several  terms  of  the 
circuit  court.  His  name  appears  on  the  record,  written  in 
a  free  and  dashing  hand,  sometimes  with  one  final  "  s"  to 
the  "  Dougla3,"  and  sometimes  two.  April  fourteenth, 
1841,  intelligence  was  received  of  the  death  of  President 
Harrison,  which  had  occurred  on  the  fourth  of  the  month, 
three  days  previous.  Judge  Douglas,  on  the  motion  of 
Cyrus  Walker,  adjourned  the  court.  The  item  conveying 
the  news  was  written  on  the  back  of  a  letter  way  bill,  sent 
from  Columbus,  Ohio,  to  Rushville. 


FIRST   NATURALIZATION. 

On  the  second  day's  session  of  the  first  circuit  court,  held 
after  organization  of  the  county,  (April  seventh,  1840),  Jere- 
miah Welsh,  Michael  Languen,  John  Mahoney,  John  Car- 
ney, James  Connor,  and  Matthew  Cashman  appeared  before 
the  court.  Welsh  made  application  for  naturalization  papers. 
The  others  made  sworn  declarations  of  their  intention  to  be- 
come citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  proceedings  in  the 
case  of  Jeremiah  Welsh,  the  first  candidate  for  the  honors 
aud  privileges  of  American  citizenship,  are  given  as  they  ap- 
pear on  the  record  : 

"  Be  it  remembered,  that  on  this  day,  came  Jeremiah 
Welsh,  and  produced  in  court  the  following  certificate  of 
his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  to  wit : 
City  of  New  York,  M  : 

Be  it  remembered,  that  Jeremiah  Welsh,  late  of  the 
United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  appeared  in 
the  Marine  court  of  the  city  of  New  York,  held  in  the  City 
Hall  of  the  said  city,  on  the  fifth  day  of  November  of  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
four,  (the  said  court  being  a  court  of  record,  having  common 
law  jurisdiction,  and  a  clerk  and  seal),  and  declared  on  oath 
in  open  court  that  it  was  bona  fide  his  intention  to  become  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  to  renounce  forever  all 
allegiance  and  fidelity  to  any  foreign  Prince,  Potentate, 
State  and  Sovereignty  whatsoever,  and  particularly  to  the 
King  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

In  testimony  whereof  the  seal  of  the  said  Marine  court  of 
the  city  of  New  York  is  hereunto  affixed,  this  5th  day  of 
November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-four. 

[seal.]  John  Bkarlever,  Clerk. 

Whereupon,  Michael  Languen  was  sworn  as  a  witness  in 
behalf  of  the  said  Jeremiah  Welsh,  and  deposes  first  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  court,  that  he  has  been  acquainted  with 
the  said  Jeremiah  Welsh  for  the  space  of  four  years  last  and 
upwards,  and  that  during  the  whole  of  said  time  he  has  con- 
tinued to  reside  within  the  limits  and  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States,  and  one  year  at  least  in  the  State  of 
Illinois,  immediately  preceding  the  date  hereof,  and  that,  as 
far  as  his  knowledge  and  observation  extends,  he  has  behaved 
himself  as  a  man  of  good  moral  character,  and  appears  to 
be  attached  to  the  principles  contained  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  well  disposed  to  the  good  order, 
well  being  and  happiness  of  the  same. 

Aud  whereupDn  the  said  Jeremiah  Welsh  took  and  sub- 
scribed the  following  oath,  to  wit : 

State  of  Illinois  ) 
Brown   County  j 

I,  Jeremiah  Welsh,  do  solemnly  swear  in  the  presence  of 
Almighty  God  that  I  will  support  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  I  do  absolutely  and  entirely  re- 
nounce and  abjure  all  allegiance  and  fealty  to  every  foreign 
prince,  potentate,  state  and  sovereignty  whatever,  and  more 
particularly  the  allegiance  and  fidelity  which  I  in  any  wise 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


133 


owe  to  Queen  Victoria,   the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,    of  which  I  was    formerly    a   citizen    or  subject. 


(Signed) 


His 

Jeremiah  X  Welsh. 

Mark. 


Subscribed  and  sworn  to  in  open  court,  April  7th,  1840. 

James  M.  Bart,  clerk. 

It  is  therefore  considered  and  ordered  by  the  court  that 
the  said  Jeremiah  Welsh  be  henceforth  admitted  to  all  and 
singular  the  rights,  privileges  and  immunities  of  a  natural- 
ized citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  the  same  be  certified 
accordingly 

FIRST  BILL  FOR  DIVORCE. 

The  first  bill  for  divorce  in  the  Brown  county  Circuit 
Court  was  filed  on  the  eighth  of  April,  1840,  and  came 
before  the  court  on  the  following  day  on  a  motion  to  allow 
the  coraplaiuant  to  prosecute  her  suit  as  a  poor  person.  The 
bill  is  as  follows : 

To  the  Hon.  the  Judge  of  the  Brown  County  Circuit 
Court  in  Chancery  sitting. 

Your  petitioner,  Jane  Price,  late  Jane  Ellis,  humbly  re- 
presents to  your  honor  that  on  or  about  the  5th  day  of  April, 
a.  d.  1835,  she  was  lawfully  married  to  one  Barnet  Pain  in 
the  County- of  Schuyler  and  State  of  Illinois:  That  your 
petitioner  has  continued  to  reside  in  said  county  of  Schuyler 
(now  ceunty  of  Brown)  ever  since  the  time  of  said  marriage  • 
That  more  than  three  years  since  said  Barnet  left  your  pe- 
titioner without  any  just  or  reasonable  cause  whatsoever,  and 
ever  since  continued  to  live  separate  and  apart  from  your 
petitioner :  Therefore  for  the  reason  that  the  said  Barnet 
has  abandoned  your  petitioner  for  a  period  of  more  than 
two  years  last  past,  your  petitioner  prays  your  honor  that 
by  a  decree  of  your  honorable  court  the  bonds  of  matrimony 
now  existing  between  your  petitioner  and  said  Barnet  may 
be  for  ever  dissolved,  and  that  your  petitioner  may  be  re- 
stored to  all  things  which  she  may  have  lost  in  consequence 
of  said  marriage  and  as  in  duty  bound,  &c.      Jane  Pain. 

These  affidavits  follow  the  bill  : 


jane  pain 

vs. 

BARNET  PAIN 


Petition   for  di- 
vorce. 


(Signed) 


Hit 

Jane  X  Pain. 

Mark. 


State  of  Illinois 

Brown  County 

Jane  Pain,  petitioner  in  this  case,  on  oath  says  that  she 
verily  believes  that  said  Barnet  Pain  is  not  an  inhabitant  of 
this  state ;  that  on  due  inquiry  he  cannot  be  found. 


Jane  Pain  vs.  Barnet  Pain,  petition  for  divorce. 

The  petitioner  in  this  cause  on  oath  says  she  is  poor  and 
unable  to  pay  the  costs  of  prosecuting  this,  her  petition. 
Therefore  she  prays  to  be  admitted  to  sue  as  a  poor  person. 


Subscribed  and  sworn  to  in  open  court  this  8th  day  of 
April,  1840.  J.  M.  Bart,  Clerk. 

The  court  granted  the  order  permitting  the  complainant 
to  prosecute  her  suit  as  a  poor  person,  and  it  was  likewise 
ordered  that  unless  the  defendant  should  personally  appear 
before  the  first  day  of  the  next  term  and  answer  the  allega- 
tions and  charges  contained  in  the  said  complainant's  bill, 
the  same  would  be  taken  as  confessed  against  him  and  the 
matters  thereof  decreed  accordingly.  A  copy  of  this  order 
was  directed  to  be  published  in  some  public  newspaper 
printed  in  the  state  for  four  weeks  successively,  and  the 
cause  continued  till  the  next  term  of  court.  At  the  Sep- 
tember term  a  continuance  was  granted  to  the  next  term,  on 
motion  of  the  complainant.  There  seems  to  have  been  no 
further  disposition  of  the  ease,  and  no  divorce  ever  to  have 
been  decreed.     At  least  the  records  thenceforward  are  silent. 

MURDER  CASES. 

For  the  first  years  after  the  organization  of  the  county 
the  circuit  court  records  are  free  from  any  mention  of  in- 
dictments and  trials  for  murder. 

On  the  sixth  of  October,  1852,  an  indictment  was  returned 
by  the  grand  jury  against  Squire  Weeks  for  the  murder  of 
Shipton  Orchard.     The  indictment  is  as  follows  : 


1 


(Signed) 


Her 

Jane  X  Pain 

Mark. 


STATE  OF  ILLINOIS 

Brown  County 

Of  the  October  term  of  the  Brown  Circuit  Court  in  the 
ye%r  of  our  Lord,  185X 

The  grand  jurors  chosen,  selected  and  sworn  in  and  for 
the  county  of  Brown,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of 
the  people  of  the  state  of  Illinois  upon  their  oaths  present. 
That  Squire  Weeks  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  August,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty- 
two,  at  and  within  the  county  of  Brown  and  state  of  Illinois 
aforesaid,  with  a  certain  bottle,  in  and  upon  one  Shipton 
Orchard  in  the  peace  of  God  and  the  people  of  the  state  of 
Illinois,  then  and  there  being,  then  and  there  willfully,  un- 
lawfully, feloniously  and  of  his  malice  aforesaid,  did  make  an 
assault,  and  then  and  there  with  said  bottle,  then  and  there 
holding  the  same  in  his  hand,  did  strike  and  beat  in  and 
upon  the  head  of  said  Shipton  Orchard  then  and  there  being, 
giving  to  said  Shipton  Orchard  then  and  there  by  the 
said  striking  and  beating  with  the  said  bottle  in  and  upon 
the  head  of  him  the  said  Shipton  Orchard  one  mortal  frac- 
ture and  wound,  the  said  Shipton  Orchard  from  the  said 
twenty-eighth  day  of  August  aforesaid,  until  the  first  day  of 
September  in  the  year  aforesaid,  at  the  county  and  state  afore- 
said did  languish  and  languishing  did  live  on,  which  said 
first  day  of  September  aforesaid  the  said  Shipton  Orchard 
at  the  county  and  state  aforesaid,  of  the  said  mortal  fracture 
and  wound  died  and  so  the  jurors  aforesaid  upon  their  oaths 
aforesaid  do  say  that  the  said  Squire  Weeks  the  said  Ship- 
ton  Orchard  in  a  manner  and  form  aforesaid  wilfully,  feloni- 
ously, unlawfully  and  of  his  malice  aforethought  did  kill 
and  murder  contrary  to  the  form  and  statute  in  such  case 


134 


HISTORY   OF  SCJIUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


made  and  provided  and  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the 
same  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

R.  S.  Blackwell, 
State's  Attorney. 

Weeks  not  being  found  on  the  eighth  of  October  the  case 
was  continued,  a  capias  issued  to  Morgan  county,  and  it  was 
directed  that  defendant  should  be  held  in  bail  in  the  sum  of 
five  thousand  dollars.  At  the  April  term,  1853,  the  cause 
was  again  continued,  and  an  alias  eapias  issued.  At  the 
October  term,  1853,  the  cause,  on  motion  of  the  State's 
attorney,  was  stricken  from  the  docket  with  leave  to  reinstate 
Weeks  was  never  brought  to  trial,  and  this  ending  to  the 
tragedy  was  satisfactory  to  the  people  of  the  county.  Or- 
chard was  a  desperado,  an  offensive,  dangerous  character, 
and  it  was  generally  thought  that  the  community  was  well 
rid  of  his  presence.  His  death  was  the  result  of  a  drunken 
brawl  at  La  Grange. 

At  the  April  term,  1853,  an  indictment  was  found  against 
Green  B.  i^arrat  for  the  murder  of  Francis  Sarrat  The 
death  of  the  latter  resulted  from  being  beaten  and  kicked, 
while  lying  on  the  ground.  The  defendant  was  not  found, 
and  was  never  brought  to  trial. 

.At  the  April  term,  1854.  Jonathan  W.  Hutchinson  was 
indicted  for  the  murder  of  Francis  P.  Wells.  The  latter 
was  killed  by  Hutchinson  on  Main  street  in  the  town  of 
Mt.  Sterling.  The  two  had  a  quarrel  on  the  morning  of 
the  day  on  which  the  killing  occurred  about  some  business 
matters  between  them,  and  meeting  later  in  the  day  Wells, 
who  was  the  larger  man  of  the  two,  attacked  Hutch- 
inson and  thiew  him  to  the  ground.  Hutchinson  while 
on  the  ground  drew  a  knife  and  stabbed  Wells  to  the  heart, 
causing  his  immediate  death.  Hutchinson  was  a  saddler 
and  harness-maker  by  occupation,  a  man  of  small  stature, 
and  not  generally  regarded  as  courageous.  After  the  quarrel 
iu  the  morning,  on  beiDg  told  that  Wells  would  whip  him 
at  the  fir&t  opportunity,  Hutchinson  replied  that  he  would 
kill  him  if  he  attempted  to  do  so,  and,  it  is  said,  sharpened 
a  knife  for  that  purpose.  The  same  term  at  which  he  was 
indicted  the  defendant  was  admitted  to  bail  iu  the  sum  of 
fifteen  hundred  dollars,  and  his  case  continued  to  the  Octo- 
ber term.  In  October  a  change  of  renue.was  granted  to  the 
Pike  county  circuit  court.  The  trial  took  place  at  Pittsfield- 
The  witnesses  for  the  state  were  George  Deryear,  Harrison 
A.  Clark,  William  Putnam,  Daniel  Putnam,  George  WT. 
Maltby,  James  W.  Edwards,  Caleb  Smith  and  George  W. 
Curry.  His  attorneys  argued  the  ground  of  self-defense  on 
which  he  was  acquitted. 

In  December,  1858,  the  case  of  Daniel  Haines,  indicted 
in  the  Schuyler  county  circuit  court  for  the  murder  of 
Aaron  Ashbrook,  by  striking  him  on  the  head  with  a  piece 
of  wood,  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  August,  1858,  came 
before  the  court  on  a  change  of  venue.  A  continuance  was 
granted  to  the  May  term,  1859,  when  Haines  was  found 
guilty  of  manslaughter,  and  was  sentenced  to  eighteen 
months'  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary. 

Henry  Parish  and  Charles  Riddle  were  indicted  on  the 
twenty-third  of  May,  1860,  for  the  murder  of  a  man  named 


Clark.  The  latter  was  killed  during  a  difficulty  which  oc- 
curred at  a  dance  at  Cooperstown.  Parish  was  never  brought 
to  trial.  At  the  same  term  of  court  Riddle  was  granted  a 
change  of  venue  to  McDonough  county,  and  was  there  ac- 
quitted. 

At  the  November  term,  1861,  the  grand  jury  returned  an 
indictment  against  Pleasant  Redick  for  the  murder  of  Thomas 
Jackson.  This  was  the  first  instance  in  the  history  of  the 
county  of  the  defendant  on  an  indictment  for  a  murder  com- 
mitted within  the  limits  of  the  county,  being  found  guilty. 
The  indictment  was  as  follows  : 

o.,       f  Tii-     ■    ^  Of  the  November  term  of  the  Brown 

State  of  Illinois,  f  .                    .     , 

-a  .  Countv  circuit  court,  in  the  vear  of 

Brown  county,     \  * 

J  ourLiord,  lool. 

The  grand  jurors,  chosen,  selected  and  sworn  iu  and 
for  the  county  of  Brown,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority 
of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  upon  their  oaths  pre- 
sent :  That  Pleasant  Redick,  with  force  and  arms,  on  the 
fifth  day  of  November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  sixty-one,  at  and  within  the  County 
of  Brown  and  State  of  Illinois,  in  and  upon  one  Thomas 
Jackson,  in  the  peace  of  God,  and  of  the  said  people  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  then  and  there  being  feloniously,  wilfully, 
and  of  his  malice  aforethought,  did  make  an  assault,  and 
that  the  said  Pleasant  Redick,  with  a  certain  knife  of  the 
value  of  one  dollar,  which  he.  the  said  Pleasant  Redick,  in 
his  right  hand  had  and  held,  him  the  said  Thomas  Jackson, 
in  and  upon  the  left  side  of  the  breast  of  him,  the  said 
Thomas  Jackson,  then  and  there  feloniously,  wilfully,  and 
of  his  malice  aforethought,  did  strike  and  thrust,  giving  to 
the  said  Thomas  Jackson  then  and  there,  with  the  kuife 
aforesaid,  in  and  upon  the  said  left  side  of  the  breast  of  him, 
the  said  Thomas  Jackson,  one  mortal  wound  of  the  breadth 
of  three  inches,  and  of  the  depth  of  six  inches,  of  which 
said  mortal  wound  the  said  Thomas  Jackson  did  then  and 
there  instantly  die,  and  so  the  grand  jurors  aforesaid,  upon 
their  oaths  aforesaid,  do  say  that  the  said  Pleasant  Redick 
him  the  said  Thomas  Jackson,  in  maimer  and  form  afore- 
said, feloniously,  wilfully,  and  of  his  malice  aforethought, 
did  kill  and  murder,  contrary  to  the  form  of  the  statute  in 
such  case,  made  and  provided  and  against  the  peace  and 
dignity  of  the  same  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  *  *  *  * 

T.  E.  Morgan, 
State's  Attorney,  Fifth  Judicial  Circuit,  Illinois. 

This  indictment  was  found  on  the  seventh  of  November. 
On  the  twelfth  of  the  same  month  the  defendant  was  found 
guilty  of  manslaughter,  and  sentenced  to  confinement  in  the 
penitentiary  for  the  term  of  his  natural  life.  After  serving 
a  few  years  he  was  pardoned.  This  murder  took  place  at 
La  Grange.  Redick  was  preparing  to  open  a  boarding-house 
in  that  town,  and  the  dispute  between  the  two  men  was  in 
regard  to  a  dance  at  Redick's  house  to  which  Jackson  pro- 
posed to  bring  some  disreputable  characters.  Jackson,  him- 
self, was  not  a  man  of  the  best  reputation,  and  on  his  going 
up  to  a  room  in  the  second  story,  where  Redick,  with  a 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


135 


knife  in  his  possession,  was  engaged  in  fixing  a  bed,  and 
making  a  threatening  demonstration,  Redick  stabbed  him 
through  the  body  with  the  knife. 

The  case  of  Richard  West,  indicted  for  murder,  brought 
to  the  Brown  county  circuit  court  on  a  change  of  venue, 
was  before  the  court  at  the  May  term,  18G2,  but  was  continued 
from  term  to  term,  and  finally  stricken  from  the  docket. 

Austin  and  Abraham  Stevens,  who  were  indicted  in  Pike 
county  in  March,  1864,  were  tried  in  the  circuit  court  of 
Brown  county  in  July,  1864,  and  found  not  guilty  of  the 
murder  of  Lewis  Nelson. 

An  indictment  was  brought  against  Robert  Pile  at  the 
November  term,  1864,  for  the  murder  of  John  Murphy  in 
Pea  Ridge  township.  The  defendant  was  tried  November, 
1864,  in  the  Brown  county  circuit  court,  and  the  jury  dis- 
agreed. A  change  of  venue  was  then  granted  to  Morgan 
county.  Pile,  meanwhile,  broke  out  of  the  Mt.  Sterling 
jail  and  escaped.  He  was  re-arrested,  convicted  in  Morgan 
county,  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 

Samuel  Evans  and  Matthew  Gilmer  were  indicted  in  the 
Pike  county  circuit  court  at  the  November  term,  1864,  for 
the  murder  of  Cornelius  Myers.  Samuel  Evans  was  tried 
in  this  county  on  a  change  of  venue,  and  on  the  eighth  of 
April,  1865,  was  found  guilty  of  manslaughter  and  sentenced 
to  an  imprisonment  of  twenty  years  in  the  penitentiary. 

At  the  March  term,  1868,  Squire  Houston  was  indicted 
for  manslaughter,  charged  with  the  murder  of  John  Pearce. 
The  killing  happened  about  four  miles  southwest  of  Mt. 
Sterling.  The  parties  were  about  to  engage  in  a  fight,  and 
Pearce  was  in  the  act  of  taking  off  his  coat,  when  Houston 
struck  him  in  the  neck  with  his  fist,  breaking  his  neck,  and 
.killing  him  instantly.'  Houston  was  tried  at  the  March 
term,  1869,  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  a  year's  imprison- 
ment in  the  penitentiary.  It  was  so  generally  believed  that 
Houston,  who  was  a  quiet,  peaceable  man,  deserved  no  pun- 
ishment, that  judge,  state's  attorney,  jurors,  and  a  number 
of  the  best  citizens  of  the  county,  united  in  a  petition  to  the 
governor,  and  he  was  pardoned  before  he  had  left  Mt. 
Sterling  for  the  penitentiary. 

Henry  Reynolds,  who  had  been  indicted  in'  the  Adams 
county  circuit  court  at  the  September  term,  1868,  for  the 
murder  of  Michael  Kane,  was  tried  before  the  circuit  court 
of  Brown  county  at  the  September  term,  1869,  and  was 
acquitted. 

One  of  the  most  exciting  murder  cases  ever  before  the 
circuit  court  was  that  at  the  September  term,  1869,  in  which 
Anthony  Scheiner  and  Joseph  Daul  were  charged  with  the 
murder  of  Joseph  Christian.  All  the  parties  lived  in  Mt. 
Sterling.  Christian,  a  butcher  by  occupation,  was  the  prin- 
cipal witness  against  Daul,  the  keeper  of  a  restaurant  and 
boarding  house,  who  had  been  arrested  for  the  theft  of  a 
pocket  book  containing  a  large  sum  of  money.  Early  on 
the  morning  of  the  twenty-first  of  August,  1869,  Christian 
was  found  dead  in  an  alley,  shot  in  the  right  side  of  the 
head.  There  had  been  a  circus  in  town  the  day  before,  with 
the  usual  consequent  tumult  and  excitement.  The  fact  that 
Christian  was  the  principal  witness  against  Daul  in  a  crimi- 
nal case  caused  suspicion  to  rest  upon  the  latter  as  the  per- 


petrator of  the  deed.  Scheiner  had  been  seen  running  away 
from  the  place  of  the  tragedy,  and  this  caused  him  to  be 
suspected  as  a  party  to  the  affair.  A  confession  was  ex- 
torted from  Scheiner,  and  on  the  eighteenth  of  September, 

1869,  both  were  indicted.  A  warm  feeling  existed  against 
the  defendants  among  the  people  of  Mt.  Sterling  and 
vicinity,  and  threats  of  lynch  law  were  freely  made.  The 
board  of  supervisors  appropriated  three  hundred  dollars  to 
employ  counsel  to  assist  in  the  prosecution.  At  the  same 
term  of  court  at  which  the  indictments  were  found,  a  change 
of  venue  was  granted  to  Pike  county,  and  there  the  defen- 
dants were  convicted  and  sentenced  to  fifteen  years'  impris- 
onment in  the  penitentiary.  Scheiner  hung  himself  in  his 
cell  after  having  served  only  a  small  portion  of  his  term  of 
imprisonment.  Daul  was  released  by  the  governor  before 
the  expiration  of  his  term. 

James  R.  Galyean,  indicted  at  the  December  term,  1869, 
of  the  Adams  circuit  court  for  the  murder  of  John  S.  Rogers 
on  the  tenth  of  October,  1869,  was  tried  at  Mt.  Sterling 
on  the  seventeenth  of  March,  1870,  and  sentenced  to  twenty- 
five  years'  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary. 

George  W.  De  Witt  was  indicted  at  the  September  term, 

1870,  for  the  murder  of  Edward  De  Witt.  A  change  of 
venue  to  Morgan  county  was  secured,  and  there  the  defen- 
dant was  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  seven  years'  impri- 
sonment. He  was  released  before  the  expiration  of  his 
term. 

William  H.  Stout,  who  was  indicted  in  the  Pike  county 
circuit  court  for  the  murder  of  Thomas  J.  Kimball,  was 
tried  on  a  change  of  venue  at  the  September  term,  1871,  of 
the  Brown  circuit  court.  He  was  convicted.  His  sentence 
was  twenty  years'  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary. 

James  Stinson  was  indicted  at  the  March  term,  1875,  for 
the  murder  of  John  Slegle.  The  defendant  was  never 
brought  to  trial. 

John  B  Atterberry,  indicted  for  murder  at  the  May  term, 
1876,  of  the  circuit  court  of  Adams  county,  for  the  murder 
of  William  Rippen  Crager,  was  tried  at  Mt,  Sterling,  Sep- 
tember, 1876.  The  jury  found  him  not  guilt}'  by  reason  of 
insanity,  from  which  he  had  not  recovered,  and  recommend- 
ed that  he  be  sent  to  the  insane  asylum  at  Jacksonville  till 
his  faculties  should  be  restored. 

The  grand  jury  at  the  March  term,  1878,  found  an  indict- 
ment against  William  Wesley  Howard  for  the  murder  of 
John  Riggall  He  was  convicted  at  the  fall  term,  1878,  and 
sentenced  to  ten  years'   imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary 

John  Barker,  at  the  February  term,  1880,  was  indicted  for 
the  killing  of  John  Lear  and  Berry  Hardy.  A  company  of 
men  were  engaged  in  shooting  at  a  mark  with  a  pistol  at 
Cooperstown,  on  the  7th  of  February,  1880,  when  Barker, 
in  the  act  of  flourishing  the  pistol  carelessly  above  his  head, 
accidentally  shot  one  of  the  men  who  were  standing  a  few 
steps  back  of  him.  Raising  the  pistol  again,  it  was  a  second 
time  discharged  and  the  other  man  was  killed  in  exactly  the 
same  manner  as  the  first  had  been,  receiving  his  wound  in 
precisely  the  same  part  of  the  body.  Barker  was  under  the 
influence  of  liquor  at  the  time.  He  was  tried  at  the  fall 
erm  of  the  circuit  court,  1880,  and  was  acquitted. 


136 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


At  the  April  term,  1845,  Alexander  Orr  was  iudicted  for 
giving  a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel.  The  case  was  continued 
from  term  to  term  till  September,  1846,  when  a  nolle  prose- 
qui was  entered. 

JUDGES  OF  THE  CIRCUIT  COURT. 

The  first  term  of  the  circuit  court  of  Brown  county  was 
presided  over  by  Peter  Lott,  judge  of  the  Fifth  Judicial 
circuit.  He  was  also  the  judge  at  the  second  term  held  in 
September,  1840.  At  the  April  term,  1841,  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  was  on  the  bench,  and  also  held  the  terms  of  court 
in  September,  1841,  April,  1842,  September,  1842,  and 
April,  1843.  Jesse  B  Thomas  was  on  the  bench  at  the  Sep- 
tember term,  1843,  and  the  April  and  September  term,  1844 
Richard  M.  Young  presided  at  the  April  term,  1845.  At 
the  September  term,  1845,  Norman  H.  Purple  took  his  place  on 
the  bench.  He  was  the  judge  at  all  the  terms  in  the  years 
1846,  1847,  1848.  At  the  April  term,  1849,  William  A. 
Minshall  was  judge.  He  presided  at  every  term  of  court 
held  in  Brown  county  during  the  years  1849,  1850, 1851, 
and  18.r»2. 

Pinckney  H.  Walker  held  the  terms  of  court  during  the 
years  1853  1854,  1855,  1856,andl857,  with  the  exception  of 
the  October  term,  1854,  during  which  O.  C.  Skinner  was  on 
the  bench.  The  April  terra,  1858,  was  held  by  J.  Sibley. 
At  the  September  term,  1858,  John  S.  Bailey,  who  had  for 
some  years  filled  the  office  of  state's  attorney,  came  on  the 
bench.  He  held  the  terms  of  court  till  1861,  presiding  for 
the  last  time  at  the  May  term  of  that  year.  Chauncey  L 
Higbee  began  his  judicial  career  in  Brown  county  at  the 
November  term,  1861,  and  was  present  as  presiding  officer  at 
every  term  of  court  from  that  time  till  the  close  of  the  year, 
1877.  Beginning  with  the  March  term,  1873,  Simeon  P. 
Shope  has  presided  at  the  terms  of  the  circuit  court  since  held 
in  Brown  county,  with  the  exception  of  the  March  term, 
1879,  when  Horatio  M.  Vandeveer  was  on  the  bench. 

Brown  county  is  now  included  in  the  Sixth  Judicial  Cir 
cuit,  of  which  the  ihree  judges  are   Chauray  L.  Higbee. 
Simeon  P.  Shope,  and  John  H.  Williams. 

PROSECUTING   ATTORNEYS. 

William  Elliott  appeared  as  state's  attorney  at  the  April 
term  of  the  circuit  court,  1840,  and  filled  that  position  also 
at  the  September  term,  1840,  and  the  two  terms  in  the  year 
1841.  At  the  April  term,  1842,  in  the  absence  of  Elliott, 
James  H.  Ralston  was  appointed  state's  attorney  pro  tempore. 
William  Elliott  was  afterward  present  as  the  prosecuting 
officer  of  the  court  till  the  April  terra,  1844,  when  John  S. 
Bailey  was  appointed  state's  attorney  pro  tern.  Elliott  ap- 
peared at  the  September  term,  1844,  but  in  his  absence  at 
the  April  term,  1845,  James  H.  Ralston  was  appointed  to 
act  in  his  place.  At  the  September  term,  1845,  Jonathan 
H.  Smith  was  appointed  to  represent  the  state's  attorney ; 
at  the  April  term,  1846,  A.  Jonas ;  and  at  the  September 
term,  1846,  John  S.  Bailey.  William  Elliott  served  as 
state's  attorney  at  the  terms  of  court  in  the  years  1847  and 
1848. 

At  the  April  term,  1849,  Robert  S.  Blackwell  entered  on 


the  duties  of  the  state's  attorney's  office,  and  was  present  in 
his  official  capacity  at  every  term  of  court  up  to,  an  i  in- 
cluding, the  October  term,  1852.  He  was  succeeded  by 
John  S.  Bailey,  who  was  the  representative  of  the  state  at 
nine  terms  of  court,  commencing  with  the  April  term,  1853, 
and  ending  with  the  September  term,  1857.  In  his 
absence  at  the  April  term,  _1858,  Carter  Van  Vleck, 
of  McDonough  county,  was  appointed  states'  attorney  pro 
tern.  L.  H.  Waters  was  the  next  state's  attorney.  He 
began  his  service  with  the  September  term,  1858,  and  ended 
it  with  the  November  term,  1860.  At  the  May  term,  1859, 
Carter  Van  Vleck  was  state's  attorney  pro  tern  From  the 
May  term,  1861,  to  the  May  terra,  186 7,  inclusive,  Thomas 
E.  Morgan  was  the  prosecuting  attorney,  representing  the 
state  at  each  term  of  court  except  at  the  November  term, 
1863,  when  William  L.  Vandeventer  acted  as  state's  attorney. 
The  state  at  the  September  term,  1867,  was  represented  by 
L.  H.  Waters,  who  was  also  the  prosecuting  attorney  at 
each  of  the  terms  in  1867  and  1868.  From  the  March  term, 
1869,  to  the  March  term,  1872,  inclusive,  Lawrence  W. 
James  was  state's  attorney,  though  John  S.  Bailey  acted  in 
his  place  at  the  March  term,  1871.  At  the  September  term, 
1872,  William  H.  Barnes  was  state's  attorney  pro  tern. 
Joseph  M.  Lowry  served  from  the  March  term,  1873,  to 
the  March  term,  1875,  inclusive.  John  S.  Bailey  was  the 
acting  state's  attorney  at  the  September  term,  1875.  At 
the  March  term,  1876,  John  J.  Teefey  appeared  as  state's 
attorney,  and  has  discharged  the  duties  of  that  position  at 
each  subseqent  term  of  the  circuit  court. 

PROBATE  COURT. 

The  first  session  of  the  probate  court  of  Brown  county 
was  held  at  Mt.  Sterling  on  the  tenth  day  of  July,  1839, 
Daniel  R  Lucas  was  the  probate  justice  of  the  peace  before 
whom  the  court  was  held.  The  first  action  taken  by  the 
court  was  the  appointment  of  James  W.  Singleton  as 
guardian  for  Henry  D.  Lafayette  Cossett.  The  next  was 
the  appointment  of  administrators  on  the  estate  of  the  late 
Francis  W.  Simpson,  which  was  done  in  the  following 
record : 

"  It  appearing  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  court  of  probate, 
that  Francis  W.  Simpson,  late  of  the  county  of  Brown, 
and  state  of  Illinois,  died  on  or  about  the  13th  day  of  June, 
A.r>.  1839,  and  that  his  widow  having  relinquished  her  right 
of  administration  on  the  said  estate  of  her  husband,  Francis 
W.  Simpson,  and  desired  that  F.  Miller  and  James  R.  Simp- 
son of  the  county  of  McDonough  and  state  of  Illinois  should 
administer  on  said  Simpson's  estate,  ordered  that  F.  Miller 
and  James  R.  Simpson  be  and  are  hereby  appointed  ad- 
ministrators, which  appointment  is  as  follows  : 

State  of  Illinois,   / 
Brown  county,     \ 

The  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  to  all  whom  these  pre- 
sents shall  come  Greeting. 

Know  ye  that  whereas  Francis  W.  Simpson  of  the 
county  of  Brown  and  the  state  of  Illinois,  died  intestate, 
as  it  is  said  on  or  about  the  15th  day  of  June,  a.  d.,  1839, 
having   at     the   time    of    his   decease    personal    property 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


L37 


in  this  state  which  may  be  lost,  destroyed  or  diminished  in 
value  if  speedy  care  be  not  taken  of  the  same,  to  the  end 
therefore,  that  said  property  may  be  collected  and  preserved 
for  those  who  shall  appear  to  have  a  legal  right  or  interest 
therein.  We  do  hereby  appoint  Robert  F.  Miller  aud 
James  R.  Simpson  of  the  county  of  McDonough  and  state 
of  Illinois  administrators  of  all  and  singular,  the  goods  and 
chattels,  rights  and  credits,  which  were  of  the  said  Francis 
W.  Simpson  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  with  full  power  and 
authority  to  secure  and  collect  the  said  property  and  debts 
wheresoever  the  same  may  be  found  in  the  state  and  in  general , 
to  do  and  perform  all  other  acts  which  now  are,  or  hereafter 
may  be  required  of  them  by  law.  Witness  Daniel  R. 
Lucas,  Probate  Justice  of  the  Peace,  in  and  for  said  county 
of  Brown,  at  his  office  in  Mt.  Sterling  this  10th  day  of 
July,  a.  d.  1838,  (signed)  Daniel  R.  Lucas,  P.  J.  P. 

Then  follows  the  oath  of  the  administrators  appointed, 
Miller  and  Simpson,  and  their  bond  in  the  sum  of  eight 
thousand  dollars  with  William  Taylor  and  Sterling  C. 
Simpson,  sureties.  On  the  same  day  Benoni  R.  Parke, 
William  Taylor  and  Robert  Henry  were  appointed  apprais- 
ers of  the  personal  estate  of  the  late  Francis  W.  Simpson, 
and  took  the  requisite  oath,  that  they  would  "  well  and  truly, 
without  partiality  or  prejudice,  value  and  appraise  the  goods, 
chattels,  and  personal  property  "  of  the  deceased,  and  in  all 
respects  perform  their  duty  as  appraisers  to  the  best  of  their 
skill  and  judgment. 

Simpson  must  have  been  a  man  of  considerable  means  for 
that  day.  He  was  a  merchant,  and  carried  on  a  store  at 
La  Grange.  His  personal  estate  was  appraised  at  $3,956  67, 
and  he  owned  a  large  amount  of  land.  There  are  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-three  items  in  the  appraisement  list.  We 
quote  a  few  of  them,  with  the  values  found  by  the  appraisers, 
to  show  the  prices  prevalent  in  those  days  : 

Shot  gun  and  apparatus §-5.00 

Cook  stove  and  furniture 45.00 

Eight  split-bottom  and  five  Windsor  chairs 10.25 

Large  dining  table  and  square  do 11.00 

Set  China  ware 4.50 

Large  gilt  looking-glass  and  tea  board 4.25 

Four  brass  candle  sticks,  tea  board  and  two  paintings  ....  8.00 

Lot  of  books 2.50 

High  post  bedstead,  bed  and  furniture 42.00 

Small  bed,  bolster,  and  two  saddles 12.50 

Eighteen  stands  of  bees 45.00 

Log  chain,  ox  chain  and  grub  hoe 11.00 

Buggy  and  harness 90.00 

Two  horse  wagon  and  breast  chains 85.00 

Seven  acres  standing  corn 49.00 

Gray  horse  and  blaze  face  sorrel  mare 155.00 

Light  sorrel  mare • 85.00 

Spotted  cow 15.00 

Brindle  cow  and  calf 20.00 

Yearling  heifer 5.00 

Cro?s  cut  saw 6.00 

The  appraisers  enumerate  the  articles  belonging  to  the 
stock  of  merchandise.     Among  a  lot  of  muslins,  silks,  linens, 
shirts  and  vesting  are  put  down  as  worth  two  hundred  dol- 
lars. Hardware  at  8376.50.  Snuff  and  toothwash  at  811.50. 
18 


Medicines  at  $25.00.  Queensware  at  $15.00.  A  lot  of  sul- 
phur at  one  dollar,  and  a  quantity  of  magnesia  at  fifty  cents. 
Three-quarters  of  a  box  of  tea  at  seven  dollars.  A  barrel  of 
Malaga  wine  at  $25.00.  4  82  pounds  of  sugar  at  $342.56. 
128  pounds  of  loaf  sugar  at  $24.32.  Box  of  raisins  at  two 
dollars.  3399  pounds  of  coffee  at  $543.84,  and  seven  pounds 
of  indigo  at  $10.50. 

At  the  sale  of  the  effects  of  the  estate,  which  took  place  at 
La  Grange,  on  the  sixth  and  seventh  days  of  August,  1839, 
there  was  some  variation  in  the  prices  from  the  values  as  set 
by  the  appraisers.  The  shot  gun  and  apparatus  brought 
$2.62 J.  A  cask  of  honey  brought  $2.25.  The  Windsor  and 
split-bottomed  chairs  produced  $10  31.  The  set  of  china 
ware  $3.87  i.  The  large  looking-glass  three  dollars.  The 
two  paintings  thirty-one  cents.  The  stands  of  bees  about 
two  dollars  each.  The  buggy  and  harness  one  hundred  dol- 
lars, ten  dollars  more  than  the  appraisement-  The  cow  and 
calf  $17.12.  The  spotted  cow  $16.50.  The  heifer  calf 
$5.13.  The  seven  acres  of  corn  $48.25,  and  one  wagon  and 
two  horses  one  hundred  dollars.  The  stock  of  goods  in  the 
store  was  sold  at  private  sale  for  two  thousand  dollars. 

Property  was  set  apart  to  the  widow  to  the  amount  of  four 
hundred  dollars.  After  making  this  allowance,  the  admin- 
istrators report  cash  on  hand  amounting  to  $172  31.  Their 
other  assets  are  acounted  for  as  follows : 

Notes  on  hand  . $3762  374 

County  orders • 160.00 

Officers'  receipts 2350.19 

Accounts  unsettled 860.94 


$7133.50 

The  notes  were  one  hundred  and  thirty  in  number,  and 
for  amounts  ranging  from  fifty  cents  to  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  Of  these  twenty-one  are  marked  "  doubtful," 
and  an  equal  number  marked  "  desperate."  A  large  num- 
ber of  notes  and  accounts  were  beside  in  the  hands  of  collec- 
ting officers,  nearly  one  half  of  which  were  marked  as  in  a 
doubtful  or  desperate  condition.  Book  accounts  to  the 
amount  of  $668.03  remained  unsettled  in  McDonough  county, 
where  the  deceased  had  evidently  been  previously  engaged 
in  business.  About  one  half  of  these  were  marked  bad.  In 
Brown  county  there  was  $863.04*  on  unsettled  book  account, 
only  about  seventeen  dollars  of  which  was  marked  as  likely 
not  to  be  collected. 

There  was  found  belonging  to  Simpson  in  McDonough 
county  about  eighteen  hundred  acres  of  land,  beside  real 
estate  in  Brown  and  Fulton  counties. 

On  the  17th  of  September,  1839,  it  appearing  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  court  that  Eliza  Jane.  B.  Kendrick  and  Daniel 
Albert  Kendrick,  minor  children  of  Mitchell  Kendrick,  were 
entitled  to  personal  estate  not  derived  from  their  father,  a 
guardian  in  the  person  of  Mitchell  Kendrick,  their  father, 
was  appointed.  On  the  same  day,  in  a  subsequent  order, 
the  same  person  was  appointed  guardian  for  George  W., 
William  Henry,  Wineford  Ann  and  Benjamin  F.,  other 
minor  children  of  Mitchell  Kendrick. 

The  next  estate  which  came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 


138 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS, 


probate  court  was  that  of  Thomas  C.  Tinnen,  who  died  in- 
testate on  the  4th  of  September,  1839.  The  widow  having 
relinquished  her  right  of  administration,  Hugh  Tinnen,  on 
the  28th  of  September,  1839,  was  appointed  administrator. 
John  Price,  Mitchell  Kendrick,  and  Joseph  M.  Phillips,  ap- 
praised the  estate  at  6603.37.  The  most  valuable  articles 
were  the  horses  and  cattle.  At  the  sale  twenty- five  bushels 
of  corn  sold  for  $10.50;  four  sheep  of  the  first  choice,  $9.12  ; 
four  sheep,  second  choice,  $8.50 ;  an  old  white  and  black  cow, 
$10.25  ;  a  brown  cow,  $15.00  ;  two  first  choice  hogs,  $13,00; 
a  gray  filly,  $45.25,  and  a  bay  colt,  $20.75  The  sale  footed 
up  $374.22.  Tinnen  was  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  township  one  south,  range  three  west. 

The  third  estate  before  the  probate  court  was  that  of  Wil- 
liam Thompson,  who  died  on  the  15th  of  September,  1839. 
John  A.  Thompson  ol  Schuyler  county  and  David  C.  Long 
of  Brown  county  were  appointed  administrators.  His  per- 
sonal property  was  appraised  at  $219.25.  The  articles  sold 
on  the  4th  of  January,  1840,  brought  $161.38.  He  was  not 
the  owner  of  a  horse.  The  stock  on  his  farm  was  made  up  of 
two  cows  and  two  calves,  six  sheep,  and  a  lot  of  hogs.  He 
had  two  bedsteads,  three  beds  with  bedding,  and  four  chairs. 
He  must  have  been  something  of  a  hunter,  for  while  his  per- 
sonal effects  were  meagre,  two  rifle  guns  were  appraised  at 
thirty  dollars,  one  seventh  of  his  whole  wealth.  One  of  these 
rifles  brought  at  the  sale  twenty  dollars. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  1840,  the  court  issued  letters  of 
administration  on  the  estate  of  George  W.  P.  Maxwell,  the 
first  circuit  clerk  of  Brown  county,  who  had  recently  died 
intestate,  to  his  widow,  Rosa  Bell  Maxwell.  She  gave  bond 
on  which  Robert  Dawson  and  Samuel  H.  Richey  were  secu- 
rities. A  sale  of  the  personal  estate  was  made  on  the  22d 
of  June,  1840.  Among  the  articles  sold  were  a  number  of 
books.  A  two  volume  edition  of  Shakespeare  brought  two 
dollars,  and  a  set  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries  $5.75. 
Joseph  us  sold  at  $5.50,  and  Bunyau  at  $3.00.  A  copy  of 
"Military  Tactics"  brought  only  sixty-two  cents,  a  circum- 
stance which,  perhaps,  shows  that  the  tastes  of  those  early 
readers  lay  rather  in  the  direction-  of  law  and  solid  literature 
than  war. 

FIRST  WILL  ON  RECORD. 

The  first  will  on  the  records  of  the  Probate  Court  is  that 
of  Robert  Sharon.     It  is  as  follows: 

"  I,  Robert  Sharon,  of  the  County  of  Brown  and  State  of 
Illinois  do  make  and  publish  this  my  last  will  and  testament 
in  manner  and  form  following,  that  is  to  say — First,  it  is  my 
will  that  my  funeral  expenses  and  all  my  just  debts  be  fully 
paid— Second,  I  give,  devise  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved 
wife  Nancy  in  lieu  of  her  dower  the  farm  on  which  we  now 
reside,  situated  in  the  County  of  Brown  and  State  of  Illinois, 
and  being  the  West  half  of  the  S.  E.  quarter  and  East  half, 
of  the  S.  W.  quarter  of  Section  twelve  in  Township  one 
South  of  Range  No.  Three  West,  containing  about  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres  during  the  time  from  my  death  till 
my  second  son,  Ira  Sharon,  becomes  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
and  the  East  half  of  the  S.  W.  quarter,  Section  twelve, 
1  S.  R.  3  W.  during  her  natural  life  and  all  the  household 
and  kitchen  furniture,  beds,  bedding,  &c,  ox  cart  and  choice 


yoke  of  oxen,  four  choice  calves,  twelve  head  of  choice 
sheep,  my  two  mares,  all  the  hogs  on  the  place,  all  my  bees 
and  grindstone  during  her  life  or  wid  >whood,  and  in  case 
she  should  marry  and  if  the  personal  property  hereby  de- 
vised or  bequeathed  to  her  as  aforesaid  be  unexpended,  is 
then  to  go  to  my  children  except  one  bed  and  bedding  which 
she  is  then  to  return. — Second,  I  desire  that  all  the  property 
not  herein  mentioned  to  be  sold  and  the  money  to  be  laid 
out  in  land  by  the  Executors  to  the  best  advantage  for  the 
use  of  my  children  as  they  become  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
and  the  land  if  not  situated  so  as  to  be  divided  the  oldest 
may  take  the  laud  and  pay  the  others  for  their  part  in 
money  as  they  become  twenty-one  years  of  age,  together 
with  lawful  interest  from  the  time  the  laud  may  be  valued 
to  him,  her,  or  them,  and  the  West  half  of  the  S.  E.  quarter 
of  Section  twelve,  1  S.  3  W.  when  my  son  Ira  becomes  of 
age  to  be  divided,  or  one  of  them  take  it  and  pay  the  others 
their  part  together  with  interest  thereon,  and  at  the  death  of 
my  said  wife  Nancy  the  East  half  of  the  S.  W.  quarter  of 
Section  twelve,  T.  1  S.  R.  3  W.  to  be  divided  equally  among 
my  children,  or  if  one  of  them  will  take  it  and  pay  the 
others  their  part  in  money  with  interest,  they  can  do  so  and 
a  final  settlement  all  my  children  to  have  an  equal  share  of 
my  estate,  and  lastly,  I  constitute  and  appoint,  George  Har- 
per to  be  the  executor  of  this  my  last  will  aud  testament, 
revoking  and  annulling  all  others  and  ratifying  and  con- 
firming this  and  no  other  to  be  my  last  will  and  testament. 
In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
seal,  this  seventeenth  day  of  February,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty. 

(Signed)  Robert  Sharon,  L.  S. 

Signed,  published  and  delivered  by  the  above  named 
Robert  Sharon  as  and  for  his  last  will  and  testament,  in 
presence  of  us  who  at  his  request,  have  signed  and  witnessed 
to  the  same. 

Jonathan  Dearborn. 
Philip  A.  House 
Ransom  Kendrick. 

judges  of  the  probate  court. 
Before  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1848  an  officer 
called  a  probate  justice  of  the  peace  was  elected  who  held 
jurisdiction  of  probate  matters.  The  first  probate  justice  of 
the  peace  in  the  county  was  Daniel  R.  Lucas.  He  served 
only  a  few  months.  He  was  succeeded  by  S.  H.  B.  Clarkson 
who  held  the  first  session  of  his  court  in  September,  1839. 
He  was  followed  by  Edward  W.  B.  Newby,  who  was  probate 
justice  of  the  peace  from  1841  to  1847.  Lewis  Brockman 
filled  the  office  from  1847  to  1849.  By  the  constitution  of 
1848  the  county  judge  was  given  charge  of  matters  of  pro- 
bate. Accordingly  since  1849,  the  county  judge,  first  Sam- 
uel S.  Black  and  then  his  successors,  have  had  jurisdiction 
of  probate  business. 

EARLY   LAND   CONVEYANCES. 

The  first  conveyance  of  land  in  what  is  now  Brown  county 
was  made  in  the  year  1817  when  Madison  county  extended 


HISTORY   OE  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


139 


to  this  part  of  the  state.  The  deed  was  recorded  at  Ed- 
wardsville,  and  is  as  follows  : 

"  This  indenture  made  this  thirty-first  day  of  December, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventeen,  between  Francis  David  of  New  London  at  present 
of  the  city  of  New  York,  of  the  first  part  and  Samuel  Beman 
of  the  said  city  of  New  York,  of  the  second  part.  Whereas 
the  United  States  of  America  have  granted  to  the  said  party 
of  the  first  part  certain  Letters  Patent  in  the  words  and 
figures  following,  to  wit : 

James  Monroe,  President  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

"  To  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  Greeting 
Know  Ye  that  in  pursuance  to  the  acts  of  Congress,  appro- 
priating and  granting  land  to  the  late  army  of  the  United 
States,  passed  on  and  since  the  sixth  day  of  May,  1812. 
Francis  David  having  deposited  in  the  general  Land  Office  a 
warrant  in  his  favor  numbered  three  thousand  two  hundred 
and  five,  there  is  granted  unto  the  said  Francis  David,  late  a 
private  in  McKean's  company  of  the  corps  of  artillery,  a 
certain  tract  of  land,  containing  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  being  northeast  quarter  of  section  thirty-five,  of  town- 
ship two  south,  in  range  four  west,  in  the  tract  appropriated 
by  the  Acts  aforesaid  for  military  bounties  in  the  territory 
of  Illinois,  to  have  and  to  hold  the  said  quarter  section  of 
land,  with  the  appurtenances  thereof,  unto  the  said  Francis 
David,  and  unto  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever.  In  testimony 
whereof  I  have  caused  these  letters  to  be  made  patent,  and 
the  seal  of  the  General  Land  Office  to  be  hereunto  affixed." 

Given  under  my  hand  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  four- 
teenth day  of  October  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  seventeen,  and  of  the  Independence  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  the  forty-second. 

(signed)  By  the  President. 

James  Monroe. 

En'd.  Vol.  3,  p.  101,  D.  King. 

Josiah  Meigs,  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office. 

Now,  This  Indenture  Witnesseth  that  the  said  party  of  the 
first  part,  for  and  in  consideration  of  ninety  five  dollars  of 
lawful  money  of  the  United  States  of  America,  to  him  in 
hand  paid  at  or  before  the  ensealing  and  delivery  of  these 
presents  by  the  said  party  of  the  second  part,  the  receipt 
whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged  ;  and  the  said  party  of  the 
second  part,  his  heirs,  executors,  and  administrators,  forever 
released  and  discharged  from  the  same  by  these  presents, 
have  granted,  bargained,  sold,  aliened,  remised,  re- 
leased, conveyed  and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents 
do  grant,  bargain,  sell,  alien,  remise,  release,  convey 
and  confirm  unto  the  said  party  of  the  second  part,  and 
to  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  all  the  said  tract  of  land 
granted  in  and  by  the  said  patent  to  the  said  party  of  the 
first  part,  situate  and  containing  the  number  of  acres  as  in 
the  said  patent  is  described,  together  with  all  and  singular 
the  tenements,  hereditaments  and  appurtenances  whatso- 
ever wise  appertaining  or  belonging,  and  the  reversion  and 


the  reversions,  remainder  and  remainders,  rents,  issues  and 
profits  thereof,  and  also  all  the  estate  right,  title,  interest, 
property,  possession,  claim  and  demand  whatsoever,  as  well 
in  law  as  in  equity,  of  the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  of, 
in,  or  to  the  same,  and  every  part  and  parcel  thereof,  with 
the  appurtenances.  To  have  and  to  hold  the  above  granted, 
bargained  and  described  premises,  with  the  appurtenances, 
unto  the  said  party  of  the  second  part,  his  heirs  and  assigns, 
to  his  and  their  own  proper  use  and  behoof  forever  ;  and  the 
said  party  of  the  first  part,  for  himself,  his  heirs,  executors 
and  administrators,  doth  covenant,  grant,  promise  and  agree 
to  and  with  the  said  party  of  the  second  part,  his  heirs  and 
assigns,  that  he  the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  at  the  time 
of  the  sealing  and  delivery  of  these  presents,  is  lawfully 
seized  in  his  own  right  of  a  good,  absolute  and  indefeasible 
estate  of  inheritance  in  fee  simple  of,  in.  and  to  all  and  sin- 
gular the  above  granted,  bargained  and  described  premises, 
with  the  appurtenances,  and  hath  good  right,  full  power  and 
lawful  authority  to  grant,  bargain,  sell  and  convey  the  same 
in  manner  and  form  aforesaid  ;  and  that  the  said  party  of 
the  second  part,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  shall  and  may  at  all 
times  hereafter  peaceably  and  quietly  have,  hold,  use,  oc- 
cupy, possess  and  enjoy  the  above  granted  premises  and 
every  part  thereof,  with  the  appurtenances,  without  any  let, 
suit,  molestation,  eviction  or  disturbance  of  the  said  party 
of  the  first  part,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  or  of  any  other  person 
or  persons,  lawfully  claimed,  or  to  claim  the  same ;  and 
that  the  same  now  are  free,  clear,  discharged  and  unincum- 
bered of  and  from  all  former  and  other  grants,  titles, 
charges,  estates,  judgments,  taxes,  assessments,  dower,  right 
of  dower,  and  unincumbered  of  whatsoever  nature,  kind  so- 
ever ;  and  also  that  the  said  party  of  the  first  part  and  his 
heirs,  all  and  every  other  person  or  persons  whomsoever 
lawfully  or  equitably  deriving  any  estate,  right,  title  or  in- 
terest of,  in,  or  to  the  hereinbefore  granted  premises,  by, 
from,  under,  or  in  trust  for  them  or  either  of  them,  shall 
and  will  at  any  time  or  times  hereafter,  upon  the  reasonable 
request  and  at  the  proper  cost  and  charges  in  the  law  of  the 
said  party  of  the  second  part,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  make, 
do,  and  execute,  or  cause  or  procure  to  be  made,  done  and 
executed  all  and  every  such  further  and  other  lawful  and 
reasonable  acts,  conveyances  and  assurances  in  the  law  for 
the  better  and  more  effectually  vesting  and  confirming  the 
premises  hereby  intended  to  be  granted  in  and  unto  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  or  by 
the  said  party  of  the  second  part,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  or  his 
or  their  counsel  learned  in  the  law,  shall  be  reasonably  de- 
vised, advised  or  required  ;  and  the  said  party  of  the  first 
part  and  his  heirs,  the  above  described  and  hereby  granted 
and  released  premises,  and  every  part  thereof,  with  the  ap- 
purtenances, unto  the  said  party  of  the  second  part,  his 
heirs  and  assigns,  against  the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  his 
heirs,  and  against  all  persons  whomsoever  lawfully  claiming 
or  to  claim  the  same,  shall  and  will  warrant,  and  by  these 
presents  forever  defend. 

In  witness  whereof,  the  party  of  the  first  to  these  presents 
has  hereunto  set  his  hand  and  seal  the  day  and  year  first 
above  written. 


140 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Sealed  and  delivered  in  the  presence  of  William  Berrian 
and  John  Holt. 

His 

(Signed)*  Francis  X  David. 

Mark. 

[8EAL.] 

Received  on  the  day  of  the  date  of  the  above  indenture 
the  sum  of  ninety-five  dollars  therein  mentioned,  being  the 
consideration  money  in  full. 

His 

Francis  X  David. 

Mark. 

United  States  of  America, 
State  of  New  York. 


ss: 


On  this  thirty-first  day  of  December,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventeen,  before  me 
came  the  within-named  Francis  David  and  I,  being  satisfied 
by  the  oath  of  John  Holt,  of  Xew  London,  in  the  State  of 
Connecticut,  Fisherman,  that  the  said  Francis  David  is  the 
identical  person  named  and  described  in,  and  also  executed 
the  within  deed,  and  the  said  Francis  David  after  having 
the  contents  thereof  proper  and  satisfactorily  explained  to 
him  acknowledged  that  he  executed  the  same  for  the  pur- 
poses therein  mentioned,  there  being  therein  no  material 
erasures  or  interlineations,  I  allow  the  same  to  be  recorded." 
Wm.  Kase,  Master  in  Chaticery. 

Recorded  May  27th,  1818,  in  Book  D,  p.  42,  43,  44  and 
45,  Edwardsville,  Illinois. 

The  following  conveyance  is  the  first  made  and  recorded 
after  organization  of  Brown  county : 

"  Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  we,  William  Por- 
ter, William  Buchanan,  and  Polly,  his  wife,  of  the  county  of 
Brown,  and  State  of  Illinois,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the 
sum  of  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  dollars,  lawful  money 
of  the  United  States,  to  us  paid  in  hand  by  Henry  Chesel- 
dine,  of  the  county  of  Brown,  and  State  of  Illinois,  the  re- 
ceipt whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged,  have  granted, 
bargained  and  sold,  and  by  these  presents  doth  grant, 
bargain,  and  sell,  and  convey  unto  the  said  Henry  Chesel- 
dine,  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever,  the  following  described 
tract  of  land,  situated,  lying,  and  being  in  the  county  of 
Brown,  and  State  of  Illinois,  and  being  one  lot  in  the  town 
of  Mount  Sterling,  and  known  and  designated  on  the  plat  of 
the  original  town  as  lot  No.  forty-one  (41),  fronting  on  Main 
street  sixty  feet,  and  running  back  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  to  an  alley,  together  with  all  and  singular  the  privileges 
and  appurtenances  thereunto  belonging,  or  in  any  wise  ap- 
pertaining, to  have  and  to  hold  the  same  tract  of  land  with 
the  appurtenances  unto  the  said  Henry  Cheseldine,  his  heirs 
and  assigns  forever,  and  the  said  William  Porter,  William 
Buchanan,  and  Polly,  his  wife,  for  themselves,  their  heirs, 
executors  and  administrators,  do  covenant  with  the  said 
Henry  Cheseldine,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  that  they  will  for- 
ever warrant  and  defend  the  title  of  said  premises  against 
all  lawful  claims  whatsoever. 

In  witness  whereof,  the  said  William   Porter,  William 


Buchanan,  and  Polly  Buchanan,  have  hereunto  set  their 
hands  and  seals  this  13th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-nine. 

William  Porter,  [seal.] 
William  Buchanan,  [seal.] 

Her 

Polly  X  Buchanan,  [seal.] 

Mark. 

This  conveyance  was  duly  acknowledged  before  Robert 
N.  Curry,  justice  of  the  peace,  on  the  14th  day  of  May,  1839. 

EARLY   MARRIAGES. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  the  first  one  hundred  marriage 
licenses  issued  after  the  organization  of  the  county. 


No.    Date  of  License. 

1  May  16, 1839  .  . 

2  May -21, 1839  .  . 

3  May  21 ,1839.  . 

4  May  23, 1839  .  . 

5  May  25,1837.   . 

6  Jane  3, 1839  .  . 

8  Jane  6, 1839 .  . 

9  Jane  6, 1839  .  . 
in  Jaly  25, 1839  .  . 

11  Aug.  8, 1839  .  . 

12  Sept  7, 1839  .   . 

13  Sept  11, 1839.  . 

12  October  11, 1839 

13  Oct.  12, 1839  .  . 

14  Oct.  16, 1839  .  . 

15  Oct.  17,  1839  .  . 

16  Xov.  6, 1839  .   . 

17  Xot.  9,  1839  .  . 

18  Dec.  16, 1839  .  . 

19  Dec.23,1839.   . 

20  Dec.25,1839.   . 

21  Dec.  31, 1839.   . 

22  Jan.  8,  1840  .  . 

23  Jan.  14, 1840 .  . 

24  Jan.  14, 1840 .  . 

25  Jan.  23,  1840  .  . 

26  Feb.  7,  1840  .  . 

27  Feb.  10, 1840;.   . 

28  Feb.  15, 1840.  . 

29  Feb.  17,  1840.  . 

30  Feb.  21.  1840 .  . 

31  March  4,1840  . 
32 

33  March  23, 1840 . 

34  March  26,  1840 . 

35  March  31, 1840. 

36  April  2,1840.  . 

37  April  7, 1840.  . 

38  April  14, 1840. . 

39  April  30, 1840.  . 


Parties.  By  Whom  Married       Date, 

r^n^jtn^s  "i**  R-  «•  <*"*  J-  P-  ■  ■  «V  H  !«• 

BSE  &£""•. to  ™*  l«*  J- p-  ■  M»y  I".  183»" 

M°aV"g  .  "  D"id  K»*  '■  *  ■  **  »•  ««■ 
r^nceDFeWhittr,OEm"E1«ah  Bell,  Elder  .  May  26,  1839. 
Edward  Fenwick  to  „__.„  „,„„.  T  D  M._  .*.  ,~~ 
Nancy  Briggs  ....  Erastas  Stone,  J.  P.  May  26, 1839. 

Absalom  Garrish    to  w    —  .  ...     Xf    n    ,         -    ,„_ 

Harriet  Garrish  .  .  .  w-   Echols,    M.  G.  Jane  6,  1839. 

Hiram  Koil  to  Nancv  D  .-  — .  „  T  „  r.._.  <.  t,™, 
McCurdy  .   R  >•  Curry,  J.  P  .  .  June  6,1839. 

Henrv  Jtichev  to  Eli- D   ..    ~ T  D         T«««  ■  iom 

labeth  Sparks .  .  .  .   R-  N  CurrT-  *•  *  •  ■  June  6. 1839- 

^FrancSinDeyT.Weir,M.G.-.  .  .  Aug.  1,1839. 

SEE  EX.  f  i- w-  D-"*> M- G  •  *«»  »■"». 

SSfiS  Glenf.  *  **«.  *  Curry,.J.  P.  Sept.  12,1839. 
%&t  S,OE,i-*-.Weir,  M.  G.  .  .  Sept  13,1839. 
Margaret  %${??.  ?  Hervey  Lester,  J.  P.  Oct  13, 1839. 
^nesVnetaTgdo'S  Elijah   Bell.  Elder.  Oct  17, 1839. 

Michael  Hersman  to  T    TO  n____i u  r>  f\~i    ,-,  n*m 

MaryHulett L.  W.  Danlap,  M.G.Oct  1,,  1839. 

Evan  J.  Deakins  to  „   v.  —  T    „      „_,    ._  1ral 

Mary  Jane  Higgins  .  K.  N.  Curry,  J.  P..  Oct  1..1839, 

fa>mz»"LeeDWat*rS  '°  GranVle  Bond  M.  G.  Nov.  7, 1839. 
»v  Tnn IS  GranVIe  Bond  M.  G.  Nov.  12, 1839. 
fe^ES  ."  <*™tT.  Bond  M.G.  Dec.  19, 1839. 
RurGtennng,e9  .  *  '■  Wor,  Jr..  M.  G.  Dec  24, 1839. 
MaThf  An"' GrU,yte  R  *•  McCoy  M.  G. .  Dec.  25, 1839. 
KAvThb  TodT.  .  ,0  H-  Persinger,  J.  P. .  Dec  31, 1839. 
23? iSX*  Ab!"  «*  W"  Dn»'»P-  M-  «•  '»•  ••  1"°" 
lyUB^lfinMntOP<>1"  H.Caugheno«erJ.P.  Jan.  16,1840. 
(m€1^ ? t°X'9e"  H  Pe™i-ger,  J.  P. .  Jan.  14, 1840. 
JohnW.  Reid  to  Mar- «„_„..  n„„.  .,  r  -_  „  1(u/, 
garet  Brown Gr*nv  le  Bond,  M.  G.  Jan.  23,1840. 

Elihu  S.  Kiuman  to  ,*,.•;„,,  u^n  na—  c.i.  n  ,-,. 
Man-  Jane  Evans  .  .   EI,J»h  Bell>  E,der'  ■  Feb.  9-  184a 

phta!SrisWe"  ?*!"  Wm-  Hobbs.M.  G  .  Feb.  13,  1840. 
Brown"  Fl7'^R*CheI  R  N"   Curry-  J-  P  ■  •  Feb"  16-  1M0- 


John  S.  Rose  to  So- 


Granrle  Bond.  M.  G.  Feb.  20,  1840. 


san  Add  Mobley. 
StaWySmith  '°  ^  H  Pe™°S«.  »•  p-  •  Feb.  26.  1840. 
rnlra^fx^  *"  !*''  L  W-  DanlaP'  M"G-  ***■  «•  1M0" 
MaUui;PWag.'f°'he! <0  ^^i  Kinman,  Elder.  Mar.  7,  1840. 
MaryD.  Keith!*.  *  GranTle  Bond,  M-  G-  Mar.  26, 1840. 
SlEr  BVO^Sf!?  R"  »•  Ca">'-  J-  P"    •  Mmr-  *  1M0- 

LfaLrfT.^ Sarah  R  "■  Carry- J  p  •  ■  Mar- 31- 1W0- 

Ro*t:  Henry  toSarah  EIijah  Be„  ^^      A^M  ,  lgw 

Mto^*!*!  {?  ^t  H-  Persin«eI-.  J-  P"  •  April  12,1840. 
£thGiin?oi0! tU™'  H.Caaghenower.J.P  April  15,1840. 

John  B.  Cox  to  Sarah  D   x-  n,-.*-**   i  v>  i^iMimn 

LuanBridwell..  .  .   R- >■  Curry,  J  P.  .  .  April 30, 1830. 


HISTORY   OF  SCMUYLER    A XI)    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


1  II 


No.    Date  <>f  License. 
II)  May  4,  1840.  .   . 
II  May  14, 1840.  . 
49  .June  8, 1840  .  . 

43  June  11, 1840.  . 

44  June  26,  1840 .  . 
I".  June  29,  1840. . 
H  -Inly  1, 1840  .  . 
4T  July  25,  1840.  . 

48  Aug.  1,  184U  .    . 

49  Aug.  4, 1819  .  . 
BO  Aug.  29,  1840.  . 
51  Sept.  2,  1840  .  . 
69  ^ept.  9,  1840  .  . 
v.  -ept.  10,1840.  . 
M  Sept.  2.".,  1840.  . 
96  -opt.  29,  1840.  . 
611  Oct.  5,  1S40.  .  . 
:.T  I  )et.  19, 1840  .  . 
68  I  let.  15,  1840  .  . 
M  i  let.  17,  1840  .    . 

m  Ootai,  i84ii .  . 

'-1    Nov.  2.18111.  .    . 

62  Not.  14,  1840.  . 
88   Nov.  18,  1840.   . 


64  Dee, 

06  lire. 
M  Dee. 
67  Dec. 
M  Dec 
M  Dec. 

70  Dee. 

71  .1:111. 

79  Jul 

7::  .!:iii. 

71  Feb. 
75  Feb. 
W  Mar. 


7.  18  In 
19,1840  . 
18,1640 
81,1840  . 
a,  1840  . 

24.1840  . 
24.18411  . 

at,  lati. 

27,  1841  . 

28. 1841  . 
5,  1841  . 

27.1811  . 

I'.,  18  11 


77  Mar.31,1841  . 

78  Mar.31,1841  . 
7'.'  April  8,  1841  . 
80_April29.  1841 

81  May  20, 1841 

82  "June  4, 1841  . 
89  June21,1841 

84  June26,l841 

85  July  8,  1841  . 

86  July  17, 1841  . 
S7  Aug.  28, 1841  ■ 
*9  Sep.  9,  1841  . 
DO  Sep.18,1841  . 
•H  Sep. 28,1841  . 

92  Oct,  5,  1841  . 

93  Oct.  9,  1841  . 
H  i 'it.  13,1841  . 


forties.  By  Whom  Married.       Date. 

John  Miller  to  Susan  ,     w  D|ln|flp>  „_  G    May  „_   m„ 

■  l±^F^dy  "?  ^"  «•  ^11".  »■  *  •  **  ".  !»«• 

•  22ft?  WU^  . '°  *  °  »»-«. J-  P  •  •  J"»*  *  »»• 
Jeremiah    Hurley  to 

"  Louisa  Fitzgerald  .  . 

•  Market  ThSmL  . '°  W».  Harper,  M.  G.  .  June 

•  lyBell  ""rSt  '"  K'ni"  Wm'  HarPer-  M-  G  •     •"">'  2-   184°- 

Warner    Hoopes     to  Daniel   Wood,  Elder  ,„,„  on  1EJft 

■  PereillaGitlord  .  .  .  of  Latter  Day  Saints. ,H"5  -'."*'■ 

■^nJ'lZ"^^^  Hartley,  J.  P....  Aug.  2,  1840. 

•  Ja^e  Ellis     B"SS    '"  "•  P»n*«t«.  J-  P.  .  Aug.  0,  1840. 

•  ttrESS*  '. '°  ft^»,to  *•»<>.  «•»•  ■**■  "•  18*>- 

•  S&  tVWuSrtJE*  Green.caf  M.  G.  Sept.  3,  ,840. 

■  ]:;tZ»\  ^igge,°H  '<*■  Harvey,  M.  Q .  Sept.  10,  1840. 
Jae.  YOOBBI    to    J«»H.O.ThOmi»Oi,BI.e, Sept.  IS,  1840. 

'ffiK*-'    «ree»le.f,   M.  G.  Sept.  1,  1840. 
■^e*!toTtoX*f<!0f?1!UH',rU,y',P--  (lot-    *•  184a 

■  nahKinAman   '°  LaVl"  GO-  Wilson-  J'  P'  ■  0ct'    *•  1M0- 
■SiShPiek^',0"-^"^J-  »'■  Oet.H,  184U. 

SSS^  .,2™':'  *-»*  i4»»<i.  «-ft  o*  *»•  ««■ 

■  Marg^  Mon^oLA"  ' >«""''   *>D*  «•  *  °*  *  »* 

•  L'a"i  rUm'22  b°  Si'"  Wm.  Roval.  M.  G.  .  Oct.  21,  1840. 
via  A.tomstock  .  .   .    F  .        chilli     Elder 

Levi  Roberts  to  Mary  ''.,,     r 1.  •  i.vr r» 

■  ,.,„„  iii,,,.  ol  the  (  hureh.of  .le- .-.  ,  .  ,„,„ 
•'■>•>«  Blair BUaChrtotof  L.D.Sts  Ult-  *>    '*4' '• 

.  Elisha  Perry  to  Sarah 

Perry 

D ' u. ,!..+♦,,* -vr„  Lie'aefnd  among  G. 

r-v  ri,omils per*  without  certift. 

•SSabe»TrMS".toH.Per8i„ger,J.P..    Dec.10,1840. 

•  Buliar.l"!'iKgS,"."'"y  H  Peratager.J.  P.  .    Dee.84,1840, 

\n'niiBr,kle!riKK;     '°  H-  ^singer,  J.  P.  .     Dee.31,1840. 

■t^ASg**!  ***«».'■*■■■  »»>*>»»■ 

.  gSJf  'Vn'V  "'  E"*"  Wm-  H'»-l«r,  J.  P.  .    Dec.24,1840. 

•  nl'p'oi^Ann  ii'^Z  H-'nn«l~-r, .I.P.    Dee.24,,84„. 

■^tSS?.^*** .ower,JJ>.  Jan.  7,  18«. 

Simeon     Stevens    to 
'  Elisabeth  Stinson  .  . 

•|in'sh:uvMe0kr  t"''e"Si"lw  Kininan.  M.G.  Jan.  28. 1811. 

■  j\!oMfhdKeith*UOe  '"  Granville  Bond.M.G.   Jan.  28,1841. 

■^  as^  ?r  *■•■»»•.  «■*•  Fe.,  9,  ,84.. 

•  n'e'rvalllilev'y  .".'   "!'  Eaek'l  Mobtey,  M.  O.    Fel,.28,1841. 

■  lirina  ivii'e"  "'.  ^""  Rich.  Ashcroft,  M.  O.  Mar.  14,  1M1. 
1. ,«».,.    ll      l'i..,.    ,.,  Daniel  Wood,  El.ler 

-iSSSLS:  !;::,;y;;; n-nji- ;.;>-.- .^y  ap,^ 4, ,mi. 

'Stev^Kn"I""M:"y-'u,""~  ''  lt«i'l-  T-  I'-  April  1,1841. 
.  gg*    I^^B  '"°  Bob,  N.  Curry,  J.  P.   April  8.  Ml. 

■Wcjsssrvii?**-  »**n*'.*  Apri.29.,8,,. 

■  Ma-v^li'al-'i'l.'teV  II-«  ■!.«^l...«..»-,-r,  .r.l-.   June  8,  ,841. 

■IS    Hii^    ,"Geor,eA,la„,s,J.P.  J„ne22.,8M. 

•  .^:i,r..^i:!x,>.!;:' '•"■*»-».  j-p-  •  *-»»^»- 

•  Sta'MSKS Jo""  Ta>-|or-  * ,;-  • Ju,y  "■ ml- 

•gU'ttaSSralan  '-  w-  r'"'"aP-  M- «'  '«'TW.««- 

•  Swmi  Dwe**0'^  to  H.08nghenoirer, J.P.  Aug.29,1841. 

■ATX1HwS>^l"'ltft'  Sep.,,,,,,,. 
Daniel  Brown  I o  Ma-  ,  ;  Kin,,,.,,,.  c.  p.  .  Sep.  19, 1811. 
]'v  Aim  \\  aglc  ....  K        ' 

Thoma"""    '"    An";,J"lin  Taylor,  M.i...     Bep.9B.U41. 
•fla^toba^l.t°.i,!"Jo*u»TVtor'M-ft'    Oct.  6,1841. 

■  S3? niAS«V. ':'  ^  Ki"raan' c  p-  •  °* + M] 

Bichard  D.  Mathewa  Iol,n  T    ,„    M  f;      ,  ,ct  „•  1841 
to  Baran  Bstea  ...  J 


No.     Date  of  Lii'ense.  Parties.  By  Whom  Married.        Date 

95  Oct.20,i84i enwiMa^oore  '''. '"  '""'  s",l>lu'"^  »■  ''■  ,"'1-  -'■  ml- 


96  Oct.  20, 1811  .  . 

97  Oct.  20,1841  .  . 

98  Oct.  30, 1831  .  . 

99  Nov.  6,  1841  .  . 
100  Nov. 11, 1841    . 


Jonathan  J.  Slites  to  .  ,, 

Lavla.  Wilson  ....  John  Tfty'or'  M-  ft  •    0et  n<  im- 

■  t;;-t.  w!™  * ■«'.  Dunlap,  » .G.  M .21, 1841. 
■llri.'.T'on^^.^H.IVrsingerJ.P.. 

<ieorj?e    Hersmai)  to,    ..,    n 

■  Rebecca  Ann    Knox  u  ""  l)an 

geSea8ian.'  Mor^  ■■»"»  '''^'"'  «•« 


lap,  M.  G.   Nov.  7,  1841. 
Nov.  11,1841. 


VEBDKT  OF  COHONEK  S  JURY. 

The  following  verdict  of  a  jury,  summoned  by  the  coroner 
to  inquire  as  to  the  death  of  Reuben  Smith,  is  found  among 
the  records  : 

""  We  of  the  Jurey,  having  been  duley  Sworn  and  affirmed 
by  James  D.  McPhearson,  Coroner  of  Brown  County,  dili- 
gently to  enquire  and  true  presentment  make,  in  what  man 
ner,  and  by  whom  Reuben  Smith,  whose  dead  body  was 
found  on  the  16th  day  February  1840  in  a  house  of  said 
Smith  (Called  a  Granery)  Came  to  his  death,  after  having 
heard  the  evidence,'  and  upon  full  inquirey  Concerning  the 
facts  and  a  Careful  examination  of  said  body  do  find,  that 
the  said  Smith  aforesaid  in  a  certain  house  there  standing 
and  being  he  the  Said  Reuben  Smith  being  then  and  there 
a  lone  with  a  Certain  hemp  Cord  or  rope  which  he  then  and 
there  held  in  his  hands  and  one  end  thereof  after  being 
doubled  four  times  put  aroud  the  rafter  of  Said  grainery  and 
the  other  end  around  his  neck,  himself  then  and  there  with 
the  Cord  aforesaid  voluntairily  hanged  and  Suffocated  him- 
self under  a  Temporary  fit  of  insauity.  And  so  the  Jurors 
aforesaid,  upon  thier  oaths  and  affirmations,  aforesaid  Say 
that  the  Said  Reuben  Smith,  then  and  there  in  manner  and 
form  afforesaid,  himself  Killed,  Strangled  and  murdered. 
Given  our  hand  this  17th  February  1846. 


Kenneth  McCoy,  Foreman, 
William  Shank, 
Henry  Gyer, 
Oliver  Howes, 
Thomas  Lackey, 

KlNSEY   CLARKSON 


William  Strahan, 
James  G.  Johnson, 
William  Pile, 
William  Slagle, 
William  T.  Gay, 
Joseph  Mahett. 


delegates  to  constitutional  conventions. 

In  the  constitutional  convention  of  1847,  James  W.  Sin- 
gleton was  the  delegate  from  Brown  county.  In  the  conven- 
tion of  1862,  which  framed  a  constitution  afterward  rejected 
by  the  people,  the  member  elected  from  Brown  county  was 
Archibald  A.  Glenn.  In  the  constitutional  convention  of 
1870,  William  L.  Vandeveuter  represented  the  twenty-fifth 
district,  comprising  Cass  and  Brown  counties. 

SENATORS  &  REPRESENTATIVES  IN  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

In  the  Twelfth  General  Assembly,  1840-1842,  William 
A.  Richardson  was  the  senator  representing  Brown  and 
Schuyler  counties.  Harvey  Lester  was  the  member  of  the 
lower  house.  In  the  Thirteenth  General  Assembly,  1842- 
1844,  Jacob  Vendeventer  was  the  senator.  Stephen  D. 
Hambaugh  was  elected  representative  from  Brown  County. 
In  the  Fourteenth  General  Assembly,   1844-1846,  Jacob 


142 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Ynndeventer  was  again  the  senator.  Isa-m  Nye  was  the 
representative.  In  the  Fifteenth  General  Assembly,  1846- 
1848,  John  Brown  was  the  senator  from  I!rown  and  Schuy- 
ler, and  John  Dawson  the  representative.  In  1848  Brown 
county  was  placed  in  the  Sixteenth  senatorial  district.  In 
the  Sixteenth  General  Assembly,  1848-1850,  and  also  in  the 
Seventeenth,  1850-1852,  John  P.  Richmond  was  the  sen- 
ator from  this  district.  In  the  Eighteenth  General  Assem- 
bly, 1852-1854,  James  M.  Campbell  was  the  senator.  In 
the  Sixteenth  General  Assembly,  Jonathan  Dearborn  repre- 
sented Brown  county  in  the  lower  house ;  in  the  Seventeenth, 
James  W.  Singleton  ;  and  in  the  Eighteenth,  John  C.  Moses. 

In  1854  Brown  county  was  placed  with  Adams,  in  the 
Twelfth  Senatorial  District.  In  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth 
General  Assemblies,  1854-56  and  1856-58,  William  H.  Carlin 
from  Adams  county  was  the  senator  from  this  district.  In 
the  Twenty-first  General  Assembly,  1858-60,  Austin  Brooks 
of  Adams,  was  the  state  senator,  as  he  was  also  in  the 
Twenty-second  General  Assembly,  1860-62.  In  the  Nine- 
teenth General  Assembly  Jonathan  Dearborn  was  the  mem- 
ber of  the  House  from  Brown  county;  in  the  Twentieth  and 
Twenty-first,  King  Kerley;  and  in  the  Twenty-second,  Ben. 
jamiii  F.  De  Witt. 

In  1861  the  Twelfth  Senatorial  District  was  changed  to 
include  Menard,  Cass,  Schuyler,  Brown  and  Morgan  counties. 
In  the  Twenty-third  General  Assembly,  1862-64,  Henry  E. 
Dummer,  of  Cjss  county,  was  the  senator  from  this  district; 
in  the  Twenty-fourth  and  Twenty-fifth  General  Assemblies 
1864-66,  and  1866-68,  Murray  McConnell  of  Morgan  ;  and 
in  the  Twenty-sixth  General  Assembly,  1868-70,  James  M. 
Epler  of  Cass  county.  The  Twenty-fifth  Representative 
District  under  the  apportionment  of  1861  comprised  Cass 
and  Brown  counties.  In  the  Twenty-third  General  Assem- 
bly James  M.  Epler,  of  Cass,  was  the  representative.  In  the 
Twenty-fourth,  King  Kerley  of  Brown ;  in  the  Twenty-fifth, 
James  M.  Epler  of  Cass,  and  in  the  Twenty-sixtb,  James  G, 
Phillips  of  Brown. 

Under  the  apportionment  of  1870  the  Twelfth  Senatorial 
District  including  Brown  county  remained  the  same.  James 
M.  Epler  of  Cass  and  Edward  Lanning  of  Menard  were  the 
8enators  in  the  Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly,  1870-72. 
Brown  county  formed  a  representative  district  by  itself,  and 
James  G.  Phillips  was  elected  a  member  of  the  lower 
house. 

Under  the  apportionment  the  Thirty-sixth  Senatorial 
District  comprised  Mason,  Cass,  Menard  and  Brown  counties 
In  the  Twenty-eighth  General  Assembly,  1872-74,  and  in 
the  Twenty-ninth,  1874-76,  Archibald  A.  Glenn  of  Brown 
was  the  senator;  in  the  Thirtieth,  1876  78,  and  the  Thirty- 
first,  1878-80,  Luther  Dearborn  of  Mason ;  and  in  the 
Thirty-second,  1880-82,  Edward  Laning  of  Menard.  The 
representative  District  was  composed  of  the  same  counties, 
three  representatives  to  be  elected.  With  the  exception  of 
the  Thirtieth  General  Assembly,  when  William  L.  Van- 
deventer  of  Brown  was  elected,  the  representatives  of  this 
district  were  from  other  counties.  Under  the  apportionment 
of  1882  Brown  was  placed  in  the  Thirty-sixth  Senatorial  Dis- 
trict with  Pike  and  Calhoun. 


CONGRESSIONAL. 

On  its  organization  the  county  was  in  Third  Congression- 
al district  with  the  counties  of  Greene,  Morgan,  Sangamon, 
Tazewell,  Macon,  McLean,  La  Salle,  Cook,  Putnam,  Peoria, 
Henry,  Knox,  Jo  Daviess,  Mercer,  Warren,  Hancock 
McDonough,  Fulton,  Adams,  Pike  and  Calhoun. 

In  1843  it  was  placed  in  the  Fifth  District  with  Greene 
Jersey,  Calhoun,  Pike,  Adams,  Fulton,  Peoria,  Macoupin, 
and  Schuyler  counties.  In  1852,  under  the  apportionment 
act,  the  district  still  remained  the  Fifth,  including,  beside 
Brown,  the  counties  of  Adams,  Pike,  Calhoun,  Schuyler, 
McDonough,  Hancock,  and  Henderson.  In  1801  the 
county  was  placed  in  the  ninth  district  with  Fulton,  Mason, 
Menard,  McDonough,  Schuyler  and  Pike.  In  the  appor- 
tionment under  the  act  of  1872  the  eleventh  district  was 
composed  of  the  counties  of  Adams,  Brown,  Pike,  Calhoun, 
Greene  and  Jersey. 

The  present  Twelfth  Congressional  District,  formed  under 
the  apportionment  act  of  1882,  comprises  Adams,  Brown, 
Cass,  Pike,  Saott,  Greane,  Jersey  and  Calhoun  counties. 

COUNTY   JUDGES. 

Samuel  J.  Black,  1849-1853 ;  Jacob  Vandeventer,  1853- 
1865;  John  Kendrick,  1865-1873;  William  L.  Taylor, 
1873-1877  ;  Thomas  J.  Russell,  since  1877. 

COUNTY    CLERKS. 

Jacob  Vandeventer,  1839-1842;  John  S  Bailey,  August, 
1842-September,  1842;  Albert  G.  Alexander,  1842-1845; 
George  S.  Myers,  1815-1846;  Albert  G.  Alexander,  1846- 
1847  ;  Robert  ST.  Curry,  March,  1847-Augu3t,  1847  ;    Geo. 
I   S.  Myers,  1847-1850 ;  James  Brockman,  1850-1851 ;  Ben- 
jamin D.  Stout,  1851-1865;  William  L.  Taylor,  J 865-1872; 
i   William  Lee,  1873-1877  ;  George  X.  Henry,  since  1877. 
Of  the  above  clerks,  John  S.  Bailey  was  appointed,  Au- 
gust 11,  1842,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation 
of  Vandeventer,  and  George  S.  Myers  to  fill  the  vacancy 
caused  by  Albert  G.  Alexander,  who  resigned  September 
23,  1845.     Albert  G.  Alexander,  after  being  elected  to  a 
;   second  term,  was  removed  March  2, 1847,  for  "  gross  neglect 
j   of  official  duty."     Robert  N.  Curry  was  appointed  to  fill 
I   the  vacancy.     George  S.  Myers  died  in  1850,  while  in  office, 
j   and  James  Brockman  was  appointed  clerk. 

CLERKS  OF  THE   CIRCUIT  COURT. 

The  first  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Brown  county  was 
George  W.  P.  Maxwell,  who  derived  the  office  by  appoint- 
ment from  James  H.  Ralston,  Judge  of  the  Fifth  Judicial 
Circuit.  He  was  appointed  in  1839.  On  the  30th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1840,  Peter  Lott,  who  had  succeeded  Ralston  as  Judge 
of  the  Fifth  Judicial  Circuit,  appointed  James  M.  Burt,  who 
served  till  the  12ih  of  April,  when  James  Brockman,  an  ap- 
pointee of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  qualified,  and  assumed  the 
duties  of  the  office.  Brockman  held. the  office  till  his  death, 
twelve  years  afterward.  By  the  Constitution  of  1848,  the 
office  was  made  elective,  and  Brockman  was  the  first  circuit 
clerk  elected  by  the  people.  He  died  in  March,  1853.  The 
vacancy  caused  by  his  death  was  filled  by  the  appointment 
of  Robert  N.  Curry,  who  served  till  Archibald  A.  Glenn, 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


143 


who  was  elected  in  November  of  the  same  year,  took  charge 
of  the  office.  Glenn  was  returned  to  the  office  by  successive 
re-elections  till  1864,  when  Martin  Brooks  was  chosen  his 
successor.  He  served  from  December,  1 864,  to  December, 
1872.  George  B  Allen  was  elected  in  1S72,  and  re  elected 
in  1876.  Frank  Orr,  the  present  incumbent,  has  filled  the 
office  since  1880. 

RECORDERS. 

The  Constitution  of  1848  made  the  Clerk  of  the  Circuit 
Court  ex-offieio  Recorder  of  Deeds,  and  this  arrangement 
has  existed  since,  in  counties  of  a  les3  population  than  sixty 
thousand.  John  Putnam  was  the  first  Recorder.  Albert  G. 
Alexander  and  Benjamin  D.  Stout  also  filled  the  office  pre- 
vious to  1849. 

SHERIFFS. 

Elisha  Davis,  1839-1841 ;  Isam  Nye,  1841-1844;  Clark 
Dennis,  1844-1848;  John  L.  McKasson,  1848-50;  John 
C.  Moses,  1850-1852;  William  L.  Taylor,  1852-1854; 
Daniel  J.  Sarratt,  1854-1856;  William  L.  Taylor,  1856- 
1858;  Robert  A.  Cox,  1858-1860;  Emsley  Jackson,  1860- 
1862;  Robert  A.  Cox,  1862-1864;  Thomas  Dawson,  1864- 
1866;  Granville  L,  Kindred,  1866-1867;'  Charles  L. 
Walker,  1867;  John  J.  Leeper,  1867-1868;  Hamilton 
Wash,  1868-1870 ;  Edward  A.  Gordley,  1870-1874  ;  John 
Harper,  1874-1878;  Henry  D.  Ritter,  1878-1880;  John 
Harper,  since  1880. 

Granville  L.  Kindred,  who  came  into  office  in  Decem- 
ber, 1866,  died  shortly  afterward.  Charles  L.  Walker 
was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy,  and  served  a  few  months; 
John  L.  Leeper  was  then  elected  and  served  the  remainder 
of  Kindred's  term. 

COUNTY   TREASURERS. 

Clark  Dennis  was  the  first  treasurer  of  the  county.  He 
was  elected  in  May,  1839.  In  1846  Lewis  Brockman  was 
appointed.  His  successor  in  1847  was  W.  D.  Price,  who 
died  while  in  office,  and  James  Wash  was  appointed  Sep- 
tember, 1848,  to  fill  the  vacancy.  He  resigned  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1849,  when  Clark  Dennis  was  appointed.  Granville 
Bond  was  made  treasurer  in  1850,  and  served  till  1853, 
when  Clark  Dennis  was  made  his  successor.  Dennis  was 
in  office  ten  years,  from  1853  to  1863.  The  latter  year 
Alexander  K.  Lowry  was  elected  to  the  office  ;  he  resigned 
January  16,  1864,  and  Thomas  Howell  was  appointed  to 
fill  the  vacancy.    The  subsequent  treasurers  have  been  : 

Clark  Dennis,  1865-1867;  James  McCormick,  1867- 
1873 ;  Leonidas  Price,  1873-1875 ;  Thomas  S.  Adams, 
1873-1875;  John  R.  Reid,  1875-1877;  Daniel  Six,  1877- 
1879.     Daniel  W.  Miller,  since  1879. 

COUNTY   ASSESSORS. 

The  county  in  1839,  the  first  year  after  its  organization, 
was  divided  into  four  districts  for  the  purpose  of  the  assess- 
ment of  taxable  property.  The  assessors  appointed  by  the 
board  of  county  commissioners  were  S.  H.  B.  Clarkson, 
Robert  Trabue,  Isam  Nye  and  James  H.  McClary.  John 
Sevier  -assessed  the  county  in  1840.     The  assessor  in  1841 


was  James  D.  McPherson,  His  successor  wa3  Green 
Berry  Orr;  but  in  1843  we  find  McPherson  again  in  office. 
Lewis  Brockman  made  the  assessment  for  the  years  1844, 
1845,  1846  and  1847.     William  D.  Price  was  appointed  in 

1848,  but  died  while  in  office,  September,  1848.  James 
Wash  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy,  but  resigned  in 

1849.  His  place  was  supplied  by  Clark  Dennis,  whose  ap- 
pointment dated  from  the  month  and  year  last  mentioned. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Granville  Bond  in  1852,  who  held 
the  office  till  township  organization  was  effected,  when  the 
taxable  property  of  the  county  came  to  be  assessed  by 
officers  elected  in  each  township. 

COUNTY   COLLECTORS. 

The  first  person  honored  by  the  county  commissioners 
with  an  appointment  to  the  responsible  position  of  collector 
of  taxes  was  Harvey  Lester,  who,  however,  declined  the  of- 
fice. He  was  appointed  in  May,  1839.  On  his  refusal  to 
serve  Elisha  Davis,  the  first  sheriff  of  the  county,  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  office  on  the  fourteenth  of  the  next  month. 
He  held  the  office  till  September,  1810,  when  his  place  was 
filled  by  Thomas  S.  Brockman.  Green  Berry  Orr  was  made 
collector  in  1841  ;  Clark  Dennis  in  1842;  (though.  Clark 
Dennis  was  appointed  the  annual  statement  of  the  treasurer 
for  this  year  appears  on  the  records  as  filed  by  Isam  Nye), 
and  John  P.  Nye  in  1843.  Clark  Dennis  then  served  for 
four  successive  years,  from  1844  to  1848,  thus  corresponding 
with  his  term  of  service  as  sheriff.  Thereafter,  till  the 
adoption  of  township  organization,  the  sheriff  acted  as  col- 
lector, John  L.  McKasson  from  1848  to  1850 ;  John  E.  Mo- 
ses from  1850  to  1852  ;  and  William  L.  Taylor  from  1852 
to  1854.  Since  the  adoption  of  township  organization  the 
county  treasurer  has  ex-offieio  served  as  county  collector. 

SURVEYORS. 

George  Harper,  1839-1843  ;  Benoni  R.  Parke,  1843-1853  ; 
James  L.  Bradbury,  1853-1855  ;  James  D.  McPherson, 
1857-1859;  James  L.  Bradbury,  1859-1861  ;  W.  W.  Ken- 
drick,  1861-1863  ;  James  B.  Gilky,  1863-1867  ;  Samuel  S. 
Black,  1867-1869  ;  Moses  Black,  1869-1871 ;  W.  W.  Ken- 
drick,  1871-1875;  Moses  Black,  since  1875.  D.  C.  Mc- 
Kay was  elected  surveyor  about  1855,  but  did  not  fill  the 
office,  shortly  after  his  election  moving  out  of  the  county. 
Samuel  S.  Black  died  in  January,  1869,  while  occupying  the 
office. 

COMMISSIONERS   AND   SUPERINTENDENTS   OF  SCHOOLS. 

James  Brockman  served  for  a  number  of  years  as  school 
commissioner  after  the  organization  of  the  county.  John 
S.  Bailey  and  Samuel  S.  Black  afterward  filled  the  office. 
The  latter  resigned,  and  in  January,  1856,  William  Lee  was 
appointed  to  serve  in  his  place.  Archibald  A.  Glenn  was 
elected  in  November,  1857,  and  served  till  1861.  Alexan- 
der K.  Lowry  discharged  the  duties  of  the  office  from  1861 
to  1863.  William  L.  Vandeventer  was  elected  in  Novem- 
ber, 1863,  and  resigned  the  office  on  the  19th  of  July,  1865. 
James  H.  Wallin  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  made  by 
his  resignation.     John  P.  Richmond  came  into  the  office  at 


144 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS, 


the  close  of  the  year  186-5.  James  Preston  Amonett  was 
elected  in  1873.  George  H.  Lee,  the  incumbent  at  the 
present  writing,  has  been  in  office  since  1877. 


CORONERS. 

Among  the  early  coroners  of  the  county  were  I.  A.  C.  R. 
Shaw,  Milton  Sebastian  and  James  C.  Riggin.  Sebastian 
was  elected  in  1842,  and  Riggin  in  1844.  James  D.  Mc- 
Phersou  succeeded  Riggin.  Silas  Campbell  was  elected  in 
1846,  and  served  for  several  successive  terms.  Charles  R. 
Bovinger  then  held  the  place  for  a  long  time  by  successive 
re-elections.  John  C.  Hedenberg  was  coroner  for  a  few 
months  in  1874,  by  appointment  to  fill  a  vacancy.  Henry 
D.  Ritter  was  elected  in  November,  1874.  He  was  sue 
ceeded  by  Isaac  S.  Whiteside,  and  he  by  the  preseut  coro- 
ner, Benjamin  D.  Stout,  who  has  held  the  office  since  1878- 

JUSTICES?   OF   THE  PEACE. 

Reference  to  the  history  of  Schuvler  countv  will  show  the 
names  of  a  number  of  persons  who  hold  the  office  of  justice 
of  the  peace  in  what  is  now  Brown  county,  while  it  was  yet 
a  part  of  Schuyler.  After  the  organization  of  Brown 
county,  the  following  magistrates  were  commissioned  in  the 
year  1839 :  Garland  O.  Wilson,  Sept.  13th ;  S.  H.  B.  Clark- 
son,  probate  justice;  Harvey  Lester,  and  Joseph  M. 
Philips,  Sept  14th ;  Robert  N.  Curry,  Harvey  Persinger, 
Henry  Cjughennour,  and  Thomas  Davis,  Sept.  17th  ;  Robert 
Trabue,  Sept  23d  ;  Jas  C.  Reid,  William  Barker  and  Tho- 
mas Sewell,  on  the  thirtieth  of  the  same  month.  Eli  Hartley 
and  David  C  Long  also  filled  the  office  of  justice  of  the 
peace  in  this  year.  Fielding  T.  Glenn  qualified  on  the  9th  of 
January,  1840.  Edward  W.  B.  Newby,  probate  justice  of 
the  peace,  qualified  on  the  loth  of  May,  1841.  Thomas  J. 
Rigg  took  the  oath  as  justice  on  the  16th  of  February, 
134-',  and  William  O.  F.  Campbell  on  the  21st  of  De- 
cember, 1844. 

Among  other  early  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  county, 
were  James  Harper,  W.  C.  Hardin,  J.  R.  Briggs,  J.  W. 
Wardwell,  and  John  Haggarty-  The  list  of  justices  com- 
missioned in  1847,  embraced  Lewis  Brockman,  John  C. 
H^enberg,  Jonathan  Dearborn,  John  W.  Price,  Wdliam 
Lee,  John  Lomax,  Emsley  Jackson,  Michael  Summy, 
Samuel  S.  Black,  John  Billiard.  Thomas  Dawson,  Thomas 
M.  Barton,  Arthur  Martin,  Thomas  Wilson,  and  Joseph 
Miller.  Some  of  these  had  served  previously.  Archibald 
A  Glenn  and  John  Chapman  were  invested  with  the  magis- 
trate's office  in  1848. 

The  new  justices  elected  in  1849  were  John  Sevier,  Ben- 
jamin D.  Stout,  Richard  Mars,  J.  J.  Pevehouse,  Isaac  Par- 
ker, Henry  Ausmus,  Bartholomew  Boylan,  Ichabod  Perry, 
Alpius  Brown,  Thomas  C.  Reeves,  George  A.  Taylor,  Tho- 
mas J.  Bradney,  and  George  Windslow.  In  1851  Abel  H- 
Lamphier,  William  H.  Glenn,  and  Morris  U.  Pettis  came 
into  office.  Among  the  new  justices  in  1853,  were  David  P. 
Metcalf,  Willis  Watts,  John  Miller,  G.  M.  Pickett,  Alex- 
der  Montgomery,  and  L.  J.  Hammond. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


BEXVII  ASD  BAR. 


EN  love  liberty  as  they  love  life.  Law 
makes  liberty  possible ;  is  its  guardian 
spirit  and  its  earnest  advocate.  He  is 
the  freest  man  who  least  feels  restraint, 
and  not  to  feel  restraint  is  to  be  so 
disciplined  that  one  acts  unconscious  of 
the  physical,  moral  and  spiritual  restric- 
tions which  hedge  him  about.  It  is  thus 
thai  he  "  looketh  into  the  perfect  law 
of  liberty  and  continuing  therein  shall 
be  blessed  in  his  deeds." 

Patrick  Henry  had  no  juster  conception  of  freedom  when  he 
exclaimed,"  Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death,"  than  had  the 
framers  of  our  government  of  the  means  to  secure  that  freedom 
when  they  enacted  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  land,  "  to 
establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the 
common  defense,  promote  the  general  welfare  and  secure 
the  blessing  of  liberty."  Law  in  its  generic  sense  is  a 
formal  expression  of  authority.  It  is  thus  broad  in  applica- 
tion, '•  sets  empress  over  thrones  and  globes."  But  our  ob- 
ject is  to  show  its  social  functions  and  bearings. 

Nature  fits  man  for  association  with  his  fellow-man,  gives 
him  affections,  desires  and  ambitions  that  can  be  satisfied 
through  no  other  agency,  or  avenue.  History  witnesses  that 
in  all  ages,  under  all  conditions  of  climate  and  vocation, 
men  have  grouped  themselves  into  families,  communities  and 
nations.  These  groupings  have  never  been  mere  social  com- 
pacts, vouchsafing  the  faithful  discharge  of  reciprocal  duties, 
but  result  directly  from  the  human  constitution.  Each  at- 
test the  guiding  hand  of  Him  who  gives  parents  authority 
to  rear  and  discipline  offspring  and  causes  children  intuitive- 
ly to  respect  parental  authority  as  exercised  in  love  and  for  ' 
their  good ;  who  so  impresses  the  community  with  the  desira- 
bleness of  common  purposes  that  instinctively  it  recognizes 
the  necessity  of  harmonious  actions  and  the  just  regards  of 
each  for  the  rights  of  all ;  who  so  constitutes  a  nation  that  it 
dreads  anarchy  as  the  worst  of  political  evils  and  lauds  good 
order  and  wise  government. 

The  human  organism  shows  that  "  in  union  there  is 
strength."  Without  the  natural  muscular  strength  of  other 
animals  we  depend  opon  the  co-operation  of  our  species  for 
protection  against  the  attacks  of  beasts  and  enemies,  and  for 
the  procuring  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  By  means  of  speech 
labor  is  distributed  so  that  a  community  accomplishes  what 
the  individual  cannot  attain. 

This  distribution  cultivates  reason,  increases  knowledge, 
develops  new  industries,  points  out  unsupplied  wants,  keeps 
man  in  a  progressive  condition,  whose  achievements  are  a 
present  satisfaction  and  a  future  incentive.  Our  emotional 
activities  illustrate  the  same  truth.  To  be  banished  and 
exiled  from  home*  to  be  excluded  from  his  kind  has  bereft 
man  of  his  reason  and  speech. 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


145 


Civil  society  is  a  fixed  fact  and  needs  no  argument  to 
prove  its  origin  divine.  We  are  born  into  the  family  mem- 
bership. It  is  our  natural  state  which  we  cannot  avoid  if  we 
would,  would  not  avoid  if  we  could.  It  takes  away  none  of 
our  individual  rights  and  adds  nothing  to  the  privilege  of  the 
masses.  Besides  the  ordinary  elements  of  existence,  society 
furnishes  the  branches  by  which  we  climb  to  a  higher  civili- 
zations, thus  improving  our  own  existence  and  that  of  our 
immediate  dependents. 

A  history  of  civilization,  which  is  but  another  name  for 
law,  only  narrates  the  developments  of  society,  and  the  de- 
ductions of  historians  simply  edify  its  members  as  to  personal 
obligations,  as  to  the  debt  of  gratitude  each  owes  mankind 
and  its  creator.  Disregard  for  the  regulation  of  a  benefac- 
tion, and  disrespect  shown  the  benefactor  has  in  all  ages  of 
the  civilized  world  been  regarded  as  the  gravest  of  moral 
delinquencies. 

As  society  antedates  membership  in  it,  its  regulations  are 
paramount  to  individual  wishes,  and  the  most  fitting  method 
of  discharging  the  obligations  it  imposes  is  to  render  a 
cheerful  acquiescence,  or  patiently  and  unostentatiously  to 
labor  in  reforming  what  is  objectionable.  Each  member  has 
certain  inalienable  rights  as  distinctive,  essentia],  and  God- 
given,  as  those  of  the  mass.  Among  these  are  equality  in 
creation,  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  To  se- 
cure these  rights  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  with 
power  to  suppress  evil,  and  to  repress  the  evil  disposed,  with 
additional  power  to  advance  common  interests  and  individual 
worth. 

Civil  law  is  the  basis  of  civil  government,  hence  is  the 
authorized  expression  of  social  authority  and  rights.  As 
governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  consent 
of  the  governed,  each  citizen  of  the  state  should  recognize  in 
its  constitution  the  protection  of  his  individuality,  the  secur- 
ity of  his  personal  and  political  rights.  Ignorance  of  law  is 
no  offset  for  crime — does  not  avert  the  penalty  for  wrong 
doing.  He  who  is  subject  to  a  despotism  is  very  foolish  not 
to  learn  its  characteristics,  if  for  no  higher  purpose  than  self- 
protection  ;  he  who  is  a  citizen  of  a  republic  such  as  ours,  in 
which  he  not  only  is  political  in  his  personality,  but  helps  to 
construct  the  government  and  administer  its  affairs,  from  a 
moral  standpoint,  is  criminally'negligent,  if  he  fail  to  acquire 
the  necessary  knowledge  for  discharging  the  duties  of  citi- 
zenship. 

Custom  makes  law— precedents  rule  its  administration. 
Before  men  could  make  permanent  records  they  resorted  to 
current  customs  and  traditions  as  the  basis  for  deciding  dis- 
putes. Thus  originated  the  Lex  non  seripta,  the  unwritten 
law.  After  writing  became  established  as  an  art  laws  were 
written,  and  took  the  statutory  form.  Undoubtedly  the 
pivotal  points  of  all  law  are:  1st.  The  nature,  functions  and 
limitations  of  government.  2d.  The  conditions  and  forms 
of  ownership.  3d.  The  relations  of  family  or  domestic  life, 
and  4th,  The  binding  force  of  voluntary  promises  or  con- 
tracts. From  these  centers  the  growth  of  the  law  has  been 
complete  and  varied.  It  presupposes  the  existence  of  a 
supreme  political  authority,  whose  privilege  and  duty  are  to 
prescribe  rules  for  the  guidance  of  its  subjects.  This  implies 
19 


obedience  and  the  possibility  of  violations  with  penalties  to 
guard  against  the  latter.  The  supreme  authority  can  change 
its  laws,  of  course — in  fact,  can  subvert  them  at  the  risk  of 
its  own  existence,  and  is  expected  to  be  continually  devising 
changes  as  the  condition  of  its  subjects  may  demand.  It 
must  also  have  the  right  to  decide  what  are  violations,  and 
to  inflict  proper  punishments.  Thus,  it  is,  that  governments 
are  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive,  the  one  function  be- 
ing easy  distinguishable  from  the  others. 

The  independent  chief  of  an  independent  clan  usually  is 
the  legislator,  judge  and  ruler.  If  he  be  tyrannical  and  pas- 
sionate his  administration  becomes  a  despotism,  for  there  is 
no  political  power  higher  than  his  own,  to  call  in  question 
his  measures  and  motions.  As  society  improves  and  arts  de- 
velop, as  men  "  say  unto  wisdom  thou  art  my  sister,  and  call 
understanding  kinswoman,"  municipalities  multiply,  the 
body  corporate  becomes  more  complex,  its  traditions  more 
numerous  and  less  authentic,  its  customs  more  binding  from 
the  authority  of  age  and  repetition,  its  statutes  more  vol- 
uminous from  the  comments  of  legal  expounders,  the  deci- 
sions of  judges,  the  enactments  of  legislatures;  precedents 
multiply  technicalities,  and  specialists  introduce  terms  mean- 
ingless to  the  unpracticed.  This  is  the  history  of  nations 
and  law.  So  intricate  is  the  jurisprudence  of  a  civilized 
people  that  men  lose  faith  in  the  spirit  of  law,  because  they 
are  easily  involved  in  its  meshes. 

The  laws  of  our  republic  have  to  do  with  the  individual, 
the  family,  the  village,  the  town,  the  city,  the  county,  the 
district,  the  state,  the  national  government,  and  with  other 
governments.  They  have  been  accumulating  for  ages,  have 
a  cosmopolitan  origin,  a  language  that  needs  an  interpreter, 
are  burdened  with  forms  and  technicalities,  and  are  so  mi- 
nute in  details  as  to  render  lawyers  more  than  aconvenience 
— a  positive  necessity.  Laws  are  both  repressive  and  expan- 
sive, are  enacted  to  check  and  punish  crime,  reform  crimi- 
nals, protect  the  innocent,  and  promote  the  general  welfare 
by  advancing  commercial  and  other  interests  The  study  of 
a  lifetime  could  not  master  all  these  details,  tracing  them  to 
their  historical  sources,  and  their  application  to  the  indi- 
vidual. That  all  men  should  know  them  is  patent ;  that  all 
men  cannot  acquire  and  know  them  is  equally  distinct. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  a  class  of  men  who  study  law  as  a 
profession,  that  they  may  place  their  knowledge  thus  obtained 
at  the  disposal  of  such  of  their  friends  and  acquaintances  as 
may  need  it. 

THE  BENCH  OF  SCHUYLER  COUNTY. 

"  Be  it  remembered,  that  the  county  of  Schuyler  having 
been  established  by  an  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Illinois  and  by  said  Act  made  a  part  of  the  First 
Judicial  Circuit  of  said  State,  and  in  pursuance  of  an  order 
of  the  judge  of  said  Circuit,  which  are  in  the  words  and 
figures  following,  to  wit : 

To  the  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  for  the  County  of  Schuyler, 
greeting : 

By  authority  vested  in  me  by  an  Act  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  State  of  Illinois,  I  hereby  appoint  the  first  Thursday 


146 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


in  the  month  of  November  next  for  holding  a  circuit  court 
in  and  for  the  county  of  Schuyler  and  State  of  Illinois. 
You  will  take  notice  thereof  and  govern  yourselves  accord- 
ingly. [Signed] 

John  York  Sawyer, 
Judge  of  First  Judicial  Circuit. 

Thereupon  a  circuit  court  for  the  said  county  of  Schuyler 
is  begun  and  held  at  Beardstown  the  seat  of  justice  in  and  for 
said  county  on  the  4th  day  of  November,  being  the  second 
day  of  the  term  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twenty-five,  in  pursuance  of  the  above  order  and  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  statue  aforesaid. 

Present : — The  Honorable  John  York  Sawyer,  Judge, 
John  Turkey,  Attorney- General,  Pro  tern. 
Hart  Fellows,  Circuit  Clerk, 
Orris  McCartney,  Sheriff. 

The  sheriff  returned  into  court  his  venire  of  grand  jurors 
who  were  regularly  empanneled  and  charged  to  inquire  for 
the  body  of  Schuyler  county. 

The  First  Judicial  Circuit  then  embraced  all  the  counties 
lying  north  and  including  Fayette,  wherein  was  then  located 
the  seat  of  the  State  goverment.  The  court  was  held  in  a 
little  cabin  just  west  of  Pleasant  View  where  the  county  seat, 
(called  Beardstown)  was  located.  The  cabin  was  at  that 
time  owned  by  Samuel  Turner,  for  the  use  of  which  he  re- 
ceived two  dollars  for  three  days'  services  for  court  purposes. 

It  was  made  the  order  of  this  court  that  the  next  term 
be  held  at  Rushville,  on  Friday,  the  4th  day  of  June,  1826. 
There  is  no  record  of  any  court  being  held  at  that  time. 
The  next  term  in  course  was  held  at  Rushville,  October  12, 
1826,  by  Judge  Sawyer.  At  that  term  of  court  Richard 
Cox  was  admitted  and  licensed  to  practice;  Hart  Fellows,  the 
circuit  clerk,  was  appointed  judge  of  probate  for  the  county 
of  Schuyler,  and  Jonathan  Pugh,  in  the  absence  of  the 
attorney-general,  was  appointed  public  prosecutor.  The 
October  term  was  the  last  court  in  the  county  presided  over 
by  Judge  Sawyer.  There  are  but  few  persons  now  living  in 
the  county  who  knew  him  personally,  but  it  has  come  down 
through  tradition  that  he  was  a  rollicking  fellow,  fond  of 
company  and  amusement,  and  much  given  to  lingering  over 
the  wine  and  those  things  which  contribute  to  sensual 
enjoyments  ;  he  was  a  man  of  large,  portly  or,  rather  obese 
form,  a  fair  judge  of  law.  At  best,  in  those  days,  justice 
did  not  sit  enthroned  wrapped  in  the  mantle  of  frigid  dignity, 
nor  have  we  learned  that  the  blind  goddess  was  less  im- 
partial than  at  present.  After  Judge  Sawyer's  retirement 
from  the  bench  he  returned  to  Edwardsville  where  he 
engaged  in  publishing  a  newspaper.  In  1832  he  was  elected 
public  printer  and  returned  to  Vandalia,  then  the  seat  of 
the  state  government.  At  the  May  term,  1828,  Judge 
Samuel  D.  Lock  wood  presided  ;  he  was  one  of  the  judges  of 
the  supreme  court  but  under  the  then  existing  laws  was 
required  to  do  circuit  duty.  He  was  a  man  of  stainless 
purity  of  character,  as  well  as  a  distinguished  jurist ;  he 
came  to  Illinois  at  an   early  period   in  the   history   of  the 


state,  and  was  prominently  identified  with  its  jurisprudence 
for  many  years. 

At  the  October  term  in  the  same  year  he  appointed 
William  Brown  to  prosecute  for  the  people.  Mr.  Brown 
subsequently  became  a  circuit  judge,  and  filled  many  offices 
of  public  trust ;  he  was  a  man  of  brilliant  talents,  and  was 
most  devotedly  attached  to  his  profession.  He  is  still  a 
resident  of  Jacksonville,  Illinois. 

Judge  Lock  wood  presided  in  the  first  judicial  circuit 
until  the  June  term,  1829,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Hon. 
Richard  M.  Young,  who  then  resided  in  Quincy,  Illinois ;  he 
was  also  one  of  the  first  judges  of  the  supreme  court. 

In  1831,  the  act  of  the  General  Assembly  changing  the 
circuits  was  passed  and  approved  February  16th  of  the  same 
year.  It  was  entitled  "An  Act  supplemental  to  the  several 
acts  regulating  the  Supreme  and  Circuit  Courts  of  this  State." 
It  provided,  among  other  things,  "  that  the  chief  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  and  the  associate  justices  thereof,  and  the 
circuit  judge  of  the  fifth  judicial  circuit  shall  hold  the  cir- 
cuit courts  of  the  state  at  the  times  and  in  the  manner  here- 
inafter provided."  The  state  was  then  divided  into  five 
judicial  circuits.  The  counties  of  Cook,  La  Salle,  Putnam, 
Peoria,  Fulton,  Schuyler,  Adams,  Hancock,  McDonough, 
Knox,  Warren,  Jo  Daviess,  Mercer,  Rock  Island,  and 
Henry  constituted  the  fifth  judicial  circuit.  "  Samuel  D. 
Lockwood  shall  perform  circuit  duties  in  the  first  judicial 
circuit;  Theophilus  W.  Smith  in  the  second;  Thomas  C 
Brown  in  the  third ;  William  Wilson  in  the  fourth,  and 
Richard  M.  Young  in  the  fifth."  This  arrangement  of  the 
judicial  circuits  continued  until  1839,  when  an  act  was 
passed  by  the  General  Assembly  creating  more  circuits,  and 
reducing  the  number  of  counties  in  the  old  circuits.  The 
act  was  approved  February  23d,  1839.  By  this  act  the 
counties  of  Adams,  Hancock,  Warren,  Mercer,  Knox,  Ful- 
ton, Schuyler,  Brown,  and  McDonough  composed  the  fifth 
circuit,  Schuyler  county  remained  in  the  fifth  judicial  circuit 
throughout  all  the  changes  from  1831  to  1874,  when  it  be- 
came a  part  of  the  eleventh.  No  change  was  then  made 
until  the  consolidation  of  the  circuits  and  the  creation  of 
the  appellate  courts  in  1877,  then  the  counties  of  Pike, 
Brown,  Fulton,  Schuyler,  and  McDonough  became  the  sixth 
judicial  circuit  in  which  they  still  remain, 

At  the  October  term  of  the  circuit  court,  1831,  held  at 
Rushville,  Judge  Young  appointed  Thomas  Ford  State's  at- 
torney for  the  circuit.  Mr.  Ford  was  an  early  resident  of 
Schuyler  county,  and  was  the  first  successfully  to  prosecute 
the  first  crime  of  murder  in  the  courts  of  Schuyler  county. 
He  was  a  young  man  then  of  fine  talents  and  a  promising 
future.  He  rose  rapidly  in  his  .profession,  became  a-  circuit 
judge,  and  in  1842  was  elected  Governor  of  the  State.  He 
died  some  years  ago  at  his  home  in  Peoria.  At  the  June 
term,  1835,  Hon.  Stephen  T.  Logan  presided  on  change  with 
Judge  Young.  While  Judge  Logan  was  not  regularly  ap- 
pointed to  this  circuit,  yet  we  cannot  refrain  from  making 
bare  mention  of  this  remarkable  man  and  jurist.  He  was  a 
resident  of  Springfield,  (where  he  lived  for  many  years,  and 
where  he  died  a  few  years  ago),  and  practiced  in  this  circuit 
when  not  upon  the  bench.     He  was  a  man  who,  if  he  had 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


147 


any  fine  social  qualities,  they  were  absorbed  in  the  greater 
love  and  enthusiasm  of  his  profession.  His  deep  and  pro- 
found knowledge  of  elementary  law  was  apparently  inex- 
haustible, and  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any  jurist  in  the  west. 
Although  having  for  opponents  and  contemporaries  men  of 
massive  minds  and  brilliant  intellects ;  men,  who  in  after 
years  achieved  honor  and  renown,  and  stood  in  the  very 
front  ranks  of  fame,  yet  when  measured  by  the  incomparable 
legal  mind  of  Stephen  T.  Logan  they  shrink  into  mediocrity. 
It  is  said  of  him  that  his  unerring  mind  never  failed  to  find 
the  true  line  of  equity  in  every  case  in  which  he  was  called 
upon  to  act  or  decide.  Statutes  enacted  by  the  law-making 
power,  precedents  and  decisions  of  courts  were  nothing  to 
him,  but  law  based  upon  the  immutable  and  unchangeable 
principles  of  equity,  everything. 

Judge  Young  continued  to  preside  in  the  Fifth  Circuit 
until  the  March  term,  1837.  He  was  in  some  respects  a  re- 
markable man.  He  is  remembered  as  a  most  excellent 
Judge,  possessed  of  a  methodical  mind  ;  large  in  stature  and 
imposing  in  appearance.  He  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate,  and  served  one  term.  During  the  time  that 
the  state  was  in  the  throes  of  the  " Internal  Improvement" 
question,  he  was  sent  to  Europe  as  agent  for  the  State,  to 
negotiate  and  sell  her  bonds,  the  proceeds  of  which  was 
needed  to  carry  on  the  improvements.  He  failed  to  find  any 
purchasers,  and  returned  home.  After  his  return,  he  was 
made  Land  Commissioner.  He  died  in  Washington,  about 
1850. 

Ho.v.  James  H.  Ralston  succeeded  Judge  Young  in  the 
Fifth  Circuit.  He  held  the  first  term  in  March,  1837,  and 
presided  ^until  1841.  He  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and 
.was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  that  state.  When  he  first  came 
to  Illinois,  he  settled  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  He 
presided  as  Judge  in  the  St.  Clair  county  courts  as  early  as 
1826 ;  subsequently  he  removed  to  Quincy,  in  Adams  county, 
and  continued  to  reside  there  while  upon  the  bench  in  the 
Fifth  Circuit.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  war,  he 
entered  the  service,  and  was  appointed  Quartermaster,  with 
the  rank  of  Captain.  After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of 
service,  he  returned  to  Quincy,  and  remained  there  until  the 
discovery  of  gold  in  California.  In  company  with  others, 
he  went  by  the  overland  route  to  the  Golden  State,  and  set- 
tled in  Sacramento,  where  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  He  amassed  a  fortune  and  rose  to  prominence 
in  his  adopted  state.  He  was  repeatedly  elected  to  offices  of 
high  honor  and  trust.  In  the  winter  of  1870-71,  he  lost  his 
life  while  attempting  to  cross  the  mountains  in  a  terrible 
snow  storm.  He  lost  his  way,  and  when  found,  was  frozen 
to  death.  As  a  Judge,  he  was  just  and  impartial.  His 
scholastic  attainments  were  not  of  a  high  order,  but  his 
native  ability  and  strong  common  sense,  aided  by  extensive 
and  varied  experience,  counterbalanced  the  lack  of  them. 
During  Judge  Ralston's  occupancy  of  the  bench  in  this  cir- 
cuit, Henry  L.  Bryant  was  State's  Attorney.  He  is  a  native 
of  New  York,  and  of  the  same  family  as  the  late  poet  and 
author,  William  Cullen  Bryant.  He  is  a  resident  of  Fulton 
county,  and  was,  for  many  years,  County  Judge.  At  the 
present  time,  he  is  Master  in  Chancery  of  that  county. 


Hon.  Peter  Lott  succeeded  Judge  Ralston,  and  held 
three  terms  of  the  court.  At  the  April  term,  1841,  Hon. 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  presided  for  the  first  time.  He  was  also 
one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  history  and 
subsequent  career  of  Judge  Douglas  is  so  well  known  to 
every  student  of  American  history  that  it  is  needless  to  repro- 
duce it  here.  He  presided  up  to  and  through  the  April  term, 
1843,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Hon.  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  who 
held  the  courts  until  the  April  term,  1845.  Of  Judge 
Thomas,  it  may  be  said  that  he  was  more  of  a  politician  than 
a  Judge.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  fine  appearance  and  com- 
manding mien,  and  whether  in  the  senate,  on  the  bench,  or 
in  a  public  assemblage,  impressed  the  multitude  with  his 
dignified  and  respectful  bearing. 

At  the  April  term,  1845,  Hon.  Richard  M.  Young  pre- 
sided on  change  for  Judge  Thomas. 

During  the  same  year  Hon.  Norman  H.  Purple  was 
appointed  to  the  Judgeship  in  the  Fifth  Circuit-  He 
held  the  first  term  in  Rushville,  in  September,  1845,  and 
remained  on  the  circuit  until  1849.  He  was  a  sound  law- 
yer and  possessed  of  much  executive  abilit}-.  Consequently, 
the  business  of  the  courts  was  expedited,  and  the  docket 
cleared  up  in  what  was  then  regarded  as  a  remarkably  short 
time.  In  his  manners,  particularly  upon  the  bench,  Judge 
Purple  was  gruff,  many  times  to  such  a  degree  that  it  bor- 
dered upon  incivility.  In  consequence  of  this  unsocial  trait, 
he  did,  not  have  that  reverence  and  respect  of  the  bar 
to  the  extent  warranted  by  his  ability  as  a  lawyer.  During 
his  term  as  judge,  James  Johnson  was  state's  attorney. 

In  1849,  at  the  March  term,  Hon.  David  M.  Woodson, 
of  Carrollton,  presided. 

The  same  year  William  A.  Minshall,  of  Rushville,  was 
elected  Judge  of  the  Fifth  Judicial  Circuit  He  was  a  native 
of  Ohio  and  came  to  Rushville  at  an  early  day.  He  repre- 
sented his  district  in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  in 
1848.  He  was  well  educated,  and,  in  addition,  possessed 
much  native  ability.  '  While  a  practicing  attorney,  he  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  bar  of  Schuyler  county,  which  in  that 
day  was  an  exceptionally' good  one.  He  died  before  the 
expiration  of  his  term  as  judge. 

At  a  special  election  called  to  fill  the  vacancy,  Pinckney 
H.  Walker  was  elected.  In  1855  he  was  elected  for  the  full 
term.  He  remained  Judge  of  the  Circuit  until  April  1858, 
when  he  was  appointed  to  the  bench  of  the  supreme  court 
by  Governor  Bissell,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resig- 
nation of  Judge  0.  C.  Skinner. 

The  same  year  Judge  Walker  was  elected  for  the  full 
term — nine  years.  In  1867  he  was  re-elected,  and  in  1876 
again  elected,  and  at  present  still  remains  upon  the  supreme 
bench.  Judge  Walker  is  a  native  of  Kentucky.  He  emi- 
grated to  Illinois  in  1834,  and  settled  in  Schuyler  county. 
In  1838  he  removed  to  Macomb,  in  McDonough  county,  and 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  and  under  the  tui- 
tion'of  his  uncle,  Cyrus  Walker,  a  distinguished  lawyer  and 
advocate  in  the  early  courts  of  the  state.  Pinckney  H. 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  McDonough  county  in  1839,  and 
practiced  in  that  and  surrounding  counties  until  1848,  when 


148 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


he  removed  to  Kushville.  Here  he  continued  the  practice 
until  elected  judge  in  1853.  Judge  Walker  has  been  upon 
the  supreme  bench  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century.  In 
that  time  he  has  acquired  great  legal  learning,  and  his  opin- 
ions and  discussions  are  marked  by  great  clearness,  exhibit- 
ing profound  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  law,  thorough 
research  and  careful  analysis,  and  are  held  in  high  estima 
tion  by  the  bar  throughout  the  state. 

During  Judge  Walker's  occupancy  of  the  circuit  bench 
John  S.  Bailey  was  State's  Attorney.  He  was  a  resident  of 
Mt.  Sterling,  Brown  county,  Illinois,  and  was  there  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1842.  In  1858  he  was  elected  Judge  of  the 
Fifth  judicial  circuit  to  fill  out  the  unexpired  term  of  Judge 
Walker  who  had,  as  stated  above,  been  appointed  and  a  short 
time  after  elected  to  a  position  upon  the  Supreme  bench. 
Judge  Bailey  presided  until  the  October  term  1861.  He  was 
a  painstaking  careful  Judge,  of  fair  legal  attainments,  and 
suffered  as  few  reverses  as  any  of  the  judges  who  had  pre- 
ceded him.  In  184(5  he  removed  to  Macomb,  where  he  yet 
resides,  and  at  present  is  master  in  Chancery  of  McDonough 
county. 

Judge  Bailey  was  succeeded  by  Chancey  L  Higbee  of 
Pittsfield,  Illinois.  He  held  his  first  term  in  Rushville  in 
October  1861,  and  continued  to  be  elected  and  re-elected 
and  presided  until  1877,  when  the  circuits  were  consolidated 
and  the  appellate  courts  were  formed.  He  became  one  of  the 
Judges  of  the  latter.  Of  Judge  Higbee  it  may  be  said  that 
no  Judge  presided  in  any  circuit  in  Illinois  who  gave  such 
complete  and  unqualified  satisfaction,  to  boLh  the  bar  and 
people  as  he  did.  He  is  not  only  a  profound  lawyer,  but 
possesses  executive  ability  to  an  eminent  degree,  and  has  the 
faculty  of  keeping  every  one  about  him  busy  in  time  of 
court,  yet  hurrying  no  one ;  his  exceeding  good  humor,  bland 
•  and  gentlemanly  manner,  keeping  lawyers  and  litigants  in 
the  best  of  humor  at  all  times.  There  is  but  one  opinion 
among  all  classes  in  the  circuit,  and  that  is  that  he  was  not 
only  the  ablest  Judge,  but  the  best  one  who  ever  presided  in 
the  Fifth  Judicial  circuit. 

In  1877  Hon.  S.  P.  Shope  of  Lewistown  was  elected  Judge 
of  the  Sixth  Judicial  circuit  (under  the  consolidation  of  the 
circuits  it  was  changed  to  the  sixth),  and  in  1879  was  re- 
elected for  the  full  term. 


STATES     ATTORNEYS   FOR   DISTRICT   AND   COUNTY. 

At  this  late  day  it  is  impossible  to  get  the  names  of  the 
Prosecuting  Attorneys  for  the  circuit,  except  as  their  names 
appear  upon  the  court  records.  From  them  we  have  made 
up  the  following  names  and  dates : 

John  Turney Attorney  General,  1825  to  1826. 

Jonathan  H.  Pugh 1826,  pro  tern. 

William  Brown 1826,     " 

Thomas  Ford 1831,     1834. 

William  A.  Richardson 1834,    1838. 

William  Elliott 1838,     1844. 

Henry  L.  Bryant, 1844,     1848. 

Robert  S.  Blackwell 1848,     1852. 

John  S.  Bailey 1852,    1858. 

L.  H.  Waters 1858,     1860. 


De  Wilt  C.  Johnston 1859,  pro  tern. 

Thomas  B.  Morgan, I860,     1868. 

L.  W.  James, 1868,     1872. 

E.  P.  Vail, 1872,     1876. 

Sylvanus  B.  Montgomery 1876,     1880. 

Re-elected  in 1880. 

THE  EARLY  BAR  OF  SCHUYLER  COUNTY. 

In  the  days  of  the  first  courts  of  Schuyler  county,  the  bar 
numbered  but  few  members.  They  were  residents  of  Van- 
dalia,  Pittsfield,  and  Quincy.  At  the  first  and  second  courts, 
in  1825  and  1 826,  the  lawyers  were  James  Turney,  Attorney 
General  John  Turney,  Jonathan  H.  Pugh,  A.  N.  Cavarly, 
and  Daniel  Prickett. 

At  the  October  term,  1826,  Richard  Cox  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  of  Schuyler  county.  It  is  not  known  Whether  he 
was  a  practicing  attorney  prior  to  his  admission  here,  but 
presume  he  was. 

One  of  the  earliest  lawyers  here  was  Gen.  G.  W.  P.  Max- 
well He  was  a  resident  of  Ruihville,  and  for  many  years 
the  leading  local  lawyer.  He  represented  Schuyler,  Fulton, 
Knox,  Calhoun,  McDonough,  and  Warren  counties  in  the 
State  Senate,  in  the  session  of  1834-1836.  He  removed  to 
Mt-  Sterling  after  the  county  of  Brown  was  erected,  and 
died  in  Mt.  Sterling  a  number  of  years  ago. 

Adolphus  Hubbard  was  an  early  practitioner  and  local 
lawyer  of  Rushville.  He  came  to  the  county  in  1831.  After 
the  seat  of  government  was  removed  from  Vandalia  to  Spring- 
field, practiced  in  Schuyler  county  and  in  the  Fifth  Judi- 
cial Circuit. 

John  T.  Stuart,  who  is  yet  a  resident  of  Springfield,  com- 
menced the  practice  here  in  1833.  He  is  well  remembered  by 
the  older  residents  of  Rushville,  on  account  of  his  fine  scholas* 
tic  and  dignified  appearance,  fine  apparel,  and  affable  and 
pleasant  manners.  He  represented  the  district  in  Congress 
when  it  was  composed  of  forty-eight  counties,  and  was  then 
the  largest  Congressional  district  in  the  United  States. 

Josiah  Lamborn  also  practiced  here.  He  was  a  fine  ad- 
vocate and  good  lawyer,  but  to  some  extent  marred  his  ex- 
cellent legal  reputation  by'  a  too  free  and  habitual  indul- 
gence in  the  flowing  bowl. 

In  after  years,  other  members  of  the  Springfield  bar  prac- 
ticed here,  conspicuous  among  whom  was  E  D.  Baker,  per- 
haps the  most  gifted  and  brilliant  orator  of  his  day. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  the  emancipator  of  a  race  and  mar- 
tyred President ;  and  others  of  less  national  reputation,  but 
all  good  lawyers,  and  many  of  them  distinguished  advocates. 

The  Jacksonville  bar  furnished  a  number  of  lawyers  who 
followed  the  court  around  the  circuit. 

Of  these  William  Thomas  was  perhaps  the  best.  He  was 
a  painstaking,  careful  and  safe  lawyer,  not  so  brilliant  as 
some  others,  but  always  reliable.  He  was  a  fine  special 
pleader,  and  it  was  exceedingly  rare  that  he  went  out  of 
court  upon  informalities  or  technicalities. 

Jack  Grimshaw  was  a  lawyer  of  considerable  note  forty 
years  ago.     He  was  a  resident  of  Pittsfield  in  Pike   county 
and  was  an  able  advocate  but  not  so  profound   a  lawyer  as 
many  others  who  were  his  colleagues  and  contemporaries. 
At  the  May  term  of  the  court  held  in   1833,  at  Rushville 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


149 


on  motion  of  Gen  G.  W.  P.  Maxwell,  William  A.  Richard- 
son was  admitted  to  the  practice  in  the  courts  of  Schuyler 
county.  Mr.  Richardson  was  born  in  Fayette  county,  Ken- 
tucky. He  received  his  early  educational  training  in  the 
rude  log  school-houses  eo  common  in  the  pioneer  era  of  his 
native  state.  From  them  he  was  transferred  to  the  Walnut 
Hill  Seminary,  where  he  was  prepared  for  entrance  to  Cen- 
ter College,  at  Danville,  Ky.  Subsequently  he  entered  the 
Transylvania  University  at  Lexington,  where  he  remained 
until  he  had  completed  his  junior  year,  then  he  entered  the 
law  office  of  Allen  &  Simpson,  as  a  student,  and  pursued  his 
studies  diligently  until  in  March  1831,  when  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  The  same  year  he  came  to  Illinois  and  settled 
in  Shelbyville,  Shelby  county.  In  the  spring  of  1833  he 
came  to  Rushville  and  opened  a  law  office,  and  in  May  fol- 
lowing was  admi  ted  as  above  stated.  In  1834  he  was  elec- 
ted States  Attorney  for  the  circuit,  and  served  the  people  as 
public  prosecutor  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1836  he  was 
elected  to  represent  Schuyler  county  in  the  Tenth  General 
Assembly,  and  in  1838  he  was  elected  State  Senator  from 
the  district.  In  the  Eleventh  General  Assembly  he  met 
many  of  the  leading  men  of  both  parties  in  the  state,  con- 
spicuous among  whom  were  Lincoln,  Douglas,  Browning, 
Hardin,  Shields,  Baker,  Moore,  French,  Edwards,  Ficklin 
Thornton,  Snyder,  Gridley,  and  others  who  afterwards  shed 
lustre  upon  the  state  and  country.  At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Mexican  war  he  raised  a  company  for  the  service,  was 
elected  captain,  and  led  his  men  through  many  of  the  bat- 
tles, and  skirmishes  up  to  and  including  the  memorable  bat. 
tie  of  Buena  Vista.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned 
home,  and  in  1847  was  elected  to  represent  his  district  in 
Congress.  In  1848  he  was  re-elected,  and  was  continuously 
a  member  until  1856.  He  was  the  Democratic  candidate 
for  the  speakership  of  the  House  in  the  memorable  contest 
of  1856,  and  was  defeated  by  N.  P.  Banks.  He  resigned 
his  seat  in  Congress  the  same  year  to  accept  the  candidacy 
for  Governor,  and  was  also  defeated.  He  was  soon  after 
appointed  by  President  Buchanan,  Territorial  Governor  of 
Nebraska  In  1860  he  was  again  elected  to  Congress, 
and  in  1863,  to  the  United  States  Senate,  where  he  served 
until  1865,  when  he  practically  retired  from  political  life,  re- 
turned to  his  home  in  Quincy,  Illinois,  where  he  remained 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  December  27th,  1875.  He 
is  well  remembered  by  many  of  the  older  citizens  of 
Rushville  and  by  some  of  the  present  members  of  the  bar. 
As  a  lawyer,  he  was  not  particularly  brilliant,  rather  the  op- 
posite, yet  withal,  sound  and  practical.  His  strong  points 
were  his  consummate  knowledge  of  human  nature,  skill  in 
selecting  a  jury  favorable  to  him  or  his  client,  and  his  forci- 
ble manner  of  presenting  his  case.  He  was  large,  well 
formed,  and  possessed  of  much  personal  magnetism.  His 
was  rather  an  indolent  mind,  consequently  his  law  points 
and  citations  were  not  generally  voluminous  nor  the  statutes 
exhausted  in  fortifying  his  case.  Outside  of  the  court  room 
he  was  a  most  genial  companion,  of  easy,  pleasant  manner, 
and  fine  social  qualities  whom  everybody  knew  intimately, 
and  everybody  liked. 

At  the  October  term,  1834,  of  the  circuit  court,  John  T- 


Worthinoton,  and  James  Fairweather  were  admitted  to 
the  bar.  Mr.  Worthingtou  followed  the  profession  of  law 
for  several  years,  then  abandoned  it  and  entered  the  minis- 
try of  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  died  in  Pittsfield,  Pike 
county,  Illinois,  while  engaged  in  his  sacred  calling.  Mr. 
Fairweather  remained  in  Rushville  for  a  few  years,  then 
followed  the  stream  of  emigration  westward,  since  which 
time  all  trace  of  him  has  been  lost. 

Hon.  Cyrus  Walker  was  probably  the  most  able  lawyer 
aiid  advocate  who  ever  practiced  at  the  bar  of  Schuyler 
county.  He  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  was  there  edu- 
cated and  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  came  west  to  Illinois, 
where  his  fame  as  an  advocate  and  reputation  as  a  lawyer 
had  preceded  him.  He  settled  iu  Macomb,  McDouough 
county,  and  attended  the  courts  there  and  in  surrounding 
counties  for  many  years.  As  a  criminal  lawyer  and  prose- 
cutor he  had  no  equal  in  the  state.  His  greatest  effort  at 
the  Schuyler  bar  was  the  successful  prosecution  and  convic- 
tion of  the  McFaddens,  father  and  son,  charged  with  the 
murder  of  John  Wilson.  He  spoke  for  six  hours,  and  his 
speech  upon  that  occasion  is  remembered  as  the  most  power- 
ful and  masterly  array  of  law  and  evidence,  and  the  greatest 
forensic  effort  ever  made  before  or  since  at  the  bar  of  Schuy- 
ler county-  He  is  remembered  by  many  of  the  older  citi- 
zens, who  all  admit  his  superior  ability  as  an  advocate,  but 
are  divided  in  their  opinions  as  to  who  was  the  ablest  law- 
yer, he  or  0.  H.  Browning.  The  latter  practiced  at  the 
Schuyler  county  bar  for  many  years.  Of  this  remarkable 
and  good  man,  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  from  the 
address  of  Hon.  James  W.  Singleton,  delivered  before  the 
court  of  Adams  county,  announcing  the  death  of  that  dis- 
tinguished lawyer  and  amiable  and  exemplary  citizen. 
He  said  :  "  His  domestic  life  was  beautiful  and  exemplary 
Ardent  and  constant  in  his  affections,  he  was  a  most  ten- 
derly devoted  husband  and  father;  to  him  there  was  truly  no 
place  like  home.  He  was  warm,  generous,  and  confiding  by 
nature,  a  liberal  and  unselfish  friend,  a  kind  neighbor,  and 
public-spirited  citizen,  whose  integrity  and  honesty  were 
beyond  question.  Outspoken  and  straightforward  in  all  his 
dealings,  sincere  in  all  he  said  or  did,  wholly  without  guile, 
and  an  entire  stranger  to  duplicity,  and  intrigue.  In  all 
matters  of  public  concern  he  was  conspicuous  for  a  manly 
independence  of  thought,  and  his  opinions  were  always  care- 
fully formed,  fearlessly  expressed,  and  firmly  maintained. 
In  the  Senate,  the  Cabinet,  his  office  or  his  home,  he  was 
always  the  same  accessible,  easy,  and  courteous  gentleman 
towards  all  who  approached  him.  As  early  as  1835  he 
attained  a  high  reputation  for  professional  skill  and  know- 
ledge and  was  retained  in  most  important  cases.  His  early 
success  and  popularity  in  his  profession  was  owing  no  less  to 
his  powers  as  an  advocate  than  to  his  knowledge  of  the 
principles  of  law  and  his  familiarity  with  the  proceedings  of 
courts.  He  possessed  a  naturally  vigorous  mind,  cultivated 
by  close  study  and  severe  thought,  until  it  was  distinguished 
by  the  amplitude  of  its  grasp  and  the  delicacy  of  its  tact. 
He  had  a  most  extraordinary  quickness  of  perception,  united 
to  the  close  and  clear  reasoning  of  the  logician.  He  was 
an  ardent  and  eloquent  speaker,  his  language  copious  and 


150 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER  AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


chaste,  arid  his  arguments  concise  and  forcible.  His  style 
was  manly  and  perspicuous,  evincing  great  sagacity  and 
reflection  by  the  clearness  and  ability  with  which  he  handled 
and  discussed  practical  questions.  He  would  gather  the 
points  involved  in  a  discussion  by  intuition,  and  his  compre- 
hensiveness of  view  always  led  him  to  accurate  generaliza- 
tion. As  a  lawyer  he  would  have  been  called  great  in  any 
age  or  country ;  as  a  citizen,  he  was  watchful  of  its  good  and 
obedient  to  its  laws." 

At  the  March  term,  1837,  Judge  Ralston  presiding,  Wil- 
liam Perkins  and  Theophilus  L.  Dickey  were  admitted  to 
the  bar.  The  latter  was  then  a  young  man  of  brilliant 
talents  and  fine  oratorical  powers.  In  1840  he  engaged  in 
the  newspaper  business  in  Rushville,  but  soon  abandoned  it 
and  resumed  his  profession.  He  removed  to  Ottawa  in  this 
state  a  few  years  later,  and  there  he  has  made  his  home  to 
the  present.  He  rose  rapidly  in  his  profession,  and  in  1876 
was  elected  to  a  position  on  the  supreme  bench  of  the  state 
and  at  present  is  the  chief  justice  of  the  court.  Horace  S. 
Cooley,  a  young  lawyer  and  native  of  Maine,  came  to  Rush- 
ville in  1840,  and  remained  a  few  years,  then  removed  to 
Quincy,  Illinois.  In  1846  he  was  elected  secretary  of  state, 
and  served  under  Gov.  French's  administration.  He  was  a 
well-educated  and  bright  young  man.  A  lawyer  of  the  name 
of  Hewitt,  of  the  Springfield  bar,  practiced  for  several  years 
in  this  court.  He  is  better  remembered  by  his  pleading  law 
in  the  courts  during  the  week,  and  preaching  Campbellite 
doctrine  on  the  Sabbath.  He  was  quite  an  orator,  but  not 
much  of  a  lawyer. 

William  Hinneman,  son  of  Gen.  Hinnemanof  revolu- 
tionary fame,  was  a  native  of  New  York.  He  came  to 
Rushville  about  1850,  and  practiced  law  for  several  years. 

Daniel  T.  Berry  was  a  native  of  Schuyler  county,  and 
was  here  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  went  to  California,  and 
there  died.  Hon.  Jesse  M.  McCutcheon  was  one  of  the 
early  lawyers  at  this  bar.  He  represented  Schuyler  county 
in  the  Eleventh  General  Assembly,  1838-40.  In  1846  he 
abandoned  the  practice  and  engaged  in  farming.  De  Witt 
C.  Johnston  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  there  read  law  and 
was  admitted  to  the  practice.  Prior  to  that,  however,  he 
had  been  regularly  ordained  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and 
was  stationed  on  a  circuit  in  the  Southern  States,  and  for  a 
considerable  portion  of  that  time  was  resident  minister  in  * 
charge  of  a  congregation  at  New  Orleans.  He  came  to 
Rushville  in  1852,  and  a  few  years  later  engaged  in  editing 
a  newspaper.  In  1859  he  was  appointed  States'  attorney 
pro  tern.  He  served  one  term  as  county  judge,  and  also  one 
term  as  county  clerk.  He  was  not  a  profound  lawyer,  but 
rather  a  fair  average  one.  His  strong  points  consisted  in 
his  powers  as  an  orator,  which  were  much  above  the  average, 
and  the  faculty  of  gathering  the  strong  points  of  evidence  in 
a  case,  and  presenting  it  in  a  forcible  manner  to  the  court 
or  jury.  He  was  an  adept  in  the  use  of  language,  in  which 
abounded  beautiful  metaphors,  glowing  and  well-rounded 
periods,  but  which  frequently  lacked  logic,  solidity  and 
compactness,  very  essential  features  when  addressed  to  courts 
or  juries.  He  was  eccentric  in  his  manners,  though  a  kind- 
hearted  and  generous  friend. 


During  William  A.  Minshall's  term  as  circuit  judge, 
Robert  S.  Blackwell  was  states'  attorney.  He  was  an  able 
lawyer  and  prosecutor.  In  1853  he  removed  to  Chicago 
and  there  die*L  He  was  the  author  and  compiler  of  a  text 
book  known  as  "  Blackwell  on  Tax  Titles,"  which  is  re- 
garded as  standard  authority  upon  that  subject,  and  is  held 
in  high  repute  by  the  bar  of  the  state.  In  connection  with 
judges  Seates  and  Treat  of  the  supreme  court  he  compiled 
the  statutes  of  Illinois- 

Between  the  years  of  1840  and  1845  the  witty  and 
eloquent  U.  F.  Snider  practiced  at  the  Schuyler  bar.  He 
was  a  resident  of  Rushville  for  a  short  time,  and  moved 
from  here  to  Charleston  in  Coles  county. 

L.  H.  Waters  was  a  Kentuckian  by  birth  and  a  resident 
of  Macomb  ia  McDonough  county,  when  he  attended  the 
courts  in  this  county.  In  1858,  he  was  appointed  states' 
attorney  for  the  circuit  to  fill  out  the  unexpired  term  of 
Hon.  John  S.  Bailey,  who  had  been  elected  judge  of  the  cir- 
cuit. He  continued  in  office  until  the  fall  of  1860.  Soon 
after  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war,  he  entered  the  ser- 
vice and  was  appointed  and  commissioned  colonel  of  the 
84th  regiment  Illinois  volunteer  infantry.  After  the  close 
of  the  war  he  returned  to  Macomb,  aud  a  few  years  later 
removed  to  Kansas  City.  At  present  he  is  United  States' 
District  Attorney  for  Northern  Missouri. 

Thomas  E.  Morgan  was  a  resident  of  Macomb.  He  was 
elected  states'  attorney  for  the  circuit  in  1860,  and  in  1864 
was  re-elected  and  served  until  1868.  He  was  a  vigorous 
aud  efficient  prosecutor  and  able  lawyer.  He  died  in 
Macomb  a  few  years  ago.  James  Johnston,  a  lawyer  and 
resident  of  Fulton  county,  practiced  regularly  for  some  years 
at  this  bar.  He  was  states'  attorney  pro  tern,  for  several 
terms  of  the  court  while  Judge  Purple  was  on  the  bench. 

William  Elliott  was  a  resident  of  Fulton  county,  and 
was  public  prosecutor  for  a  number  of  years.  He  served  in 
that  capacity  when  Judge  Lott  and  Judge  Douglas  were  on 
the  bench  in  the  fifth  circuit 

Hon.  L.  W.  James,  now  of  Peoria,  Illinois,  practiced  law 
for  many  years  in  Schuyler  county.  He  was  a  resident  of 
Rushville.  He  was  regarded  as  an  able  lawyer  and  an  ex- 
cellent pleader.  He  represented  the  county  in  the  Twenty- 
fourth  General  Assembly  in  1864-66.  At  that  time  he  was 
a  resident  of  Lewiston,  in  Fulton  county.  In  1868  he  was 
elected  State's  Attorney  for  the  circuit.  At  the  close  of  his 
term  in  1872  he  removed  to  Peoria,  where  he  has,  by  dili- 
gence and  the  exercise  of  his  abilities,  risen  to  a  prominent 
position  in  the  profession,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the 
able  lawyers  of  the  State- 
Mr.  James  was  succeeded  by  E.  P.  Vail,  who  was  the  first 
State's  Attorney  elected  under  the  new  law  establishing 
County  Attorneys.  He  was  elected  in  1872,  and  served  until 
1876.  In  1877  he  removed  to  Decatur,  at  which  place  he 
has  built  up  a  reasonably  lucrative  practice. 

James  Laws  Anderson,  an  old  lawyer  and  successful 
practitioner,  was  a  Scotchman  by  birth.  He  came  to  Rush- 
ville about  1840.  He  was  elected  probate  judge  for  several 
terms.  By  his  long  experience  in  that  capacity  he  became 
a  most  excellent  judge  of  probate  law.     He  formed  a  law 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


151 


partnership  with  Hon.  John  C.  Bagby,  which  continued  for 
a  number  of  years.     He  died  in  August,  1865. 

Edgar  Anderson,  his  son,  read  law  in  the  office  of  Bag- 
by  &  Anderson,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1863.  He 
formed  a  partnership  with  his  preceptor  after  the  death  of 
his  father,  and  remained  in  the  practice  until  his  death  in 
1879. 

Henry  S.  Metz  was  a  native  of  Schuyler  county-  He 
read  law  with  Hon.  P.  H.  Walker,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1868.  He  died  in  1881.  He  was  a  young  man  of 
much  promise,  but  unfortunately  had  contracted  habits  that 
led  to  his  untimely  death. 

PRESENT   MEMBERS   OF   THE  SCHUYLER    BAR. 

The  oldest  lawyer  and  practitioner  at  the  bar  in  Schuyler 
county  is  Hon.  John  C.  Bagby.  He  is  a  native  of  Kentucky, 
and  was  educated  at  Glasgow  and  Beacon  College  in  that 
state.  He  read  law  with  Judge  Christopher  Tompkins,  of 
Glasgow,  aiid  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1846.  The  same 
year  he  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Rushville,  where  he 
opened  a  law  office  and  has  continued  in  the  practice  to  the 
present-  In  1874  he  was  elected  to  represent  his  district  in 
Congress,  and  served  with  distinction  in  that  body.  At  pre- 
sent he  is  Master  in  Chancery.  He  is  a  matter-of-fact  law-  ] 
yer,  an  excellent  special  pleader,  and  has  been  for  many 
years  in  possession  of  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  He 
is  recognized  as  the  best  lawyer  at  the  bar  of  Schuyler 
county. 

Hon.  Efhraim  J.  PEMBERTONisa  native  of  Kentucky. 
He  came  with  his  father's  family  to  Schuyler  county  in  1836. 
He  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  1859,  in  the  office  of  ! 
Hon.  D.  W.  C.  Johnson,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
December,  1861.  He  has  been  elected  County  Judge  sev- 
eral terms,  and  at  present  is  acting  in  that  official  capacity, 
in  which  he  has  merited  the  esteem1  and  increased  re- 
spect of  those  who  honored  him  with  their  suffrages. 

Sylvanus  B.  Montgomery  is  a  native  of  Rushville.  He 
received  his  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  town.  He 
read  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  John  C.  Bagby,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  1872.  The  same  year  he  was  appointed 
Master  in  Chancery.  In  1876,  he  was  elected  State's  Attor- 
ney, and  in  1880,  was  re-elected.  He  is  regarded  as  a  vigi- 
lant and  successful  prosecutor  and  good  lawyer. 

Stephen  E.  Carlin  is  a  native  of  Fulton  county,  Illinois. 
He  received  his  legal  education  in  the  Law  Department  of 
the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  graduated 
in  the  class  of  1868.  In  January,  1877,  he  commenced  the 
practice  in  Rushville.  He  is  a  diligent  student,  and  has  a 
bright  future  before  him. 

David  H.  Glass  is  a  native  of  Indiana.  He  was  educated 
in  the  Wabash  College  at  Crawfordsville.  In  1871,  he 
came  to  Mt.  Sterling,  in  Brown  county,  and  read  law  in  the 
office  of  Hon.  William  L.  Vandeventer ;  then  entered  the 
Law  Department  of  the  University  of  Iowa,  at  Iowa  City, 
and  graduated ;  and  was  admitted  to  the  practice  in  the 
Iowa  courts.  He  returned  home,  and  in  1878,  came  to 
Rushville,  and  commenced  the  practice  in  connection  with 
S.  B.  Montgomery.     He  is  of  studious  habits,  and,  in  time, 


we  hope  to  see  him  advance  and  honor  the  profession  of 
which  he  has  become  a  member. 

the  bench  of  brown  county. 

The  County  of  Brown  was  erected  in  1839.  It  comprised 
a  part  of  the  Fifth  Judicial  Circuit,  from  its  first  organiza- 
tion until  1872,  when  it  became  a  part  of  the  Eleventh.  In 
1877,  when  the  circuits  were  consolidated,  and  the  Appellate 
Courts  were  organized,  it  became  a  part  of  the  Sixth  circuit. 
The  first  term  of  the  Circuit  Court  was  held  in  Mt.  Sterling, 
April  6th,  1840  The  officers  of  the  court  were  Hon.  Peter 
Lott,  Judge ;  William  Elliott,  State's  Attorney ;  James  M. 
Burt,  Circuit  Clerk  ;  and  Elisha  Davis,  Sheriff.  At  the 
April  term,  1842,  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  presided  as 
Judge.  He  continued  in  the  circuit  until  the  September 
term,  when  Hon.  Jesse  B.  Thomas  was  appointed  Judge  of 
the  circuit.  At  the  April  term,  1845,  Hon.  Richard  M. 
Young,  who  had  been  Judge  of  the  Fifth  Judicial  Circuit 
from  1829  to  1837,  presided  on  change  and  for  Judge 
Thomas.  On  the  8th  of  September,  1845,  Hon.  Norman 
Purple  came  to  the  beuch,  and  continued  Judge  of  the  cir- 
cuit until  in  1848,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Hon.  William 
A.  Miushall,  who  was  elected  Judge  of  the  circuit. 

Judge  Minshall  died  before  his  term  expired,  and  Hon. 
P.  H.  Walker  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy.  He  held  his 
first  term  of  court  in  Mt.  Sterling  in  April  1853.  In  1855 
Walker  was  elected  for  the  full  term.  In  1858  he  resigned 
the  judgeship  of  the  circuit  to  accept  a  seat  on  the  supreme 
bench,  tendered  him  by  Governor  Bissell.  A  special  elec- 
tion was  called  to  fill  the  vacaucy.  Hon.  John  S  Bailey,  a 
former  resident  and  lawyer  of  Mt.  Sterling,  was  elected. 
He  was  then  serving  his  second  term  as  state's  attorney  for 
the  circuit.  Judge  Bailey  retired  in  1861,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  Hon.  Chauncey  L.  Higbee,  who  continued 
judge  of  the  circuit  until  1877,  or  until  the  circuits  were 
consolidated,  when  he  became  one  of  the  judges  of  the  ap- 
pellate court.  At  the  special  election  in  1877  Hon.  8.  P. 
Shope  was  elected  judge  of  the  circuit  which  had  under  the 
new  organization  been  changed  to  the  sixth.  In  1879,  Judge 
Shope  was  elected  for  the  full  term,  and  at  present  is  one  of 
the  three  judges  who  preside  in  this  circuit. 

As  will  be  seen  by  the  foregoing,  Brown  county  has 
since  its  organization  been  in  the  same  circuit  with  Schuyler 
county,  consequently  the  sajne  judges  presided  in  both. 
We  have  given  a  slight  sketch  of  each  on  the  bench  in 
Schuyler  and  deem  a  repetitun  here  unpecessaiy. 

the  past  bar  of  brown  county. 
The  members  of  the  Quincy,  Pittsfield,  Rushville,  Jack- 
sonville and  a  few  of  the  Springfield  bar  were  the  attorneys 
during  the  first  courts  of  Brown  county.  Prominent  among 
the  foreign  attorneys  who  frequented  the  early  courts,  were 
Judge  0  C.  Skinner,  O.  H.  Browning,  Archie  Williams,  I. 
N.  Morris,  Calvin  Warren,  Jack  Grimshaw,  Daniel  M.  Gil- 
mer, William  Brown,  C.  L.  Higbee  and  members  of  the 
Rushville  bar.  Among  the  resident  lawyers  of  Brown 
county  thirty-five  years  ago,  was  Hon.  John  S.  Bailey.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Mt.Sterling  in  1842.     He  rep- 


152 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


resented  Brown  and    Schuyler   counties   in   the   Fifteenth    | 
General  Assembly,  1846-48.     A  more  extended   sketch   of 
him  will  be  found  in  the  Bench  of  Schuyler  county. 

James  W.  Singleton,  now  of  Quincy,  Illinois,  was  among 
the  early  settlers  of  Mt.  Sterling.     He  was  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile business  as  well  as  the  law.     He  represented  Brown   j 
county  in  the  Seventeenth  General  Assembly,  1850-52. 

James  B.  Moore  was  one  of  the  early  members  of  the 
Brown  county  bar,  and  is  yet  a  resident  of  Mt.  Sterling. 
During  the  late  war  he  raised  a  company  of  men  and  was 
elected  captain.  He  entered  into  active  service  and  did 
gallant  and  meritorious  work  for  the  Union.  After  the  war 
he  returned  home.  He  never  regained  his  practice,  which 
before  the  war  was  extensive  and  lucrative,  and  of  late 
years  owing  to  physical  disabilities  has  been  compelled  to 
abandon  it  entirely.  Thirty  years  ago  he  was  regarded  as 
a  good  lawyer,  and  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  attorneys  in 
this  circuit 

L.  B.  Wheat  came  to  Mt.  Sterling  in  1843,  and  re- 
mained until  1862,  then  removed  to  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 
He  was  a  good  lawyer. 

James  S.  Irwin  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  Brown  county 
in  1842,  and  remained  in  the  practice  here  until  1862,  when 
he  removed  to  Pittsfield,  in  Pike  county,  Ills.,  where  he 
still  resides  and  practices  his  profession.  He  is  a  man  of 
considerable  ability  and  legal  information,  and  is  one  of  the 
leading  s.nd  prominent  attorneys  of  Pike  county. 

A  young  man  by  the  name  of  Thomas  Payne  practiced 
law  in  Mt.  Sterling  about  the  year  1848.  He  remained  but 
a  short  time. 

William  C.  Wagley,  of  Warsaw,  Ills.,  practiced  in  the 
courts  of  this  county  from  1848  to  1852. 

William  L.  and  Eugene  Gross,  brothers,  both  lawyers, 
came  to  Mt.  Sterling  and  remained  until  1858  or  1859,  then 
removed  to  Springfield. 

A  lawyer  by  the  name  of  Peter  Staats  came  to  Mt.  Ster- 
ling in  1872,  and  remained  here  a  short  time ;  then  removed 
to  Pike  county. 

The  county  has  not  been  prolific  of  lawyers,  and  at  no 
time  has  the  profession  been  over-crowded,  as  in  most 
counties. 

present  members  of  the  bar. 

Hon.  William  L.  Vandeventer,  may  be  regarded  as  the 
oldest  practitioner  at  the  Brown  county  bar.  He  is  a  native 
of  Mt.  Sterling,  and  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
and  academy  of  his  native  town.  The  most  of  his  education 
is  self-culture.  In  1857  he  commenced  reading  law  in  the 
office  of  L.  B.  Wheat,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  Septem- 
ber 17th,  1859,  and  immmediately  thereafter  commenced 
the  practice  in  Brown  and  surrounding  counties.  He  rose 
rapidly  in  his  profession,  and  is  now  confessedly  at  the  head 
of  the  bar  in  his  native  county.  In  1861  he  was  appointed 
master  in  chancery,  and  has  held  the  office  up  to  the  present. 


He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1870-71,  'and  in  1876  represented  his  district  in  the 
Legislature.  He  is  an  able  lawyer  and  a  superior  advo- 
cate. 

Nelson  Loa'ett  is  a  native  of  Maine,  and  was  educated  in 
the  Gorham  Seminary.  He  came  west  to  Bloomington,  Illi- 
nois, and  there  read  law  in  the  office  of  General  Asahel 
Gridley.  Subsequently  he  read  law  in  the  office  of  Hon. 
Amasi  Mc  Williams,  of  the  same  city,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1853.  He  commenced  the  practice  in  Mt.  Ster- 
ling in  1860.  He  has  confined  himself  to  the  general  prac- 
tice, in  which  he  has  been  very  successful. 

Alexander  H  Lowry  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  He 
came  west  at  an  early  age,  and  settled  in  Powesheik  county, 
Iowa,  where  he  read  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He 
commenced  the  practice  in  McDonough  county,  Illinois.  In 
1861  he  came  to  Mt.  Sterling.  The  same  year  he  was  elected 
county  superintendent  of  schools.  In  1863  he  was  elected 
couuty  treasurer,  but  soon  after  resigned  and  went  to  Cali- 
fornia. He  returned  to  Mr.  Sterling  in  1867,  and  resumed 
the  practice  of  law.  He  has  no  specialties,  but  engages  in 
the  general  practice. 

Joseph  M.  Lowry  read  law  in  the  office  of  A.  H.  Lowry 
and  was  admitted  to  the  practice  in  Brown  county.  In 
1872  he  was  elected  States'  Attorney  for  the  county,  but  re- 
signed before  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  He  has 
since  that  time  abandoned  the  practice. 

John  J.  Teefey,  the  present  efficient  States'  Attorney,  is  a 
native  of  Ireland.  The  family  emigrated  to  America  and  set- 
tled in  Brown  county  while  he  was  yet  young.  He  read  law 
in  the  office  of  Nelson  Loveitt  of  Mt.  Sterling  then  entered 
the  law  department  of  the  University  of  Iowa,  at  Iowa  City, 
and  graduated  in  the  class  of  1874.  The  same  year  he  com- 
menced the  practice  in  Mt.  Sterling.  In  1875  he  was  elected 
to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  office  of  States'  Attorney,  caused  by 
the  resignation  of  "Joseph  M.  Lowry.  In  1876  he  was  elec- 
ted for  the  full  term,  and  in  1880  reelected.  He  is  an  able, 
vigilant  and  successful  prosecutor. 

John  J.  McDannold  is  a  native  of  Illinois.  He  received 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  Quincy.  In  1872  he 
entered  the  Law  School  in  the  Iowa  State  University,  and 
graduated  in  June,  1874.  He  commenced  the  practice  in 
Mt.  Sterling  the  same  year.  He  is  a  young  lawyer  of  much 
promise.  At  present  he  is  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Mt.  Ster- 
ling. 

This,  in  brief,  is  a  sketch  of  the  past  and  present  bench 
and  bar  of  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties.  We  have  gleaned 
much  of  this  information  from  the  records  and  the  best  re- 
collections of  the  present  inhabitants  and  old  settlers  of  both 
I  counties.  We  have  carefully  refrained  from  fulsome  praise 
of  any  one,  believing  that  it  is  not  coveted  by  the  scholarly 
or  refined  mind.  The  profession  of  law  is  unlike  any  other. 
Nothing  but  true  merit  will  win  in  it.  The  law  is  a  jealous 
mistress,  and  requires  from  her  devotees  their  undivided  at- 
tention, best  thoughts  and  energies  if  they  would  succeed. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


153 


CHAPTER  X. 


THE  PRESS.     • 


BY   D.   MACKENZIE. 


it|P 


^ 


The  Rushville  Journal  and  Military  Tract  Advertiser,  The  Schuyler 
Advocate,  Illinois  Republican,  The  Rush rille  Whig,  Prairie  Telegraph, 
Rushville  Times,  The  Schuyler  Democrat,  The  Schuyler  Citizen,  Prairie 
Pioneer,  Mount  Sterling,  Democrat,  Mount  Sterling  Chronotype,  The 
Western  Spy,  Mount  Sterlingl'nion,  The  Mount  Sterling  Record,  Weekly 
Gazette,  The  Mount  Sterling  Weekly  Gazette,  Brown  County  Democrat, 
Illinois  Weekly  Message,  Brown  County  Republican,  The  Versailles 
Weekly  Independent,  The  Brown  Comity  Gazette,  The  Farmer. 


E  are  particularly  indebted  to  Edwin 
Dyson,  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Rush- 
ville Times,  for  facts  and  dates  relating 
to  the  early  history  of  the  press  in 
Schuyler  and  Brown  counties,  who 
kindly  placed  at  our  disposal  copies  of 
the  first  newspaper  published  in  Schuy- 
ler and  surrounding  counties.  From 
them  we  have  gleaned  much  of  the  in- 
formation composed  in  this  chapter. 
We  also  desire  to  extend  our  thanks  to  Mr.  Larash,  of  the 
Citizen,  and  G.  W.  Scripps,  its  former  editor  and  publisher, 
for  valuable  information.  In  Brown  county,  we  were  placed 
under  obligations  to  Eugene  C.  Brockman,  editor  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  Illinois  Weekly  Message,  at  Mt.  Sterling,  who 
gave  us  access  to  complete  files  of  nearly  all  the  papers  pub- 
lished in  the  county.  From  them  we  learned  much  of  the 
early  history  and  trials  attending  the  first  attempt  to  estab- 
lish a  newspaper  in  Brown  county.  We  also  desire  to  ex- 
tend our  thanks  to  Hamilton  Wash,  James  Wash,  John  J. 
Teefey,  H.  K.  Davis,  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Democrat. 
Turner,  Bros.,  publishers  of  the  Gazette,  and  others  for  in- 
formation which  has  enabled  us  to  trace  the  history 
of  newspapers  from  their  first  establishment  in  the  county  in 
the  year  1835,  down  to  the  present  time,  and  present  it  in 
such  a  shape  as  we  hope  will  prove  acceptable  to  our  many 
readers. 

That  portion  of  Illinois  known  as  the  "  military  district," 
in  which  is  embraced  both  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties, 
was  settled  earlier  thau  many  other  portions  of  the  State 
lying  as  far  north.  Rushville,  the  county  seat  of  Schuyler 
county,  forty  years  ago,  was,  to  some  extent  the  metropolis 
of  western  Illinois,  and  for  some  years  it  was  a  mixed 
question  whether  it,  Peoria  or  Chicago,  would  become  the 
metropolis  of  the  great  west.  As  early  as  1836,  it  contained 
a  population  of  fifteen  hundred  inhabitants.  It  was  then 
the  distributing  point  for  emigrants  seeking  homes  in  the 
northern  and  western  part  of  the  country.  In  its  laudable 
efforts  to  become  the  metropolis  of  the  west  a  newspaper  was 
an  important  and  almost  indispensable  auxiliary  to  that 
end,  therefore  at  a  comparatively  early  date  an  enterprise 
looking  to  the  establishment  of  a  newspaper  was  set  on  foot. 
Prior  to  this  time  the  Missouri  Republican  was  the  only 
paper  that  had  any  circulation  in  the  "  district,"  and  upon 
20 


it  the  people  depended  for  their  information  from  the  out- 
side world.  That  was  in  the  days  of  stage  coaches,  con- 
sequently news  was  four  or  five  days  old  upon  its  arrival  in 
Rushville. 

On  the  16th  of  May,  1835,  the  first  paper  ever  printed 
within  the  present  confines  of  Schuyler  county  was  issued. 
It  bore  the  name  of 

THE   RUSHVILLE   JOURNAL    AND   MILITARY   TRACT 
ADVERTISER. 

In  form  it  was  a  five  column  folio  with  wide  columns.  It 
was  organized  by  private  capital,  based  upon  a  certain 
amount  of  subscription  pledged  by  business  men  and  others. 
It  was  edited  and  published  by  G.  W.  Davis  &  Co.  G.  W. 
Davis  was  a  practical  printer.  He  lived  in  Cape  Girardeau, 
Mo.  He  bought  the  press  in  St.  Louis,  and  brought  it  here. 
R.  W.  Renfroe  was  the  company.  He  was  a  young  man. 
Abraham  Marshall,  a  lawyer,  did  the  principal  editing,  and 
he  was  assisted  by  others.  The  first  page  of  the  paper  was 
well  filled  with  local  and  a  few  foreign  advertisements,  and 
professional  cards.  Number  twenty-four,  of  volume  one, 
contained  the  tax  list  of  lands  advertised  to  be  sold  for  the 
non-payment  of  taxes.  Number  thirty-three  contained  Gov- 
ernor Duncan's  message  to  the  Legislature.  We  also  see  by 
the  columns  of  the  Journal  that  as  early  as  1835  Rushville 
was  agitating  the  question  of  building  a  railroad. 

The  citizens  then  realized  the  immense  advantage  result- 
ing from_these  great  thoroughfares  in  furnishing  an  outlet  for 
the  surplus  products  of  the  soil  and  means  of  quick  communi- 
cation between  distant  points.  But  for  some  cause  unknown 
to  the  writer  Rushville  was  doomed  for  many  years  there- 
after to  be  an  inland  town,  which  fact  we  presume  had  much 
to  do  in  retarding  its  growth  and  preventing  the  fruition  of 
its  hopes  of  being  the  proud  metropolis  of  the  west. 

A  few  months  after  the  paper  was  started  it  passed  from 
the  hands  of  G.  W.  Davis  &  Co.  into  the  possession  of  R.  W. 
Renfroe  &  Co.,  and  by  them  was  continued  as  an  independ- 
ent paper,  neutral  in  politics.  In  the  summer  of  1886  can- 
didates for  the  different  offices  to  be  voted  on  in  the  follow- 
ing November  announced  their  names,  and  in  long,  written 
communications  stated  their  superior  qualifications,  or  rea- 
sons why,  in  their  opinion,  they  should  receive  the  votes  of 
their  fellow  citizens.  Some  of  them  in  glowing  and  eulo. 
gistic  terms  set  forth  their  eminent  fitness  for  the  office 
solicited.  Whether  these  communications  were  charged  for 
at  so  much  a  line,  we  are  not  informed,  but  hope  they  were, 
for  they  would  have  been  a  source  of  much  revenue  to  the 
paper.  Of  one  thing  we  are  assured  that  candidates  were  as 
plentiful  in  this  country  forty-five  years  ago  as  they  are  at 
present,  and  their  methods  of  appealing  to  the  dear  people 
did  not  differ  very  materially  from  the  present. 

The  entire  tickets  of  both  Democratic  and  Whig  parties 
were  placed  at  the  head  of  the  paper.  For  Congress  there 
appear  the  names  of  John  T.  Stuart  and  William  L.  May. 
For  Legislature,  John  Ren,  Jacob  Vande venter,  William 
A.  Minshall,  Col.  Harry  Lester  and  William  A.  Richardson, 
the  latter  afterwards  United  States  Senator,  and  a  prominent 
and  distinguished  statesman  of  Illinois. 


164 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


In  looking  over  the  advertisers  we  find  the  names  of  some 
parties  who  are  still  residents  of  the  county,  but  the  greater 
portion  have  passed  to  that  bourne  from  whence  no  traveler 
returns.  In  those  days  the  list  of  advertised  letters  remain- 
ing in  the  post-office  was  much  larger  than  at  present  This, 
in  a  measure,  is  accounted  for  from  the  fact  that  the  mails 
were  slow  and  irregular,  and  the  postage  was  paid  on  receipt 
of  letter,  which  was  more  than  double  what  it  is  at  present 
and  this  fact  may  have  had  much  to  do  in  increasing  the  list 
to  what  would  seem  an  unusually  large  number. 

The  columns  of  the  Journal  were  much  occupied  with  the 
news  from  Texas.  That  State  had  asserted  her  independ- 
ence and  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  Mexico,  and  was  then  pass- 
ing through  a  sanguinary  struggle  in  order  to  maintain  her 
position  as  a  free  and  independent  State.  Her  troubles  cul- 
minated in  her  annexation  to  the  United  States  and  the  war 
with  Mexico. 

For  the  benefit  of  our  young  readers  we  mention  a  fact 
gathered  from  the  columns  of  the  Journal  to  show  the  slow- 
ness of  the  mails,  and  what  length  of  time  it  required  for 
news  to  travel  from  the  east  to  the  west  With  the  issue  of 
the  Journal  on  the  23d  of  July,  1836,  the  sad  news  of  the 
death  of  President  Madison  was  made  known  to  the  people 
of  the  west  He  died  June  28th,  1836.  The  news  was 
twenty-five  days  in  reaching  Rushville  from  Washington. 

In  the  same  paper  is  published  the  Act  of  the  Legislature 
to  continue  the  national  road  from  Vandalia,  Illinois,  to  the 
Mississippi  river,  in  the  direction  of  Jefferson  City,  Missouri. 
That  road  was  then  the  great  thoroughfare  between  the  east 
and  the  west. 

On  the  30th  of  July,  1836,  R.  W.  Renfroe  sold  his  inter- 
est to  Dr.  Adams  Dunlap,  who  had  been  connected  with  the 
paper  since  the  withdrawal  of  Davis.  He  continued  the 
Journal  for  several  months  then  sold  it  to  Benjamin  J.  Teel, 
who  purchased  it  for  Mr.  J.  B.  Fulks.  The  office  was 
closed  for  a  short  time  and  then  Mr.  Fulks  commenced  the 
publication  of 

THE  SCHUYLER   ADVOCATE. 

The  first  number  appeared  May  27th,  1837.  It  was  a  six 
column  folio.  During  the  same  year  the  tax  lists  of  Han- 
cock county  were  printed  in  a  twenty-four  page  pamphlet 
form  in  the  Advocate  office.  Dr.  Dunlap  of  the  Journal 
printed  in  same  form  the  same  year  the  tax  lists  of  Knox 
and  Henry  counties,  Illinois,  prior  to  selling  the  office  out  to 
Mr.  Teel.  In  February,  1838,  the  Advocate  passed  into  the 
hands  of  R.  A.  Glenn  and  T.  Lyle  Dickey,  the  latter  now 
one  of  the  judges  on  the  supreme  bench  of  the  State.  They 
changed  the  name  to 

THE  TEST, 

and  made  it  the  organ  of  the  Whig  party.  The  paper  was 
continued  until  the  twenty-eighth  number,  then  suspended, 
and  the  office  remained  closed  for  three  months,  then  one 
more  issue  was  made,  after  which  the  Ttst  ceased  entirely. 
In  the  last  issue,  number  twenty-nine,  the  editors,  in  a  card 
to  the  public,  state  the  reasons  and  recite  the  causes  that 
have  led  to  the  suspension  of  the  paper.  They  say  "  The 
causes  which  have  conspired  to  bring  about  this  event  are 


numerous.  The  principal  one,  however,  has  been  the  great 
difficulty  in  collecting  our  dues  which  are  indispensably 
necessary  to  enable  us  to  carry  on  the  concern."  They  also 
state  that "  the  press  and  material  belonging  to  the  office  have 
passed  into  the  hands  of  J.  B.  Fulks,  the  former  proprietor, 
who  will,  we  understand,  commence  the  publication  of  a 
weekly  paper  in  this  place  in  a  short  time."  The  office,  as 
per  agreement,  passed  into  Fulk's  hands.  It  was  closed  un- 
til the  winter  of  1839,  when  it  was  sold  to  A.  R.  Sparks, 
and  by  him  was  issued  the 

ILLINOIS   REPUBLICAN. 

The  first  number  of  the  new  paper  appeared  December 
14th,  1839.  It  was,  in  form,  a  six-column  folio — the  col- 
umns sixteen  ems  wide.  In  politics  it  was  Democratic.  Mr. 
Sparks  continued  the  publication  of  the  paper  until  April 
9th,  1840,  when  it  passed  into  the  possession  of  James  L. 
Anderson.     He  changed  the  name  to  the 

THE   POLITICAL    EXAMINER. 

It  was  then  made  a  five-column  folio.  It  supported  John 
T.  Stuart  for  Congress. 

This  Congressional  District  then  embraced  forty-eight 
counties,  and  was  the  largest  in  the  United  States.  It  con- 
tained a  population  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  twenty-nine  inhabitants.  Mr. 
Anderson  continued  the  Examiner  until  October  1,  1843, 
when  the  name  was  changed  to 

THE    RCSHVILLE   WHIG. 

The  latter  paper  continued  until  1844,  when  it  sus- 
pended. From  this  date  until  1848  Rushville  and  Schuyler 
county  were  without  a  newspaper.  On  the  8th  of  July, 
1848,  the 

PRAIRIE  TELEGRAPH 

was  established.  It  was  edited  by  B.  F.  Scripps  and  R. 
R.  Randall.  The  Telegraph  passed  from  their  hands  into 
the  possession  of  John  Scripps  and  his  son,  J.  C.  Scripps. 
The  date  of  the  transfer  was  in  1850.  It  was  then  a  six 
column  folio.  Messrs.  Scripps  and  son  published  the  paper 
until  1854,  when  the  press  and  type  were  destroyed  bv  fire. 
J.  C.  Scripps  went  to  St.  Louis  and  purchased  an  outfit, 
shipped  it  to  Rushville  and  resumed  the  publication.  The 
office  was  then  sold  to  a  stock  company,  J.  C.  Scripps 
retaining  an  interest  in  the  paper.  The  stockholders  se- 
lected DeWitt  Clinton  Johnston  as  editor  to  conduct  the 
paper.  They  took  charge  on  the  24th  of  May,  1 856,  when 
they  issued  the  first  number.  They  changed  the  name  to 
the 

RUSHVILLE  TIMES. 

It  was  the  organ  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  the  lead- 
ing and  prominent  men  of  that  political  organization  in  the 
county  were  the  stockholders.  Messrs.  Scripps  &  Johnston 
conducted  the  paper  until  1859,  when  both  retired,  and 
Andrew  J.  Ashton  took  charge  for  the  Company.  Mr. 
Johnston  was  a  lawyer  by  profession.  He  originally,  before 
coming  to  Rushville,  which  was  in  1852,  had  been  in  the 


HISTORY    OF   SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


ministry  ;  he  abandoned  that  for  the  law.  He  was  an  able 
and  fluent  writer,  and  gave  the  Times  a  high  standing 
among  the  Democratic  journals  of  Illinois.  Mr.  Ashton 
was  succeeded  by  A.  D.  Davis,  who  held  control  for  three 
years.  He  some  time  after  was  elected  superintendent  of 
schools,  and  was  in  other  ways  honored  by  his  fellow-citizens; 
but  no  withstanding  these  repeated  honors,  he  turned  away 
from  an  honorable  career  and  went  to  the  bad.  He  was 
succeeded  in  the  management  by  J.  C  Fox,  and  he  in  turn 
by  Ethan  Allen  Snively,  now  Clerk  of  the  Supreme 
Court  Central  Grand  Division  of  Illinois. 

During  a  great  portion  of  this  time,  while  owned  by  the 
stock  company,  Charles  McCrosky  had  been  foreman  in  the 
office,  and  had  acquired  a  lien  on  it.  In  order  to  collect 
his  money  he  had  foreclosed  his  lien,  and  the  office  was  sold 
out  by  the  sheriff,  and  at  the  sale  it  was  purchased  by 
Edwin  Dyson,  the  present  editor  and  proprietor.  When 
Mr.  Snively  took  possession  of  the  office  for  the  Company, 
he  added  four  or  five  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  type  and 
material ;  this  was  also  purchased  by  Mr.  Dyson.  The  pre- 
sent proprietor  took  possession  and  issued  the  first  number 
of  the  Times  July  2,  18  >8,  and  from  that  time  to  the 
present  has  edited  the  paper  and  remained  sole  proprietor. 
In  January,  1872,  the  paper  was  changed  from  a  folio  to  a 
five  column  quarto,  which  form  it  still  retains. 

Mr.  Dyson  is  a  practical  printer.  He  learned  the  trade 
at  the  office  of  the  Schuyler  Democrat,  and  has  followed  the 
business  to  the  present  time.  He  is  a  good  newspaper 
manager  and  was  the  first  to  introduce  method  and  busi- 
ness tact  iuto  the  office,  and  we  may  add,  the  first  to  bring 
the  paper  up  to  a  paying  basis.  As  a  newspaper  writer  he 
is  cons  derably  above  the  average,  and  has  demonstrated 
his  ability  to  give  to  the  people  of  Schuyler  county  a  paper 
of  which  they  may  well  be  proud,  and  to  whose  support  they 
can  most  graciously  contribute. 

THE  SCHUYLER  DEMOCRAT. 

The  office  of  the  Democrat  was  purchased  by  the  leading 
Democrats  of  Schuyler  county  in  the  early  spring  of  18-54. 
The  first  issue  was  made  April,  20th,  1854.  It  was  edited 
by  Daniel  E.  H.  Johnson.  He  afterward  added  the  name 
of  Brown  County  Advertiser  to  the  Democrat.  The  reason 
for  this  action  was,  that  he  printed  the  tax  list  of  Brown 
county  in  the  year  1855.  Mr.  Johnson  continued  in  the  of- 
fice until  in  the  summer  of  1856,  when  the  paper  was  sold  to 
G.  W.  Scripps. 

Some  time  prior  to  this  the  Kansas-Nebraska  troubles 
had  commenced.  There  was  a  growing  sentiment  in  the 
county  that  demanded  that  there  must  be  no  further  exten- 
sion of  slavery  and  that  it  must  be  confined  to  where  it  al- 
ready existed.  There  was  considerable  number  of  voters  in  the 
county  who  were  known  as  Free  Soilers,  but  were  without  a 
national  organization.  There  were  other  factions  that  were 
extremists  in  their  political  views,  and  were  only  waiting 
for  some  organization  to  be  effected  to  which  they  could  ally 
their  forces.  And  in  that  manner  their  views  receive  recog- 
nition, and  by  the  union  of  forces  hope  for  political  suprem- 
acy.    The  constant  aggressions  of  the  slavery  party  drove 


these  factions  together,  and  in  1856  the  young  and  aggressive 
Republican  party  for  the  first  time  in  its  history  formed  a 
national  organization  and  presented  a  ticket  at  whose  head 
was  John  C.  Fremont.  There  were  few  members  of  the 
party  in  Schuyler  county,  but  the  principles  presented  in  the 
platform  of  the  new  party  were  in  unison  with  the  half 
formed  thought  of  the  'north.  To  properly  present  these 
principles  of  the  party  a  newspaper  was  necessary.  There- 
fore, with  that  purpose  in  view,  Mr.  Scripps  purchased  the 
press  and  type,  and  on  the  6th  of  July,  1856,  issued  the  first 
number  of  The  Schuyler  Citizen.  We  may  here  add  that 
from  that  time  to  the  present  the  Citizen  has  been  the  recog- 
nized organ  of  the  Republican  party  in  Schuyler  county 
and  one  of  the  able  journals  of  the  old  Tenth,  now  the 
Eleventh  Congressional  District.  Mr.  Scripps  continued 
editor  and  publisher  until  1865,  when  he  leased  the  office  to 
Messrs.  Clark  &  Sweeney.  They  retained  possession  for 
several  years.  It  was  then  sold  to  C.  N.  Whitney.  He  de- 
faulted in  the  payments,  and  on  the  1st  of  October,  1868,  the 
office  fell  back  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Scripps,  its  original 
owner,  who  edited  and  published  the  Citizen  until  April  1st, 
1879,  when  he  sold  it  to  W.  I.  Larash,  its  present  editor  and 
proprietor, 

Mr.  Larash  is  also  a  practical  printer.  He  learned  the 
trade  in  the  office  of  the  Tazewell  Republican  in  Pekin,  111. 
He  was  afterwards  associated  with  "  Bob  "  Burdette,  (the 
humorist  of  the  Burlington  Hawkeye)  J.  M.  Cochran  and 
four  other  printers  in  the  publication  of  the  Peoria  Daily 
Review,  a  paper  published  upon  the  co-operative  plan.  He 
worked  as  a  compositor  in  different  places,  and  came  to 
Rushville  in  1875  and  took  charge  of  the  mechanical  de- 
partment of  the  Citizen,  which  position  he  retained  until  he 
became  the  owner.  Mr.  Larash  is  yet  young  in  the  editorial 
harness,  but  notwithstanding  he  wields  a  graceful  and  vig- 
orous pen,  and  has  kept  the  Citizen  up  to  the  high  standard 
of  excellence  given  it  by  his  predecessor. 


BROWN  COUNTY. 
The  first  newspaper  established    in   Brown  county  was 


called  the 


PRAIRIE   PIONEER. 


Its  founder  and  editor  was.  John  Bigler,  afterwards  Gov- 
ernor of  California  and  brother  of  William  A.  Bigler,  Gov- 
ernor of  Pennsylvania.  The  first  issue  was  made  in  the 
summer  of  1848.  It  was  democratic  in  politics,  and  hoisted 
the  name  of  Lewis  Cass  for  the  presidency.  There  are  still 
citizens  living  in  Mt.  Sterling  who  recollect  when  it  was  first 
issued.  A  printing  presswas  a  novelty  in  those  days.  When 
the  day  was  learned  on  which  the  press  would  be  set  to  run- 
ning for  the  first  time,  nearly  all  the  people  of  the  town  were 
on  hand  to  see  it  in  operation.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the 
furore  and  enthusiasm  with  which  the  appearance  of  the 
Pioneer  was  greeted.  It  was  the  first  actual  step  beyond 
frontier  life.  Soon  the  press  was  to  give  to  the  county  name 
and  fame  among   its  contemporaries.    The  citizens  of  Mt. 


156 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Sterling  had  come  to  hail  the  appearance  of  the  newspaper. 
As  stated  before  it  was  strongly  democratic  in  politics,  and 
left  no  doubt  of  the  views  of  its  editor  upon  the  current 
topics  of  the  day.  Mr.  Bigler  continued  editor  and  propri- 
etor until  he  went  to  California.  He  sold  the  Pioneer  to  the 
County  Clerk,  who  engaged  Mr.  P.  L.  Shutt  to  edit  it.  The 
latter  was  a  young  man,  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  Gen.  Cooley, 
Secretary  of  State,  at  Springfield.  He  continued  editor  for 
eight  months,  then  Mr.  George  S.  Meyers  published  it,  and 
J.  B.  Moore  became  the  editor.  In  form  the  Pioneer  was  a 
six  column  folio,  and  contained  very  few  advertisements, 
and  those  were  nearly  all  foreign,  and  of  the  patent  medi- 
cine order. 

The  paper  and  its  functions  passed  into  the  hands  of  E.  T. 
Hollister,  who  changed  the  name  to  the 

MOUNT   STERLING  DEMOCRAT, 

the  first  number  of  which  was  issued  August  14th,  1851, 
James  R.  Bailey  was  the  editor.  In  1852  the  Democrat 
hoisted  at  its  masthead  the  name  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for 
president,  subject  to  the  decision  of  the  Democratic  National 
Convention.  Mr.  Bailey  afterwards  obtained  control  of  the 
paper.     He  changed  the  name  from  the   Democrat  to  the 

MOUNT  STERLING    CHRONOTYPE. 

He  conducted  the  paper  until   the  fall  of  1855,  when  its 
publication   was  suspended  for  a  short   time,  then  A.   L. 
Snow  brought  a  press  and  type  from  Beardstown,  and  issued 
The  Western  Spy.     The  first  issue  was   made  February. 24, 
1856.   G-  W.  Gross,  then  reading  law  in  the  office  of  Judge 
Samuel  G.  Black,  was  associate  editor.     In  1857  it  was  sold 
to  B.  H.  Irwin,  and  afterwards  sold  to  Messrs.  Nicholson  & 
Shurtleff,  and  by  them  moved  to  Beardstown.    There  was, 
for  a  short  time,  no  paper  published  in   the  county.     The 
mutteriugs  of  the  political  storm  that  was  gathering  in  1856 
were  heard  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land. 
The  Democratic  party  was  warned  that  the  young  and  ag- 
gressive Republican  party  had  effected  a  national  organiza- 
tion and  would  for   the  first  time,  in  organized  shape,  con- 
tend for  the  supremacy  and  control  of  the  nation.     A  news- 
paper was  needed  to  call  in  the  guards,  fill  up  the  ranks  and 
be  prepared  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  this  new  enemy  to 
the  great  Democratic  party.    Two  young  men,  by  the  names 
of  Robert  A.  Glenn  and  J.  R,  Gordon,  with   commendable 
industry  and  enterprise  undertook  to  establish  a  Democratic 
organ  in  Brown  county.     On  the  10th   of  July,  1856,  the 
'first  number  of  the 

MOUNT  STERLING   UNION 

made  its  appearance.  Its  motto  was  "  Put  none  but  white 
men  on  guard. "  It  was  a  neat  seven  column  folio.  It 
hoisted  the  names  of  Buchanau  and  Breckinridge  for  presi- 
dent and  vice  president,  and  William  A.  Richardson  for 
Governor  of  the  state,  and  Richard  Hamilton  for  Lieut. 
Governor.  The  remainder  of  the  state  ticket  was,  for  Audi- 
tor, Samuel  K.  Casey;  Sec.  of  State,  William  H.  Snyder; 
for  Congress,  Isaac  N.  Morris ;  for   Representatives  to  the 


Legislature,  John  R.  Grimes  aud  KiDg  Kerley.  The  county 
ticket  was  Sheriff,  William  L.  Taylor;  Circuit  Clerk,  A.  A. 
Glenn.  On  the  14th  of  August  of  the,  tame  year  in  which 
the  Union  was  started,  Glenn  withdrew  from  the  paper. 
His  place  was  supplied  by  John  C.  O'Neil.  On  the  15th  of 
April,  1857,  Gordon  sold  his  interest  to  his  former  partner, 
R.  A.  Glenn.  The  firm  of  Glenn  &  O'Neil  continued  until 
the  24th  of  July  of  the  same  year,  when  O'Neil  retired,  and 
Mr.  Glenn  conducted  the  paper  until  the  15th  of  August 
following,  when  the  publication  was  suspended.  The  office 
remained  closed  until  October  1st,  when  J.  C.  O'Neil  took 
possession  aud  continued  editor  and  publisher  until  February 
28th,  1861,  when  his  brother,  Martin  O'Neil,  became  a  part- 
ner in  the  concern  under  the  firm  name  of  J.  C  O'Neil  & 
Brother.  This  arrangement  continued  but  a  few  weeks, 
when  Martin  retired.  John  C  continued  publishing  the 
Union  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  spring  of  1863. 
The  press,  type  fixtures  and  subscription  list  were  then  sold, 
and  purchased  by  Martin  and  Samuel  S.  Brooks.  They 
changed  the  name  from  Union  to 

THE  MOUNT  STERLING  RECORD. 

At  the  time  of  the  change  it  was  a  six  column  folio.  On 
the  fourth  of  May,  1S66,  they  changed  its  form  to  a  seven 
column  folio,  and  March  5th,  1868,  increased  it  to  an  eight 
column  same  form.  The  Brooks  Brothers  continued  the 
publication  of  the  paper  from  1803  to  April  2d,  1879, 
when  they  sold  it  to  James  S.  H.  Hambraugh,  of  Versailles, 
Illinois.     He  changed  the  name  to  the 

WEEKLY    GAZETTE. 

On  the  l:Jih  of  August  the  Gazette  was  iucreased  to  the 
mammoth  size  of  a  nine  column  folio,  which  form  it  retained 
until  October  13ch,  1871 ;  when,  in  consequence  of  the  great 
fire  in  Chicago  which  consumed  the  concern  that  printed 
;<  outsides,"  the  paper  was  cut  down  to  a  seven  column  and 
all  printed  at  home.  At  the  same  time  the  name  was 
changed  to 

THE  MOUNT  STERLING  WEEKLY  GAZETTE. 

Hambraugh  continued  the  publication  with  indifferent 
success  until  January,  1872,  when  the  paper  was  sold  to 
Gervis  M.  Russell.  He  following  in  the  footsteps  of  his 
predecessors  changed  the  name  to  the 

BROWN   COUNTY    DEMOCRAT. 

He  remained  editor  and  proprietor  until  December  15th, 
1874,  when  he  sold  out  to  H.  K.  Davis  and  S.  N.  Jones. 
The  latter's  interest  was  purchased  by  his  partner  February 
12th,  1875,  since  which  time  Mr.  Davis  has  edited  and  pub- 
lished the  Democrat.  When  Mr.  Davis  took  charge,  the 
paper  was  the  organ  of  the  Grange,  and  afterwards  advocated 
the  principles  and  theories  of  the  Greenback  party.  In  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1876  it  supported  Peter  Cooj>er  ; 
in  1880  it  came  back  to  the  Democratic  party,  and  advocated 
the  claims  of  Winfield  S-  Hancock  for  the  presidency. 

Mr.  Davis  is  one  of  the  veteran  printers  and  pioneer 
journalists  of  the  West.  His  father,  Samuel  H.  Davis,  was 
also  a  printer.      He   established  the  Peoria  Register  and 


iflSTOEY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


157 


Northwestern  Gazetteer  in  Peoria  as  early  as  1837-  Henry 
Kirk  Davis,  the  present  editor  of  the  Democrat,  was  born 
in  Winchester,  Virginia.  He  learned  the  printer's  trade  in 
Baltimore,  came  West  soon  after,  and  in  1849  was  engaged 
in  the  publication  of  a  paper  in  Peoria,  Illinois,  called  the 
Champion.  In  1851-52  he  published  the  Illinois  State 
Bull-tin  at  Bloomington,  Illinois.  From  there  he  went  to 
Urbana,  Illinois,  where  he  and  W.  N.  Coler  published  the 
Urbana  Union,  which  was  the  first  paper  ever  printed  in 
Champaign  Co;nty.  Soon  after  he  went  to  Washington, 
where  he  received  a  Federal  appointment  under  President 
Pierce.  In  1862  he  organized  and  started  the  Union  in 
Lexington,  Missouri,  and  in  1867  bought  the  Kansas  City 
Daily  Advertiser.  He  afterwards  published  the  Chartist,  in 
Paris,  Texas,  where  he  remained  until  1 874,  when  he  came 
to  Rushville  and  purchased  the  Democrat  as  above  stated. 
Mr.  Davis  is  a  strong,  forcible  writer,  and  in  his  many  years 
of  experience  as  a  newspaper  man  has  learned  much  that  is 
valuable  in  a  newspaper  sanctum. 

In  1871-72,  the  Democrats  of  Brown  county  became  dis- 
satisfied with  Mr.  Hambraugh's  manner  of  conducting  his 
journal.  He  was  of  a  visionary  mind,  and  was  more  occu- 
pied in  making  inventions  than  he  was  in  conducting  his 
paper.  Its  management  was  given  to  young  men  who  had 
but  little  or  no  experience.  The  party  wanted  a  live,  wide- 
awake newspaper,  that  would  present  the  issues  between  the 
two  great  parties  in  an  able  and  vigorous  manner.  Not 
being  able  to  impress  Mr.  Hambraugh  with  their  wants  and 
views,  they  made  overtures  to  two  young  men,  both  practical 
printers,  named  Henry  A.  Glenn  and  Eugene  C.  Brockman, 
to  start  a  paper,  promising  to  give  it  a  proper  support. 
The  material  and  press  were  purchased  new  from  McKellar, 
Smith  &  Jordan,  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Boston  Type 
Ftmndry,  and  brought  to  Mt.  Sterling,  and  on  the  11th  of 
January,  1872,  the  first  number  of  the 

ILLINOIS   WEEKLY   MESSAGE 

was  issued.  In  their  salutatory  to  the  public,  Messrs.  Glenn 
&  Brockman  declare  themselves  unalterably  in  favor  of 
Democratic  priuciples,  but  also  declare  that  "their  views  ex- 
pressed in  our  columns  must  be  a  reflex  of  our  oivn  private 
opinion."  On  the  27th  of  June,  1872,  the  form,  which  was 
then  an  eight  column  folio,  was  changed  to  a  five  column 
quarto,  which  form  it  still  retains.  The  firm  of  Glenn  & 
Brockman  continued  until  January  30th,  1873,  when  Martin 
Brooks  purchased  Glenn's  interest.  The  firm  of  Brooks  & 
Brockman  was  dissolved  by  mutual  consent,  January  10th, 
1876,  Mr.  Brooks  retiring  from  the  firm.  Mr.  Brockman 
has  continued  sole  proprietor  and  editor  from  that  time  to 
the  present.  He  is  a  native  of  Mt.  Sterling,  and  learned  the 
printer's  trade  in  the  office  of  the  Record  when  under  the 
control  of  the  Brooks  Brothers.  Under  his  management, 
the  Message  has  risen  to  be  one  of  the  potential  Democratic 
organs  in  the  Military  District. 

The  county  of  Brown  has  been  for  many  years  under  the 
political  control  of  the  Democratic  party.  That  organiza- 
tion is  largely  in  the  majority, — consequently,  the  establish- 
ing of  Republican  newspapers  has  been  attended  with  con- 
siderable  difficulty.     The  first  effort  to  establish  a  paper 


that  would  reflect  the  sentiments  of  the  members  of  the  Re- 
publican party  in  Brown  county  was  made  in  1866.  A 
number  of  the  prominent  men  of  that  organization  sub- 
scribed a  liberal  amount,  and  the  press  and  materials  were 
purchased;  and  on  the  4th  of  May,  1866,  the  first  number 
of  the 

BROWN   COUNTY   REPUBLICAN 

was  issued.  It  was  a  six  column  folio,  neatly  printed,  and 
presented  quite  an  attractive  appearance.  J.  S.  Nicholson 
was  placed  in  charge  as  editor.  He  remained  in  charge 
until  November  23d,  1866,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  W. 
O.  L.  Jewett.  On  the  18th  of  January,  1867,  Mr.  Higgins 
became  associated  with  Mr.  Jewett  in  the  management. 
That  arrangement  continued  until  May  3d  of  the  same  year, 
when  Messrs.  Barrett  &  Wilson  took  editorial  charge.  David 
D.  Wilson  succeeded  the  latter  firm  June  28, 1867,  and  con- 
tinued in  control  until  the  paper  suspended. 

THE   VERSAILLES   WEEKLY    INDEPENDENT. 

No.  1  of  Vol.  1  was  issued  July  3d,  1877.  Walker  and 
Mehl  were  the  editors  and  proprietors.  It  was  a  small  four- 
column  quarto,  neutral  in  politics.  It  appeared  semi-occa- 
sionally,  and  closed  entirely  with  the  twenty-ninth  number. 

The  last  aspirant  for  journalistic  honors  in  Brown  county 
is  the 

BROWN   COUNTY   GAZETTE. 

The  first  number  was  issued  October  14th,  1880,  by  C.  B. 
and  F.  G.  Turner  as  editors  and  publishers.  In  form  it  was 
a  neat  five-column  quarto.  April  20,  1882,  it  was  changed, ' 
and  is  now  a  six-column  quarto.  In  politics  it  is  Republi- 
can. The  material  and  presses  were  purchased  new  in  Chi- 
cago. The  office  is  well  fitted  with  the  latest  styles  in  type, 
and  also  with  a  new  improved  Prouty  power-press. 

The  Turner  Bros,  were  formerly  editors  and  publishers  of 
the  Clayton  Enterprise.  They  are  both  young  in  journalistic 
experience,  but  from  the  evidence  that  the  Gazette  presents, 
and  their  industrious  habits,  we  have  no  doubt  that,  in  time, 
they  will  acquire  both  name  and  fame  in  the  field  of  jour- 
nalism. 

THE   FARMER, 

A  sixteen-page,sixty-four  column  paper,  devoted  to  the  in- 
terests of  agriculture  and  kindred  subjects,  is  edited  and 
published  monthly  by  F.  G.  Turner  &  Co.  It  is  a  neat 
paper,  and  made  its  first  appearance  on  the  1st  day  of  June, 
1882.     It  is  issued  from  the  Gazette  office. 

This,  in-  brief,  is  the  history  of  journalism  in  Schuyler 
and  Brown  counties.  They  have  been  fairly  representative 
of  the  progress  and  have  kept  pace  with  the  business  growth 
of  the  county.  It  has  numbered  among  its  workers  men  of 
culture  and  literary  ability,  several  of  whom  afterward  oc- 
cupied positions  of  high  honor  and  trust  in  the  states  of  their 
adoption.  The  influence  and  character  of  the  county  papers 
have  grown  wi'h  the  material  and  intellectual  growth  of 
those  they  have  represented.  No  industry  can  show  a  better 
record  or  number  more  patient  or  enthusiastic  workers.  To 
them  more  than  to. any  other  class  belongs  the  honor  of 
building  up  the  reputation  that  Schuyler  and  Brown  coun- 
ties possess  and  in  which  they  delight. 


158 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER   XI. 


PATRIOTISM  OF  BROWN  AND 
SCHUYLER  COUNTIES. 


N  relating  a  few  of  the 
incidents  of  the  Black 
Hawk  War,  and  before 
entering  into  detail  of 
the  causes  and  results 
of  it,  we  give  our  readers 
a  brief  sketch  of  the 
celebrated  warrior  who 
figured  so  conspicuously 
in  those  sanguinary 
campaigns.  Macuta  Mahictah,  is  the 
Indian  name  for  Black  Hawk.  He  was 
born  in  the  Sauk  village  in  the  year 
1767,  and  was  an  Indian  of  considerable 
talent  and  sagacity,  shrewd  and  eloquent 
in  council ;  he,  however,  deported  him- 
self in  that  demure,  grave  and  formal 
manner  incident  to  almost  all  Indians. 
It  is  said  he  possessed  a  mind  of  more 
than  ordinary  strength,  but  slow  and 
ploddiDg  in  its  operations.  In  compari- 
son he  could  not  be  classed  with  the  great 
Indian  characters,  such  as  Philip,  Brant, 
Logan,  Tecumseh,  and  such  illustrious 
men.  By  the  portrait  of  him  now  ex- 
tant, the  reader  of  character  will  readily 
observe  in  his  large,  high  forehead,  and 
the  lines  worn  by  care  in  his  face,  mas- 
sive jaws  and  compressed  lips,  a  char- 
acter indicative  of  more  than  ordinary 
ability.  His  ambition  was  to  distinguish 
himself  as  a  great  warrior ;  yet  he  was 
merciful  to  the  weak,  the  women  and 
children.  The  only  road  for  an  Indian 
to  distinguish  himself  and  become  a 
great  man,  is  in  war.  So  soon  as  he 
kills  an  enemy  he  may  paint  on  his 
blanket  a  bloody  hand,  which  will  en- 
title him  to  a  seat  in  the  councils.  In 
1810  and  1811  Black  Hawk  and  com- 
rades were  "  nursing  their  wrath  to  keep 
it  warm  "  against  the  whites.  A  party 
of  Sacs,  by  invitation,  weut  to  see  the 
prophet  at  Tippecanoe.  They  returned, 
more  angry  against  the  Americans.'  A 
party  of  Winnebagoes  had  massacred 
some  whites,  which  excited  for  murder 
the  Sac  band  headed  by  Black  Hawk. 
A  part  of  his  band  and  some  Winne- 
bagoes attacked  Fort  Madison  in  1811, 
but  were  repulsed.  Black  Hawk  head- 
ed the  Sacs  in  this  attack. 


In  1812  emissaries  from  the  British  Mississippi.     This  ended  Black  Hawk's 

arrived  at  Rock  Island  with  goods,  and  bravado,  and  his  determination  to  die  in 

secured  Black  Hawk  with  five  hundred  his  ancient  village.       The   number  of 

warriors  to  go  with  Col.  Dixon  to  Ca-  warriors  under  his  command  was  esti- 

nada.     When  they  reached  Green  Bay  mated  at  from  four  to  six  hundred  men. 

there   were  assembled   there   bands   of  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  landed  on 

the  Ottowas,  Pottawatomies,  Winneba-  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  a  few 

goes   and   Kickapoos,    under  the  com-  miles   below    Rock    Island,   and   there 

mand  of  Col.  Dixon.     Black  Hawk  and  camped.     "  Gen.  Gaines  sent  a  peremp- 

band  participated  in  the  battles  of  River  tory  order  to  him  and  his  warriors  that 

Raisin,  the  Lower  Sandusky,  and  other  if  he  and  his  men  did  not  come  to  Rock 

places,  but  getting  dissatisfied  with  the  Island  and  make  a  treaty  of  peace,  he 

hard  fighting  and  small  amount  of  spoils,  would  march  his  troops  and  give  him 

he,  and  twenty  companions,  left  for  the  battle  at  once.  *  *  *  *  In  a  few  days 

Sauk  village  at  Rock  Island,  where  he  Black  Hawk  and  the  chiefs  and  head 

remained  for  many  years  at  peace,  with  j  men   to  the   number    of    twenty-eight, 


the  exception  of  a  small  battle  on  the 
Quiver  River  settlement  in  Missouri,  in 
the  present  limits  of  St.  Charles  county, 
where  one  white  man  and  an  Indian 
were  killed. 

The  principal  cause  of  the  Indian 
troubles  in  1831-'32,  better  known  as 
the   Black  Hawk  war,   was  the  deter- 


appeared  in  Fort  Armstrong,  and  on  the 
30th  of  June,  1831,  in  full  council  with 
Gen.  Gaines  and  Governor  John  Rey- 
nolds, signed  a  treaty  of  peace." 

THB  BLACK-HAWK   WAR  IN    1832. 

During  the  winter  of  '31-32  rumors 
were  rife  that  Black-Hawk  and  his  band 
mination  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  ,  were  dissatisfied,  restless,  and  preparing 
to  remain  in  their  ancient  village,  lo- '  for  mischief.  A  chief  of  the  Winnebago 
cated  on  Rock  River,  not  far  from  its  Indians  who  had  a  village  on  Rock  river, 
junction  with  the  Mississippi.  The  some  thirty  miles  above  its  confluence 
government  having  some  time  previous-  with  the  Mississippi,  joined  Black-Hawk, 
ly,  by  various  treaties,  purchased  the  who  was  located  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
village  and  the  whole  country  from  the  Father  of  Waters.  The  chief  had  great 
Sac  and  Fox  tribe  of  Indians,  had  some  influence  with  Black-Hawk  and  his  band, 
of  these  lands  surveyed,  and  in  1828  He  made  them  believe  that  all  the  tribes 
some  of  the  lands  in  and  around  the  on  Rock  river  would  join  them,  and  that 
ancient  village  were  sold ;  the  collision   together  they  could  bid  defiance  to  the 

\  between  the  two  races  for  the  possession  whites.  By  this  unwise  counsel  Black- 
of  the  property  produced  the  first  dis-  Hawk  resolved  to  recross  the  river, 
turbance  between  the  Indians  and  the  which   he    did  in  the   winter  of  1832. 

I  government.  Seeing  that  war  was  in-  That  move  proved  to  be  their  destruc- 
evitable,  the  Governor  of  Illinois  made  tion.  Through  his  influence  and  zeal 
a  call  on  the  militia  of  the  state  for  Black-Hawk  encouraged  many  of  the 
seven  hundred  men  on  the  26th  of  May,  Sacs  and  Foxes  to  join  him  at  the  head 
1831,  and  appointed  Beardstown,  on  the  of  his  determined  warriors.  He  first  as- 
Illinois  river,  as  the  place  of  rendezvous,  sembled  them  at  old  Fort  Madison,  on 
The  call  was  responded  to  with  that  the  Mississippi ;  subsequently,  marched 
promptness  characteristic  of  the  early  them  up  the  river  to  the  Yellow  Banks, 
pioneers  of  the  state.  Their  habits  of  where  he  pitched  his  tent  April  6th, 
life  were  such  that  all  were  familiar  1832.  This  armed  array  of  savages  soon 
with  the  rifle.  After  marching  eight  alarmed  the  settlers,  and  a  general  panic 
days,  the  mounted  militia  reached  a  spread  through  the  whole  frontier,  from 
point  a  few  miles  below  the  Sac  village  the  Mississippi  to  Lake  Michigan.  Many 
on  the  Mississippi,  where  they  joined  settlers  in  terror  abandoned  their  homes 
the  United  States  forces  under  Gen.  and  farms,  and  the  Governor  decided,  on 
Gaines,  and  encamped  in  the  evening,  the  16th  of  April,  to  call  out  a  large 
The  next  morning  the  forces  marched  number  of  volunteers  to  operate  in  con- 
up  to  an  Indian  town  prepared  to  give  junction  with  General  Atkinson,  who  was 
the  enemy  battle ;  but  in  the  night  the  in  command  of  the  regular  forces  at 
Indians   had   escaped   and   crossed  the   Rock   Island.     The   Governor   ordered 


IVII 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


159 


the  troops  to  rendezvous  at  Beardstown   tachments    of    Black  Hawk's    warriors 
on  the  22d  of  April.  would  persistently  hang  on  the  outskirts 

The  force  marched  to  the  mouth  of  of  the  main  body  of  the  army,  thieve 
Rock  river,  where  General  Atkinson  re- :  and  plunder,  and  pounce  upon  and  kill 
ceived  the  volunteers  into  the  United  the  lonely  sentinel  or  straggling  soldier. 
States  service  and  assumed  command.  On  the  1 5th  of  July  the  soldiers  were  re- 
Black-Hawk  and  his  warriors  were  still  (  viewed,  and  those  incapable  of  duty  were 
upon  the  Rock  river.  ,  discharged  and  returned  home.  Poquette, 

The  army  under  Atkinson  commenced  a  half-breed,  and  a  Winnebago  chief, 
its  march  up  the  river  on  the  9th  of  May.  j  the  "  White  Pawnee,"  were  selected  for 
Gov.  Reynolds,  the  gallant  "  Old  Rang-  guides  to  the  camp  of  Black  Hawk  and 
er,"  remained  with  the  army,  and  the  i  band.  Several  battles  and  skirmishes 
President  recognized  him  as  a  Major-  j  occurred  with  the  enemy,  the  principal  of 
General,  and  he  was  paid  accordingly,  which  was  on  the  banks  of  the  Missis- 
His  presence  did  much  toward  harmo-  j  sippi,  where  the  warriors  fought  with 
nizing  and  conciliating  those  jealousies  j  great  desperation  •  over  one  hundred  and 
which  generally  exist  between  volunteers  fifty  were  killed  in  the  engagement,  and 
and  regular  troops.  Major  John  A. :  large  numbers  drowned  in  attempting  to 
Wakefield  and  Col.  Ewing  acted  as  spies ;  swim  the  river.  After  the  battle  the 
for  a  time  in  the  campaign  of '32,  to  dis-  volunteers  were  marched  to  Dixon, 
cover  the  location  of  the  enemy,  if  possi- ;  where  they  were  discharged.  This  ended 
ble.  A  Mr.  Kinney  acted  as  guide  for ,  the  campaign  and  the  Black-Hawk  war. 
them  ;  he  understood  the  Sac  dialect.  On  '  At  the  battle  of  the  Bad  Axe,  Black- 
the  1 4th  May,  1832,  Major  Still  man's  Hawk  and  some  of  his  warriors  escaped 
command  had  a  sort  of  running  battle  the  Americans,  and  went  up  the  Wiscon- 
with  the  Indians  at  or  near  what  is  now  sin  river,  but  he  subsequently  surrend- 
known  as  Stillman's  Run,  a  small  slug-  ered  himself.  Fort  Armstrong,  on  Rock 
gish  stream  ;  in  the  engagement  eleven  '  Island,  was  the  place  appointed  where  a 
white  men  and  eight  Indians  were  killed.  [  treaty  would  be  made  with  the  Indians, 
Black-Hawk  and  his  •  warriors  fought  but  before  it  was  effected  that  dreadful 
with  the  spirit  born  of  desperation. !  scourge,  the  cholera  of  '32,  visited  not 
Black-Hawk  says  in  his  book  that  he  only  the  regular  army,  depleting  its 
tried  at  Stillman's  Run  to  call  back  his  ranks  far  more  rapidly  than  the  balls  of 
warriors,  as  he  thought  the  whites  were  j  the  Indians  had  done,  but  it  also  sought 
making  a  sham  retreat  in  order  to  draw  out  its  victims  in  the  dusky  bands  of 
him  into  an  ambuscade  of  the  whole  the  Black-Hawk  tribe, 
army  under  Gen.  Whiteside.  The  hasty  ,  On  the  15th  September,  1832,  a  treaty 
retreat  and  a  rout  of  Stillman  and  his  was  made  with  the  Winnebago  Indians, 
army  was  in  a  measure  demoralizing  to :  They  sold  out  all  their  lands  in  Illinois 
the  entire  force ;  undoubtedly  the  cause  and  all  south  of  the  Wisconsin  river  and 
of  the  defeat  was  a  lack  of  discipline. .  west  of  Green  Bay,  and  the  government 
When  Gov.  Reynolds  learned  of  the  dis-  gave  them  a  large  district  of  country  west 
aster  of  Major  Stillman,  he  at  once  order- .  of  the  Mississippi  and  ten  thousand  dol- 
ed out  two  thousand  additional  volun- ;  lars  a  year  for  seven  years,  besides  pro- 
teers.  With  that  promptitude  charac-  viding  free  schools  for  their  children  for 
teristic  of  the  old  "  War  Governor,"  he  j  twenty  years,  oxen,  agricultural  imple- 
wrote  out  by  candle-light,  on   the    eve- ,  ments,  etc,  etc. 

ning  of  Stillman's  defeat,  the  order  for  J  September  21st,  1832,  a  treaty  was  ; 
the  additional  troops,  and  by  day-light  made  with  the  Sac  and  Fox  tribes,  on 
despatched  John  Ewing,  Robert  Black- j  which  they  ceded  to  the  United  States 
well  and  John  Wakefield  to  distribute '  the  tract  of  country  out  of  which,  a  few 
the  order  to  the  various  counties.  The  i  years  afterward,  the  State  of  Iowa  was 
volunteers  again  promptly  responded.  |  formed.  In  consideration  of  the  above  j 
On  the  10th  of  July  the  army  disbanded  i  cession  of  lands,  the  government  gave 
for  want  of  provisions.  Gen.  Scott  ar- 1  them  an  annuity  of  twenty  thousand  dol- 
rived  soon  after  with  a  large  force  at  lars  for  thirty  years,  forty  kegs  of  tobac- 
the  post  of  Chicago,  to  effect  if  possible  co,  and  forty  barrels  of  salt,  more  gun- 
a  treaty  with  the  Indians.     Small  de- !  smiths,  blacksmith  shop,  etc.,  etc.,  six 


thousand  bushels  of  corn  for  immediate 
support,  mostly  intended  for  the  Black- 
Hawk  band. 

The  treaties  above  mentioned  termi- 
nated favorably,  and  the  security  result- 
ing therefrom  gave  a  new  and  rapid  im- 
petus to  the  development  of  the  slate, 
and  no*?  enterprising  towns  and  villages, 
and  beautiful  farms  adorn  the  rich  and 
alluvial  prairies  that  before  were  only 
desecrated  by  the  wild  bands  who  in- 
habited them. 

BLACK   HAWK    WAR. 

Among  the  number,  who  then  resided 
in  the  territory,  now  comprising  Brown 
county,  but  then  a  portion  of  Schuyler 
county,  that  responded  to  the  first  call 
for  troop3  made  by  Gov.  Reynolds,  May 
26th,  1831,  were:  R.N.  Curry,  S.  P. 
O'Neal,  Green  McHatton,  Daniel  Ken- 
drick,  Matthew  Alexander  and  John 
Six,  who  enlisted  in  a  company  at 
Rushville  commanded  by  Captain  Hart 
Fellows.  Also  Philip  S.  Howes,  John 
Ausmus,  Henry  Ausmus,  Samuel  Hol- 
liugsworth  and  Philip  Ausmus,  who 
joined  a  company  raised  by  Captaiu 
Vance  of  the  same  town 

Hostilities  being  again  resumed  in 
1832,  the  Governor  issued  another  call 
for  the  troops  to  assemble  at  Beards- 
town,  on  the  22d  of  April  of  that  year. 
The  quoto  of  men  required  from  Schuy- 
ler county  was  one  hundred  and  fifty, 
the  county  then  being  under  the  militia 
law  of  the  state.  The  23d  day  of  April, 
1832,  was  appointed  as  the  day  of  mus- 
tering the  required  number  at  Rushville. 
either  by  voluntary  enlistment  or  by  draft. 
About  four  hundred  men  met  at  Rush- 
ville on  that  day  ;  and  William  Min- 
shall,  orator  of  the  day,  made  a  stirring 
speech,  setting  forth  the  object  of  the 
meeting ;  and  urged  the  men  to  come 
forward  and  voluntarily  enlist  and  shun 
the  braud  of  cowardice,  which  would 
naturally  attach  itself  to  the  county  did 
it  permit  a  draft  to  be  made.  At  the 
close  of  his  speech  he  ordered  the  crowd 
to  divide,  the  martial  band  to  proceed, 
and  he  at  once  fell  into  line  as  the  first 
man  to  enlist.  Not  an  hour  elapsed  un. 
til  the  requisite  number  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men  were  enlisted.  The  com- 
pany was  organized  by  electing  the 
officers,  after  which  the  men  were  given 
a  leave  of  absence  of  two  days,  when 


inn 

I.HI  fJVII 

160 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


they  again  re-assembled,  aud  on  the 
25th  day  of  April  they  commenced  the 
march  to  the  rendezvous  at  Beardttown, 
where  they  arrived  and  were  attached  to 
the  3d  Regiment,  commanded  by  Col. 
Abram  B.  De  Witt,  of  the  Brigade  of 
Mounted  Volunteers,  then  commanded 
by  Brigadier-General  Samuel  Whiteside. 
The  business  of  this  Brigade  was  to  pre- 
cede the  main  body  of  the  army,  and 
clear  the  way.  We  append  the  roster  of 
company : 

Officers.  — William  C.  Ralls,  captain  ; 
James  Blackburn, first  lieutenant;  John 
Stinnett,  second  lieutenant  ;  John  M. 
Jones,  first  sergeant ;  George  W.  Pen- 
ney, James  Hunter  aud  James  P.  Hinne, 
sergeants;  Theodore  Jourdan,  Stephen  | 
A.  St  Cyr,  Jeremiah  White  and  Alfred 
W.  McHatten  and  Jacob  Wilkerson, 
coporals. 

Privates. — James  Boothe,  John  Bris- 
coe, Noah  B.  Ballard,  Rosnel  Bryant 
Jefferson  Conrad,  Stephen  Combs,  John 
D.  Crawford,  Johnson  Chapman,  Gabriel 
De  Witt,  John  Davis,  David  Edmon- 
son, Aaron  Earnest,  Robert  A.  Glenn, 
Lewis  Gay,  Thomas  Hayden,  Stephen 
D.  Hambaugh,  James  Hill,  Joel  Ives, 
Michael  Killion,  William  Morris,  Dan- 
iel Moore,  William  McKee,  Luke  Owen, 
Benjamin  Palmer,  Jacob  Richardson, 
Aaron  Richardson,  William  B.  Ross, 
Thomas  Reddick,  John  H.  Starr,  Thomas 
Sellers,  Lester  Seward,  Fleming  Tice, 
Alexander  Van  Winkle,  John  Van 
Vatter,  Coruelieus  Vandeventer  and 
Benjamin  Wilson. 

This  company  was  mustered  out  of  the  ; 
service   of  the   United     States   at    the 
mouth  of  Fox   river,  May  28th,  1832, 
and  started  for  their  homes  a  distance  of 
220  miles. 

In  a  short  time  after  the  enlistment  of 
the  men  comprising  the  company  whose 
history  we   have    just    briefly   recited, 
another    company   was    organized     at 
Rushville,  and    attached    to   the   Old 
Battalion  of  Mounted  Rangers,  called  ■ 
into  the  service  of  the  United  States  on 
the  requisition  of  General  Atkinson,  by 
the  Governor's  proclamation,  dated  May  \ 
30th,  1 832.     The  roster  of  the  company  j 
was  as  follows ; 

Officers. — John     Stennett,     captain  ;  | 
Daniel  Mahoney,  first  lieutenant ;  Joel 
Pennington,  second  lieutenant ;  John  R. 
Smith,  first  sergeant;  Samuel  L.  Dark, 


Morris  Hobart,  Philip  Homey,  ser- 
geants ;  Robert  Martin,  Eli  Williams, 
James  Beel,  and  Josiah  Price,  cor- 
porals. 

Privates. — William  Allen,  William 
Brown,  Isaac  Brisco,  Matthew  C.  Brisco, 
Elias  Briggs,  Charles  Bakewell,  Jesse 
Buson,  Abel  Friend,  Fielding  F.  Glenn, 
Benjamin  Goldston,  James  Howard,  Eli 
Hartley,  Jesse  Hunter,  Sanford  Holli- 
day,  George  W.  Harrison,  John  M. 
Jones,  Allen  Isaacs,  Jesse  Luster,  Wil- 
liam McGeehy,  James  McKee,  Daniel 
Matheny,  Jr ,  Richard  D.  Martin,  Si- 
mon P.  O'Neil,  Joseph  Osborn,  Riggs 
Pennington,  Peter  Peckingham,  Wesley 
Penningham,  Stephen  O.  Pennington 
Riley  Pennington.  George  M.  Pettigrew 
Nicholas  Rice,  Stephen  Rice,  Stephen 
Rose,  William  T.  Rigg,  John  S.  Ross, 
George  Smith,  Oliver  P.  Sallee,  Samuel 
Smith,  Samuel  Stewart,  Hugh  Smith,  Joel 
Tallis,  John  Van  Winkle,  Mervin  Wil- 
liams, William  McKee,  Jeremiah  White, 
Samuel  Homey,  and  William  Kennett. 

A  third  company  was  attached  to  the 
Third  Regiment,  Col.  Abraham  B.  Hew- 
itt- Brigade  of  Mounted  Volunteers  of 
the  Illinois  Militia,  commanded  by  Brig. 
Gen.  Samuel  Whiteside ;  and  we  give 
the  roster : 

Officers. — Nathaniel  Winters,  cap- 
tain ;  John  D.  Pinson,  first  lieutenant ; 
John  L  Kirkpatrick,  second  lieutenant ; 
Leander  J.  Walker,  first  sergeant ;  Wil- 
liam D.  Johnson,  David  Grattan,  and 
Thomas  J.  Cox,  sergeants ;  Asa  C 
Earle,  Bird  Smith,  James  F.  New,  and 
George  W.  Sawyer,  corporals. 

Privates. — James  Adams,  William 
Asher,  John  Axby,  Cornelius  Brown, 
Jefferson  Black,  Benjamin  Beasley,  Ar- 
thur Bell,  Alexander  Beall,  John  Car- 
son, William  T.  Cox,  Benjamin  Crisp, 
James  G.  Campbell,  Asa  Cooper,  Wil- 
liam Coultis,  David  Campbell,  Thomas 
Dixon,  Joseph  Drew,  Tresley  Fink, 
Johnson  Forsythe,  John  Fulton,  William 
H.  Green,  Thomas  M.  Gillham,  Curtis 
Holmes,  John  HobsoD,  Samuel  Johnson, 
Henry  James,  Yancey  Little,  David 
Moore,  James  McGee,  Robert  D.  Neal, 
Elijah  Powell,  James  B.  Riggs,  David 
W.  Rue,  and  James  Sawyer. 

This  company  was  mustered  out  of 
the  service  at  the  mouth  of  the  Fox 
river,  on  the   28th   day  of  May,  1832. 

Another   company,   attached    to   the 


Fourth  Regiment,  Mounted  Volunteers, 
Col.  Samuel  M.  Thompson,  belonging 
to  the  brigade  of  Brig.  Gen.  Samuel 
Whitside,  completed  the  quota  of  troops 
from  Schuyler  county.  The  roster  of 
the  company  was  as  follows : 

Officers. — Moses  G.  Wilson,  captain, 
promoted  to  major,  April  30th,  1832  ; 
Alexander  Hollingsworth,  first  lieu- 
tenant ;  Harvey  Skiles,  second  lieuten- 
ant; John  B.  Watson,  first  sergeant; 
G.  W.  P.  Maxwell,  Samuel  Hollings- 
worth, and  J.  G.  Randall,  sergeants; 
Avanant  Hollingsworth,  James  Martin 
David  Traynor,  L.  B.  Skiles,  corporals. 

Privates.— Thomas  Abbot,  H.  Abbott, 
George  Butler,  Wm.  Barnett,  Samuel 
Bogart,  William  Cox,  Elijah  Collins, 
Adam  Dunlap,  James  Frakes,  William 
Guinn.  G.  H.  Harrison,  Abram  Hol- 
lingsworth, John  Hollingsworth,  J.  S. 
Holliday,  Chauncey  Hobart,  Gama- 
liel Hill,  Moulin  Horney,  Ishmael 
Hills,  Samuel  Horney,  I.  W.  Justus, 
Ezra  Kirkham,  Wm.  Loekhart, 
Rutherford  Lane,  John  McFadden, 
Robert  Murphy,  John  Murphy,  John 
Morgan,  Willis  Moore,  George  Naught, 
Daniel  Riley,  Jonathan  Reno,  Caleb 
Riley,  Benjamin  Skiles,  William  L. 
Wilson,  Moses  Wallace,  Henry  Wright 
Eli  Williams,  William  Young. 

This  company  was  mustered  out  of 
service  at  the  mouth  of  Fox  river,  on 
the  28th  day  of  May,  1832. 

THE    MORMOX   WAR. 

One  of  the  dark  spots  on  the  pages  of 
the  history  of  Illinois,  is  attributable  to 
the  troubles  growing  out  of  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Mormons  at  Nauvoo,  and 
their  enforced  withdrawal  from  the  State. 

To  enable  the  casual  reader  to  more 
readily  understand  the  facts  connected 
therewith,  it  will  be  necessary  to  present 
a  brief  history  of  the  growth  of  the  social 
ulcer — Mormonism. 

In  the  little  village  of  Sharon,  Wind- 
sor county,  Vermont,  Joseph,  the  leader 
and  "  Prophet ' '  of  Mormonism,"  first  saw 
the  light  of  day,  December  23,  1805. 
His  parents  being  poor,  Joseph  received 
an  indifferent  education.  His  parents 
removed  to  Palmyra,  New  York,  when 
he  was  but  ten  years  of  age,  and  there 
he  spent  his  boyhood  days  in  rambling 
through  the  forests,  listlessly  dreaming 
of  buried  treasures,  and  endeavoring  to 
locate  them  by  means  of  a  forked  stick, 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


llil 


or  by  looking  through  enchanted  stones. 
While  thus  engaged — and  being  igno- 
rant of  everything  that  pertained  to  sci- 
ence, but  being  possessed  of  a  cunning, 
and  a  power  of  invention  and  construct- 
iveness,  which  partially  supplied  the  de- 
ficiencies of  an  education — the  future 
"prophet"  of  Mormouism  was  discov- 
ered by  one  Sidney  Rigdon,  a  man  of 
talents  and  information,  who  discovered 
in  this  bright  promise  of  future  profli- 
gacy, a  ready  dupe  and  willing  instru- 
ment for  his  purpose, — that  of  founding 
a  new  religious  sect,  by  promulgating  a 
religious  romance  written  by  a  Presby- 
terian clergyman,  then_  deceased,  of  Ohio. 

Between  the  knaves  it  was  agreed  that 
Joseph  Smith  should  assume  the  role 
of  a  prophet :  a  story  was  devised  that 
golden  plates  had  beeu  found  buried 
near  Palmyra,  New  York,  upon  which 
were  inscribed,  in  characters  only  deci- 
pherable through  inspiration,  and  with 
the  aid  of  the  two  stones,  Urim  and 
Thummim,  used  by  ancient  seers  in  read- 
ing the  mysteries  of  the  past,  present, 
and  future.  The  report  of  his  discovery 
becoming  known,  attempts  were  made 
to  rob  him,  and  caused  Smith  to  go 
to  Northern  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
claimed,  with  the  aid  of  the  magic 
stones,  to  have  deciphered  the  charac- 
ters upon  the  golden  plates.  He  claimed 
that  they  contained  a  history  of  the 
twelve  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  and  their 
wanderings  through  Asia  into  America; 
and  such  translation  was  given  the  name 
of  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

Smith  was  not  long  without  followers, 
and  on  the  sixth  day  of  April,  1830,  a 
considerable  number  of  his  adherents 
met  in  Manchester,  New  York,  and 
founded  the  Mormon  church.  Their 
numbers  increased  rapidly,  and  a  large 
portion  sought  a  refuge  in  Jackson 
county,  Missouri,  and  began  to  build 
the  town  of  Independence,  in  1833. 
Another  rendezvous  was  established  at 
Kirtland,  near  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and 
there  Joe  Smith  remained.  That  por- 
tion that  settled  in  Missouri  soon  made 
themselves  so  obnoxious  to  the  public, 
that  they  were  compelled  to  seek  other 
quarters  in  Clay  county,  Missouri.  The 
Ohio  portion,  under  Smith,  held  a  grand 
convocation  of  several  hundred  Mormon 
elders,  in  1836.  There  Smith  embarked 
in  the  banking  business,  and  issued  notes 

21 


resembling  notes  of  a  bank  in  New  York 
His  success  as  a  banker  was  of  short  du- 
ration, however,  for  want  of  capital  and 
an  absence  of  integrity  of  its  managers, 
and  was  closed,  leaving  large  indebted- 
ness, and  accompanied  by  the  lowest 
depravity.  Ohio  becoming  no  longer 
suited  to  the  schemes  of  Smith,  and  also 
proving  irksome  and  dangerous  to  the 
Mormons,  an  early  emigration  to  the 
Missouri  community  was  effected,  where 
large  tracts  of  land  in  Caldwell  and 
Davis  counties  were  purchased  from  the 
United  States,  and  the  city  of  the  "  Far 
West"  was  built,  as  well  as  many  smaller 
towns.  Here  they  soon  set  the  laws  at 
defiance,  robbed  and  plundered,  depos- 
iting all  their  booty  in  one  place,  termed 
the  "  Lord's  Treasury."  The  depreda- 
tions of  the  Mormons  became  so  bold, 
that  an  armed  force  was  sent  against 
them  by  Governor  Boggs ;  the  leaders, 
including  Smith,  were  captured,  tried  by 
court-martial,  and  sentenced  to  death  for 
treason.  Reason,  however,  took  the  pface 
of  revenge,  and  their  lives  were  saved ; 
they  were  carried  before  a  circuit  judge, 
and  committed  to  jail,  to  await  their 
further  trial  by  the  civil  authorities ; 
but,  before  they  could  be  brought  to 
trial,  they  made  their  escape  from 
jail  and  fled  from  the  State,  and  found 
shelter  with  the  main  body  of  the  sect  in 
Illinois.  The  whole  body  of  Mormons 
came  to  Illinois  in  1839  and  1840,  at  the 
time  of  the  capture  of  the  leaders,  and 
found  a  hearty  welcome  and  sympathy 
awakened  by  their  tales  of  persecution. 

The  place  selected  by  the  Mormons, 
in  Illinois,  was  on  the  Mississippi  river, 
and  was  afterwards  called  Nauvoo,  in 
Hancock  county. 

While  residents  of  Missouri,  the  Mor- 
mons were  ardent  supporters  of  the 
Democratic  party;  but  having  been 
driven  from  that  State  by  a  Democratic 
governor,  and  subsequently  being  re- 
fused aid,  upon  an  appeal,  by  President 
Van  Buren,  they  became  embittered 
towards  that  party,  and  upon  their  set- 
tlement in  Illinois  sought  new  affiliations 
with  the  Whigs,  and  in  1840  and  1841 
gave  their  unanimous  support  to  the 
Whig  candidates.  The  politicians  of 
the  State  saw  that  the  Mormon  vote  was 
an  important  factor  in  political  warfare, 
and  both  political  parties  in  the  General 
Assembly  of  1840  and  1841  vied  with 


each  other  to  secure  their  political  sup- 
port by  the  bestowal  of  favor  of  such 
unlimited  power,  in  the  use  of  which  they 
brought  upon  themselves  banishment 
from  the  State.  They  were  given  the 
most  complete  control  of  the  new  terri- 
tory of  the  State,  selected  by  them.  The 
concessions  granted  to  them  caused  them 
to  change  from  party  to  party,  whenever 
they  received  greater  promises  from  one 
party  than  the  other,  oftentimes,  upon 
the  very  eve  of  an  important  election, 
and  brought  upon  them  the  abuse  or 
praise  of  the  party  favored  or  deceived. 
The  city  government  of  Nauvoo,  under 
the  charter  granted  by  the  session  of  the 
Legislature  of  1840  and  1841,  was  organ- 
ized in  1841,  and  Joe  Smith  was  elected 
mayor.  This  charter  virtually  estab- 
lished for  the  Mormons,  a  government 
within  a  government,  a  legislature  with 
power  to  pass  ordinances  in  conflict  with 
the  laws  of  the  State ;  courts  to  execute 
them  with  but  little  dependence  upon 
the  constitutional  judiciary,  and  a  mili- 
tary force  at  their  own  command,  and 
governed  by  their  own  laws,  and  subject 
to  'no  State  authority,  but  that  of  the 
Governor.  The  flagrant  abuse  and  use 
of  the  anti- Republican  principles  con- 
tained in  the  charter  caused  their  ban- 
ishment, and  the  death  of  Smith  and  his 
brother.  The  Democrats  in  1842  cap- 
tured the  Mormon  vote,  and  the  Whigs, 
to  repair  this  disaster  to  them,  raised  a 
crusade  against  the  Mormons.  Duplicity 
on  the  part  of  the  Mormons  to  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  in  the  election  for  Con- 
gressman in  the  contest  between  Hons. 
O.  H.  Browning  and  Joseph  P.  Hoge, 
during  1843,  caused  many  Democrats  to 
favor  the  expulsion  of  the  Mormons. 
In  the  winter  of  1843  and  1844,  the 
common  council  of  Nauvoo,  with  its 
unlimited  power,  passed  an  ordinance  to 
further  protect  the  Mormon  leaders  from 
arrest  on  warrants  from  Missouri.  The 
ordinance  provided  that  no  writ  issued 
from  any  other  place  than  Nauvoo,  for 
the  arrest  of  any  person  in  it,  should  be 
executed  in  the  city,  without  first  receiv- 
ing the  endorsement  of  the  mayor,  and 
any  officer  attempting  to  execute  any 
such  writ  without  complying  with  the 
ordinance,  should  be  subjected  to 
imprisonment  for  life,  and  that  the  Gov- 
ernor should  not  have  the  pardoning 
power  without  the  consent  of  the  mayor. 


M:/.i  162 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Owners  of  property  stolen  in  other  coun- 
ties, in  making  pursuit  of  the  same  into 
the  city  of  Nauvoo,  were  fined  by  the 
authorities  for  daring  to  seek  their 
property  in  the  holy  city.  The  Mor- 
mons at  this  time  also  petitioned 
Congress  to  establish  a  territorial  gov- 
ernment for  them  in  Nauvoo,  independ- 
ent of  the  State. 

It»  1844,  the  minds  of  the  people  were 
further  inflamed  by  the  announcement 
of  Joe  Smith  as  a  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  The  leading 
cause  of  popular  fury,  was  the  conduct 
of  the  Mormons  in  casting  their  votes  as 
a  unit,  thus  making  it  apparent  that  no 
one  should  have  honor  or  office  in  the 
county  without  their  consent  and  votes. 
Indignation  meetings,  inflammatory 
speeches,  and  the  circulation  of  exag- 
gerated reports  of  Mormon  depredations 
followed ;  and  at  a  public  meeting,  resolu- 
tions were  passed  to  expel  or  exterminate 
the  Mormons.  Those  persons  who  ad- 
vocated more  peaceful  measures  were 
met  with  derision,  and  denominated 
"  Jack  Mormons,"  against  whom  some 
of  the  more  excitable  advocated  expul- 
sion or  extermination. 

Dissensions  were  also  springing  up  in 
the  Mormon  household,  and  many  of  the 
prominent  leaders  were  expelled  from 
the  Church,  and  at  once  commenced  to 
assist  in  inciting  the  Anti- Mormons 
against  their  enemies.  On  the  17th  of 
June,  1844,  Gov.  Ford  was  waited  upon 
by  a  committee  of  citizens  from  Carthage, 
requesting  him  to  call  out  the  militia  to 
assist  in  enforcing  the  laws,  which  had 
been  repudiated  and  defied  by  Smith. 
Gov.  Ford  visited  Carthage,  arriving 
there  on  the  morning  of  June  21,  1844 ; 
and  found  that  the  General  of  the  bri- 
gade had  ordered  the  entire  bcdy  of  mili- 
tia from  McDonough  and  Schuyler  coun- 
ties. He  found  a  large  armed  force  as- 
sembled and  rapidly  increasing  under 
summons  of  the  constables  of  the  county, 
to  serve  as  a  posse  eomitatus.  Gov.  Ford 
dispatched  a  messenger  to  Nauvoo,  in- 
forming the  Mayor  and  Councils  of  the 
nature  of  the  complaint  made  against 
them — that  of  riot — upon  which  a  war- 
rant had  been  issued.  Before  demand- 
ing the  surrender  of  the  accused,  Gov. 
Ford,  seeing  the  tendency  of  the  popu- 
lace favoring  mob  violence,  he  exacted 
a   promise    from    the    militia    to   sup. 


port  him  in  strictly  ldgal  measures,  and 
to  protect  prisoners  in  case  they  surren- 
dered. This  was  unanimously  assented 
to  by  the  officers  and  men.  Having  ob- 
tained these  assurances,  the  Governor 
informed  Smith  and  his  Council  that  if 
they  surrendered  they  would  be  protect- 
ed ;  and  if  they  did  not,  the  whole  force 
of  the  State  would  be  called  out  to  en- 
force submission.  Upon  the  arrival  of 
the  guard  and  constable,  Smith  and  the 
Council  expressed  their  readiness  to  sur- 
render and  proceed  to  Carthage  on  the 
following  morning  at  eight  o'clock  ;  but 
when  the  time  arrived,  the  accused  did 
not  make  their  appearance.  Nauvoo 
was  one  vast  military  camp,  patrolled  by 
sentinels,  who  allowed  none  to  enter  or 
depart  from  the  city.  A  demand  was 
then  made  for  the  arms  of  the  State, 
which  had  been  furnished  to  the  Nauvoo 
legion,  and  met  with  a  ready  response 
and  delivery  to  the  Governor's  agent. 

On  the  24th  of  June,  1844,  Joe  Smith, 
with  his  brother  Hiram,  the  members  of 
the  Council,  and  all  others  demanded, 
came  into  Carthage  and  surrendered,  and 
were  recognized  before  a  justice  of  the 
peace  on  the  charge  of  riot ;  and  all 
were  permitted  to  return  to  their  homes, 
with  the  exception  of  Joe  and  Hiram 
Smith,  who  were  committed  to  jail  on 
the  charge  of  treason.  Immediately 
after  the  surrender,  Capt.  Singleton,! 
with  his  company  from  Brown  County, 
were  sent,  at  the  request  of  Smith,  to 
Nauvoo  to  guard  the  town,  and  take 
command  of  the  Mormon  legion.  On 
the  27th  day  of  June,  1844,  Joe  Smith 
and  his  brother  Hiram  were  killed 
in  the  Carthage  jail  by  a  mob.  Nauvoo 
soon  attained  a  population  of  16,000  ; 
and  improvements  of  great  value  were 
continually  being  made. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  of  1845, 
trouble  again  made  its  appearance,  and 
continued  to  increase  until  the  Spring 
of  1846.  An  agreement  between  the 
hostile  parties  was  made  for  the  volun- 
tary removal  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
Mormons.  An  armed  force  was  station- 
ed in  the  county  by  the  state  authorities 
to  keep  the  peace.  The  force  gradual- 
ly diminished,  until  the  last  of  May, 
1846,  when  it  consisted  of  ten  men  under 
Major  Wm.  B.  Warren.  During  the 
winter  of  1845  and  1846,  the  Mormons 
were  busily  engaged  in  preparations  for 


their  removal ;  and  by  Spring  they  had 
twelve  thousand  wagons  completed,  and 
by  the  middle  of  May,  16,000  Mormons 
had  started  for  the  West.  In  June, 
1846,  the  anti -Mormons  again  favored 
their  expulsion  by  force  of  arms,  fear- 
ing they  might  vote  at  the  approach- 
ing August  election.  Turmoil  and 
oppression  again  supplanted  peace,  and 
September  1st,  1846,  the  posie  eomi- 
tatus was  again  called  into  the  field. 
General  Singleton  and  Colonel  Chitten- 
den retired  and  Colonel  Thomas  S. 
Brockman  of  Brown  County  was  placed 
in  command  ;  and  to  him  belongs  the 
honor  of  seeing  them  placed  on  the  West 
side  of  the  Mississippi  river. 

Mormon  settlements  were  not  confined 
to  Hancock;  but  spread  themselves  over 
surrounding  counties.  There  were  a 
number  of  Mormons  settled  in  these 
counties  at  an  early  day.  In  the 
southern  portion  of  Brown  county,  a 
colony  had  gathered  in  1840 ;  and  it 
was  voted  to  build  a  church.  The  point 
selected  was  just  southeast  of  the  pres- 
ent town  of  Versailles ;  and  a  committee 
was  sent  to  Nauvoo,  but  were  advised  by 
Joseph  Smith,  that  it  was  not  advisable 
to  build  a  church  at  that  time. 

Brown  and  Schuyler  had  much  to  do 
with  the  removal  of  Mormonism,  and  in 
1844,  a  company  of  volunteers  left 
Rushville  for  the  seat  of  war  ;  but  upon 
reaching  Augusta  they  were  sent  home 
by  the  Governor. 

Roster  of  Brown  county   volunteers, 

attached  to  the  36th  Regiment,  Illinois 

Volunteers  in  the  Mormon  War.     The 

list  bears  date  of  June  28th,  1844,  and 

is  given  in  its  original  form  ;  and  the 

forces  responded  to  a  call  of  Governor 

Thomas  Ford. 

Thomas  S.  Brockman,  Col. 
Aaron  Pauly,  Lieut.  Col. 
Joseph  Robison,  Major. 
George  S.  Meyers,  Adjt. 
James  Manlby,  Quartermaster. 
James  Brockman,  Surgeon. 
William  Taylor,  Captain. 
George  W.  Timmons,  Captain. 
Harvey  Lester,  Captain. 
Arthur  Martin,  Captain. 
John  W.  Smith,  1st  Lieutenant. 
Alexander  Summy,  1st     " 
John  E.  Nix,  1st  " 

James  C.  Rigging,  2d  " 
Geo.  W.  Maulby,  2d  " 
Elisha  Davis,  2d  " 

Geo.  W.  Gibson,  1st  Sergeant. 


Privates. 


William  H.  Bates. 
Stephen  Bryant. 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


163 


John  Cox. 
Charles  McQuinney. 
Alexander  Jones. 
Thomas  Guesford. 
William  Haley. 
Thomas  A.  Campbell. 
Anderson  Jones. 
William  Bruuk. 
S.  Wambsly. 
James  J.  Smith. 
B.  J.  Slivers. 
Jonah  liruiik. 
William  Ishmael. 
William  Wilson. 
Samuel  Brierton. 
M.  Knowlen. 
J.  G.  Orr. 
William  Langan. 
John  Carney. 
Isaac  Barker. 
Lemuel  Bailey. 
Peter  Coplantz. 
A.  McPhail. 
William  Angel. 
Robert  Dennison. 
Reuben  Wilson, 
Joseph  Gilson. 
William  New. 
Thomas  Corbit. 
William  Stableton. 
John  Orr. 
Alex.  McKean. 
Alfred  Wilgus. 

A.  B.  Beard. 
Wm.  Taylor. 
Wm.  Curry. 
L.  Ely. 

B.  Gristy. 

D.  A.  Kendrick. 
Ira  Shanon. 
Ely  Smith. 
Thomas  Grover. 
Hugh  Shanon. 
M.  C.  Smith. 
James  Keath. 
Wm.  Hartley. 
H.  A.  Pope. 
Wm.  Bales. 
John  Beckman. 
Wm.  A.  Nix. 
Richard  Bruce. 
Peyton  Keith 
John  Wood. 
Jno.  D.  Crawford. 
David  Long. 
Wm    D.  Lester. 
Kmslev  Jackson. 
M.  C.  Nokes. 
Rufus  Nokes. 
David  Scott. 
John  Jennings. 
Allen  P.  Keith. 
James  H.  Orr. 
James  M.  Kendrick. 
G.  S.  Richardson. 
Parmer  Soper. 
Philip  Ausmus. 
Josiah  Hix. 
James  Strahan. 
Horatio  Orton. 


Geo.  W.  Saddler. 
Joseph  Strahan. 

D.  Ausmus. 
J.  C.  Davis. 

C.  Wright. 
Samuel  Miller. 
H.  W.  Cliflbrd. 

E.  S.  Wells. 
Wm.  Campbell. 
Edward  Perry. 
Philip  Ausmus. 
Isaiah  Hix. 
Louis  Briggs. 
John  R.  Briggs. 
J.  II.  Rose. 

K.  Henry. 

B.  W.  McFarland. 
Wm.  H.  Stewart. 
M.  Hewett. 

R.  C.  Thomas. 
J.  Paine. 
Jas.  Gaddis. 
J.  A.  McCoy. 
P.  Z.  Abbott. 
Wm.  Stabler. 
Ro!  ert  Brown. 
W.  Williams. 

D.  T.  Harbour. 

C.  W.  C.  Tolle. 
J.  S.  Tolle. 
Nathan  Perry. 
Gideon  Perry. 
Henry  Hills. 
Nelson  Davis. 
B.  Robinson. 

E.  Frederick. 
Matthew  Todd. 
Thomas  Poiner. 
Richard  Ancutt. 
H.  C.  Davitt. 
Geo.  W.  Sunimy. 
James  Bonds. 
Hugh  Colovan. 
Wm.  L.  D.  Gearnes. 
Wm.  T.  Crawford. 
John  R.  Guessford. 
Wm.  Mallery. 

S.  D.  Smith. 
J.  S.  Dunbar. 
Thomas  Radick. 
.'ames  Smith. 
Wm.  Henry. 
R.  Crisp. 
S.  W.  Miller. 
John  Lomax. 
Jno.  B.  McDaniel. 
Win.  Patterson. 
Jno.  D.  Patterson. 
Silas  J.  Smith. 
John  R.  Brockman. 
Louis  Brockman. 
E.  Harris. 
Wm.  Lee. 
E.  G.  Morell. 
E.  Morell. 
J.  M.  Adams. 
Elijah  Adams. 
Caleb  Jennings. 
Philip  Ausmus. 
E.  Warden. 


MEXICAN  WAR. 

From  1821,  the  time  that  Mexico  sev- 
ered her  connection  with  Spain,  until 
1836,  all  the  vast  extent  of  country  ly- 
ing between  Louisiana  and  Mexico, 
was  a  province  of  Mexico.  It  had  been 
the  policy  of  Spain  and  Mexico  to  keep 
the  territory  uninhabited,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preventing  an  inroad  from   the 


Americans.  A  large  land  grant  was  at 
last  secured  by  Moses  Anstine  of  Conne- 
cticut, from  Mexico,  the  only  considera- 
tion being  the  settlement  of  three  hun- 
dred American  families  within  his  do- 
main. The  grant  was  .subsequently  con- 
firmed to  his  son,  and  permission  granted 
to  increase  the  number  of  families  to  five 
hundred.  This  was  the  first  step  taken 
which  ultimately  led  to  the  Mexican 
war. 

The  policy  of  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment was  of  the  most  oppressive  and 
tyrannical  nature,  so  much  so  that  "  for- 
bearance ceased  to  be  a  virtue  "  ;  and 
in  1835,  the  people  openly  rebelled. 
The  bloody  battle  of  San  Jacinto  in  1836, 
decided  the  rebellion  in  favor  of  the 
Texans,  Santa  Anna,  the  Dictator  of 
all  Mexico  was  captured  and  under 
duress  he  signed  a  treaty  in  which  he 
acknowledged  the  independence  of  Tex- 
as, which  treaty,  however,  the  Mexican 
government  ever  afterwards  repudiated. 
The  independence  of  the  new  State  was 
soon  afterwards  acknowledged  by  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain  and  France. 
From  the  moment  of  gaining  her  inde- 
pendence, the  Texans,  looked  forward 
to  annexation  to  the  Union,  and  over- 
tures looking  to  that  end  were  frequently 
made  to  the  United  States  Government ; 
and  Mexico  as  often  notified  the  United 
States  that  an  attempt  to  comply  with  the 
request  of  the  Mexicans  would  be  treated 
as  a  sufficient  cause  for  war.  During  the 
administration  of  President  Van  Buren, 
who  feared  a  war  with  Mexico,  the  peti- 
tion of  the  Texan?,  met  not  only  with 
no  encouragement ;  but  was  declined. 
Id  the  last  year  of  Tyler's  administra- ' 
tion  the  subject  of  annexation  was  again 
agitated  without  success.  Texas  had 
now  increased  her  population  to  two 
hundred  thousand  persons,  her  territory 
embraced  an  area,  more  than  five  times 
as  great  as  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
Annexing  this  vast  territory,  whose  area 
was  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thou- , 
sand  square  miles,  was  like  adding  a 
new  Empire,  and  the  question  was  one 
of  vast  importance,  and  became  the 
leading  issue  with  the  people  in  the 
presidential  election  of  1844.  Annexa-  i 
tion  was  favored  by  the  Democratic  par- j 
ty  and  opposed  by  the  Whigs.  The 
voice  of  the  people  was  in  favor  of  An- 
nexation, and  James  K.  Polk  was  elected 


president,  defeating  Henry  Clay,  the 
Whig  candidate.  Upon  the  convening 
of  Congress  in  December,  1844,  the 
proposition  to  admit  Texas  was  one  of 
the  first  acts  formally  presented.  The 
measure  engrossed  the  attention  of  our 
National  Legislature  during  the  entire 
winter,  and  was  frequently  debated ; 
and  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1845, 
three  days  prior  to  the  inauguration  of 
President  Polk,  the  bill  of  Annexation 
was  adopted,  and  President  Polk  imme- 
diately gave  his  assent  to  the  bill.  Upon 
the  adoption  of  the  resolution  of  Annexa- 
tion, Almonte,  the  Mexican  minister  at 
Washington,  demanded  his  passports 
and  left  the  country.  The  Texan  Legis- 
lature ratified  the  act  of  Annexation  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1845,  and  became  the 
twenty-seventh  star  in  the  constellation 
of  liberty. 

Texas  immediately  applied  to  the 
President  of  the  United*  States  to  send 
an  army  into  the  state  for  protection 
against  the  Mexicans.  Gen.  Taylor  was 
ordered  to  move  into  and  occupy  Texas, 
which  he  at  once  did,  marching  from 
Camp  Jessup  in  Louisiana,  where  he  had 
been  stationed.  The  germ  of  the  diffi- 
culty between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico  had  its  origin  as  far  back  as  1821, 
when  Mexico  gained  her  independence 
by  throwing  off' the  Spauish  yoke,  which 
she  had  worn  for  three  hundred  years. 
At  that  time  Mexico,  in  arranging  her 
civil  administration,  united  Texas  and 
Coahuila  under  one  provincial  gov- 
ernor, as  both  lay  east  of  the  Rio 
Grande.  When  Texas  repudiated  her  al- 
legiance to  Mexico  and  gained  her  inde- 
pendence, she  also  claimed  that  her  suc- 
cess carried  with  it  the  success  of  Coa- 
huila and  made  that  province  a  part  of 
Texas;  and  this  theory  the  joint  legisla- 
ture of  Texas  and  Coahuila  put  into 
practice,  by  putting  the  same  into  statu- 
tory form,  by  passing  a  resolution  to 
that  effect.  December  19th,  1836,  Mex- 
ico claimed  that  the  boundary  of  Texas 
was  the  Neuces  river,  while  Texas  in- 
sisted upon  the  Rio  Grande  river  as  the 
boundary,  in  order  to  include  Coahuila ; 
and  upon  the  admission  of  Texas  into  the 
Union  the  dispute  as  to  the  boundary 
was  unsettled.  The  government  of  the 
United  States  sought  to  settle  peaceably 
the  dispute  regarding  the  boundary  line, 
through  an  envoy,  in  the  winter  of  1845 


164 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


and  1846.  This  proposition  was  scorn-  march  under  a  tropical  sun — no  good 
fully  refused  by  the  Mexican  authori-  water,  and  scourged  by  the  mumps  and 
ties;  and  Gen.  Taylor  was  ordered  to  measles,  and  reached  their  destination, 
proceed  with  his  army  as  near  to  the  Camp  Crockett,  on  the  San  Antonia,  Au- 
Rio  Grande  as  he  could.  Gen.  Arista,  gust  23d,  1846.  Many  of  the  members 
the  Mexican  commander,  notified  Gen-  of  this  company  fell  at  the  battle  of 
Taylor  on  the  "26th  of  April,  1846,  that  Buena  Vista,  and  in  the  battles  of  Mon- 
hostilities  had  begun.  These  acts  upon  terey  and  Saltillo.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
the  part  of  the  Mexican  authorities,  in-  enumerate  the  different  battles  of  the 
duced  Congress  to  pass  an  act  on  the  Mexican  war,  as  the  information  can  be 
11th  day  of  May,  1846,  declaring  that  obtained  from  any  common  school  his- 
"  by  the  act  of  the  republic  of  Mexico   tory.  * 

a  state  of  war  exists  between  that  gov-  The  war  continuing  longer  than  had 
ernment  and  the  United  States  ;  "  and  at  been  anticipated,  a  second  call  for  6,000 
the  same  time  authorized  the  President  troops  was  made.  Illinois  received  no- 
to  accept  the  services  of  50,000  volun-  tice  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  April 
teers  and  appropriated  $10,000,000  to  19,  1847,  to  furnish  ten  additional  com- 
carry  on  the  war.  panies  of  infantry  and  one  company  of 

The  call  for  volunteers  was  appor-  cavalry.  In  compliance  with  the  requisi- 
tioned mostly  to  the  southern  and  west-  tionof  the  Secretary  of  War,  Gov.  French 
ern  states-  Illinois  was  requested  to  issued  an  order  on  the  27th  of  April, 
furnish  "  three  regiments  of  volunteers  calling  for  volunteers.  The  call  met 
or  riflemen."  The  pay  was  $8  00  per  with  a  prompt  response,  and  the  quota 
month  and  commutations,  amounting  in  was  readily  supplied  and  the  regimeot 
all  to  §15.50;  the  time  of  service  one  ordered  to  assemble  at  Alton,  May  10, 
year  ;  the  men  to  furnish  their  own  uni-  1847,  and  was  known  as  the  Fifth  Regi- 
forms,  for  which  they  would  be  remun-  ment.  The  infantry  was  composed  of 
erated ;  select  their  officers  in  compli-  ten  companies,  one  of  which,  company 
ance  with  the  militia  laws  of  the  State  ;  D,  was  raised  in  Brown  county,  by  E. 
and  the  number  in  each  company  was  W.  B.  Newby,  who  was'  elected  colonel 
limited  to  eighty  men.  Governor  Ford  on  the  organization  of  the  regiment  June 
issued  the  call  for  volunteers  on  the  8th,  1847.  The  cavalry  company  was 
25th  of  May,  1846;  and  within  ten  days  enlisted  in  Schuyler  county,  and  com- 
time  thirty-five  companies  duly  organ-  manded  by  Capt.  Adams  Dunlap.  On 
ized  reported  to  the  governor,  and  were  the  18th  day  of  June,  1847,  the  regiment 
ordered  to  rendezvous  at  Alton,  and  left  Alton  on  a  steamboat  and  reached 
by  the  middle  of  June  the  requisition  Fort  Leavenworth,  on  the  24th  of  the 
was  exceeded  by  more  than  forty  com-  same  month,  from  which  place  they 
panies.  commenced  a  long  and  tiresome  march 

The  first  regiment  of  Illinois  volun-  across  the  plains,  burned  by  the  scorch- 
teers  organized  July  2d,  1846,  by  elect-  ing  heat  of  the  day,  and  chilled  by  the 
ing  Gen.  J.  J-  Hardin,  colonel.  To  the  coolness  of  the  night,  for  Santa  Fe,  New 
first  battalion  of  this  regiment  was  at-  Mexico.  While  stationed  at  Santa  Fe, 
tached  the  company  E,  raised  in  ?chuy-  the  regiment  was  divided  into  two  bat- 
ler  county  by. Col.  William  A.  Richard-  talions— the  first,  in  which  the  Brown 
son.  This  regiment,  in  company  with  and  Schuyler  county  troops,  was  placed 
the  second,  left  Alton  on  the  17th,  18th  under  command  of  Col.  Newby  and  sent 
and  19th  of  July,  1846,  on  board  the  on  an  expedition  south  to  El  Paso.  The 
steamers  Convoy,  Missouri  and  Hanni-  war  being  at  an  end,  the  regiment  saw 
bal  and  passed  down  the  Mississippi  to  no  active  service  with  the  enemy,  but 
New  Orleans,  reshipped  and  were  sustained  many  hardships,  and  was 
landed  at  Levacca,  Matagorda  Bay,  on  ravished  by  disease.  The  fall  of  the  city 
the  29th  of  the  same  month.  of  Mexico  virtually  ended  the  conflict, 

Under  the  leadership  of  Gen.  Wool,  and  the  war  was  formally  closed  with 
who  accompanied  them  from  Alton,  they  the  treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  Feb- 
arrived  at  Pallida  creek,  twelve  miles  ruary  2,  1848.  By  the  terms  of  the 
from  the  coast,  on  the  4th  of  August,  and  treaty  the  boundary  lines  between  Mex- 
after  a  rest  of  four  days  resumed  the  ico  and  the  United  States  commenced  at 


the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  river  to 
the  southern  limit  of  New  Mexico,  thence 
following  the  southern  boundary  of  that 
territory  westward,  thence  north  along 
its  western  border  to  the  river  Gila, 
thence,  down  that  river  to  the  Colorado 
river,  thence  west  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
including  not  only  Texas  and  Coahuila, 
but  also  the  whole  of  New  Mexico  and 
Upper  California.  Mexico  also  guaran- 
teed the  free  navigation  of  the  Gulf  of 
California  and  the  Colorado  river.  The 
obligations  assumed  by  the  United  States 
in  the  treaty  was  the  surrender  of  all 
places  held  by  military  occupation  in 
Mexico,  the  payment  of  fifteen  million 
dollars  into  the  Mexican  treasury,  and 
the  assuming  of  all  debts  due  from  the 
Mexican  government  to  American  citi- 
zens, not  exceeding  three  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

SCHUYLER   COUNTY. 

At  the  second  call  for  troops  in  the 
Mexican  war,  which  was  issued  by  the 
President,  under  the  act  of  Congress  ap- 
proved May  13,  1848,  Schuyler  county 
responded  promptly,  and  Capt.  Adams 
Dunlap  at  once  raised  the  Independent 
company  of  Illinois  mounted  volun- 
teers, being  the  only  company  of  cavalry 
from  this  state.  The  company  was  raised 
in  the  month  of  May,  1847,  at  Rush- 
ville,  and  marched  thence  to  Alton, 
Illinois,  where  it  arrived  May  21,  1847, 
a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  ten  miles 
from  Rushville.  The  company  em- 
barked upon  a  steamer  for  New  Orleans, 
where  it  re-shipped  to  Brazos  Island 
and  thence  up  the  Rio  Grande  river  to 
Matamoras  where  it  remained,  doing 
garrison  duty,  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
The  company  suffered  severely  from 
sickness,  and  at  one  time  of  the  whole 
number  only  thirty-five  were  able  to  re- 
port for  duty.  The  company  returned 
to  Alton,  Illinois,  where  it  was  mustered 
out  of  the  service  on  the  7th  day  of 
November,  1848. 

The  roster  of  company  E.,  first  regi- 
ment Illinois  volunteers,  John  J. 
Hardin,  colonel,  was  raised  by  William 
H.  Richardson  at  Rushville,  Illinois, 
and  was  composed  of  men  from  both 
Schuyler  and  Brown  counties,  many  of 
whom  fell  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista. 
Those  marked  with  a  star  were  from 
Brown    county,    the    remainder     from 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


165 


Schuyler.     The  company  left  Rushville 

in  June,  1846. 

Officers. 


Captain.     W.  A.  Richardson,  promoted  Major 

at  Buena  Visia. 
2d  Captain,     G.  W.  Robertson. 
Is*  Lieutenant.     Allen  Persinger. 
2d  Lieutenant.     George  S.  Meyers. 
3d  Lieutenant.    John  T.  May. 
Orderly  Sergeant.     George  W.  Calvert. 
2d  Sergeant.     Francis  R.  McElroy. 
3d  Sergeant.     Luke  P.  Allphin,  Schuyler  Co. 
4th  Sergeant.     James  Coakeman. 
Corporal.     Robert  H.  Lawler. 
Corporal.     Moses  Lettaker. 
Corporal.     Reuben  Allphin,  Schuyler  Co. 
Corporal.     Wni.  Peterfish. 
Muskitm.    James  H.  Garden. 

Privates. 
Allphin,  William  R.,  Schuyler  Co. 
Billings,  Jonathan. 
Black,  John,  Jr. 
Beach,  Cyrus. 

Brooks.  William,  Schuyler  Co. 
Bennett,  Lemuel. 
Berry,  George  L. 
Curry,  Isaac. 
Curtis,  George  W. 
Crane,  Goodsell. 

Clarkson,  Franklin  B.,  Schuyler  Co. 
Carter,  Irvin  K. 
Davis,  Moses  W.,  Brown  Co. 
Dalton,  Franklin. 
Doyle,  James,  Schuyler  Co. 
File,  Henry. 
Garrett,  John. 
Gray,  George  L. 
Gray,  Hiram  H. 
Homey,  Leonidas,  Schuyler  Co. 
Harris,  Jam^s  II. 
Hewitt,  Allen  O. 
Harris,  William. 
Ishmael,  George  W.,  Brown  Co. 
James,  Anderson. 
Jacobs,  Daniel. 
Koch,  Isaac. 
Littaker,  Joseph  H. 
Lee,  John  P. 
Luttrell,  James  H. 
Luttrell,  Benjamin. 
Luttrell,  Rowland  G. 
Lawler,  Joseph  T.,  Schuyler  Co. 
Lansdon,  Richard. 
McClelland,  Daniel. 
*  Martin,  Brown  Co. 
*Morris,  Barton  W. 
Ogden,  Jonathan  B. 
Rose,  Isaac. 

*Richardson,  Green  B.,  Brown  Co. 
Richardson,  William. 
Richardson,  Watson  R. 
*Stapleton,  William. 
Strahan,  James. 
Smotherman,  Thomas. 
Smith,  Charles. 
St.  John,  William  H. 
Thompson,  John  B. 
Turner,  Berry. 
Thorp,  L.  M. 
*Van  Tassel,  Francis  M. 
Wilson,  James  O. 
Wilson,  Thomas. 

The  following  is  a  complete  roster  of 
the  company,  as  obtained  from  the 
original  Muster  Roll  at  date  of  dis- 
charge, at  Alton,  Illinois,  November  7, 
1848,  now  in  the  possession  of  Captain 
Adams  Dunlap,  of  Buena  Vista  township, 
Schuyler  county,  111.,  and  to  whose  cour- 


tesy we  are  indebted  for  its  appearance 
in  this  work.  Where  not  differently 
stated,  the  men  were  mustered  out  No- 
vember 7,  1848. 

OFFICERS. 

Captain.  Adams,  Dunlap 

1«(  Lieutenant,  Samuel  Lambert. 

2d  Lieutenant,  Simon  Doyle. 

2d  Lieutenant,  Calvin  Jackson. 

Orderly  Sergeant,  Samuel  \V.  Boring. 

2d  Sergeant.  James  B.  Wright. 

3d  Sergeant.  Geo.  O.  Bachman.  promoted  from 
private  July  9,  1847. 

4th  Sergeant,  Richard  W.  Stephenson  pro- 
moted 1'r  ,m  private  May  1,  1848. 

Corporal,  Victor  C.  Putnam. 

Corporal,  William  Ricbey. 

Corporal,  Newton  De  Witt. 

Corporal,  John  W.  Snyder,  promoted  from  pri- 
vate February  l(i,  1848. 

Bugler,  Theodore  Smith. 

Bugler,  Charles  Hynes. 

Farrier  and  Blacksmith,  David  Duff. 

Privates. 

Angle,  John. 

Allen,  Mark,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico.  May 
26,  1848. 

Brown,  Robert,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 
May  26,  1848. 

Brown,  Alexander,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 
May  26,  1848. 

Bowen,  James  F. 

Buckler,  Henry. 

Berry,  Daniel  F. 

Beale,  Samuel  O. 

Boyd,  David. 

Boyd,  Robert, 

Chipman,  Seth. 

Chapman,  William  W. 

Cummings,  Alfred, 

Cunningham,  Caleb. 

Chipman,  Philip. 

Cram,  Henry. 

Carden,  Washington  A. 

Curtis,  Jesse,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico,  May 
26,  1848. 

Corbridge.  Thomas,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 

Carter,  Rutherford,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 

Carnes,  John  T.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 
May  26,  1848. 

Duhomell,  Benj.  F.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 

Densmore,  James  C,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26, 1848. 

Derickson,  Joseph  M. 

Krwin,  George  W. 

Easley,  William, 

Easley,  Thomas  M. 

Elliott,  William. 

Fisher,  Jacob,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 
May  26,  1848. 

Geiger,  Donelson  M.,  joined  as  recruit  in 
Mexico,  May  26,  1848. 

Gillett,  Charles  W.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 

Gilbreath,  Samuel,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 

Green,  William. 

Gitchell,  Calvin  L. 

Green,  David. 

Gordon,  Franklin. 

Gibson,  Isaac  W. 

Havercluft,  Christopher  C. 

Holloway,  William. 

Hatfield,  Abraham. 

Hymer,  George. 

Hoyt,  Albert. 

Hurry,  David,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 
May  26,  1848. 


Hopkins,   Lemuel    B.,  joined  as   recruit    in 

Mexico,  May  26,  1848. 
Hopkins,  David    R.,  joined     as    recruit    in 

Mexico,  May  26,  1848. 
Hansen,  William  B.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 
Jump,  James  C.  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Jones,  James  B. 
Jones,  Levi. 
Kelly,  Patrick. 
Lambert,  Henry. 
Lamaster,  Ervin. 

Lincoln,  Jefferson,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 
Mnllane,  Carroll,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Mauck,  Abram  R..  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 
McGee,  Elijah,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Myers,  Jacob  L.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Maynard,    Robert    H.,  joined   as   recruit    in 

Mexico,  May  26,  1848. 
Mars,  John   L.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Martin,  George  W. 
McKinney,  John. 
McNeeley,  John. 
McMasters,  William. 
Murran,  John. 
Patterson,  Charles  R. 
Parrott,  Josiah. 
Peeler,  Jefferson. 
Presson,  William  A. 
Pierce,  George. 
Parker,  Oscar  J.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Robert,  De  Witt  C,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 
Redman,  William,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, July  9,  1847. 
Rhodes,  Hinman. 
Scott,  George  R. 
Scott,  William  B. 
Spencer  Elijah. 
Smith,  Wiliiam  E. 
Smith,  Robert. 

Sidwell,  James  C.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 
Sieman,  Cornelius,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, July  9,  1847. 
Stetson,  Clinton,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Turnbull,  Thomas,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 
Todd,   Simeon,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Tucker,  William,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Troy,  Jerome,  joined   as  recruit   in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Thompson  James. 
Thompson,  James  D. 
Thoroughman,  John. 
Vance,  John, 

Vancourt,  Benj.  P.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mex- 
ico, May  26,  1848. 
Winsor,  Clark,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 

May  26,  1848. 
Weatherbee,  William  B.,  joined  as  recruit  in 

Mexico,  May  26,  1848. 
Whitehurst,  Willis  G.,  joined   as   recruit   in 

Mexico,  May  26,  1848. 
Ward,  Alfred. 
Whitlock,  George  C. 
Wright,  Isaac  S.  W. 

Ward,  Luke  G.,  joined  as  recruit  in  Mexico, 
July  9,  1847. 

The  following  named  died  in  service 

Tvre,  Thomas,  4th  sergeant,  Matamoras,  July 
10,1847. 


106 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Porgolia,  Anthony,  4th  corporal,  Matamoras, 

Oct  8,  1847. 
Rew,  Thos.,  private,  Matamoras,  July  15,  '47. 
Clark,  John,  private,  Matamoras,  Aug.  1,  '47. 
Fletcher,  Jas.  C,  priv.,  Matamoras,  Aug.  7, '47. 
Smith,  John,  private,  Matamoras,  Sept.  27,  '47. 
Cook,  Win-  W.,  priv.,  Matamoras,  Sep.  23,  '47. 
Beales,  Aug.  F.,  priv.,  Matamoras,  Sept.  28,  '47. 
Gibson,  B.  F.,  priv.,  Matamoras,  Oct.  13,  '47.  ' 
Smith,  Silas  J.,  priv.,  Matamoras,  Oct.  16,  '47. 
Edmonson,  X.  H.  R..  pr.,  Matam's,  Oct.  18,  '47. 
Biggs,  Henry,  priv..  Matamoras,  Oct.  23.  '47. 
Castle,  Henry,  priv.,  Matamoras,  Oct.  28, '47. 
Dyson,  Samuel,  priv.,  Matamoras,  Oct.  30,  '47. 
Burton,  Geo.  W.,  priv.,  Point  Isabel,  Texas, 

July  18,  1848. 
Gillett,  Phinney  P.,  priv.,  joined  as  a  recruit 

in  Mexico,  Mav  26,  1848,  died  at  Alton, 

Ills.,  August  13,  1848. 

The  following  named  deserted  : 

Smith,  Thomas  J.,  private,  Alton,  Ills.,  June 

5,  1847. 
Hovev,  Simeon  H.,  private,  Alton,  Ills.,  June 

'  9,  1847. 

Wright,  Daniel,  priv.,  X.  Orleans,  June  25,  '47. 

Brunk,  Wm.,  priv.,  Matamoras,  Dec.  1,  1847. 

Brooks,  William,  priv.,  joined  as  a  recruit  in 

*  Mexico,  May  26,  1848  ;  deserted  at  Ca- 

niargo,  Aug.  4,  1848. 

The  following  were  discharged  on  sur- 
geons' certificate? 

Serrott,  Marcus,  2nd  serg't,  Matamoras,  April 
27,  1848. 

Lansden,  William  A.,  priv.,  Matamoras,  Dec. 
5,  1847. 

Dickson,  Fre.,  priv  ,  Matamoras,  April  27,  '48. 

Cro-s,  Thomas  J.,  priv,  joined  as  a  recruit  in 
Mexico,  May  26,  1848,  left  sick  at  San 
Antonio,  to  be  discharged,  Sept.  9,  '47. 

Whitcher,  Patterson  V.,  private,  joined  as  a 
recruit  in  Mexico.  May  26,  '48,  disch'ged 
at  San  Antonio,  Oct.  3,  1848,  for  expira- 
tion of  term  of  service. 

In  this  war  Brown  county  contributed 
Company  D  of  the  Fifth  Regiment  of 
Illinois  Volunteers  (infantry).  This 
company  was  raised  in  Mt.  Sterling  by 
Captain  E.  W.  B.  Newby,  in  May,  1847, 
and  marched  to  Alton,  where  it  was 
mustered  into  the  service  on  the  22d 
day  of  May,  1847.  The  regiment  was 
organized,  and  at  an  election  for  regi- 
mental officers,  Captain  Newby  was 
chosen  colonel ;  and  First  Sergeant  John 
C.  Moses  was  selected  as  captain  of  the 
company. 

The  following  list  gives  the  names  of 
the  members  of  Company  D : 

Capt  John  C.  Moses,  mustered  out  Sept  30,  '48. 
1st  Lieut.  G.  A.  Keith,  must'd  out  Sept.  30,  '48. 
2d  Lieut.  J.  H.  Easley,  mus'd  out  Aug.  31,  '48. 
3d  Lt.S.  B.  Alexander,  must'd  out  Sept  30,  '48. 
Or.  Serg't  W.  E.  Oscar,  must'd  out  June  30,  '48- 
2d  Serg't  Ths.  B.  Love,  must'd  out  June  30,  '48- 
3d  Serg't  Ems.  Harris,  must'd  out  Juue  30,  '48. 
4th  Serg't  J.  T.  Brooks,  mus'd  out  June  30,  '48. 
1st  Corp.  Alex.  Parker,  mus'd  out  Juna  30,  '48. 
2d  Corp.  T.  M.Roberts,  mus'd  out  June  30,  '48. 
3d  Corp.  C.  H.  Wilson,  must'd  out  June  30,  '48. 
4th  Corp.  Ths.  Dragoo,  must'd  out  June  30,  '48. 
Music'n  Eli  Dennis,  must'ed  out  June  30,  '48. 
Music'n  Mat.  Johnson,  must'd  out  June  30,  '48. 


Privates. 

Angel,  Joshua,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Adams,  Thos.  D.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Brisco,  Wm.  H.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Bass,  Geo.  W.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Burk,  Geo.  J.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Berry,  Wm.  C.  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Baker,  Jacob,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Barker,  C.  W.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Coppage,  Jos.  W-,  must'd  out  June  30,  1848. 
Clark,  Geo.  W.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Carter,  Jos.  R.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Dalton,  John  W.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Davis,  Geo.  W.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Emery,  John  T.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Forsythe,William,  mustered  out  June  30, 1848. 
Fuller,  Bradford,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Glenn,  Samuel  R.,  mustered  out  June  30, 1848 
Gibson,  Thomas,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Grant,  Hardin  H.,  mustered  out  June  30,1848. 
Giddings,  Geo.  H.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Gaston,  William,  mustered  out  June  30, 1848. 
Hamsell,  Xath'l,  mustered  out  April  30,  1848. 
Higgins,  Clark  B.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Hunt,  William,  mustered  out  June  30, 1848. 
House,  John,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Hills,  Richard,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Heddleston,  John,  mustered  out  June  30, 1848. 
Ingles,  Noah,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Ishmael,  Wm.  S.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
King,  James  M.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Kendrick,  Geo.  W.,  must'd  out  June  30,  1848. 
Kelly,  Isaac,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Ix>max,  John,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Lake,  Myron,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
McCanley.  And'w,  mustered  out  June  30, 1848. 
McMeans,  John,  mustered  out  June  30.  1848. 
McLane  Jno.  K-.  mustered  out  June  30, 1848. 
Xix,  Jasper  L.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Parker,  Orlando  M.,  must'd  out  June  30, 1848. 
Parker,  Newborn  P.,  must'd  out  June  30,  1848 
Preston,  Lyman,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Preston,  Jas   H.,  mustered  out  June  30, 1848. 
Pitchford,  Wm  H.,  must'd  out  June  30,  1848. 
Roberts,  Silas  H,  must'd  out  June  30,  1848 
Raney,  Abram  C,  must'd  out  June  30,  1848- 
Starks,  John,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Smith,  Jas.  J.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Smith,  John,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Simons  David  B.,  must'd  out  June  30,  1848. 
Steel,  James  M-,  must'd  out  June  30,  1848. 
Shober,  John  L.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Taulbee,  Daniel,  mustered  out  June  30.  1848. 
Taylor,  John  H.,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Vanwey,  Charles,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Wilson,  Cavil  K-,  mustered  out  June  30, 1848. 
Woods,  Joseph,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848. 
Wells,  James  F,  mustered  out  June  30.  1848. 
Watts,  John,  mustered  out  June  30,  1848 
White,  Edmond  R.,  must'd  out  June  30,  1848 
Walker.  John  M..  must'd  out  June  30,  1848. 

The  following  died  in  the  service: 
John  McDiggins,  Ft.  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  June 

27,  1847. 
Thos.  Angel,  Santa  Fe,  X.  M.,  Sept.  28.  1847. 
Sam'l  Huffman,  Santa  Fe.  N.  M.,  Oct  15, 1847. 
Jno.  K.  Putnam,  Sante  Fe,  N.  M.,  Oct.  16, 1847. 
Jos.  H.  Phillips,  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,Oct.  18, 1847. 
Aug.  Green,  near  Albuquerque,  X.  M.,  Nov.  9, 

1847. 
Jno.  Xowells,  Santa  Fe,  X.  M.,  Mav  17.  1848. 
John  Bostick,  Jeinez,  N.  M  ,  Mav  28,  1848. 

The  following  were  discharged  on  account 
of  disability : 
Hiram  Bennett,  Ft.  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  Aug. 

19,  1847. 
Jacob  Lewis,  Ft.  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  Aug.  24, 

1847. 
John  J.  Studdv,  Ft.  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  Aug. 

24,  1847. 
Chas.  L.  Raymond,  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  Mar.  8, 

1848. 
John  Harris,  Santa  Fe,  N.  M.,  Mar.  20,  1848. 
Wm.  Taylor,  Santa  Fe,  X.  M.,  Mar.  29,  1848. 


John  M.   Bowen,  Santa  Fe,  X.  M-,  Mar.  29, 

1848. 
Horatio  M.  Hamilton,  Las  Vegas,  X-  M.,  June 

8,  1848. 
Sam'l  B.  Vansickle,  Las  Vegas,  X.  M-,  June 

8,1848. 
Discharged  at  expiration  of  service: 
Jas.  R.  Langlev,  Santa  Fe,  X.  M.,  Aug.  10, 1848. 
Henry  Xunn,  Santa  Fe,  X.  M.,  Aug.  10,  1848. 
Jas.  G.  Phillips,  Santa  Fe,  X.   M.,  Aug.   10, 

1848. 
Eli  W.  Waldon,  Santa  Fe,  X-  M.,  Aug.  10, 1848. 
H.  P.  Salmon,  joined  as  a  recruit,  Aug.  1.  1848, 

and  discharged  for  expiration  tf  service, 

Aug  10,  1848. 
Hiram  Davis,  drummed  out  of  service  at  Santa 

Fe,  X.  M.,  June  14,  1848. 


THE  WAR  FOR  THE  UNION. 

The  fires  of  internal  dissensions,  en- 
gendered by  many  long  years  of  politi- 
cal and  sectional  strife,  which  had  been 
smouldering  since  1820,  wanting  but 
the  slightest  concussion  to  burst  forth 
and  plunge  the  whole  Nation  into  a 
fratricidal  combat,  received  the  needed 
blast  to  fan  the  hidden  volcano  into  ac- 
tivity and  cause  it  to  burst  its  restraint 
and  belch  forth  hydra-headed  secession 
in  1860.  The  presidential  contest  of 
I860,  which  resulted  in  the  elevation  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  chief  magis- 
tracy of  the  United  States  was  utilized 
as  the  signal  for  the  slave-holding  states 
to  prepare  for  secession  peaceably  if 
they  could,  to  inaugurate  a  war  of  such 
magnitude  as  had  never  before  been 
chronicled  by  any  historian,  if  necessary 
to  accomplish  their  purpose 

On  the  twentieth  day  of  December,  i860, 
South  Carolina  took  the  initiative  step 
towards  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  by 
passing  an  ordinance  of  secession. 
Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia, 
Louisiana  and  Texas  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  their  sister  state,  and  passed 
in  their  respective  order,  ordinances  of 
secession  prior  to  the  inauguration  of 
President  Lincoln. 

On  the  4th  of  February,  1861,  delegates 
from  six  of  the  seceded  states  met  in 
convention  at  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
and  formed  a  new  government,  "  The 
Confederate  States  of  America,"  and 
selected  Montgomery,  as  the  seat  of 
government,  from  which  place  it  was 
removed  to  Richmond,  Va.,  after  the 
secession  of  that  State.  On  the  8th  of 
same  month  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Missis- 
sippi was  chosen  President,  and  Alexan- 
der Stephens  of  Georgia,  Vice-President. 

Upon  the  accession  of  President  Lin- 
coln, he  found  the  country  on  the  verge 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


167 


of  a  great  war — a  war  in  which  one 
section  of  our  fair  land  would  be  arrayed 
against  the  other,  father  against  son  and 
brother  against  brother. 

The  bloody  conflict  opened  with  the 
firing  on  Fort  Sumter,  Charleston  Har- 
bor, S.  C,  on  the  morning  of  April  12, 
1861,  and  in  thirty-four  hours  the  fort 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  Confederate 
government  ;  and  the  stars  and  stripes 
dragged  in  the  dust  The  news  sped 
with  rapidity  throughout  the  country, 
producing  the  greatest  consternation  and 
excitement,  and  in  three  days'  time 
white-winged  peace  drew  apace ;  and  . 
grim-visaged  war  usurped  her  place. 
The  roll  of  the  drum  and  the  music  of 
fife  were  heard  throughout  the  land, 
where  just  before  were  the  sounds  of 
busy  workshops  and  the  quiet  of  the 
rural  fields.  The  mechanic  laid  aside 
his  tools,  the  professional  man  his  books, 
the  merchant  his  counter,  and  the  farm- 
er his  plow,  to  girdle  on  the  sword  and 
knapsack  and  to  shoulder  the  musket, 
in  yindication  of  their  flag's  dishonor, 
and  in  response  to  the  call  of  President 
Lincoln  for  75,000  volunteers,  to  serve 
three  months.  The  stars  and  stripes 
were  clothed  with  a  new  significance  to 
many  and  a  determination  to  maintain 
the  Union  unbroken  was  stamped  upon 
the  countenances  of  every  loyal  being. 
The  requisition  for  75,000  volunteers 
was  immediately  supplied  ;  and  another 
call  for  83,000,  on  the  3rd  of  May,  1861. 
for  a  term  of  three  years  or  during  the 
war,  was  as  readily  answered. 

The  first  bloodshed  of  the  war,  oc- 
curred in  the  morning  of  April  19, 
1861,  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  while  the 
Massachusetts  regiments  of  volunteers 
we're  passing  through  that  city,  on  their 
way  to  Washington,  being  fired  upon  by 
a  mob  and  three  of  their  number  killed. 

As  the  history  of  the  late  war  is  so 
fully  set  forth  in  numerous  volumes 
upon  that  subject,  and  the  events  are  of 
so  recent  date  and  yet  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  many,  we  will  not  devote  further 
space  in  recounting  them,  beyond  the 
statement  that  this  war  was  one  of  the 
bloodiest  in  the  annals  of  all  time,  cost- 
ing millions  of  treasure  and  thousands 
of  lives. 

The  war  virtually  closed  on  the  after- 
noon of  Sunday,  April  the  9th,  1865, 
when  Generals  U.  S.  Grant  and  Robert 


E.  Lee  met  in  conference  in  the  parlor 
of  William  McLain,  at  Appomattox 
Court  House,  Va.,  where  the  terms  of 
surrender  of  Lee's  Army  to  the  Union 
commander,  U.  S.  Grant,  were  arranged. 
The  surrender  of  the  main  body  of  the 
Confederate  Army,  under  General  Lee, 
was  followed  by  the  surrender  of  the 
forces  of  General  Joseph  E.  Johnson  to 
General  W.  T.  Sherman,  at  Raleigh,  N. 
C  ,  April  26th  ;  and  the  capture  of  Jef- 
ferson Davis,  at  Irwinsville,  S.  C.  by 
General  Wilson's  Cavalry  on  the  10th 
day  of  the  following  May,  were  closing 
events  of  the  downfall  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy. 

The  patriotic  sentiment  of  the  people 
of  Schuyler  and  Brown  counties  was 
strong:  aud  enthusiastic, -and  at  the  call 
of  the  President  for  troops  to  resist  the 
foes  of  the  nation  and  repel  the  insult 
to  the  symbol  of  liberty,  responded 
promptly ;  and  sent  many  of  their  brave 
citizens  forth  to  the  battle  for  the  Union. 
Their  names  as  they  are  enrolled  at  the 
Adjutant  General's  office  are  given  un- 
der the  head  of  the  commands  to  which 
they  belonged. 

Seventh  Infantry—  Three  Years  Service— 
Muster  Roll  Company  D.— Men  from 
Brown  eounty. 

Privates. 
Baker,  George,  mustered  out  July  9,  1865. 
Evans,  Edward,  mustered  out  July  9,  1865. 
Nicholas,  George  W.  mustered  out  July  9,  '65. 
Williamson,  John  H.  mustered  out  July  9,  '65. 
Whites,  John,  mustered  out  July  9,  1865. 

Eighth  Infantry— Three  Years  Service- 
Muster  Roll  Company  K.— Unasslgtted 
Recruits — Men  from  Brown  county. 

Drafted  and  Substitutes 

Roach,  John 

Ninth  Infantry  'Consolidated)  Three  Years 
Service— Muster  Roll  Company  G.— Men 
from  Brown  connty. 


Corporals. 

Julius  Vandeventer  transferred  from  Oo.,C.  27, 
111.,  M.  O.  July  9,  1865. 

Privates. 

Hammonds,  Albert  transferred  from  Co.  C.  27 

111.,  M.  O.  July  9,  1865. 
Hulbert,  James,  T.  transferred  from  Co.  C.  27 

111.,  M.  O.  July  9,  1865. 
Knep,  Joel  transferred  from  Co.  C.  27  111.,  M. 

O.  July  9,  1865. 
Tucker,  Lewis  A.  transferred   from  Co.  C.  27 

III.,  M.  O.  July  9,  1865. 

Twelfth  Infantry— Three  Years  Service. 

We  find  in  the  roster,  two  men  quoted 
from  eftch  county  that  belonged  to  this 
regiment.    This  regiment  was  first  called 


into  service  under  proclamation  of  the 
President,  April  16,  1861.  It  was  or- 
ganized at  Springfield  and  mustered  into 
service  April  30,  1861,  by  captain  Pope, 
for  three  months,  after  which  term  it  re- 
enlisted  for  three  years  service.  The 
regiment  was  in  many  hard  fought  bat- 
tles, losing  in  all,  killed  in  the  field  and 
died  of  wounds — 145.  It  was  mustered 
out  July  14,  1865. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  B.-Men  from  Schuy- 
ler County. 

Privates. 

Cook,  John,  discharged  Sept.  12, 1864. 
Stephens,  Jacob,  killed  at  Lays   Ferry,  Ga., 
May  15,  1864. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  B Men  from  Brown 

County. 

Drafted  and  Substitutes  Recruits. 
Gorsid,  Samuel,  mustered  out  July,  10,  1865. 

Thirteenth  Infantry— Three  Years  Service. 
Muster  Roll,  Company  G.— Men  from 
Brown  County. 

Corporals. 

William  H.  Jones  mustered  out  June  18,  '64. 
Thomas  J.  Kennedy  killed  at  Chickasaw  Bayou 
Dec.  29,  1862. 

Privates. 

Boldrv,  Sylvester,  died  Feb.  12,  1863. 
French,  Anthony  If.,  died  Mar.  17, '64. 
Jackson,  Addison,  died  Dec.  1st,  '63,  wounds. 
Mcintosh,  George,  deserted  Jan.  20,  '63. 

Recruit*. 

Bartholomew,    Alvin,    killed    at     Chickasaw 

Bayou,  Dec.  29,  '62. 
Kennedy,  Henry  A.,  trani.  to  Co.  I.  56  111., 

must'd  out  Sep.  3,  '64. 

Fourteenth  Infantry.— Three  Years  Service. 

This  regiment  was  first  called  into  the 
State  service,  for  thirty  days,  under  the 
"  Ten  Regiment  Bill."  It  was  mustered  in- 
to service  of  the  State  for  thirty  days,  on 
May  4,  1861,  and  on  the  25th  of  the 
same  month  it  was  mustered  into  the 
United  States'  Service  for  three  years, 
by  Captain  Pitcher,  U.  S.  A. 

The  regiment  rendezvoused  at  Camp 
Duncan,  Jacksonville,  until  late  in  June, 
where  it  received  instructions ;  then  pro- 
ceeded to  Quincy,  Illinois,  and  from 
thence  to  Missouri,  where,  in  connection 
with  the  Sixteenth  Illinois  Infantry, 
July  5,  it  did  good  service  in  keeping 
down  the  spirit  of  the  rebellion.  In 
February,  1862,  the  regiment  was  ordered 
to  Fort  Donelson,  where  it  arrived  the 
day    subsequent  to   its  surrender;  was 


168 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


brigaded  with  the  Fifteenth  and  Forty- 
sixth  Illinois,  and  Twenty-fifth  Indiana, 
and  assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade, 
Fourth  Division,  under  Brig.  Gen.  Ste- 
phen A.  Hurlbut.  In  the  meantime,  Col 
Palmer  had  been  promoted,  and  Maj. 
Hall  was  promoted  to  the  Colonelcy. 
From  Fort  Donelson,  the  regiment  pro- 
ceeded to  Fort  Henry,  where  it  embarked 
on  transports  and  proceeded  up  the  Ten- 
nessee river  to  Pittsburg  Landing.  In 
the  engagement,  April  6th  and  7th,  when 
the  regiment  was  for  the  first  time  under 
fire,  the  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was 
fully  one-half  the  command  engaged. 
The  colors,  which  came  out  of  this 
bloody  conflict,  with  forty-two  bullet 
holes  through  them,  fully  attest  the  gal- 
lantry of  the  command  in  this  memora- 
ble struggle.  The  grand  charge  on  the 
night  of  the  7th,  was  made  with  this 
regiment  in  advance,  led  by  Col.  Hall. 
The  Fourteenth  took  an  active  part  in 
the  siege  of  Corinth,  and  after  its  evacu- 
ation, proceeded  to  Memphis,  and  thence 
to  Bolivar,  Tenn.  The  regiment  also 
participated  in  the  fight  with  the  retreat- 
ing enemy  from  Corinth,  in  which  it 
sustained  its  former  reputation.  "Was 
with  Grant  in  northern  Mississippi ; 
was  at  Vicksburg  ;  in  the  siege  of  Jack- 
son, Mississippi.  At  Atlanta,  the  Four- 
teenth and  Fifteenth  Illinois  regiments 
were  consolidated,  and  known  as  the 
veteran  battalion.  In  October,  1864, 
when  rebel  General  Hood  made  his  at- 
tacks against  Sherman's  rear,  a  large 
number  of  the  battalion  were  killed,  and 
the  major  part  of  the  balance  were  taken 
prisoners  and  sent  to  Andersonville  pris- 
on. Those  who  escaped  capture  were 
mounted,  and  on  the  grand  march  to  the 
sea,  acted  as  scouts  and  were  continually 
in  advance,  being  the  first  to  drive  the 
enemy's  pickets  into  Savannah,  Georgia. 
The  battalion  was  the  first  to  enter 
Cheraw,  South  Carolina;  Fayetteville, 
North  Carolina ;  and  also  took  part  in 
the  battle  of  Bentonville.  Took  part 
in  the  grand  review  of  Sherman's  army, 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  May  24,  186*5. 
The  regiment  was  mustered  out  at 
Leavenworth,  Kansas,-  Sept  16,  1865. 

During  the  four  years  and  four  months 
of  arduous  service,  the  regiment  marched 
4,490  miles,  traveled  by  rail  2,330 
miles,  and  by  river  4,490  miles — aggre- 
gating 11,670  miles. 


Muster  Roll  Company  A.— Mem  from  Schuy- 
ler county. 

Privates. 

Bell,  Isaac. 

Boyd,  Archibald,  died  Oct.  11,  1862. 

Day,  George  W. 

Harris,  John  H. 

Hatfield,  Andrew,  vet.  sergt.,  M.  O.,  Sept.  16, 

1865. 
Hatfield,  Charles  W. 
Hollingsworth,  Orman,  disch'd  March  3, 1863, 

disability. 
Leeds,  Gideon  R ,  vet.,  M.O.,Sept.  16,  1865. 
Muck,  William  J. 
Randall,  Josiah. 
Shaw,  Eli. 

M  ii«ii  i   Roll,  Company  A  (Reorganized^. 

Private. 
Cole,  Win.  H.,  recruit  M.  O.,  June  24,  1865.   " 

Fourteenth  (Reorganized  i  Infantry— Muster 
Roll,  Company  B. — Men  from  Brown 
county. 

Captains. 
Nelson  Lovett,  hon'bly  must'd  out  May  31,  '65. 

First  Lieutenants. 
.Tared  P.  Harbour,  resigned  Aug.  14,  '65. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

Julius  V.  Cox,  mustered  out  June  19,  '65. 
John  Forsyth,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 

Sergeants. 
James  W.  Lampman,  must'd  out  July  27.  '65. 
Tho8.  J.  Harvey,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
Wm.  M.  C.  Hix,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
Robt.  C.  Simpson,  mustered  out  Aug.  11,  '65. 

Corporals. 

Napoleon  Cox,  mustered  out  July  6,  '65. 
Joseph  McCay,  must'd  out  Aug.  8,  '65  as  pry. 
John  Brunt,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
John  Boggs,  mustered  out  July  31,  '65,  as  ser. 
Amos  Williams,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Douglass  Glassgow,  must'd  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
James  R.  Gurty,  deserted  March  6,  1865. 
Geo.  H.  Bradney,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865, 
as  sergeant. 

Musicians. 

Daniel  McKaskill,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
James  W.  Post,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 

Wagoner. 

Solomon  Ranney,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 

•  Privates. 

Atkins,  Thomas,  died  Aug.  6, 1865. 

Baird,  John  F.,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65,  as 

sergeant. 
Barlow,  James  D.,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
Barlow,  John  C,  mustered  out  Sept.  16, 1865. 
Burkey,  John,  mustered  out  July  1,  1865- 
Buvinger,  Wm.,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Ball,  Robert,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
Brady,  John  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Bond,  Benj.,  mustered  out  June  9,  1865. 
Bean,  Louis  A.,  deserted  June  26,  1865. 
Biggs,  Wm.  R.,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
i  Bell,  Francis  M.,  mustered  out  Sept  16,  '65. 
Brown,  Jay,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
Barton,  Boon,  must'd  out  Sept.  16,  '65,  as  cor. 
Biggs,  John,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
Bean,  James  W.,  died  March  7,  '65. 
Crabb,  Benjamin  F.,  deserted  June  26,  '65. 
Chapman,  John  M.,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
Curry,  John  C,  mustered  out  Sep.  16,  1865. 
Clark,  John,  deserted  June  26,  1865. 


Cox,  Wm.  E.,  must'd  out  Sep.  16,  '65,  as  corp. 
Davis,  Elisha,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Davis,  Aaron,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Dexter,  Albert  C,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65  as 

corporal. 
Davis,  William,  deserted  June  26,  1865. 
Ellis,  William  H.,  Disch'd  April  16,  '65;  die. 
Ellis,  Robert,  mustered  out  Sept.  16, 1865. 
Fenn,  Robert,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Forsyth,  Robert,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Greenwell,  Henry,  drowned  Aug.  3,  1865. 
Gillis,  Milton  C..  must'd  out  June  22.  1865, 
Green,  James,  must'd  out  Sept.  16,  '65,  as  cor. 
Glenn,  Samuel  R  ,  died  March  15,  1865. 
Grady,  Jesse,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Harvey,  Milton  Q..  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
Haley,  Michael,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Huston,  Esquire,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Howell,  Wm.  H.,  died  March  10,  1865. 
Jones,  John,  mustered  out  Aug.  8, 1865. 
Ketz,  Barney,  mustered  out  Aug.  8.  1865, 
Keller,  Edwin,  mustered  out  Aug.  8,  1865. 
Kendrick,  John,  mustered  out  Aug.  8,  1865. 
Larkins,  Charles,  died  March  7,  1865. 
Lake,  Solomon,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Munick,  Adzora  P.,  must'd  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Masterman,  Geo.,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Miller,  Isaac,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Masterman  John,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865, 

as  corporal. 
McPhail,  James  T.,  must'd  out  Sept  16,  1865. 
Maden,  Jourden  H.,  deserted  June  6,  1865. 
Myers,  Peter,  mustered  out  July  6,  1865. 
McAlfee,  Daniel,  mustered  out  July  6, 1865. 
Osborn,  William  F.,  mustered  out  July  6, 1856. 
Orr,  Arthur,  mustered  out  July  6,  '65.  as  Co'pl. 
Parker,  John  B.,  mustered  out  July  6,  1865,  as 

Corporal. 
Patterson,  Washington,  deserted  June  26,  '65. 
Post,  Wm.  H.,  died  July  9, 1865. 
Ray,  James,  mustered  out  September  16,  1865. 
Richmond,  John  P.,  mustered  out  Sep.  16,  '65. 
Stephenson,  Robert,  mustered  out  July  6,  '65. 
Schenck,  Chs.,  mustered  out  Sep.  16,  '65,  as  Cp'I. 
Shields,  Robert  H.,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  65. 
Stephenson,  Dike  B.,  mustered  out  Sep.  16,  '65. 
Stephenson,  Jeremiah,  mustered  out  Sep.  16/65. 
Smith,  James  J.,  mustered  out  Sept.    16,  '65. 
Stover,  James  H.  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Shafer,  Marion,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Taybr,  Andrew,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Taylor,  Franklin,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Taylor,  Isaac,  mustered  out  S--pt.  16,  1865. 
Taylor,  Peter,  mustered  out  June  13,  1865- 
Tucker,  Colson.  mustered  out  Sept.  16   1865. 
Tony,  John,  mus'ered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Vaughn,  Isaac,  died  Sept.  2,  1865. 
Wilson.  Joseph,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Watt,  William  M.,  mustered  out  Aug.  8,  '65. 
Williams,  Joseph,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  '65. 
Waters,  James,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 
Walker,  David  W.  mustered  out  Aug  8,  '65,  as 

Corporal. 
Yaples,  James  E.,  mus'ered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 

Fifteenth  i  Reorganized!  Infantry— Three 
Years  Service  — M  en  from  Schuyler 
county. 

First  Sergeant. 

Job.  T.  Lane,  mustered  out  Sept.  16,  1865. 

Corpora/. 

William  J.  Dawson,  mustered  out  Sep.  16,  '65. 

Privates. 

Hyde,  McClure,  mustered  out  July  19,  1865. 
Hyde,  James  W.,  mustered  out  Sep.  19,  1865. 
Holdren.  David,  mustered  out  Sep.  19,  1865. 
Hough,  Samuel,  mustered  out  Sep.  19,  1865. 
Huling,  James  D.,  mustered  out  Sep.  19,  1865. 
Lewis,  David,  mustered  out  June  7, 1865. 
Melngin,  William  J.,  mustered  out  Sep.  16,  '65. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


169 


Sixteenth    Infantry,— Three    Years   Serviee. 

The  Sixteenth  Infantry  Illinois  Vol- 
unteers was  organized  and  mustered  into 
the  United  States  serviee  at  Quincy,  111., 
under  the  "  Ten  Regiment  act,"  on  the 
24th  day  of  May,  1861.  It  was  muster- 
ed in  by  Capt.  T.  G.  Pitcher,  U.  S.  A. 
Robert  F.  Smith  was  made  colonel. 

On  the  12th  of  June,  1861,  moved  to 
Grand  River  as  railroad  guard  ;  and  on 
the  10th,  Col.  Smith's  force  was  attacked 
at  Monroe  Station  by  1600  mounted  reb- 
els, but  he  held  his  position  until  the  arri- 
val of  re-enforcements,  when  the  enemy 
fled.  On  the  16th,  lost  two  men  killed 
and  two  wounded  at  Caldwell  Station. 
September  10,  was  ordered  to  St.  Joseph* 
Mo.;  14th,  together  with  the  Third 
Iowa  Infantry,  had  a  skirmish  at  Platte 
City,  and  returned  to  St.  Joseph  on  the 
17th.  Was  ordered  to  Bird's  Point, 
Mo.,  and  on  the  3d  was  ordered  to  New 
Madrid,  where  it  was  attached  to  the 
army  of  Mississippi,  Second  Brigade, 
Col.  James  D.  Morgan,  First  Division 
Brig.,  Gen.  E.  A.  Pain  commanding. 
March  13th,  it  participated  in  the  bat- 
tle of  New  Madrid,  supporting  the 
siege  guns.  April  7th,  were  landed  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Mississippi,  with 
the  Tenth  Illinois,  and  followed  the  re- 
treating enemy  to  Tiptonville,  Tenn., 
where  they  captured  5,000  prisoner  ,  a 
large  amount  of  artillery,  small  arms 
and  ammunition.  It  participated  in  the 
siege  of  Corinth.  After  the  evacuation, 
pursued  the  reflating  enemy  to  Boon- 
ville.  July  20,  moved  to  Tuscumbia  ; 
29th,  crossed  the  Tennessee  to  Florence. 
September  15th,  arrived  at  Nashville, 
after  a  seventeen  days'  march,  with 
continual  guerrilla  fighting — loss  one 
killed  and  five  wounded.  Garrisoned 
at  Edgefield,  guarding  railroad  bridge. 
Nov.  5,  garrison  was  attacked  by  rebel 
Gen.  Morgan,  who  was  repulsed,  leaving 
many  dead  upon  the  field.  The  regi- 
ment lost  one  killed  and   five  wounded 

It  participated  in  all  the  battles  of 
the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  accompanied 
Sherman  in  the  march  through  Georgia 
and  the  Carolinas.  Of  the  more  impor- 
tant engagements  the  following  is  the 
list.  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Dalton,  Rome, 
Dallas,  New  Hope  Church,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Chattahoochee  River,  Peach- 
tree  Creek,  siege  of  Atlanta  and  Jones- 
boro.  At  the  latter  the  brigade  to  which 
22 


the  16th  was  attached  formed  the  as- 
saulting column  and  handsomely  carried 
the  enemy's  works,  held  by  Govan's 
Arkansas  brigade,  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  capturing  a  6-gun  battery. 
In  the  march  through  Georgia  and  at 
the  siege  of  Savannah  the  regiment  bore 
an  honorable  part,  it  being  the  first  or- 
ganized body  to  enter  Savannah  just 
after  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  De- 
cember 21,  1864.  On  the  march  north- 
ward, the  44th  corps,  to  which  the  16th 
was  attached,  occupied  a  position  in  the 
extreme  left,  and  was  constantly  exposed 
to  the  attack  of  the  enemy's  cavalry, 
kept  hanging  constantly  upon  Sherman's 
flank.  At  Black  River,  or  Averysboro, 
N.  C,  March  16,  1865,  the  regiment 
met  the  rebel  forces  retreating  from 
Charleston,  and  drove  them  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  losing  Capt.  White,  com- 
manding regiment.  At  Bentonville, 
N.  C,  March  19  and 20,  the  command  par- 
licipated  in  what  was  probably  the  most 
savage  fighting  of  the  war  for  the  num- 
bers engaged  with  the  remaining  regi- 
mentsofthe  brigade  driven  back,  the  16th 
and  14th  Michigan  were  surrounded  by 
Hake's  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 
divisions.  Three  several  times  did  the 
16th  drive  back  the  rebel  25th  North 
Carolina  until  the  men  refused  to  ad- 
vance again  ;  just  at  this  time  they  were 
menaced  by  a  rebel  14ne  in  the  rear, 
and  jumping  over  their  unfinished  earth- 
works the  regiment,  almost  annihilated 
the  54th  Virginia  whose. colors  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Illinoisans.  The  next 
day  accompanied  by  the  comrade  regi- 
ment, the  14th  Michigan,  the  16th  led 
the  attack  upon  Johnson's  entrench- 
ments. The  first  line  was  carried  with- 
out difficulty,  but  the  attacking  party 
was  repulsed  from  the  second,  with 
heavy  loss.  The  command  afterward 
participated  in  some  slight  skirmishing 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Raleigh,  but  no 
more  active  service  was  required  of 
them. 

The  regiment  was  mustered  out  of 
service  July  8,  1865,  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky.  Arrived  at  camp  Butler 
July  10,  1865,  for  final  payment  and 
discharge. 

Non-t'ommlssioneu  Staff.— Men  from  Sehny- 
ler  County. 

Commissary  Sergeant. 
James  II.  Wilson,  mustered  out  June  28,  '65. 


REGIMENTAL    IUXI). — THIRD    CL.<S5. 

Baxter,  Jas,  formerly  of  Co.N.M.O.,May  8,  '62. 
Muster  Roll,  Company  B. 

Privates. 

McKinley,  Charles,  vet.,  Pro.  Ser^t.,   M.  O., 

July  8,  1865,  wounds. 
Thompson,  Isaiah,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 

Recruits. 

Brown,  Wallace,  mustered  out  July  12,  1865. 
Bowers,  Martin,  mustered  out  July  12,  1865. 
Baxter,  James,  mustered  out  July  12,  1865. 
Erlert,  Philip,  mustered  out  July  12,  1865. 
Plymate,  Benson,  mustered  out  July  12,  1865 ; 
wounded. 

Muster  Roll  Company  C. 

Recruit. 
Roberts,  John,  discharged  July  8,  1862. 
Muster  Roll,  Company  I '.. 

Recruits. 

Brumback,  Irvine,  mustered  out  June  12, 1865. 
Cox,  David  J.,  mustered  out  July  8,  1865. 
Moore,  Win.  B.,  vit.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Pennington,  Isaac,  died  Dec  13,  1864. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  G. 

Captains. 

William  H   McAllister,  resigned  June  21,  '62. 
William  G.  Ritchey,  dismissed  June  7, 1863. 
Marcus  D.  L.  Manlove,  resigned  (as  Lieut.)  July 
27,  1863  ;  commission  canceled. 

First  Lieutenant. 

George  W.  Parrott,  resigned  Jan   7,  1865. 
William  S.  Marlow,  mustered  out  July  8,  '65. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Lewis E.  Garrison,  must,  out  as  Strg't,July8,'65 

Sergeants. 
(ieorge  Barnhart. 
William  J.  Dodds,  tr.  to  60  III.,  Jan.  1,  1864  ; 

M.  O.  June  2i,  1865. 
John  Trush,  killed  at  Columbia  Sep.  10,  1862. 
Matthew  II.  Belomy,  discharged  July  17,  '62. 

Corporals. 

John  E.  Smith,  tr.  to  60  III.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Tbomas  A.  Lashmet,  vet.,  must,  out  July  8,  '65 
Lyman,  Ryley. 

rrivates 

Abbott,  Charles,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  8,  18C5. 

Baker,  William  H. 

Berry,  Frederick  E.,  tr.  to  60111.,  Jan.  1, 1864. 

Botchlctt,  Adam,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 

Bennett,  John,  tr.  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864, 

Bowman,  Jacob  L.,  vet,,  mus.  out  July  8,1865. 

Cramer,  Walter,  died  Oct.  16,  1861. 

Curtis,  Jefferson  H. 

Dimmick,  James  M.,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1, 

1864,  dis,.h. 
Dimmick,  Joseph  W.,  tr.  to  60  111..  Jan.  1, 

1st;  t.  disch.  for  disability. 
Bailey,  Barton  \V„  vet.,  mus.  out  July  8, 1865. 
Jordan,  .hums  M.,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Leonard,  Orlando;  vet.,  mus.  out  July  8, 1865. 
Milbv,  William,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Nelson,  Andrew  1L,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan  1, 1864. 
Sokes,  Sanson,  tr.  to  60  III.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Owens,  Washington  W.,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1, 

1864. 
Sidebotham,  Isaac,  vet., mus.  out  Julv  8, 1865. 
Stodgell,  Tilman.  died  March  9,  L862. 
Willard,  Marshall,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 


170 


HISTORY   OF  SCJIUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Veteran*. 

Applegate,  Albert,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Barrv,  John,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Blackburn,  Thomas  J.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Collins,  John,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Cannon,  William,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Currier,  Elon  T.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Crook,  Reuben  I.,  tr.  to  Co.  A.  16th  111.;  April 

1,  1864. 
Dunken,  John,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Dupo,  Moses,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Garrison,  Lewis  E.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865,  as 

sergt. 
Heiser,  Joseph  F.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Hunter,  William  A.,  mus.  out  July  8, 1865,  as 

corpl. 
Jones,  Elijah,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Kelly,  Thomas,  mus.  out  July  8.  1865. 
Kunkell,  John  A.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Lander,  John,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Lester,  Cyrus,  deserted  June  3,  1864. 
McFarland,  James  E.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
McGrath,  Thomas  C,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Matthews,  EbenezerD.,  mus.  out  July  8, 1865. 
Moriartv,  John,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Marsh,  Lemuel  G.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Mitchell,  Edward,  miss,  in  act.,  Mar.  20, 1865. 
Naught,  Charles,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Newell,  Thomas,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Owens,  Francis  M.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865,  as 

corpl. 
Owens,  Andrew  J.,  mus.  out  July  8, 1865. 
Stockburger,  Matthias,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865, 

as  sergt. 
Schofield,  George,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Shaw,  Samuel,  killed  Bentonville,  N.  C,  Mar. 

18,  1865. 
Wilson,  Jeremiah  M.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Westlake,  Matthew,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Westlake,  Jesse,  mus.  out  July  8, 1865.  as  cor. 
Wyat,  Andrew  A.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
• 
Recruit*. 
Blair,  James,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Boyce,  John  D.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Barnes,  Wilber  A.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Eaves,  Enoch,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Gapen,  E.  U. 

Howe,  James  C,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Howe,  Edward,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
McAnley,  James,  disch.  Jan.  1,  1865. 
Marlow,  James. 

Manlove,  Solon  L.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Nelson,  Peel,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Prickett,  John  J.,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 
Pitman,  Baird  D.,  killed  at  Nashville  Dec.  15, 

1864. 
Riddings,  David  A.,  mus.  out  June  12,  1865. 
Rose,  William  B.,  mus.  out  June  13,  1865,  as 

corpl. 
Rhodes,  Isaac  N.,  mustered  out  July  8,  1865. 
Tole,  Reuben  H.,  disch. 
Woods,  Enoch. 

Mtutor  Roll,  Company  B. — Mfnfh>mBrown 
eounty. 

1'rivate. 
McKinney,  Middleton,  disch.  May  4,  1862. 
Mnster  Roll,  Company  C. 

Recruit*. 
Clarkson,  Andrew  D.,  vet,  mus.  out  July  8, 

1865. 
Sheff,  Hardin,  vet.,  pro.  sergt.,  mus.  out  Julv 

8,  1865. 

Master  Roll,  Company   ES. 

Captains. 
Samuel  E.  Taylor,  resigned  June  20,  1862. 


16,  1861. 


Calvin  H.  Wilson,  died  June  16,  1864. 
Robert  A.  Glenn,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 

First  Lieutenants. 
Jefferson  Burton,  resigned  Dec.  4,  1862. 
Benjahiin  F.  Putnam,  resigned  May  9,  1863. 
Geo.  W.  Brown,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Henrv  C.  O'Neal,  mus.  out  as  sergt.  Julv  8, 
1865. 

First  Sergeant. 
Miles  D.  Murphy,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  50  111.,  Oct. 

Sergeant. 
Willis  H.  H.  O'Neal,  mus.  out  July  8,  1865. 

Corporals. 
John  Massey,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Arthur  J.  Means,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Benjamin  J.  Barker,  vet.,  pro.  sergt.,  mus.  out 

July  8,  1865. 
Henrv  O'Neal,  vet.,  pro.  sergt.,  mus.  out  July 

8,  1865. 
Lei-ov  T.  Judson,  vet.,  pro.  corpl.,  mus.  out 

July  8,  1865, 
Daniel  O'Neal,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Benjamin   Halev,  vet.,  pro.  sergt.,  mus.  out 

July  8,  1865. 
Alexander  January. 

Musicians. 
Thomas  M.  Birdwell,  died  March  5,  1862. 
Thomas  M.  Sanders,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  8,  '65. 

Privates. 
Allen,  Christopher. 
Burton,  Luther  C,  vet.,  pro.  corpl.,  mus.  out 

July  8,  1865. 
Baird,  Francis  S. 

Butler,  John  B.,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Bell,  John,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Bollinger,  John. 

Breeding,  John,  deserted  June  10,  1864. 
Curry,  William  J.,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Chapman,  James  H.,  mus.  out  June  23,  1864. 
Coffman,  John  F.,  mus.  out  June  23.  1864. 
Clifford,  William  E.,  died  July  15,  1862. 
Dennis,  Svlvester,  pris.  of  war,  mus.  out  June 

7,  1865. 

Dawson,  George  W.,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan,  1,  '64. 
Decker,  Solomon,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Flemming,  Elijah,  died  Dec.  7,  1862. 
Gibson,  James  J.,  vet.,  mustered  out  July  8, 

1865. 
Gibson,  Klijah   B.,  vet.,  pro.   Serg't.,  M.  O., 

July  8,  1865. 
Gibson,  John  A.,  killed  at  St.  Joseph,  Mo., 

Jan.  22,  1862. 
Gray,  Andrew,  vet.,  M.  0.,  July  8,  1865. 
Grimsley,  Harrison,  vet.,  died  Jan.  5,  1865. 
Hall,  Charles  R. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  disch'd.  Oct.  18,  1862. 
Hemphill,  James,  killed  Nov.  5,  1862. 
Hagertv,  Paul,  vet.,  must,  out,  July  8,  1865. 
Himer,  Jas.  J.,  transf'd.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1, 1864. 
Halev,  John  M.,  transf'd.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1, 

1864. 
Harding,  Wm.  H.,  transf'd.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1. 

1864.  _ 
Javnes,  Cyrus  R.,  vet.,  prisoner  of  war,  M.  0. 

July  8,  1865. 
Kendrick,  Robert  S.,  vet.  died  1862,  Jan.  2. 

1865. 
Knowlton,  Chas.  A.,  died  1862. 
Kasinger,  Philip. 
Lewis,  Benjamin  W.,  trans,  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1, 

1864. 
Lewis,  Thomas  A. 
Lewis,  Abraham,  vet.  pro.  corp'l.  M.  0.,  Julv 

8,  1865. 


Mennium,  Sampson  P.,  died  Dec.  5,  1861. 
McDevilt,   Patrick,  vet.,  pro.   corp'l.,  M.  O., 

July  8,  1865. 
McDonald,  John. 
Norton,  Wm.,  killed   EdgeBeld,  Tenn.,   Oct. 

27,  1862. 
Patterson,  George  N.,  vet.,  pro.  corp'l.,  M.  0., 

July  8,  1865. 
Paugh,  Miles  M.,  vet.,  pro.  corp'l.,  M.  O.,  July 

8,  1865. 
Parker,  George  W.,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  18, 1864. 
Patton,  Edward,  vet.,  M.  0.,  Julv  8,  1865. 
Perry,  John  E.,  disch'd.  July  18,"  1862. 
Rush,  Harvey  U.,  mustr'd  out,  June  23,  1864. 
Rockwood,  John  A. 

Sands,  Wm.  D.,  mustr'd  out,  Aug.  1,  1864. 
Shields,  Cyrus,  trans,  to  60  ni.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Shields,  William. 
Stockton,  Robert. 
Trabue,  George  A.,  vet.,  must'd.  out,  Julv  8, 

1865. 
Thompson,  John. 
Tolle,  Caleb. 

Taylor,  Wm.,  vet.,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 
Woods,  Wm.  W.,tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 
Wheeler,  John  N.,  disch'd.  April  10.  1862. 
Wartherby,  Wm.  B.,  died  Feb.  19,  1862. 
Woerth,  Mathias,  vet.,  must'd  out,  July  8, 1865. 
Welsh,  Patrick,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 

Recruits. 

Brunk,  Jacob  A.,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 

Bell,  James  E. 

Burnett,  Leonard  F.,  must'd.  out,  July  8, 1865 

Cannon,  John,  vet.,  must'd.  out,  July  8, 1865. 
!  Clark,  Martin,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 
\  Dalton,  John,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 
|  Donald,  Thomas  P.,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1864. 

Dewier,  Michael,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Ellis,  Wm.,  vet.,  must'd  out,  July  8,  1865. 

East,  Thomas  B.,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Fanning,  Samuel  T.,  from  101  Ills.  Inft'ry.  died. 

Glenn,  Henry  A.,  must'd.  out,  July  18,  1865. 
,  Hedrick,  Sevier,  must'd.  out,  July  18,  1865. 

Hall,  Alexander,  must'd  out,  July  18,  1865. 

Hammond,  Lvman  J.,  killed  Bentonville,  N. 
C.  Mar.  19,  1865. 

Hindman,  Chas.,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Henderson,  Hiram. 

Lutes,  Allan,  pro.  corp'l.,  M.  0.  July  8,  1865. 

Mallory,  Warren,  must'd  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Mallorv,  John,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Nichols,  John,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Orr,  James,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Price,  Arthur,  tr.  to  60  111.,  Jan.  1,  1861. 

Roberts,  Stephen,  must'd  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Rollv,  Sevniore,  must'd  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Salthouse",  Thomas,  tr.  to  60  111.  Jan.  1,  1865. 

Shields,  Chas.,  must'd.  out,  June  12,  1865. 

Stelter,  Henry,  must'd.  out,  July  8,  1865. 

Townsend,  Spencer  must'd  out,  July  8, 1865. 

Vance,  Ellison,  disch'd.  Apr.  14,  1865. 

Walker,  Wm.,  tr.  from  101  111.,  M.  0.  Julv  8, 
1865. 

Warmon,  John,  died  July  17,  1864. 

Blfchteenth  .Reorealitzedi  Infantry. — Three 
Years    Service — Mi  n  from  Schuyler  eonnty. 

Second  Lieutenant. 

Daniel  R.  P.  Johnson,  resigned  Oct.  21,  1855. 

Privates. 

Bishop,  Daniel  J.,  must'd.  out,  Dec.  16,  1865- 
Homman,  Michael,  died  at  Little  Rock,  Ark., 

May  18,  1865. 
Hangstler,  Berhard,    must'd.   out,   Dec.    16, 

1865,  as  corp'l. 
Klinert,  Augustus,  must'd.  out,  Dec.  16,  1865. 

as  corp'l. 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


171 


Nineteenth  Infantry.  Three  Years  Service. 
Muster  Roll.  Company  F. — From  Schuy- 
ler County. 

Veterans. 

Hamilton,  Thomas  A.,  tr.  to  head  quarters, 
14,  A.  C. 

Twentieth  Infantry.— Three    Years  Service. 
From  Schuyler  County. 

Lieutenant  Colonels. 
Evan  Richards,  killed  in  battle,  May  12,  1863. 

Twenty-First  Infantry. — Three    Years  Ser- 
vice. 

This  was  Grant's  regiment.  It  was  from 
the  Seventh  Congressional  District  and  was  or- 
ganized at  Mattoon,  Illinois,  on  the  9th  of 
May,  1861.  On  the  loth  of  May  it  was  mus- 
terered  into  the  State  service  for  30  d^ys,  by 
Capt.  U.  S.  Grant,  and  June  28th  it  was 
mattered  into  the  U.  S.  service  for  three  years, 
with  U.  S.  Grant  as  colonel.  Grant  was  com- 
missioned Brig.  Gen.  Aug.  6,  1861,  and  was 
succeeded  bv  Col.  J.  W.  S.  Alexander,  who  was 
killed  Sept.' 20,  1863,  at  Chickamauga.  The 
regiment  did  good  service,  and  was  mustered 
out  Dec.  16,  186-5,  at  San  Antonia,  Texas.  The 
few  names  below  were  from  these  counties. 

Muster      Roll    Company    D.— Men    from 
Schuyler  county. 

Recruits. 
Hall,  George  W.  transferred  from   75  Illinois, 

M.  O.  Dec.  16,  1865. 
Hubbard,  Albert,  transferred  from  75  Illinois, 

M.  O.  Oct.  12,  1865. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  F. 

Recruits. 
Standard,  Charles  B.  transferred  from  75   Illi- 
nois, M.  O.  Oct.  12,65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  F.— Men  front 
Brown  county. 

Recruits. 
Gradv,  Charles  M.  tr.  from  84  111.,  M.  O.  Dec. 

16,  1865. 
Myers,  Gilbert  K.,  tr.  from  84  III.,  M.  O.  Dec. 

16,  1865. 
Myers,  George  T.,  tr.  from  84  111.,  M.  O.  Dec. 

16,  1865. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  C— Twenty-Seventh 
Infantry  —  Three  Years  Service  —  Men 
from  Brown  county. 

First  Lieutenant. 

Andrew  J.  Sides,  died  June  27,  1864. 
Privates. 

Biddle,  W.  H.,  mustered  out  Sept.  20,  1864. 

Brown,  Samuel  died  at  Decatur,  Ala.,  Sept.  1, 
1862. 

Brown,  John,  mustered  out  Sept.  20,  1864. 

Conner,  Thomas  H.,  veteran. 

Dawson,   John   O.,   dishonorably    discharged 
Dec.  8,  1865. 

Feban,  Kobert,  capt'd  May  9,  1864,  ex.  never 
rep.  to  Co. 

Huston,  James  W.,  discharged  Feb.  28,  1862, 
accidental  wounds. 

Jaquish,  Almo,  wounded  at  Belmont,  Chicka- 
mauga, and  Dallas,  M.  O.  Sept.  20,   1864 

Lisembee,  Joseph,  discharged  June  15,  1864, 
wounds. 

Beeves,   Noble,  veteran,  tr.  to  U.  S.  V.   V. 
engs,  July  18,  1864. 

Reed,  James,  discharged  Feb.  18,  1863,  disa- 
bility. 

Scanlan,  George,  died  at  Tuscaloosa,  Sept.   10, 
1862,  prisoner. 


Sullivan,  William,  vet.,  died   at   home   April 

14,  1864. 
Whitehead,  George  W.,  discharged  March  13, 

1862,  disability. 

Twenty-eighth  Infantry.— Three  Years 
Service. 

This  regiment  volunteers  was  organized 
at  Camp  Butler,  Illinois,  in  August,  1861, 
by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Louis  H.  Waters 
and  Major  Charles  J  Sellon.  September 
9th  it  reported  at  Bird's  Point,  Missouri, 
and  thence  into  Fort  Holt,  Kentucky, 
and  was  assigned  to  Col.  W.  L.  Smith's 
brigade,  Gen.  Lew  Wallace's  division 
February  6th  took  part  in  the  capture 
of  Forts  Henry  and  Heiman.  On  the 
13th,adetachmentof  forty-eight  men  and 
twelve  officers,  under  Col.  Johnson,  met 
the  enemy  (five  hundred  strong),  at  Lit- 
tle Bethel  Church,  five  miles  from  Fort 
Henry,  and  immediately  attacked  and 
routed  them.  At  Pittsburg  Landing, 
April  6th,  1862,  it  was  called  into  line, 
early  in  the  morning,  and  marched  half 
a  mile  to  the  front,  where  it  met  the 
enemy,  driving  Gen.  Prentiss.  It  was 
assigned  to  a  position  on  the  left  of  the 
line,  in  the  Peach  Orchard,  and  the 
enemy  immediately  attacked  it,  but  were 
repulsed,  and  it  held  its  position  until 
3  o'clock,  P.  M.,  when  it  was  ordered  to 
retire  by  Brigadier-General  S  A.  Hurl- 
but,  commanding  the  "Old  Fighting 
Fourth  Division." 

The  following  morning  it  took  position 
on  the  right  of  the  line  and  was  hotly 
engaged  until  the  battle  closed  and  the 
victory  was  won.  The  regiment  sustained, 
in  these  two  trying,  bloody  days,  a  loss 
of  239  killed  and  wounded. 

It  also  participated  in  the  siege  of 
Corinth  during  the  month  of  May,  1862. 
October  oth,  engaged  in  the  battle  of 
Matamora,  on  the  Hatchie  river,  losing 
97  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  En. 
gaged  in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  from 
June  11th  to  July  4th,  1863,  and  occu- 
pied  a  position  to  the  left  of  the  centre, 
on  the  Hall's  Ferry  road.  July  12th, 
1863,  near  Jackson,  Mississippi,  the  41st, 
53d,  and  28th  Illinois,  and  3d  I-,wa  In- 
fantry, not  exceeding  800  men,  were  or- 
dered to  charge  across  an  open,  level 
corn  field,  about  six  hundred  yards,  and 
carry  a  strong  line  of  the  enemy's  works, 
mounting  twelve  guns,  and  manned  by 
at  least  2000  men.  The  brigade  marched 
gallantly  forward  under  a  destructive  fire 
of  grape,  canister,  and  minnie  bullets. 


The  enemy  appearing  upon  both  flanks, 
as  it  reached  the  ditch,  it  was  compelled 
to  fall  back,  with  a  loss  of  more  than  half 
of  the  rank  and  file  killed  or  wounded. 
Of  the  eight  companies  of  this  regiment 
in  line,  numbering  128  men,  it  lost  73 
killed  and  wounded,  and  16  taken  pris- 
oners. January  4th,  1864,  the  regiment, 
having  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  was  mus- 
tered for  three,  years'  veteran  service. 
May  i  8th,  proceeded  to  Illinois  for  v-  te- 
ran  furlough.  Returning,  arrived  at 
Natchez,  July  8th.  October  10th,  regi- 
ment was  consolidated  into  four  compa- 
nies. November  23d,  the  regiment  was 
at  Memphis,  and  received  200  recruits, 
which  were  organized  into  two  compa- 
nies. It  was  at  Spanish  Fort,  March 
27th,  when  in  the  advance,  the  regiment 
occupied  the  extreme  right  of  the  divis- 
ion and  corps,  which  position  it  held 
during  the  entire  siege  of  fourteen  days, 
losing  fourteen  killed  and  wounded,  in- 
cluding two  captains.  The  regiment 
was  mustered  out  March  15th,  1866. 

Men  from  Schuyler  Count. 

Major. 

Barclay  C.  Gillam,  resigned    Nov.    21,  1862 ; 
wounded  in  left  arm  at  Shiloh. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  <-. 

Captains. 
Oregon  Richmond,  resigned  Mar.  14,  1862. 

First  Lieutenants. 
Elias  G.  W.  Bridgewater,  resigned  'an.  10,  '63. 
John  McGorie,  killed  July  16,  1863. 
John  J.  Asmer,  mustered  out  Oct.  9,  1863. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Michael  Gapin,  killed  July  16,  1863. 

Sergeants. 

William  Thompson,  discharged  for  disability. 

William  Deal,  wounded  at  Shiloh  Apr.  6, 1862. 

Abraham  Bell,  accidentally  killed,  May  6, 1864, 

on  R.  R,  at  Camp  Butler,  III. 

Corporals. 
Wm.  H.  Bell,  disch.  Aug.  26,  1864,  as  Serg't; 

term  expired. 
Wm.  B  Ross,  diRch.  Mar.  29;  '62,  disability. 
A.  J.  Ruark,  vet.,  sick  in  hos'al  at  m.  o.  of  regt. 
William  F.  Robbins,  vet. 

Private. 

Black,  Wm.,  disch.  Nov.  1,  1861,  disability. 
Bounser,  Jno.  M.,  disch.  Aug.  26,  '64  ;  term  ex. 
Bridgewater,  James  II.,  vet.,  m.  o.  Mar.  15,  '66. 
Casteel,  John  C,  vet.,  disch.  Apr.  29,  '62 ;  dis'y. 
Clifton,  Geo.  W., disch.  Sept.  19,  '62  ;  disabil'y. 
Dixon,  Charles,  deserted  July  29,  1862. 
Dupuy,  Geo.  W.,  disch.  Aug.  26,  '64  ;  term  ex. 
Dodds,  David,  vet.,  on  furlough  at  m.  o.  of  regt. 
Dance,  Jacob,  killed  at  Shiloh  Apr.  6,  1862. 
Edminston,  John.  m 

Flaury,  Michael. 

Frisby,  Hiram,  vet.,  mustered  out  Mar.  15,  '66. 
Gossage,  Hiram,  disch.  Aug.  26, '64;  term  ex. 
Gillett,  Chas.  C,  disch.  Aug.  26,  '64,  as  sergt. ; 
term  expired. 


172 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS 


Hardy,  James  M.,  vet.,  must,  out  Mar.  15,  '66 
Haskell,  Clias.  F    deserted  June  30,  1862. 
Hamilton,  Wm   H.,  vet ,  in.  o.  Mar.  15,  '66  as 

corporal. 
Hill,  Nathan,  discli.  Aug.  26,  1864:    term  ex. 
Hamilton,  Joseph,  died  at  Natchez,  Miss  ,  Sept. 

1st,  1863. 
Ingram,  Geo.  \V.,  killed  at  Shiloh,  Apr.  6,  '66. 
Johnson,  Andrew  J.,  dis.  June  17,  '64 ;  disab'y. 
Jones,  Albert,  died  at  h  t.  Holt  Ky.,  Jan. 30,  '62. 
Keller,  Joseph,  vet.,  diseh.  to  re-enlist  in  1st  U. 

8.  artillery. 
Kirkham,  Wm.  H,  discli.  Aug.  26,'64  ;  term  ex. 
Kirkham,  Geo.  H.,  vet.,  m.  o.  Mar.  15,  '66,  as 

corporal. 
Lesure,  Win.  J.,  absent,  sick  at  m.  o.  of  regt , 

sergeant. 
Leslie,  Albert  G.,  killed  at  Shiloh  Apr.  6,  '62 
League,  Kichard  A.,  vet.,  m   out  Mar.  15, '66. 
Lvnch.  Edward,  died  at  Ft.  Holt,  Kv.,  Oct.  4, 

1861. 
Mitchell,  Jaa.  M  ,  disch.  Nov.  29,  '62;  disab'y. 
Mason,  Abraham  T.,  disch.  Apr.  26,'62 ;  disab'y. 
Mason,  George  H. 
Mason,  William  E. 
Masterson,  Svlvester  T.,  dis.  vet.,  m.  o.  Mar.  16, 

1866. 
Mann,  Robert, died  at  Ft.  Holt,  Ky.,  Jan.  4,  '63. 
Maxwell,  H.  C,  disch.  Aug.  26, 1864;  term  ex. 
M  inin,  George,  disch.  Apr.  16, 1862 ;  disabil'v. 
Parker,  John  W.,  deserted  Feb.  11,  1862. 
I'ridmore,  Geo  ,  vet.,  m.  o.  Mar.  15,  '66,  as  Corp. 
Parks,  Henry  J.,  disch.  Aug.  26, 1864  ;  term  ex. 
Robbius,  John  M.,  disch.  Aug.  26,  '64  ;  term  ex. 
Roberts,  Wesley  E\,  wounded,  m.  o.  Apr.  6,  '65. 
Ruark,  Robt.  M.,  vet.  mu-t  out  Mar.  15,  1866. 
Suddeth,  Rice  D.,  disch.  Nov.  22,  62;  disab'y. 
Shaw,  Duncan,  disch.  Feb.  27,1862;  disability. 
Starr,  Edward,  vet.,  must,  out  Mar.  15,  1866. 
Sypes,  Joseph  B.,  disch.  Nov.  1.  '61  ;  disability. 
Stockwell,  Jasper,  disch.  Aug.  26,  '64  ;  ter.  ex. 
Tyson,  Win.  T.,  disch.  Aug.  26,  '64;  term  ex. 
Tyson,  Geo.  W.,  vet.,  disch.  to  re-enlist  in  1st 

U.  S.  artillery. 
Tyson,  Cornelius,  died  at  Mound  City  Oct.  25, 

1861. 
Taylor,  Duncan,  disch.  Aug.  26,  '64;  term  ex. 
Tucker,  Green  B..  killed  at  Shiloh  Apr.  6,  '62. 
Vanorder,  Andrew  J.,  vet.,  m.  o.  Mar.  15, 1866. 
Vanorder,  John  E.,di-ch.  Aug.  26, '64  ;  ler.ex. 
White,  Ja-per,  deserted  Feb.  11,  1862 

Veteran*. 
Ruark.  Andrew  J.,  sick  at  m.  o.  of  regiment. 
Robbing,  Francis  M 
Sargent,  James  W.,  mustered  out  Mar.  15,  '66- 

Recruits. 
Adams,  John  Q.,  disch.  to  enlist  in  U.  S.  artil'y. 
Bjst,  Napoleon,  died  at  Ft.  Heiman,  Feb.  15, 

1862. 
Casteel,  Wm.  M,  disch.  Apr.  29,  '62;  disab'y. 
Davis,  Cvrus,killed  at  Hatchie  river,  Oct.  5,  '62 
Paisley,  Win.  W-,  disch.  Aug.  16.  '62;  disab'y. 
Riitenhouse.  Henry, disch.  Dec.  17,  '61 ;  disab'y. 
Rittenhouse,  Enoch,  disch.  Aug.  1 1,  '62 ;  disab'y. 
Sloat,  Ansel  W.,  disch.  Mar.  29,  1862  ;  disab'y. 
Suddeth,  George  W. 
Suddeth,  William  H. 

tfustei   Roll  i  •  1 1 1 1  p. •  1 1  j    II. 

Corporals. 

Chas.  Putts,  disch.  Aug.  26, 1864 ;  term  expired. 

Larkin,  Cameron,  disch.  Aug.  26,  '64  ;  term  ex. 

Privates. 
Harmon,  Standfield  P.,  disch.  Aug.  26,  1864  ; 

term  expired. 
Hollingsworth,  Jno.,  Jr.,  disch.  Aug.  26, 1864; 

term  expired.  • 
Hooker,  Reuben,  veteran. 
Hollingsworth,  Jno.  P.,  vet.,  m.  o.  Mar.  15,  '66. 
Milby,  Edward,  discli.  Dec.  24,  1862;  wounds. 
Manlove.  Jno.  R.,  died  Pittsburg  Landing,  Mar. 

22, 1862. 


Potts,  Nelson,  disch.  Aug.  26,  1864;.  term  ex. 

Sparks,  Edward  B.,  disch  July  25,  '62 ;  wounds. 
Recruits. 

Harmon,  John  P.,  provost  sergeant. 
I  Potts,  Wilson,  d'vch.  Sept.  4,  1864 ;  term  ex. 
'  Potts,  James,  disch.  Sept.  27,  1864 ;  term  ex. 

Potts,  Geo.,  disch.  July  22,  1864  ;  disability. 

Master     Roll,     Company       I-'.. —  Mi  u      from 
Kiohii    county. 

Private. 

Johnson,  Owen  M.,  disch'd  Aug  26,  '64,  tin.  ex. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  G. 

Pri  rates. 
Canada,  Wm.  A.,  wonn'd  at  Shiloh,  vet.  M.  0. 

Mar.  15,  1866. 
Killian,  David,  killed  at  Shiloh,  Apr.  6,  1862. 
Miller,  Bouredder  A.,  wounded  at  Shiloh,  Vet- 
.  disch'd  to  enlist  in  1st  U.  S.  Artillery 

Twenty-Eighth  (Consolidated)  Infantry. 
Muster  Roll,  Company  Iv. 

First  Sergeant. 
James  N.  Mitchell,  mustered  out  Mar.  14, '66. 

Sergeants. 
John  Crawford,  mustered  out  Mar.  15,  1866. 
James  Neville,  "  "  " 

'Privates. 

Henderson,  Charles,  deserted  April  1,  1865. 
McLean  William  P.,  mustered  out  Mar.  15, '66. 
Skiles,  Lewis  B. 
Wheeler,  John,  died  of  wounds,  Aug.  8.  1865. 

Thirty-nrst  Infantry. — Three  years  service. 
Muster  Roll,  Company  D. — Men  from 
Brown  county. 

Private. 

Adams,  Joel  K. 

Thirty-second  Infantry. — Three  Years  Ser- 
vice.-Muster  Roll,  Company  H. — Men 
from  Brown  county. 

First  Lieutenant. 

William  H.  York,  resigned  Sept.  29,  1864. 

Sergeant. 
Edmund  N.  Hobson.  deserted  July  4,  1862. 

Corporal. 
Geo.  W.  Langdon,  vet.  mus'd  out  Sep.  16,  '65. 

Privates. 
Cross,  John,  died  at  Camp  Butler,  1861. 
Sullens,  Washington,  mus.  out  Sep.  16,  1865. 
Stewart,  Robert,  killed  at  Shiloh,  Apr.  6,  '62. 
Sargent,  John  T.,  woun.  at    "      discharged. 

Recruits. 
Dewitt,  Wm.  T.,  killed  at  Shiloh,  Apr.  6,  '62. 
Gunning,  Evan  L.,  vet.,  deserted  July  6,  '66. 

Thirty-third  Infantry.— Three  fears  Ser- 
service.— Nou-Commissioned  Staff  from 
Schuyler  County. 

Drum  Major. 

William  ('.  Rolls,  discs.  May  18,  '(i.j.  disub'lty. 

Thirty-fourth  Infantry.— Three  Years  Ser- 
vice.—Muster  Roll,  Company  B. 

Private. 

Marshall,  Frank,  vet.,  must'd  out  July  12.  '66. 
Recruit*. 

Ohmert,  Jesse. 


Quaekeubush,  David  J.,  nuis.  out  July  12,  '65. 
Upton,  Geo.  Y.,  vet.  recruit.  M.  ( ).  July  12,  '65. 

Drafted  and  Substitute  Recruits. 

Achman,  Stephen  N..  sub.  M.  <).  May  24.  '65. 

Mu-li  r  Roll,  Company  G. 

Recruit. 

Davis,  Wm.  R.,  died  at  St.  Louis,  Jul.  11, '62. 

Thirty-ninth  Infantry,  Three  Years  Service. 
Mnster  Roll  Company  B. — Men  from 
Brown  County. 

Corporal. 

Eliott  B.  Hill,  disch.  Aug  5th,  1 862  ;  disability . 

Muster  Roll  Company  H. 

Corporal. 

Miles  B.  Edmiston,  disch.  Oct.  17,  1862  ;  dis- 
ability. 

Muster  Roll  Company  I. 

Recruits. 

Rue,  John  A,  died  Oct.  18, 1864;  wounds. 
Weedman,  Norman  A.  M.  O.  Dec.  6,  1865 ;  as 
Corpl. 

Forty-tlrst  Infantry,  Three  Years  Service. — 
Muster  Roll  Company  !■'. — Men  from 
Brown  County. 

Privates. 
Dixon,  William,  mustered  out  Aug.  20,  1864. 
Gesford,  Henry,  mustered  out  Aug.  20,  1864. 
Murphy,  William,  m.  o.Aug.  20,  '64;  assergt. 
Murphy,  John  P.,  died  at  Paducah,  Kv..  Dec. 

11,  1861. 
McDonald,  George,  tr.,  to  V.  R.  C.  Sept.  1 9, 

1863. 
Page,  Spencer  C,  killed  Ft.   Donelson,  Feb.' 

15, '62. 
Page,  Justin,  in.  o.  Aug.  20,  1864. 
Wright,  James,  m.  o.  Aug.  20,  1864. 

Forty-sixth  Infantry,  Three  Years  Service- 
Muster  Roll  Company  D. — Men  from 
Schuyler   County. 

Privates. 

Wittenmeyer,  John  H.,  m.  o.  Jan.  20,  1866. 

Muster  Roll  Company  I '.. — Men  from  Brown 
County. 

Privates. 

Mann,  Frank,  m.  o.  Jan.  20,  1865. 
Plants,  Victor  A.,  in.  o.  Jan.  20, 1865. 

Forty-seventh  Infantry,  (Consolidati  d) 
Three  Years  Service. — Muster  Roll  Com- 
pany F. 

The  above  named  regiment  was  organ- 
ized at  Peoria,  Aug.  16,  1861.  This 
was  a  strong  and  gallant  regiment,  and 
did  good  service,  always  manifesting 
bravery  and  courage  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle. It  was  mustered  out  Jan.  21,  1866. 
The  following  named  persons  were  from 
these  counties  in  this  regiment: 

Men  from  Schuyler  County. 

I'rirates. 
Bailey.  John  H.,  mustered  out  Jan.  21.  1866. 
Black,  Bernard,  mustered  out  Jan.  21,   1866. 
MeKinney.  James  O.,  m.  o.  Jan.  21,  1866. 

Recruits. 
Pestil,  Joseph,  mustered  out  Jan.  21,  1866. 


HISTORY  OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


173 


Muster  Roll  Company  F.— Men  from  Brown 
county. 

Corporah. 
John  F.  Keller,  orKeffer,  m.  o.  Jan.  21,  1866. 

Musicians. 
William  F.  Cox,  m.  o.  Jan.  21, '66  as  pv't. 

Wagoner. 
Shipton  K.  Cox,  m.  o.  Jan.  21, '66,  as  pv't. 

Private. 
McCormick,  James,  m.  o.  Jan,  21,  1866. 

Fiftieth  Infantry.—TUree  Years  Service. 

Was  organized  at  Quincy,  Illinois,  in 
August,  1861,  by  Col.  M.  B.  Bane,  and 
mustered  into  United  States'  service, 
September  12,  1861,  by  Capt.  T.  G. 
Pitcher,  U.  S.  A.  On  the  9th  of  Octo- 
ber it  moved  to  Hannibal,  Missouri ; 
19th,  to  Chillicothe;  November  27th, 
to  St.  Joseph,  reporting  to  Col.  R.  F. 
Smith,  commanding  post;  January  21st, 
1862,  was  ordered  to  Cairo,  Illinois,  and 
from  thence  to  Smithland,  Kentucky, 
where  the  regiment  reported  to  Colonel 
Lauman,  January  28th  ;  February  6th, 
marched  into  Fort  Henry  ;  12th,  formed 
a  part  of  Col  John  Cook's  Third  Bri- 
gade, of  the  Second  Division,  and  moved 
against  Fort  Donelson,  in  which  battle 
it  took  an  active  part,  February  14th 
and  loth;  on  the  25th  of  March,  was 
ordered  to  Pittsburg  Landing ;  engaged 
in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  April  6th  and 
7th,  and  in  the  siege  of  Corinth  in 
May,  1862 ;  October  3d,  moved  out 
against  the  enemy,  who  were  approach- 
ing under  Price,  Van  Dorn,  and  Villi- 
pigue;  on  the  5th,  it  engaged  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Corinth;  December  18th,  went 
on  a  scout  to  Lexington,  Tennessee ;  had 
a  skirmish  at  Bear  Creek,  17th  ;  also  at 
Cherokee,  and  atNewsome's Farm;  27th, 
moved  toward  Town  Creek,  and  fought 
the  enemy  under  General  Forrest,  at 
Town  Creek,  on  the -28th;  November 
17th,  the  regiment  was  mounted,  by 
order  of  Major-General  Dodge.  Jan- 
uary 1st,  1864,  three-fourths  of  the  men 
of  the  regiment  re-enlisted,  and  were 
mustered  January  16th,  and  started  on 
veteran  furlough  to  Illinois ;  left  for  the 
field  again,  February  28th,  moved  from 
Quincy;  13th,  was  ordered  to  Athens, 
Alabama ;  on  the  17th  of  May  met  the 
enemy  at  a  cross-roads  near  Oostanaula 
river,  and  after  some  fighting,  drove 
him  from  the  field,  the  regiment  losing 
one  man  killed  and  seven  wounded. 
June  3d,  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  from 


the  brigade,  and  one  hundred  from  the 
First  Alabama  Cavalry,  made  an  expe- 
dition to  Cedar  Town,  Major  Hanna,  of 
the  Fiftieth,  commanding,  and  returned, 
and  on  the  6th  to  Cave  Spring,  and  re- 
turned, both  times  capturing  prisoners 
and  horses.  In  August,  Colonel  Rowett, 
of  the  Seventh  Illinois  Infantry,  took 
command  of  the  brigade.  October  4th, 
took  cars  for  Allatoona,  at  8  o'clock, 
p.  m.,  arriving  there  at  midnight.  Be- 
gan skirmishing  at  daylight,  and  by  10 
o'clock  the  whole  force  was  fiercely  en- 
gaged with  Hood's  army.  The  enemy 
was  repulsed,  the  regiment  losing  eighty- 
seven  killed,  wounded,  and  missing.  Oc- 
tober 13th,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hurlbut 
commanding  brigade,  and  Captain  Horn 
commanding  regiment,  it  moved  out  on 
Cave  Spring  road,  and  met  the  enemy 
six  miles  out,  with  two  pieces  of  artil- 
lery. January  20th  and  21st,  fought 
the  enemy  at  Bentonville,  losing  two 
killed  and  fourteen  wounded. 

July  3d,  in  the  prize  drill  between  the 
Sixty-third  Illinois,  Seventh  Iowa,  and 
Fiftieth  Illinois,  the  regiment  won  the 
prize  banner. 

It  was  mustered  out  of  service  by 
Captain  W.  B.  Guthrie,  Eighty-first 
Ohio  Volunteers,  and  A.  C.  M.  Arrived 
at  Camp  Butler,  Illinois,  July  14th, 
1865,  for  final  payment  and  discharge. 

The  list  below  gives  the  names  of 
those  who  enlisted  from  these  counties. 

Muster  Roll  Company  B. — Men  from  Schuy- 
ler county. 

Privates. 

Seater,  Lewis  C,  m'd  out  July  13,  '65,  as  c'pl. 

Muster  Roll  Company  H. 

First  Lieutenant. 
John  Cooper,  resigned  Aug.  20,  1864. 

Corporals. 
David  C.  Long,  vet.,  died  at  Pulaski,  Tenn., 
Mar.  23,  '64. 

Privates. 
Bruner,  Zachariah,  died  at  St.  Joseph,  Mo., 

May  9,  '62. 
i  Friday,  George  W.,  vet.,  ab.  sick,  at  mus.  out 

of  regt. 
:  Friday,  Jacob,  vet.,  discharged  June  20,  1862. 
Long,  John  P.,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865, 
as  sergt. 

Recruits. 
Bailey,  William  H.,  mus.  out  June  2,  1865. 
Boweman,  Newton,  mus.  out  June  22,  wounds. 
Howser,  Charles  F.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 
McClure,  Charles,  mus.  out  June  22,  1865. 
Moody,  James  W.,  mus.  July  13,  1865. 
Wllmot,  James,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 

Men  From  Brown  county. 

Major. 
Sauel,  R.  Glenn,  discharged  Oct.  9,  1862. 


Corporal. 
Leopold,  Purpose. 

Muster  Roll  Company  B. 

Musician. 
George  Thomas,  trans,  to  56  III.,  pro  principal 
musician,  M.  O.,  Aug.  20,  1864. 

Privates. 
Farmer,  AVilliam,  mus  out  July  13,  1865. 
Gill,  Frederick,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 
Giese,  Adolphus,  mus.  out  Sept.  27,  1864. 
Ketsly,  Lorenzo,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 
Long,  John  T.,  disch.  Jan.  1,  1864,  to  re-enlist 

as  vet.  in  1st  Mo.  artillery. 
Lambert,  Steven  H.,  mus  out  Sept.  27,  1864. 
Miller,  Abraham,  mus.  out  Sept.  27,  1864. 
Pyle,  Elbert,  mus.  out  Sept.  27,  1864. 
Shank,  John,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 
Thompson,  Thomas,  died  at  Corinth. 

Recruits. 
Kinehart,  John  H.,  died  at  Louisville,  April 

1,  1862. 
Scroggan,  Isham,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 
Scroggan,  James  A.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865, 

was  prisoner. 
Scroggan,  Younger  A.,  mus.  out  July  13, 1865. 
Scroggan,  Taylor,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 
Sweed,  Edward,  mus.  out  June  24,  1865,  was 

prisoner. 

Muster  Roll  Company  C. 

First  Lieutenant. 
Thomas  Kennedy,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 

Privutis. 

Cooper,  Henry  C  ,  vet-,  mus  July  13,  1865. 
Cook,  Hiram,  mus.  out  t^ept.  27,  1864. 
Milledge,  Mortimer  L.,  disch.  Nov.   10,  1862, 
disability. 

Muster  Roll  Company  E.  * 

Private. 
Price,  Joseph,  disch.  or  died  Oct.  22,  '62  w'nds. 
Muster  Roll  Company   II . 
Captains,    , 
Miles  D.  Murphy,  resigned  Sept.  2,  1862. 
Isaac  McNeal,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 

First  Lieutenants. 
William  S.  Ishmel,  resigued  Mar.  3,  1863. 
Perry  Logsdon,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 

Second  Lieutenants- 
Fielding  T  Glenn,  resigned  Mar.  19,  1863. 
James  T.  Atchison,    mus.  out  as  serg't   July 
13,  1865. 

Sergeant. 
James  M  Swain,  mus.  out  Sept.  29,  1864. 

Corporals. 
Hiram  E.  Cooper,  disch.  July  30, 1862. 
James  M.  Glenn,  mus.  out  Sept.  29,  1864,  as 

private. 
Gale  Martin,  disch.  Aug.  4,  1862. 
David  Collins,  disch.  June  16, 1865,  as  private. 
William  H.  Hardin,  mus.  out  June  2,  1865,  as 

private. 

Privates. 

Abbott,  John,  wounded  April  6,  1862. 
Ammonett,  James  P.,  disch.  Sept.  14,  '62,  w'd. 
Briggs,  William  A,  disch.  Mav  14,  1862 
Benton,  Timothy  D.,  disch.  July  13,  1862. 
Burnett,  Newton  T.,  disch  April  15.  1862. 
Bates,    Matthew,  vet.,  died  at  Athens,  Ala., 

April  15,  1864. 
'  Bissel,  Benjamin,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865, 

absent  sick. 
Bissel,  Horace,  disch.  Sept.  10,  1862. 
Bolliard,  Franklin,  disch.  June  5,  1862. 
Biggs,  William  R.,  disch.  Sept.  28,  1862. 


174 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Bowen,  Andrew  J.,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13,  '65. 
Bell,  John  D ,  mus.  out  Sept.  29,  '64,  as  sergt. 
Baker,  Albert,  vet.,  mus.  out  Julv  13,  1865. 
Byers,  James  M.,  disch.  June  30|  1862. 
Coft'man,  Joshua,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 
Cotfman,  John,  vet.,  killed  at  Allatoona.  Ga,, 

October  5,  1864. 
Clark,  George  W.,  died  at  Lynnville,  Tenn., 

Feb.  17,  1864. 
Clark,  Harrison,  mus.  out  Sept.  29,  1864. 
Chapman,  Samuel  V.,  disch.  Sept.  28,  1862. 
Dowell,  George  R.,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  15, 

1865,  on  furlough. 
Dixon,  Francis  M.,  vet.,  mus.  out  July   15, 

1865,  as  corporal. 
East,  Thomas  B.,  Disch.  Sept.  28,  1862. 
Friday,  Simon,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  15,  1865. 
Friday,  John,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  15,  1865,  as 

corporal. 
Gibson,  Jesse,  vet.,  disch.  April  7,  '63,  disblty. 
Hendricks,  Rudv,  deserted  Nov.  1,  1862. 
Lewis,  Thomas  F.,  disch.  Oct.  15,  1862 
Mikesell,  Charles,  mus.  out  Sept.  2,  1864. 
Milton,  William  T,  deserted  Oct.  15,  1861. 
Measles,  James  M,  died  at  St.  Joseph,  mus.  out 

Jan.  30,  1862. 
Marietta,  Chauncey  F.,  mus.  out  Sept.  29,  '64. 
Miller,  Isaac  YV.,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865. 
Nesbitt,  James  T.,  mus.  out  Sept.  29,  1864,  as 

sergt. 
North,   Bernard  A.,  vet.,  mus.  out  July   13, 

1865,  as  sergt. 
Oatman,   Christopher    G,  died    at    Pittsburg 

Landing  T.,  May  9th,  1862. 
Powell,  Rufus,  died  at  Corinth  June  26, 1862. 
Queen,  William  J.,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13, '65 
Roberts,  William  C.,vet,  mus.  out  July  13,  '65. 
Roberts,  Levi,  mus.  out  Oct.  1,  1864. 
Reeves,  Alma,  vet.,  deserted  June  24,  1865. 
Radinger,  Isaac  J.,  mus.  out  Sept.  29,  1864. 
Radinger,  Jesse,  died  at  Fort  Donelson,  Feb. 

21,  1862. 
Ridinger,  James,  vet.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865, 

on  furlough. 
Roberts,  George  W.,  mus.  out  July  13,  1865- 
Randall,  Return  R.,  disch.  July  8,  '62,  wounds. 
Snodgrass,  Geo.  H.,  died  at  Mound  Citv,  Mar. 

8, 1862,  wounds. 
Spencer,  Mark,  killed  at  Corinth,  Oct.  3,  1862. 
Tapp,  William  H.,  mus.  out  Nov.  2,  1864. 
Wilson,  Jonathan,  discharged  March  27,  '62. 

Veterans. 
Albert,  William,  mustered  out  July  13,  '65. 
How,  Bela  W.,  must'd  out  July  13,  '65,  as  serg't. 
Long,  David  C,  died  at  Pulaski,  Tenn.,  Mar. 

23,  '64. 
McConnell,  Wash'ton,  must'd  out  July  13,  '65. 
McDaniel,  John,  mustered  out  July  13,  '65. 

Recruits. 
Beecher,  John  W-,  deserted  Sept  3,  '62. 
Burnett,  Alfred,  mustered  out  June  2,  '65. 
Cole,  Andiew  S.,  died  at  Clarksville,  Tenn., 

Mar.  10,  '65. 
Carter,  Andrew  J.,  mustered  out  July  13,  '65. 
Dennis,  Lamb't  P.,  serg't,  deserted  Mar.  28,  '62. 
Dennis,  William  B.,  discharged  Mar.  27,  '62. 
East,  Halev,  died  at  Corinth,  July  18,  '62. 
Floyd,  Richard  J.,  mustered  out  July  13,  '65. 
Gordon,  James  R.,  died  at  Corinth. 
Gough,  Chas.,  must'd  out  July  13,  '65,  absent, 

sick. 
Hughes,  Wm.  H.,  mustered  out  July  13,  '65. 
Herring,  Francis  M.,  must'd  out  July  13,  '65. 
Herring,  John  W.,  must'd  out  July  13,  '65. 
Ishmael,  Francis  D,  deserted  Mar.  26,  '62. 
Lake,  Jonathan,  mustered   out   July  13,   '65, 

absent  sick. 
Logsdon,  William,  mustered  out  July  13,  '65. 
Maiherson,  Wm.  B.,  discharged  June  3,  '62. 
Marietta,  Joseph  T,  mustered  out  June  2,  '65. 
Marietta,  Jacob,  mustered  out  June  2,  '65. 
McKenzie,  Henry,  mustered  out  July  11,  '65, 
as  corporal. 


Snodgrass,  Alexander,  died  Mar.  21,  '62. 
Taylor,  Creed  S.,  mustered  out  July  11,  '65. 

M  n.i.  i    Roll,  Company  K. 

Drafted  and  Substitute  Recruits. 
Hammond,  Richard,  mustered  out  July  13,  '65. 

Fifty-fifth   I  ufa  in  i  j Three  Ynn  Service— 

Muster  Roll  Company  I.— From  Schuy- 
ler  county. 

Privates. 

Holden,  Dennis,  died,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  April 
3, '64. 

Sixtieth     Infantry Three   Years    Service — 

Non-Commission  Staff—  Men  from  Brown 
county. 

Q.  M.  Sergeant. 
John  W.  Foler. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  A. 

Recruit. 
Brayd,  William  C. 

Muster  Roll,  Company   I :. 

Private. 

Boswell,  Geo.  W.,  vet.,  killed  near  Marietta, 

Ga.,  July  4,  '64. 
Clark,  Leandtr  J.,  vet,  m.  o.  July  31,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  H. 

Privates- 
Merill,  Nimrod. 

Slxty-nrst    Infantry Three  Years  Service 

The  Sixty-first  regiment  contained  a 
few  men,  who  enlisted  from  Schuyler 
and  Brown  counties.  Their  names  may 
be  seen  in  the  list  following  this  short 
memoir.  The  regiment  was  organized  at 
Carrollton,  Illinois,  by  Col.  Jacob  Fry. 
Three  full  companies  were  mustered 
February  5,  1862,  and  on  the  21st  they 
moved  to  Benton  Barracks,  Mo.,  where 
a  sufficient  number  of  recruits  joined  to 
make  nine  full  companies.  On  the  26th 
of  March,  1862  embarked  for  Pittsburg 
Landing,  where  it  arrived  on  the  30th 
inst,  and  was  assigned  to  the  brigade  of 
Col.  Madison  Miller,  Eighteenth  Mis- 
souri, division  of  Brig.  Gen.  B.  M.  Pren- 
tiss. April  6th,  400  men  were  formed 
into  line,  in  time  to  receive  the  first  as- 
sault of  the  enemy,  and  stood  their 
ground  for  an  hour  and  a  quarter,  and 
until  every  other  regiment  in  the  Divis- 
ion had  given  away,  and  were  then  order- 
ed to  fall  back.  For  this  gallant  stand, 
the  regiment  was  complimented  by  Gen. 
Prentiss.  It  was  then  ordered  to  sup- 
port a  battery  of  the  First  Missouri  Ar- 
tillery, and  later,  was  ordered  to  the 
support  of  Gen.  Hurlbut,  and  assisted 
in  maintaining  his  line  until  relieved  by 
a  fresh  regiment,  when  it  was  ordered  to 
a  position   supporting   the  siege  guns. 


April  7th,  was  in  reserve.  Lost  in  this 
engagement,  80  killed,  wounded  and 
missing,  including  three  commissioned 
officers.  From  this  time  until  Decem- 
ber 18th,  1862,  the  regiment  did  nothing 
of  note ;  made  several  marches,  etc.,  but 
at  that  date,  240  men  of  the  Sixty-first, 
proceeded  by  rail,  to  Jackson,  and  mov- 
ing out  the  Lexington  road,  under  com- 
mand of  Col.  Fugleman,  with  the  Forty- 
third  Illinois  and  a  detachment  of  cav- 
alry, took  position  at  Salem  Cemetery, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  repulsed 
the  enemy  under  Forrest,  with  three 
pieces  of  artillery,  and  pursued  him  some 
distance.  The  regiment  also  participa- 
ted in  several  skirmishes,  and  always 
sustained  a  good  reputation.  Was 
mustered  out  September  8,  1865. 

Muster   Roll,   Company  J. — Men    from 
Schuyler  county. 

Recruits. 

Anderson.  Samuel  M.,  M.  O.,  March  24,  1865. 
Boon,  John,  vet,  mustered  out  June  28,  1865  ; 

prisoner  war. 
Black,  Samuel,  mustered  out  March  24, 1865. 
Campbell,  Lewis  C,  must'd  out  July  20,  1865. 
Duke,  Abram,  disch'd  Mav  2,  1862,  disab'ty. 
Jones,  John  B.,  vet.,  died  Dec.  23, 1864,  w'nds. 
Kirkham,  CBas.,  disch'd  Mar.  30,  1863,  disbly. 
Londry,  Wm.,  vet,  mustered  out  Sept.  8,  '65. 
Londry,  John  W.,    vet,  killed  at  Nashville, 

Tenn.,  Dec.  15.  1864.. 
Low,  Wm.  A.,  missing  since  battle  of  Shiloh. 
Misenheimer,  Marion,  must'd  out  Mar.  24,'6o. 
Misenheimer,  Isaac,  must'd  out  March  24,  '65. 
Ryan,  Chas.  W.,  died  in  prison  at  Montgom'y, 

Ala. 
Spangler,  Cyrus,  mustered  out  Mar.  24,  1865. 
Spiller,  Isaac,  disch'd  Dec.  9,  '62,  disability. 
,  Tucker,   Francis,  pro.  corp'l,  vet.,  pro.  sergt, 

paroled  pris.  war ;  died  at  Vicksb'g,  Miss., 

April  15,  1865. 
Wisdom,  Granville  L,  vet.,  M.  O.  Sept.  8,  '65, 

as  sergeant. 
Wilson,  Wm.  S.,  inifsing  since  bat  of  Shiloh. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  E.— Men  from  Brown 
county. 

Recruits  trans/erred  from  83  III.  Infantry. 

Burns,  Jesse,  mustered  out  Sept  8,  1865. 
Barrett,  Wm.  H.,  mustered  out  Sept.  8, 1865. 
Monroe,  Geo.  N.,  mustered  out  Sept.  8,  1865. 
Nichols,  Geo.,  mustered  out  Sept.  8,  1865. 
Russsell,  Wm.,  mustered  out  Sept.  8,  1865. 
Williams,  James  H.,  must'd  out  Sept.  8,  1866. 

3Inster  Roll,  Company  I. 

Recruits  transferred  from  83///.  Infantry. 

Honge,  Joseph  D. 
Osborn,  Andrew  or  James. 

Sixty-Second  Infantry— Three  Y'ears  Service. 

The  62d.  Regiment,  was  organized  by 
Col.  James  M.  True,  at  Camp  Dubois, 
111.,  April  10,  1862.  Moved  to  Cairo, 
111.,  on'the  22d.,  and  thence  to  the  field 
of  action.  From  Holly  Springs,  Ten- 
nessee at  midnight,  Dec,  13th,  it  started 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


175 


for  Jackson,  leaving  about  200  men  sick 
and  on  duty  at  Holly  Springs.  Just 
before  reaching  Jackson,  found  the  rail- 
road bridge  on  fire,  and  overtaking  the 
enemy  under  Gen.  Forrest,  followed  him 
twenty  miles,  skirmishing  as  they  went. 
December  20th,  Van  Dorn,  captured 
Holly  Springs,  paroling  170  men  of  the 
sixty-second,  including  the  Major  and 
three  Lieutenants,  and  destroying  all  the 
records,  papers  and  camp  equipage  of 
the  regiment. 

Aug.  12,  1864,  left  for  Illinois  on 
veteran  furlough.  The  nou- veterans, 
were  ordered  to  Illinois  for  muster  out. 
April  10, 1865,  the  veterans  and  recruits 
were  consolidated  into  seven  companies, 
and  served  ou  t  their  time.  The  regiment 
was  mustered  out  at  Little  Rock,  Ar- 
kansas, March,  6,  1866.  Below  are  the 
names  of  those  who  enlisted  from  these 
counties  in  this  regiment. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  I.— Men  from  Schuy- 
ler County. 

Captains. 
Joseph  McLain,  resigned  June  20,  1863. 
John  J,  Wyatt,  resigned  Aug.  5,  1804. 
John  Parcel,  transferred  as  consolidated. 

First  Sergeant. 
Wm.  D.  Ellis,  dis.  Mar.  9,  1862,  disability. 

Sergeants. 
Robert Thursh,  dish'd  Sept.  8,  1862,  disability. 
Daniel  Richey,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  Oct.  17,  1864. 
D.  C.  Paine,  mustered  out  May  2,  1865. 

Corporals. 
Chas.  Persing,  dis.  May  21, 1863,  as  sgt„  disby. 
John  Stiles,  vet.,  died  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.,  Aug. 

5,  1864. 
James  Log,  mustered  out  May  2,  I860. 
Geo.  Ellis,  mustered  out  May  2,  '65,  as  sergt. 
Joel  Cooper,  disch'd  June  25. 

Privates. 

Ainsworth,  Nelson,  vet.,  tr.  to  comp'y  G,  con- 
solidated ;  M.  O.  March  6,  1866. 

Baker,  or  Barker,  dis.  June  25, 1864,  disability. 

Bates,  Jas.,  vet.,  tr.  comp'y,  G,  consolidated  ; 
M.  O.  March  6,  1866. 

Barton,  Elijah,  died  at  Paducah,  Ky.,  June 
1,  1863. 

Barnaby,G.W.,died  at  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.,  Jan. 
12,  1863. 

Comberlidge,  Nicholas  S.,  vet.,  tr.  to  com'y  G, 
consolidated  ;  M.  O.  March  6,  1866. 

IieWitt,  Geo.,  corp'l,died  Littleton,  III.,  April 
22,  1864. 

Dodge,  John  S.,  mus.  out  May  2, 1865,  as  crpl. 

Dark,  Jos.,  died  at  Paducah,  Ky..  May  27,  '62. 

Deedridge,  Lewis,  vet.,  corp'l,  died  Littleton, 
111.,  Sept.  25,  1864. 

Downie,  Aaron,  died  at  Frederick,  111.,  Jan. 
27,  1863. 

Freaks,  John,  disch'd  Sept,  8,  1862,  disability. 

Fream,  David,  dis.  Apr.  23,  1868,  disability. 

Hatfield,  Chas.  W.,  returned  to  14th  Reg't." 

Hicks,  Henry  C,  disch'd  Oct.  8,  1862,  disa- 
bility. 

Johnson,  Wm.,  vet,,  tr.  Co.  G.  consol'd  ;  M.O. 
March  6,  1866,  as  sergeant. 

John,  Ferdinand,  vet.,  died  at  Littleton,  111., 
Sept.  18,  1864. 


Lowdtrman,  Cornelius  M.,  mus.  out  May  2,'65. 
Lowderman,  Austin  H.,  vet.,  died  at  Mattoon, 

III.,  Sept.  5,  1864. 
Lee,  David,  dishon'bly  mus.  out  May  2,  1865, 

for  desertion  sentence  of  G.  M.  C. 
Lain,  Jas.,  disch'd  April  20,  1862,  disability. 
McCheva,  George,  mus.  out  May  2,  1862. 
Peeler,  Samuel,  disch'd  Oct.  26,  '63,  disab'ty. 
Roberts,  Thos.  D.,  vet.,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  as  consol'd, 

M.  O.  March  6,  1866,  as  2d  lieutenant. 
Starr,  Robert,  mustered  out  May  2,  1865. 
Stoneking,  Samuel,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  M.  O.  Apr. 

10,  1875. 

Stoneking,  David,  disch'd  April  23,  '63,  disbty. 
Towland,  James  W.,  mustered  out  May  2,  '65 
Vanwinkel,  Jas.,  mustered  out  May  2,  1865,  as  ' 

corporal. 
Vanwinkel,  Moses,  mus.  out  May  2,  '65. 
Whiteman,  Mathias,  disch'd  June25,disablty. 
Whiteman,  Calvin,  disch'd  March  25,  disably.  1 
Wheat,  David  H.,  vet.,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  consol'd; 

M.  O.,  March  6,  1866,  as  sergeant. 
Young,  John,  died  at  Kenton,  Tenn.,  Julv  11' 

1862. 
Yaap,  Otto,  vet.,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  consol'd :  M.  O. 

March  6,  1866,  as  corporal. 

Recruits. 

Chandler.  Seth,  died  at  Doddsville,  111  ,  Sept. 

11,  1864. 

Cooper,  Joel,  died  at  Little  Rock,  Ark.,  Sept. 

16,  1864. 
Cooper,  Noah   A.,  died  at  Pine  Bluff,  Ark., 

Sept.  16, 1864. 
Cooper,  Arthur  L.,  died  at  Louisville,  Kv., 

Aug.  4,  1864, 
Devolled,  James,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  consol'd  ;  M,  O. 

June  2,  1865. 
Devolled,  Samuel,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  consol'd  ;  M. 

O.  March  6,  1866. 
Fraim,  David,  died  at  Mattoon,  111.,  Sept.  6, 

1864. 
Green,  James,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  consol'd,  disch'd 

June  8,  1865,  disability. 
Merrick,  Morris,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  consol'd  ;  M.  O. 

Aug.  2,  1865. 
Peak,  Robert,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  consol'd ;  M.  O. 

Aug.  26,  1865. 
Roper,  Smith  M.,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  consol'd  ;  M.  O. 

Aug.  2,  1865,  as  corporal. 
Tatham,  Thomas,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  consol'd ;  M.  O. 

Aug.  2,  1865. 

Muster  Roll  Company  I. — Men  from  Brown 
County. 

First  Lieutenant. 
James  L.  Bradbury,  t'm  exp'd  April  14,  '65. 

Corporal. 
Absalom  Hughes,  mustered  out  May  2,  1865. 

Privates. 
Briggs,  James  M.,  mustered  out  May  2,  I860. 
Coffman,  Benjamin  F.,  died  Dec.  21,  1862. 
Cooper,  Don  C,  vet.,  must'd  out  May  2,  1865. 
Herring,  George  W.,  died  at  St.  Louis,  Mo., 

Jan.  12,  1862. 
McDermid,  George,  died  at  La  Grange,  Tenn., 

29,  1863. 

McPherson,  Richard  T. 
Sweenev,  Jas.,  mustered  out  May  2,  1865. 
Tapp,  Jas.  M.,  disch.  June  25,  1862,  disability. 
Uriah  B.,  or  Baker  U.,  died  at  Kenton,  Tenn., 

Sept.  4,  1862. 

Recruits. 
1  Cessna,  Theod.,  transf.  to  Co.  G,  Consol.  M.  O., 

March  6,  1866. 
•  DeWitt,  James  C,  tr.  to  Co.  G,  Consol.  M.  O, 
discharged  June  8,  1865,  disability. 
Kesinger,  Peter,  died  at  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.,  Sept. 

30,  1864. 
McDermid,  Chas.  N.,  died  at  Pine  Bluff,  Ark., 

Sept.  30,  1864. 
Mallory,  Wm.,  mustered  out  June  20,  1865. 


Muster  Roll  Company  l ..  Sixty-Fourth'  In- 
fantry— Three  Years  Service.—  Men  from 
Schuyler  County. 

Privates. 
Archer,  Lewis,  died  at  Rome,  Ga.,  July  20,  '64 
Grafton,  G.  W.,  died  at  Rome,  Ga.,  July  6,  64. 
Logue,  Harrison,  mustered  out  July  11,  1865. 
Parrish,  Charles,  mustered  out  July  11,  1865. 
Smith,  Elijah,  absent  sick  at  M.  O.  of  reg't. 
Tracy,  T.  C.,  must'd  out  July  11,  '65,  as  corp'l. 
Tipton,  Jas.  W.,  mustered  out  July  11,  1865. 

Unassigned  Recruits. 
Barnes,  James. 
B;:gher,  Hiram. 

Muster  Roll  Company  C— Men  from  Brown 
county. 

Privates. 
Debord,  John,  in  confinement  at  M.  O.  of  regt 
Ginn,  Edward  C,  deserted  March  2,  1862. 

Recruit. 
Debord,  D.,  died  at  Chattanooga,  Nov.  7,  '64. 

Seventy-second  Infantry— Three  years    ser- 
vice. 

Was  organized  at  Chicago,  as  the  first 
regiment  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade. 
Was  mustered  into  service  August  23, 
1852,  and  on  the  same  day  started  for 
Cairo.  It  served  out  its  full  term  of 
service,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Vicks- 
burg,  Aug.  6,  1865,  and  returned  to 
Chicago,  where  it  received  final  payment 
and  discharge. 

The  following  little  table  of  statistics, 
will  give  an  idea  of  what  their  service 
has  been. 


Number  of  officers  killed  in  service, 

7 

(< 

men            "            '' 

78 

1* 

officers  died  of  disease 

3 

11 

men            "          " 

130 

" 

officers  wounded 

10 

11 

men            ■' 

120 

« 

officers  taken  prisoners, 

3 

men          "            " 

76 

Total 


427 


Muster  Roll  Company  C.— Men  from  Schuy- 
ler county. 

Private. 
Flannery,  John,  abs't,  pris  w.  at  M.  O.  of  regt. 

Muster  Roll  Company  G. 

I'rirates. 

i  Goble,  C,  tr.  to  33d  III.  Inf.  M.  O.  Nov.  24,  '65. 
Johnson,  Alonzo,  mustered  out  Aug.  7,  1865. 

Muster  Roll  Company  II. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Hezekiah  Stout,  resigned  June  8,  1863. 

Privates. 
Andres,  Armenis,  killed  at  Franklin,  Tenn., 

Nov.  30,  1864. 
Brooks,  G.  S  ,  mustered  out  Aug.  7,  1865. 
Husted,  Henry,  discharged  Feb.  26,  1862. 
Husted,  Frs.  M„  mustered  out  Aug.  7,  1865. 
Jones,  John  G.,  deserted  Oct.  24,  1862. 
Ridenour,  W.  died  at  Helena,  Ark.  Ap.  20, '63. 
Scolt,  James  W.,  died  at  Columbus,  Ky.,  Nov. 

17,  1862. 

Recruits. 
Burtis,  Stephen  II.,  tr.  to  33d  111.  Inf.  mustered 

out  Nov.  24,  1865. 


176 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Loep,  George  W.,  tr.  to  33d  111.  Inf.  mustered 

out  Nov.  24,  1865. 
Libby,  Marshall  L.,  mustered  out  May  16,  '65. 
McCaslin,  Henrv,  tr.  to  33d  III.  Inf.  mustered 

out  Nov.  24,  1865. 
Rhodes,  Win.  H.,  tr.  to  33d  111.  Inf.  mustered 

out  Nov.  24,  1865. 

Seventy- third   Infantry  -  (Three    years  Ser- 
vice.'! 


Corporal. 
Reuben  H.  Folle,  must'd  out  June  12,  1865. 

Musicians. 

Wni.  R.  Vaughn,  died  at  M urfreesboro',  Tenn. 

March  3,  '63.     . 
Henry  C.  Combs,  discharged  August  31,  '63. 

Privates. 


The  history  of  this  regiment,  will  ne-   Agnew>  EHm  „    mugtered  ^  June  „  ,6- 
cessarily  be  incomplete,  as  no  record  of   Baker,  John  M.,  mustered  out  June  12,  '65. 


its  movements  were  kept,  but  below  we 
make  a  few  extracts  from  a  letter  written 
by  James  I.  Davidson,  Lieut.  Col.  73d 
111.  Vol.  Inft.      It  was    organized   at 


Brown,  Win.  H.,  mustered  out  June  12,  '65. 
Cameron,  Thos.,  died  at  Murfreesboro',  Tenn., 

Jan.  15,  1863. 
Colt,  Peter  H.  K.,  to  V.  R.  C,  July  1,  '63. 
Colt,  John  W.,  killed  at  Franklin,  Tenn.,  Nov. 

30,  1864. 


Camp  Butler,  in   August,  1862,  and  im-   Criswell,  Edw.  L.,  deserted  Sept.  3,  1865. 

....  /./->,  i    Crooks,  Wm.  H.,  must'ed  out  June  12,  1865  as 

mediately    became   a  part  oi    General 

Buell's  Army.  Fought  nobly  atPerry- 
ville,  and  was  in  every  battle  fought  by 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  from  Oc- 
tober, 1862,  until  the  route  of  General 
Hood's  Army,  at  Nashville.'  The  dead 
were  buried  at  Perry  ville,  Murfeesboro, 
Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge,  away 
in  East  Tennessee,  and  then,  in  the  suc- 
cession of  battlei  from  Chattanooga,  to 

the  fall  of  Atlanta.    It  formed  a  part  of  Emery,  AVm.,  must'd  out  June  12,  1865. 

-    ,  ,    .      t,.      ,        .    -r,       ,,.         ..  ,     Fuller,  Maroni  M.,  must'd  out  June  22,  1865. 

Opdyke  s   Brigade,  at  Franklin,  which   GoodwirJ)  John  P'  tr.  t0  y.  R.  C,  Aug.  1,  '63. 

saved  the  day,  and   gave    him   his  star,    Gorsage,  Oscar,  must'd  out  June  12,  '65. 

_    ji     t  :«.~  i_~t  ~ l:ii~]    :„    j.:„:„„   Glassop,  Frederick,   must'd   out  June  12, '65, 

and  lost  its  last  man  killed  in   driving  as  Comoral 

Hood's  Army    from  Nashville.     It  was    Hagle,   James,  wounded,  trans,   to  V.  R.  C. 

many  times  complimented  by   its   Gen-    IT    ,    "•  T9>  63-  ,  ,    ,       ,       ,  .    ,r 

Hooker,  J  aspar,   wounded,   transferred  to  V  . 


sergeant. 
Cunningham,  Joseph,  must'd  out  June  12, 1865, 

as  sergeant. 
Davis,  Jas.  W.,  wounded,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  April 

6,  1864. 
Day,  Lewis,  mustered  out  June  1,  1865. 
Derickson,   Joseph  M.,   died  March  26, 1864, 

while  prisoner  at  Danville,  Va. 
Dimmiek,  Wm.  H.,  mustered  out  June  12,  '65. 
Dearfter,  Geo.  C,  killed  at  Peach  Tree  Creek, 

Ga.,  July  20,  1864. 
Elser,  Joseph  L.,  tr.  to  U.  S.  Engineers,  Julv 

20,  1864. 
Elser,  Geo.  P.,  tr.  to  U.  S.  Eng^,  July  20,  '64. 


erals  for  bravery  and  courage  on  the  bat- 
tle field.  When  the  regiment  left  the 
state  it  was  one  of  the  largest  and  when 
it  returned  was  one  of  the  smallest.  Her 


R.  C.  Dec.  28,  '64. 
Horten,  Thomas,  mustered  out  June  12,  '65. 
Hoskinson,  Stewart  F.,  disch'd   Feb.  10,  '65  ; 

wounds. 
Lawless,  Absalen   H.,  died   at  Danville,  Va., 

June  20,  '64,  while  prisoner  of  war. 
officers  aud    men,  especially   the   latter    LinkinS)  james  A.,  must'd  out  June  12,  '65. 

have  never  been  surpassed  for  bravery,   Little  William,  H.,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge, 
endurance  and  devotion  to  the  country.    MeaS^o'rlSd,  died  at  Chattanooga,  Aug. 


It  was  mustered  out  June  10,  1865. 

Men  from  Schuyler  Connty. 

Lieutenant-Colonel. 
William  A.  Preston,  resigned  Aug.  14,  1863. 

Adjutant. 
Richard  R.  Randall,  dismissed  May  15,  1863. 

NON-COMMISSIONED  STAFF. 
Commissary  Sergeant. 

Riley  M.  Hoskinson,  must'd  out  June  12, 1865    Swackhammer,  George,  must'd   out   June  12, 

'65. 
;  Talbott,  Isaiah,  disch'd  Oct.  19,  '62 ;  disability. 
Thrush,  Jacob  J.,  disch'd  Sep.  22,  '62. 
Tolle,  James  F.,  must'd  out  June  12, '65,   as 

Sergeant. 
Wilmot,  Willard,  disch'd  Feb.  26,  '63. 
Wilson,  George,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C  Sep  20,  '63. 
Worthbaugh,  John  W.,  must'd  out  June  12,  '65. 
Wright,  John,  must'd  out  June  12.  '65. 
Yaap,  Karl,  must'd  out  June  12,  '65. 


12,  '64;  wounds. 
Morris,  Newton  jr.,  died  at  Louisville,  Jan.  21, 

'63. 
Pennington,  Alexander,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  in 

'63. 
Purnell,  William  T.,  must'd  out  June  12,  '65; 

wounded. 
Scott,  Leven  O.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  July  1,  '63. 
Sidebotham,  John  H.,  disch'd    April  29,  '63, 

as  corporal. 
Stout,  Stillman,  must'd  out  June  12,  '65. 


Muster  Roll  Company  < .. 

Captain- 
John  Sutton,  resigned  Feb.  28,  1863. 

First  Lieutenants. 
James  F.  Bowen,  resigned  Dej.  24, 1862. 
Wm.  H.  Dodds,  must'd  out  June  12,  1865. 

Second    Lieutenant. 
John  H.  McGrath,  resigned  June  20,  1864. 

Sergeants. 
Jeremiah  E.  Bailey,   killed  at   Chickamauga, 

Sept.  20,  1863. 
Wm.  T.  Talbot,  wounded,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  Oct. 

18,  1864. 
Wm.  H.  Horton,  died  at  Rushville,  Ills.,  Dec. 

25,  1863. 


Recruits. 

Blackley,  William  H.,  trans,  to  44,  111.,  Inft, 
June  8,  '65,  must'd  out  Sep.  25,  '65. 

Schwackman,  John,  trans,  to  44  111.,  Infantry, 
June  8,  '65 ;  mustered  out  Sep.  29,  '65. 

Thompson,  James  O  ,  trans,  to  44,  111.,  Infan- 
try, June  8,  '65  ;  must'd  out  Sep.  25,  '65. 


Seventy-Fifth  Infantry—  Three  Years   Ser- 
vice.— Men  from  Schuyler  County. 

This  regiment,  in  which  we  find  a  few 
names  from  Schuyler  and  Brown  coun- 
ties, was  organized  at '  Dixon,  Illinois, 
Sept.  2d,  1862,  by  Col.  George  Ryan. 
On  the  27th,  was  ordered  to  Louisville,  . 
Ky.  Oct.  1st,  marched  in  pursuit  of 
Bragg.  Oct.  8,  engaged  in  the  battle  of 
Chaplin  Hills,  losing  47  killed,  166 
wounded  and  1'2  prisoners.  It  was 
mustered  out  June  12th,  1865,  at  Camp 
Harker,  Tennessee,  and  arrived  at  Chi- 
cago, June  15,  1865,  where  the  regiment 
received  final  payment  and   discharge. 

First  Assistant  Surgeon. 
John  C.  Corbus,  resigned  Jan.  19,  1863. 

Muster  Roll  Co.  F. 

Privates. 
Dean,  Henry,  disch.  Feb.  14, 1863. 
Hurst,  Wm  ,  mus.  out  June  12,  1865. 
Loucks,  Wesley  F.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Feb.  13, 

1865. 
Loucks,  Geo  R.,  mus.  out  June  12.  '65  as  s'g't. 

Muster  Roll  Company  B. — Men  from  Brown 
County. 

Privates. 
Adams,  Leander  L.,  disch'd  Mar.  11,  '63,  to  en- 
list in  Miss.  Marine  Brigade. 
Veninn,  John  E.,  mustered  out  June  12,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  C. 

Privates. 
Gillett,  John  S.,  disch'd  Nov.  8,  '62:  wounds. 
Squires,  William  P.,  disch'd  Mar.  6,  '65. 

Seventy-Eighth  Infantry-Three  Years 
Service. 

Major. 
Robert  S.  Blackburn,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  A. 

Captain. 

Christian  W.  Hite,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 

First  Lieutenants. 

Philip  Chipman,  resigned  Feb.  1,  '63. 
Archibald  H.  Graham,  resigned  Apr.  5,  '63. 
George  A.  Brown,  died  June  30,  '64. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Nathan  P.  Woods,  resigned  April  21,  '64. 
Sergeants. 
;  Oliver  Brooks,    died  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn., 

July  31,  '64;  wounds. 
Jesse  Curtis,  mustered  out  June  7,  '65. 

Corporals- 
Peterson,  Francis  M.,  must'd  out  June,  7,  '65. 
Sapp,  David  M.,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Vandivier,  Nelson,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Walker,  John  H.,  must'd  out  June  7, '65. 
Wier  William,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 

Privates. 

Avery,  Stephen,  disch'd  Mar.  31  '63 ;  disability. 

Bodenhamer,  Henry  C,  must'd  out  June  7, '65. 

Belete,  James  E.,  killed  at  Chickamauga,  Sep. 

20,  '63. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


177 


Belote,  Darwin,  died  at  Franklin  Tenn.,  Mar. 

5,  '63. 
Burnett,  William,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Ball,  Albin,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Box,  John,  must'd  out  June  17,  '65;  Pris  war 
Bessell,  Augustus  C,  must'd   out  June  7,  '65  ; 

prisoner  war. 
Bain,  Alexander,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65  ;  pris. 

war. 
Corris,  John  D.  must'd  out  June  7,  '65;  pris. 

war. 
Curtis,  William  H.,    disch'd   Mar.     11,  '65; 

wounds. 
Curtis,  James,  absent,  wounded  at  muster  out 

of  reg't. 
Curtis  John,  mustered  ou(  June  7,  '65. 
Cox,  William,  disch'd  May  5,  '65;   disability. 
Driver,  Samuel  R ,  died   at   Franklin  Tenn., 

Feb.  19,  '63. 
Davis,  Beneger,  died  at  Chattanooga,  Oct.  7,  '63; 

wounds. 
Davip,  John,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.  Mar.  18, 

'63. 
Ewing,  Samuel  M.,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Aug.  2, '63. 
Frakes,  Joseph,  disch'd  May  8,  ,63  ;  disability. 
Graham,  Shepard,  died  at   Franklin,  Tenn., 

Mar.  28,  '63. 
Groves,  James  M.,  mustered  out  June  7,  '65. 
Gott,  John  B  ,  mustered  out  June  7,  '65. 
Gilleiland,  Banj.  C.  tr.  to  Eng.  Corps  July  25, 

'64. 
How,  Samuel  W.,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Howell,  John,  taustered  out  June  7,  65. 
Hite,  Abraham,  Absent,  Wounded,  at  M.  O.  of 

reg't. 
Hite,  Abraham  L.,  disch'd  Dec.  31,  '62;  dis- 
ability. 
Harrison,  George,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Hellyer,  George,  must'd  out  June  17,  '65  ;  was 

prisoner. 
Hellyer,  William,  must'd  out  June  7.  '65. 
Johnson,  John,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Landsden,  William  H.,  died  in  Andersonville 

prison  Oct.  6,  '64  ;  No.  of  grave  10,419. 
McKee,  William,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Miller,  John,  died  Chattanooga  Sep.  27,  63 ; 

wounds. 
Miner,  Samuel  J.,  deserted  Feb.  3,  '63. 
Mints,  Lorenzo,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Morgan,  Edward,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Mullin,  Martin,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
McClain,  William  H,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Noel,  Theodore  C,  must'd  out  June  17,  '63 ; 

was  prisoner. 
Pitney,  Orvill  L.,  must'd  out  June 7,  '65;  as 

Corporal. 
Pelsor,  Tracy,  died  at  Quincy,  III.  Apr.  27,  '63. 
Rigby,  George  W.,  died  at  Quincy,  111.,  Oct.  11, 

'62. 
Robinson,  Richard,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Reed,  John  E ,  died  at  Nashville  Tenn.,  Mar. 

28,  '63. 
Record,  Josiah  S.,  deserted  Jan.  30,  '63. 
Robinson,  Israel,  disch'd  Apr.,  7, '63;  disability. 
Robinson,  Nimrod,  musi'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Soward,  Charles  W.  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Scott,  Hiram,  died   at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Mar. 

27,  '63. 
Steen,  John,  died  at  Vining,  Ga.  July  22,  '64 ; 

wounds. 
Tankersley,  Andrew  J.,  disch'd  Sep.   30,  '63  ; 

disability. 
Vandiver,   John,    must'd   out  June   17,  '65 ; 

was  prisoner. 
Woods,   William   S.,   trans,  to    Eng.   Corps, 

July  25,  '64. 
Wilson,  Jasper,  killed  at  Chickamauga,  Sept. 

20,  63. 
Wykoff,  Wm.  H.  H,  mustered  out  June  7,  '65. 
Walker,  Wm.  T.,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn., 

Feb.  28,  '65. 
White,  Benj.  F.,  disch.  Sept.  12,  '63 ;  disability. 
Wy  les,  Henry  H,  trans,  to  V.  R  .C,  Oct.  22, 64. 
Wheeler,  Joel  B.,  mustered  out  June  7,  '65. 
23 


Wheeler,  John  H.,  mustered  out  June  7,  '65. 

Recruits, 
Bodenheimer,  Isaac  H.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  111., 

ra.  o.  July  12,  '65. 
Barton,  Wm.  C,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  III.,  m.  o. 

July  12,  '65. 
Barton,  Jas.  E.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  111.,  m.  o. 

July  12.  "65. 
Burmood,  Peter,  mustered  out  June  7,  '65. 
Bodenheimer,  Chris't  G.,  prisoner  of  war  since 

Nov.  27,  '64. 
Cox,  Christopher  C.  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  Illinois 

Inft'y,  mo.  July  12, '65. 
Clark,  Jas.  T.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  111.  Inft'y,  m. 

o.  Julv  12,  '65. 
Davis,  John  W.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  111.  Inft'y, 

in.  o.  July  12,  '65. 
Davis,  Wm.  H,  killed  at  Chickamauga,  Sept. 

20,  '63. 
Davis,  Robert  H,  disch.  Dec.  8,  '64;  dis'bilty. 
I  Ewing,  Geo.  W.,  mustered  out  June  7,  '65. 
I  Frakes,  Robert,  deserted  Jan.  20,  '65. 
Grainger,  Robert,  mustered  out  June  7,  '65. 
How,  Isaac  C,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  111.  Inft'y,  m. 

o.  July  12,  '65. 
How,  Jas.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  111.  Inft'y,  m.  o. 

July  12,  '65. 
1  James,  Samuel  J.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  111.  Inft'y, 

m.  o.  .'illy  12, '65. 
Lacy,  John  S.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  HI.  Inft'y, 

m.  o.  July  12,  '65. 
|  Neida,  Chas.  S.,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  July 

13,  '64. 
Ruggles,  Wm.  K.,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  May  4,  '65. 
Shamell,  Alexander,  tr.  to  Co.  H,   34th   111. 

Inft'y,  m.  o.  July  12,  '65. 
Sapp,  John  W.,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Nov. 

23,  '64. 
Throp,  Lorenzo  D  ,  tr  to  Co.  H,  34th  111.  Inft., 

m.  o.  July  12,  '65. 
Thoma«,  James,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mt.,  June 

27,  '64. 
Vandiver,  Henry,  died  at  Atlanta,  Sept.  20,  '64  ; 

wounds. 
Wier,  Wm.  H,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  111.  Inft'y, 

m  o.  July  12,  '65. 
Wilds,  Howard,  tr.  to  Co.  II,  34th  111.  Inft'v, 

m.  o.  July  12,  '65. 
i  Wheeler,  Edward  H,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  34th  111. 

Inft'y,  m.  o.  July  12,  '65  ;  wounded. 
Wilson,  Chas.  L.,  disch.  Mar.  15,  '65  ;  wounds. 

Etghty-fonrtli  Infantry.—  THree  Years 
Service. 

In  this  regiment  we  find   that  only  a 
few  men  went    from   Schuyler  county, 
while    one   whole    company  D.  and   a 
part  of  company  I,  went  from  Brown 
county.     It  was  organized   at   Quincy, 
Illinois,  in  August,  1862,  by  Col.  Louis 
H.  Waters,  and  mustered  into  the  U.  S  j 
Service,  September  1st,  with   951    men 
and  officers.  September  23,  1862,  it  was 
ordered  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  as- 1 
signed  to  the  Tenth  Brigade,  Col.  Grose ; 
commanding  ;  Fourth  Division,  Briga- 
dier Gen.   William   Sooy   Smith,   com- 
manding, and  marched  September  29,  in 
pursuit  of  Bragg.     Following  is  a  list  of; 
the  battles  in   which  the  84th  was  en-  j 
gaged  : — Stone    River,    December   31, 
1862,  January  1st  and  2d,  1863,  loss  228  | 
men.     Woodbury,  January  17th,  1863 ;  j 
Chickamauga,   Sept.    19th    and    20th, 


1863.  Loss  172  men.  Lookout  Moun- 
tain, Missionary  Ridge  and  Ringgold, 
November  24th,  25th,  and  26th,  1863. 
Loss  9  men.  Dalton,  Feb.  27, 1864,  losing 
4  men.  In  the  Atlanta  campaign,  at 
Buzzard's  Roost,  May  1 0th,  1864 ;  Dalton 
May  13th,  1864 ;  Resaca,  May  14th,  1 864. 
Burnt  Hickory,  May  26th  to  31st  and 
June  1st,  2d,  and  3d  ;  Kenesaw  Moun- 
tain, Smyrna,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro  and 
Lovejoy  Station.  Losing  in  the  cam- 
paign 125  men.  Franklin  and  Nash- 
ville, loss  20  men.  Total  casualties  in 
battle  558  men.  In  this  regiment  there 
was  but  one  man  ever  taken  prisoner  ; 
but  ten  men  deserted ;  only  one  man 
ever  sent  to  military  prison ;  and  but 
4  men  tried  by  court  martial. 

The  regiment  was  in  several  minor 
engagements,  and  made  many  long  and 
severe  marches.  It  was  mustered  out 
of  service  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  June 
8th,  1865. 


IHCuster  Roll,  Company  I.— Men  from  Sehny- 
ler  County. 

Privates. 
Binkley,  N.  A.,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Bowker,  Clark,  disch.  Jan.  17, '63,  disability. 
Derry,  Basil,  "         "      4,  '63,  " 

Davis,  W.  N.,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Kiuiory,  Jno.  J.,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mt.  June 

24,  1864. 
Wright,  Alonzo  0.,  trans,  to  V.R.C.  Jul.  26/64. 
Wildenhammer,  J.,  disch.  Apr.  25,  '63,  disab'y. 

Muster      Roll,      Company    D.— Men      from 
Urown  County. 

Captains. 
Moses  W.  Davis,  died  Jan.  20,  '63,  from  w'nds. 
Thomas     D.    Adams,  died     Sept.    21,    from 

wounds,  at  Chickamauga. 
Walter  Scoggan,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 

First  Lieutenant. 
Thomas  B.  Miller,  mustered  out  June  8,  '65. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
r.vman  G.  Call,  mustered  out  (as  Sergeant) 
June  8,  1865. 

Sergeants. 

Ray,  Samuel,  died  Sept.  4,  '64,  of  wounds  re- 
ceived at  Love-joy  Station. 

Thomas  Barton,  mustered  out  June  H,  1865, 
wounded. 

John  T.  Larkin,  mus.  out  June  8,  65. 

John  Logsdon,  "  "  wounded 

at  Stone  River 

Peter  Thomas,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 

Corporals. 
Oliver  H.  Perry,  mustered  June  8,  1865. 
Willis  Jones,   missing  at  Chickamauga,  died 

June  5,  1865. 
Thomas  J.  Jackson,  mustered  out  June  8,  '65, 
Jas.   F.   Jones,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 

wounded  Stone  River  and  Dallas,  Ga. 
Thomas  McNeff,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 


178 


HISTORY    OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Privates.  » 

James  M.  Anderson,  mustered  out  June  8,  '65. 
Avery,  Joshua  B..  "  "  .      " 

Amen,  Wm.  R.,  "  "         " 

Barker,  Lawson  R.,  "  "         " 

Baird,   Alexander  B.,  died  at  Murfreesboro', 

Tenn.,  Mareh  25,  1863. 
Baumgardner,  Matthew,  died  1862. 
Baldwin,  Andrew  J.,  transferred  to  Eng.  Corps 

Aug.  16,  1864. 
Bissell,  I.  F.,  diseh.  May  30,  '63,  disability. 
Bliss,  Willis  1).,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  May 

12,  1862. 
Banks,  Jarrard,  diseh.  Feb.  19, '63,  disability. 
Bell,  James  R.,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Briscoe,  William  H.,  discharged  Jan  26,  '64, 

sergeant,  disability. 
Brierton,   Joseph,  died   at  Nashville,  Tenn., 

Feb.  7,  1863. 
Clark,  Thos.  A.,  must'd  out  June  8,  '65,  wn'd. 
Cole.  Jacob  S.  or  F.,  trans,  to  Marine  service 

Jan.  16,  1863. 
Clayton,  Greenbury,  dis.  Sep.  18,  '63,  woun'd. 
Carnel,  David,  missing  at  Chiekamauga,  sup- 
posed to  be  killed. 
Dean,  Constantine,  transferred  to  V.  R.  C. 
Davis,  James  L.,  died  July  3,  '64,  at  Chat- 
tanooga, 
Davis,  Aaron,  vet.  dis.-  Mar.  13,'63,V., disability. 
Dalton,  Samuel  T.,  mustered  out  June  8,  '65. 
Davis,  Wm.  H.,  mus.  out  June  8.  '65,  woun'd. 
Duncan,  Wm.,  died  at  Nashville,  T.  Jul.  3,  '63. 
Ellis,  Wm.  J.,  diseh.  June  30,  '63,  wounds. 
Flinn,  Isaac,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Franklin,   Wm.  killed  at  Stone  River,  Dec. 

31,  1862. 
Faulkner,  Wm.  J.,  died  at  Nashville.  Tenn., 

Jan.  28,  1863. 
Flinn.  Burel,  mustered  June  8,  1865. 
Flinn,  Richard,  died  at  Louisville,  Kv.,  Nov. 

6,  1x62. 
Freeman,    Howard   W.,   died    at    Nashville, 

Tenn,  Mar.  14,  1863. 
Fisher,  James  J.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Ap.  20,'  63. 
Furlong.  James,  diseh.  June  30, '63,  wounds. 
Fry,  Marion,  must'd  out  June  8, '65,  wounded. 
Gamble,  Wm.,  dis.  Dec.  17,  1862',  disability. 
Houston,  James  H.,  died  March  18,  1864. 
Hopkins,  Benj.  C,  dis.  Jan.  12,  '63,  disability. 
Harvey,  Oliver,  died  Ap.  14,'63,  Columbia,  Ky. 
Hopkins,  Josiah,  died  at  Camp   Butler,  111., 

Nov.  15,  1864. 
Hinman,   Eugene,   died    Sept.    11,    1862,  at 

Coopertown,  111. 
Howard,  John,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Jordan,  Benjamin  W.,  wounded,  died  in  An- 

dersonville   prison   June  9,  '64.     No.  of 

grave,  1764. 
Jones,  James,  mus.  out  June  8, '65,  as  corp'l. 
Jones,   Willis,    corporal,  missing  at    Chieka- 
mauga, Sept.  20,  '63,  died  June  5,  '65. 
Johnson,  Robert,  diseh.  Feb.  16,  '65,  wounds. 
Jones,  Harrison,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Jackson,  Thomas  J.,         "  "  " 

Lisenbee,  Granderson,  died  at  Atlanta,  Ga., 

Aug.  9,  1864,  wounds. 
Leaper,  Charles,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Larkin,  Manville,    killed   at   Rossville,    Ga., 

Sept.  21,  1863. 
Leaper,  Samuel,  killed  at  Stone  River,  Dec. 

31,  1862. 
Mallard,  Alexander,  dis.  June  25,  '64,  wounds. 
Miller,  Jacob  F.,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Maloan,  Jos.  P.,  mus.  out  June  8,"'65,  woun'd. 
McCoy,  Barlow  A.,  mustered  out  June  8,  '65, 

wounded  at  Stone  River. 
Maserva,  Wilber  O.,  mustered  out  June  8,  '65, 

wounded. 
Medly,  Levi,  deserted  Dec.  31,  1862. 
Nighsnonger,  Wm.  J.,  deserted  Oct.  25,  '62. 


Noakers,  Hiram,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn., 
July  14,  1864. 

Oldfield,  Elias  D.,  died  Jan.  7,  '63,  wounds. 

Oldfield,  Richard  M.,  dis.  Mar.  13,  wounded. 

Perry,  Luke,  died  Jan.  1,  '63,  of  wounds  re- 
ceived at  Stone  River. 

Perry,  John  J.,  wounded,  died  in  Anderson- 
ville  prison,  Aug.  1,  1864. 

Pendleton,  Wm.,  diseh.  Jan.  3,  '63,  disability. 

Parker,  Thos.  J.,  transferred  V.  R.  Corps. 

Pendleton,  Thos.,  died  June  13,  '64,  at  Ann- 
apolis, Md. 

Parker,  Thomas  J.,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  Oct.  22,  '64. 

Pendleton,  James,  mustered  out  June  8,  '65. 

Quinn.  George  W.,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn., 
March  4,  1863. 

Russell,  James,  died  at  Nashville.  Tenn.,  Jan. 
25,  1863. 

Riddle,  James,  died  at  Bowling  Green,  K.. 
Nov.  30,  1862. 

Stinson,  Aaron,  dis.  Sept.  14,  '63,  wounds. 

Sprigg,  Thos.  C,  dis.  Apr.  17,  "63,  disability. 

Stinson.  William,  died  in  Nashville,  Tenn., 
Dec.  15,  1863. 

Saulsbury,  John,  dis.  Dee.  17, '62,  disability. 

Stinson,  John,  mus.  out  June  8,  1865. 

Tolle,  John,  diseh.  Feb   18,  1863,  disability. 

Townbly,  George  W.,  mustered  out  June  8, 
1863,  wounded. 

Thomas,  Wm.  J.,  dis.  May  31,  '63,  disability. 

Wiseerop,  Jacob  M.  V.,  died  of  wounds,  Jan. 
4,  1863. 

Wheeler.  Ezra  F.,  trans.  V.  R.  Corps,  Sept. 
1,  1863. 

Master   Roll,  Company  I. 

Sergeant. 
William  Stevens,  dis.  Jan.  14,  '63 ;  disability. 

Corporal. 
Edward  Davis,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 

Privates. 

Boils,   John,    mustered    out   June   8,  1865 ; 

wounded. 
Bobbitt,  N.  G.,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Bowman,  John  H.,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn., 

Dec.  25.  1862. 
Clark,  Archibald,  killed  at  Stone  River,  Dec. 

31,  1862. 
Fritzon.  Fred.  J.,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Giddings,  G.  H.,  diseh.  Feb.  7,  '63  ;  disability. 
Johnson,    Francis     M.,    died     at     Bowling 

Green,  Ky,  Dec.  1,  1862. 
Johnson,  Cyrene,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Nov.  1,  '64 ; 

wounds. 
Lambert,  Simeon,  dis.  Feb.  18, '63;  disability. 
Meyers,  Thos.  T.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Jan.  16,'64. 
Meyers,  William  H.,  died  at  Louisville,  Ky., 

Jan.  26,  1863  ;  wounds. 
McCurdy,  Daniel,  mus.  out  June  8,  '65 ;  w'nds. 
Patterson,  W.  S.,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mt.  June 

24,*64. 
Stinson,  James,  mustered  out  June  8,  1865. 
Thomas,  Warren  0.,        "  "         " 

Wright,  John  C,  disc.  Mar.  19,  '63  ;  disability. 

l-'.lu lull -II  flh  I  Ufa  ut  i  j  .-'I  In  .  i   \  .  :i  i  -  Service. 

The  85th  Regiment,  Illinois  volun- 
teers was  organized  at  Peoria,  in  Aug., 
1862,  by  Col.  Robert  S.  Moore,  and  was 
mustered  into  service  Aug.  27th,  1862. 
On  the  6th  of  September,  1864,  it  was 
ordered  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  assigned 
to  the  Thirty-sixth  Brigade,  Eleventh 
Division,  Third  Army  Corps,  Col.  D. 
McCook,  commanding    Brigade,   Brig. 


Gen.  P.  H.  Sheridan  commanding  Di- 
vision, and  Maj.  Gen.  Gilbert  command- 
ing corps.  October  1st,  1862,  the  regi- 
ment marched  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy 
under  Gen.  Bragg,  and  was  engaged  in 
the  battle  of  Chaplin  Hills,  at  Perry- 
ville,  Kentucky,  Oct.  8th,  and  moved  • 
with  the  enemy  to  Nashville,  Tennes- 
see,  arriving  Noy.  7th,  1862. 

It  was  mustered  out  June  5,  1865,  at 
Washington,  D.  O,  and  arrived  at 
Camp  Butler,  Illinois,  June  11th,  1865, 
where  they  received  final  payment  and 
discharge. 

Master  Roll,  Compauy  G. — Men  from  Schuy- 
ler County. 

Captain . 
Wm.  McClelland,  resigned  Dec.  21,  '62. 

First  Lieutenants. 

LaFayette,  Curless,  resigned  Nov.  12,  '62. 
John  M.  Robertson,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Sergeants. 
Lewis  Post,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C,  Aug.  27,  '63. 
|  L.  D.  Gould,  died  at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  Nov.  1,  '64. 

Corporals. 
Wm.  Roe,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65,  as  serg't. 
Wm.  F.  Bryant,  deserted  Jan.  10,  '63. 
J.  F.  Kennedy,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  Sept.  21,  '64. 
Thos.  Horton,  must'd  out  June  5,  '65,  as  serg't. 
Perry  Adkinson,  deserted  Jan.  10,  '63. 

Musician. 

Samuel  Simmers,  deserted  Oct.  5,  '62. 
Privates. 

Atwater,  M.  L.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Atwater,  Wm.,  discharged  Mar.  1,  '63 ;  dis'blty. 

Brown,  Perry,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Brown,  Thos.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Brown,  Simpson,  diseh.  Aug  31,  '63;  dis'blty. 

Brewer,  Aaron,  died  McAfee,  Ga.,  Jan.  23,  '64. 

Curless,  Jos.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65,  as  corp'l. 

Curless,  Lorenzo  D,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Cunningham,  Alex.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65, 

Douglass,  Jno.  W.,  trans.  toV.  R.  C,  Feb.  3,  '65. 

Edmonds,  Benj.  F.,  deserted  Oct.  8,  '62. 

Fawsett,  Levi,  diseh.  June  1,  '63,  disability. 

Hays,  Dan'l,  died  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  Dec.  1,  '62. 

Hagan,  Jno.  B.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  died  in  Nashville. 
Tenn.,  Jan.  28,  '62. 

Hensley,  J.  W.,  absent,  not  mustered. 

Jones,  Jas.  W.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Kelly,  Wm.,  diseh.  July  18,  '63. 

Kerns,  Franklin,  diseh.  April  1,  '63.      • 

Longfellow,  Dan'l  G ,  serg't,  killed  at  Kene- 
saw, June  27,  '64. 

Levingston,  Stephen,  deserted  Oct.  5,  '62. 

Mcl'omb,  Anderson,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

McKay,  Francis  M.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  M.  O.,  June 
5.  '65. 
;  O'Donnell,  Thos.,  deserted  Oct.  8,  '62. 
j  Prentice,  Wm.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
I  Prentice,  Berry,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mt.,  June 

27,  '64. 
:  Parker,  Wm.  B.,  M.  O.,  June  5,  '65. 
j  Reever,  Peter,  corp'l,  missing  since  the  battle 

of  Kenesaw  Mt.,  Ga..  June  27,  '64. 
,  Reed,  G.  W.,  mustered  out  June  5.  '65. 
1  Smith,  Lewis  C,  Hisch.  April  1,  '63 ;  dis'blty. 
I  Shargo,  Joseph,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
1  Shargo,  Geo.  W.,  diseh.  Oci.  1,  '62;  disability. 
i  Smith,  Alford,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Feb. 

16,  '63. 
i  Stephenson,  Jas.  N.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


179' 


Severns,  Marion,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mt.,  June 
27,  '64. 

Still,  Solomon,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C. 

Still,  Samuel,  died  at  Danville,  Ky.,  Dec.  5,  '62. 

Still,  Robt.,  disch.  April  1,  '63;  disability. 

Shields,  James,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mt.,  June 
27,  '64. 

Snodgrass,  John  W.,  tr.  to  Co.  H,  died  at  Chat- 
tanooga, Oct.  8,  '62. 

Seymour,  Louis,  tr.  to  Engineer  Corps,  July 
31, '64. 

Sandridge,  Daniel,  m.  o.  June  5, '65,  as  corp'l. 

Shores,  John,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mt.,  June  27, 
'64. 

Smith,  Wm.,  m.  o.  June  5,  '65,  as  serg't. 

Thomas,  Aaron,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C  ,  June  1,  '63. 

Taylor,  David,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Thompson,  John,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Workman,  George,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  II. 

Captain. 
Ira  A.  Mardis,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

First  Lieutenant. 
Luke  Elliott,  resigned  Nov.  12,  '62. 
Andrew  J.  Horton,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Washington  M.  Shields,  resigned  Feb   16,  '63. 

Sergeant- 
Eli  Sheilds,  killed  at  Marietta,  Ga.,  June  27,  64. 

Corporals. 
John  T.  Zimmerman,  m.  o.  June  17,  as  private, 

*was  prisoner. 
Henry  Shields,  disch.  Mar.  9,  '65  ;  disability. 
John  W.  Swann,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65,  as 

private. 
Eliser  J.  Elliott,  killed  at  Marietta,  Ga.,  June 
17,  '64. 

Musician. 

Martin  K.  Dobson,  m.o.  June  5,  '65,  as  private. 

Privates. 
Bushnell,  John,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65, 
Barnes,  Geo.  W.,  disch.  Jan.  29,  '63 ;  dis'blty. 
Bransen,  Chas.  R.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Bloomfield,   Henry,    died,    Nashville,  Tenn., 

Feb.  11,  '63. 
Barnes,  Joal  A.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Crable,  Joseph,  disch.  Feb.  3,  '63;  disability. 
Collins,  Wm.,  disch.  Dec.  20,  '64;  wounds. 
Duncan,  Chas.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65   as 

corporal. 
Dutton,  Daniel,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Freitley,  Wm.  H.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Gossage,  Jeremiah,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Horton,  Jonathan  B.,  disch.  Jan.  19,  '63 ;  dis'ty. 
Horton,  Marion,  absent,  sick  at  m.  o.  of  reg't. 
Harris,  Wm.  A.,  mustered  out  June  17,  '65  ; 

was  prisoner. 
Hughes,  Chas.  A.,  died  at  Ackworth,  Ga.,  June 

20,  '64. 
Horn,  Jacob,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C 
Hulburt,  Wm.  H.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Kingery,  John  F.,  absent,  sick  at  m.  o.  of  reg't. 
McClaren,  John  W.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Newberry,  George  W.,  mustered  out  June  5,  65. 
Osborn,  Wm.,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Palmer,  Joel,  disch.  Jan.  10,  '63 ;  disability. 
Rodgers,  Michael,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Perkins,  John  H  ,  trans,  to  Engineer  Corps. 
Snodgrass,  Robert,  mustered  out  June  5,  '65. 
Salsbury,  Jas.,  trans,  to  Engineer  Corps. 
Shaw,  Geo.  W.,  died  at  Nashville,  Term. 
Saffer,  John  N.,  killed  at  Marietta,  Ga.,  June 

27,  '64. 
Shields,  Benjamin  F.,  mustered  out  June  5.  '65. 
Thompson,  J  no.  A.,  died  at  Chattanooga,  Tenn., 

July  7,  '64;  wounds  received  in  action. 
Thompson,  Samuel,  m.  o.  June  5,  '65,  as  corp'l. 
Zellers,   Fred.   F.,  m.   o.  June   17,  '65;   was 

prisoner. 


Unasslgned  Recruits. 

Fleming,  Daniel,  mustered  out  May  11,  '65. 
Zimmerman,  Joseph,  mustered  out  May  11,  '65. 

Eighty-ninth  Infantry-Three   Years    Ser- 
vice. 

The  "  Railroad  Regiment/'  as  this  was 
familiarly  known,  was  organized  by  the 
railroad  companies  of  Illinois,  at  Chi- 
cago, in  August,  1862.  Captain  John 
Christopher,  Sixteenth  United  States  In- 
fantry, was  appjinted  Colonel,  aud  Chas- 
T.  Hotchkiss,  Lieutenant-Colonel.  It 
was  mustered  into  United  States'  service 
August  27th,  1862.  It  was  ordered  to 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  September  4th, 
and  upon  leaving  this  place,  started  in 
pursuit  of  the  rebel  forces  under  Gen- 
eral Bragg,  and,  after  a  fruitless  aud 
wearisome  march  of  a  month,  reached 
Bowling  Green,  Kentucky.  When  in 
the  service  about  four  months  it  took 
an  active  part  in  the  memorable  battle 
of  Stone  River,  where,  by  the  gallant 
conduct  of  the  men,  the  regiment  soon 
became  classified  among  the  old,  tried 
soldiers.  At  Liberty  Gap,  another  loss 
was  sustained  of  several  officers  and 
men.  Was  at  Mission  Ridge,  and  scaled 
the  enemy's  entrenchments  and  drove 
him  from  them,  losing  a  number  of  offi- 
cers and  men.  With  the  brigade  to  which 
it  belonged,  it  participated  in  the  splen- 
did victories  of  Rocky  Face,  Resaca, 
Pickett's  Mills,  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Beech-Tree  Creek,  and  the  flank  move- 
ment at  Atlanta,  and  pursued  the  routed 
enemy  in  his  retreat  to  Jonesboro  and 
Lovejoy's  Station.  It  was  engaged  in  the 
battles  of  Spring  Hill,  Columbia,  Frank- 
lin, and  Nashville.  It  was  mustered 
out  of  service  June  10th,  1865,  arriving 
in  Chicago,  Illinois,  on  the  12th,  and  on 
the  24th  received  final  payment  and  dis- 
cbarge at  Camp  Butler,  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois. The  following  list  shows  the  names 
of  those  who  went  from  Schuyler  county 
in  this  regiment. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  I.— Men  from  Schuy- 
ler County. 

First  Lieutenant. 
Charles  M.  Carnahan,  mus.  out  June  10,  1865. 

Sergeants. 
William  W.  Carnahan,  deserted  Dec.  5,  1862. 
Josiah  B.  McElyaa,  mus.  out  June  10,  1865,  as 

private. 
John  McKennett,  Jr.,  trans,  to  Engineer  Corps 

July  25, 1864. 

Corporals. 
James  S.  Quince,  mustered  out  June  10,  '65,  as 
First  Sergeant. 


Jojin  Gaffney,  mns.  out  June  10,  '65,  as  serg't. 
Daniel  D.  Carnahan,  deserted  June  28,  1863. 

Musician. 
Thurston  Smith,  di3.  Feb.  16, '63;  disability. 

Privates. 
Butterfield,  George,  absent,  sick  at  mus.  out  of 

regiment. 
Barrett,  John  W.,  mustered  out  June  5,  1865. 
Carr,  Benj.  F,  died  at  Chicago,  June  5,  1863. 
Carnahan,  David,  discharged  Aug.  8,  1863. 
Guthrie,  Jos.,  absent,  wounded   at  mus.  out  of 

regiment. 
Graham,  James,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.,  June 

30,  1864 ;  wounds. 
Holden,  Benjamin,  deserted  May,  1864. 
Hopkins,  Hiram,  dis.  Jan.  29,  '63;  disability. 
Holden,  Wm.  killed  at  Murfreesboro,  Deo.  31, 

1862. 
Holton,  Densid,  mustered  out  June  10,  '65,  as 

corporal. 
Johnson,  Andrew  J.,  must,  out  June  10,  1865, 

as  sergeant. 
Liyd,  Joseph  J.,  dis.  Sep.  29,  '63 ;  disability. 
Malugin,  Zachariah,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mt., 

June  19, 1864. 
Mannor,  John  R.  or  K.,  mus.  out  June  10,  '65. 
May,  Martin  H.,  died  in  Andersonville  prison, 

Sept.  29,  1864  ;  No.  of  grave  10,009. 
Oliver,  William,  mustered  out  June  10,  '65,  as 

corporal. 
Parker,  Samuel  P.,  discharged   July  9,  1863  ; 

disability. 
Richey,  Thomas,  killed,  Picketts  Mills,  Ga., 

Mav  27,  1864. 
Rouse,  Alonzo  G.,  deserted  Dec.  30,  1862. 
Smith,  Samuel  A.,  mus.  out  June  10,  1865,  as 

corporal. 
Thompson,  Wm.  H.,  tr.  to  V.  E.  C.  Dec.  15,  '63. 
Van  Campen,  Daniel  D.,  mus.  out  June  10.  '65. 
Vroman,  Daniel  R.,  must,  out  June  10,  1865. 

Ninety-ninth    Infantry  .--Three  Years  Ser- 
vice. 

A  number  of  men  in  Companies  B 
and  F  of  this  regiment  enlisted  from 
Brown  county.  Their  names  may  be 
seen  in  the  list  following  this  short  his- 
torical memoranda.  The  regiment  was 
organized  in  Pike  county  of  this  State, 
in  August,  1862,  by  Colonel- George  W. 
K.  Bailey,  and  was  mustered  in  at  Flor- 
ence, August  23d,  1862,  by  Captain  J. 
H.  Rathbone.  On  the  same  day  it  moved 
to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and  rendezvoused 
at  Benton  Barracks  on  the  24th,  being 
the  first  regiment  out  of  the  State  under 
the  call  of  1862.  Left  here  September  8th, 
and  served  in  the  department  of  Rolla, 
until  the  spring  of  1863.  It  engaged  in 
the  skirmish  at  Bear  Creek,  losing  one 
killed,  four  wounded,  one  taken  pris- 
oner; and  in  the  battle  of  Hartsville, 
Missouri,  losing  thirty-five,  killed  and 
wounded.  May  1st,  was  in  the  battle 
near  Port  Gibson,  called  Magnolia  Hills, 
losing  thirty-seven  men,  killed  and 
wounded.  Was  at  the  defense  of  Vicks- 
burg.  May  19th.  and  on  the  22d  the  reg- 
iment took  a  prominent  part  in  the  as- 
sault, losing,  out  of  300  men,  103  killed 


180 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


and  wounded.  During  this  campaign 
and  siege,  253  were  killed,  wounded,  and  > 
missing.  In  the  campaign  of  Tesche, 
the  regiment  was  in  several  skirmishes, 
and  in  the  battle  of  Grand  Coteau.  Took 
part  in  the  siege  of  Spanish  Fort.  In  June, 
1865,  the  division  was  detailed  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  Indian  Territory,  and  to 
form  temporary  treaties  of  peace  with 
the  Indian  tribes.  The  Colonel  formed 
treaties  with  ten  tribes,  and  returned 
(having  travelled  a  thousand  miles)  on 
July  3d,  1865.  Arrived  at  Springfield, 
Illinois,  August  6th,  and  received  final 
payment  and  discharge  August  9th, 
1865. 

Miutrr  Roll  Company  B. —  M  <  ti  froiu  Brown 
county. 

Privates. 

Bratten,  John  T.,  dis.  April  10,  '63 ;  disab'ty. 
Handle;,  James,  discharged  August  8,  1863. 
Kimball,  James  H.  tr.  to  Co.  B.,  as  consolida- 
ted ;  discharged. 
Newinghani,  John  W-  mus.  out  July  31,  '65. 
Simpson,  Alexander,  discharged  Aug.  19,  '63. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  F. 

Sergeants. 

Elias  Reed,  tr.  to  Co.  A.,  as  consolidated,  mus. 
out  July  31, 1865. 

Privates. 

Baker,  Noah. 

Beckman,  William  H.,  tr.  to  Co.  A.,  as  con- 
solidated, mustered  out  July  31,  1865. 

Cunningham,  Nicholas,  died  at  Pilot  Knob, 
Mo.,  May  16,  1863. 

Hofsess,  Adam,  tr.  to  Co.  A,  as  consolidated ; 
absent,  sick  at  mus.  out  of  regiment. 

Jones,  John,  died  at  Vicksburg,  April  12,  '63. 

Job,  James  M.,  discharged  Jan.  8,  1863. 

Morrell,  Benjamin,  died  at  home  Jan.  3,  1865. 

Medaugh,  Nathaniel,  killed  at  Vicksburg, 
May  22,  1863. 

Stuart,  Chas.  mustered  out  July  31,  1865. 

Snelling,  George  W.,  discharged  June  1,  1863. 

Thompson,  Columbus,  mus.  out  July  31,  1865 

Westfall,  Thomas,  killed  at  Vicksburg,  May 
22,1863. 

Muster  Roll,  Company   6. 

Private. 

Thompson,  Franklin,  killed  at  Vicksburg,  Mav 
22,  1863. 

One  Hundred  and  First  Infantry. —(Three 
Years  Service.)-- Sluster  Roll,  Company  A. 
—Men   from  Brown  county. 

Prirates. 

Cooper,  John,  mustered  out  June  7,  1865. 
Miller,  James,  died  at  Hollv  Springs,  Miss., 
Dec  17,  1862. 

Muster  Roll,   Company    I :. 

Sergeant. 

Edward  T.  King,  discharged 28, 1863,  as 

1st  Sergeant ;  disability. 

One  hundred  and  Seventh  Infantry — (Three 
^  ears  Service.)  Men    from  Brown  county. 

Chaplain . 
Samuel  H.  Martin,  resigned  Dec.  7,  1863. 


Muster  Roll  Company  G. 

Captain. 
Zadock  C.  Wedman,  resigned  Oct.  25,  1864. 

Sergeants. 
Lake  Clark,  tr.  to  Colvin's  111.  Battery. 
Frank  Bean,  mustered  out  June  21,  1865. 

Corporals. 
Geo.  T.  Weedman,  mustered  out  June  21,  '65. 
I.  A.  Williams,  dis.  Feb.  20,  '63  ;  disability. 

One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Regiment,  Illi- 
nois Volunteers,  Gen.  Jesse  H.  Moore  Co- 
lonel In  Command. 

This  regiment  was  organized  and  sworn 
into  the  United  States'  service  at  Camp 
Butler,  September  19th,  1862.  Ordered 
into  the  field  on  the  4th  of  October, 
1862.  Reported  to  Major-Gen.  Wright, 
at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the  6th  of  Octo 
ber,  and  on  the  same  day  crossed  the , 
river  into  Kentucky,  and  reported  to 
General  A.  8.  Smith.  Marched  through 
Kentucky,  and  reached  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, February  10th,  1863.  The  regi- 
ment moved  to  Tullahoina,  and  held  that 
post  till  September  5th,  1863.  September 
14th,  by  a  forced  march  across  the  Cum- 
berland mountains,  reached  Rossville, 
Georgia,  five  miles  south  of  Chattanooga. 
Remained  four  days.  On  the  18th  of 
September,  1863,  engaged  the  enemy  on 
the  extreme  left,  upon  the  field  of  Chick- 
amauga.  In  this  engagement  the  regi- 
ment lost  six  men.  September  20th 
crossed  to  the  support  of  Gen.  Thomas, 
on  the  extreme  right,  leaving  camp  at 
sunrise.  Engaged  the  enemy  on  Thomas' 
right,  at  1  o'clock,  P.  M.,  with  Stead- 
man's  division,  Tenth  Regiment's  reserve 
corps.  After  a  most  fearful  struggle, 
held  the  ground  till  night.  Half  the 
entire  command  was  cut  down.  Colonel 
Moore  and  his  regiment  were  com- 
mended for  their  bravery,  in  orders.  It 
participated  in  all  the  engagements 
around  Chattanooga  and  Mission  Ridge. 
The  regiment  lost  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  captured,  in  the  campaign  around 
Chattanooga,  in  the  fall  of  1863,  about 
235  men,  and  10  officers.  About  the  21st 
of  February,  1864,  marched  with  a  de- 
tachment of  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, under  General  Palmer,  against 
Dalton,  Georgia.  Spent  ten  days  feeling 
the  enemy,  and  returned  to  camp,  near 
Cleveland,  Tennessee.  The  regiment  lost 
six  men.  Remained  here  till  the  3d  of 
May,  when,  with  General  Sherman's 
grand  army,  it  started  on  the  Atlanta , 
campaign.  The  One  Hundred  and  Fif- 
teenth Regiment,  on  the  7th  of  May,  led 


the  charge  upon  Tunnel  Hill,  Georgia, 
driving  the  enemy  through  Buzzard 
Roost  Gap.  The  15th  and  16th  of  May, 
engaged  in  battle  at  Resaca,  Georgia, 
sustained  stubbornly  a  charge  upon  the 
left  flank,  for  which  the  regiment  was 
commended  in  orders.  Lost  in  this  con- 
test about  thirty  men  and  officers. 

All  the  principal  engagements  of  the 
military  division  of  the  Mississippi  were 
inscribed,  by  orders,  upon  the  regimental 
banner.  The  regiment  lost,  during  the 
Atlanta  campaign,  about  100  men. 
When  General  Sherman  marched  to  the 
sea,  General  Thomas'  command  was  de- 
tached, and  ordered  to  Tennessee  to 
watch  the  movements  of  General  Hood. 
The  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Regi- 
ment was  with  this  force,  in  the  second 
division,  Fourth  Army  Corps.  The  reg- 
iment took  an  active  part  in  the  engage- 
ments, which,  in  November  and  Decem- 
ber, 1864,  resulted  in  the  destruction  of 
Bragg's  old  veteran  army,  known  as  the 
"Army  of  the  Tennessee,"  and  then 
commanded  by  Confederate  General 
Hood.  The  brigade  to  which  the  One 
Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Illinois  Regi- 
ment belonged  for  nearly  two  years 
without  material  alteration,  was  known 
throughout  the  department  as  the  "  Iron 
Brigade,"  and  was,  for  the  most  part, 
up  to  the  22d  of  December,  1864,  com- 
manded by  Gen.  Walter  C.  Whitaker, 
of  Kentucky,  who  neglected  no  oppor- 
tunity to  win  distinction  for  himself  and 
his  command. 

On  the  23d  of  December,  1864,  while 
pursuing  General  Hood  in  his  retreat 
from  Nashville,  Colonel  J.  H.  Moore,  of 
the  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Illinois 
Regiment,  took  command  of  this  splendid 
brigade,  and  continued  its  commander 
till  it  was  mustered  out  of  the  service, 
at  the  close  of  the  war. 

General  Hood  having  been  driven, 
after  his  defeat  at  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
with  the  remains  of  a  broken  army, 
across  the  Tennessee,  the  One  Hundred 
and  Fifteenth  Regiment,  with  the  Fourth 
Army  Corps,  marched  to  Huntsville, 
Alabama,  and  went  into  camp  on  the 
5th  of  January,  1865.  Marched  thence, 
on  the  14th  of  March,  into  East  Ten- 
nessee, thence  expecting  to  move,  by  the 
way  of  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  to  assist 
in  the  capture  of  Richmond.  But,  while 
in  the  vicinity  of  Greenville,  Tennessee, 


HISTORY    OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


181 


Richmond  fell,  and  General  Lee  sur- 
rendered. The  regiment  then  moved, 
with  the  Fourth  Army  Corps,  and  went 
into  camp  near  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
and  there  remained  until  mustered  out 
of  service,  June  11th,  1865.  Arrived 
at  Camp  Bitler,  Illinois,  1865,  and 
received  final  pay  and  discharge  June 
23d,  1865. 

Thus  lit  will  be  seen  that  Company  D, 
from  Schuyler  county,  was  engaged  in 
many  hard-fought  battles,  and  did  honor 
to  itself  and  the  county  which  gave  it 
birth. 

Bfon-Commissioiietl  Staff.— Men  from  Schuy- 
ler Comity. 

Hispital  Steward. 

Luther  M.  Hobart,  mustered  out  June  11,  '65. 

Muster  Roll  Company  C. 

Sergeant. 

Edwin  Utter,  disch  ,  May  13, 1863  ;  disabilty. 

Muster  Roll  Company   l>. 

Captain* 

Stephen  M  Huckstep,  died  of  wounds  Dee.  9, 

1863. 
Samuel  Hymer,  honorably  disch  ,  May  15/65 

First  Lieutenants. 
Christian  C.  Bridgewater,  resigned  for  good  of 

service,  May  26,  1863. 
Michal  P.  Jones,-  honorably  disch.,  May  15, 

1865. 

Sergeant. 
George  Frisby,  absent  sick  at  in.  o  of  reg't. 
Andrew  Bridgewater,  private,  died  Jefferson- 

ville,  Ind  ,  Feb.  8,  1865 
George  Gillett,  killed  at   Chickamauga  Sept. 

20,  1863. 

Corporals. 
Robert   Stewart,  m.  o.  July    1,  '65,  as  serg't 

was  prisoner. 
Daniel  W.  Smith,  died  Franklin,  Tenn.,  Mav 

2,  '65. 
Francis  Banks,  disch  ,  May  11. '63;  disability 
James  A.  Deal,  m.  o  ,  July  1,  '65,  as  1st  serg't 

pris  war. 
Andrew  Jacoby,  m.  o   July  1,  '65  ;  as  serg't, 

pris  war. 
Charles  Barker,  absent  wounded,  at  m   o   ol 

reg't 
Alva  Bond,  m   o.  June  11,  '65,  as  serg't. 
Perry  P.  Toll,  tr.,  to  V   R.  C  ,  July  20, 1861 

Musician. 
William  Rhodes,  in.  o  June  11,  1865. 

Wagoner 
James  Buckles,  m.  o.  June  11,  1865 

Prirate.i. 
Bowman,  William,  in   o  June  11,  '65. 
Bvers,  Monroe,  died  at  Danville,   Kv.,  Jan. 

22,  '63. 
Bryant,  John,  disch.  Feb   7,  18G3;  disability. 
Bridgewater,  Elias,  died  at  Clevelend,  Tenn  , 

March  10,  '64,, 
Bennett,  William  R.,  m   o.  June  11,  '65. 
Bryant,  James  M.,  m   o   July  1,  '65,  pris  war. 
Bechtol.  Squire,  m   o.  June  11,  1865. 
Boyd,  Joseph  E.  killed  at  Dalton,  Ga.,  Oct. 

13,  1864. 
Bowling,  William,  died  at  Danville,  Ky  ,  Jan. 

25,  1863. 


Barker,  Andrew  J  ,  m.  o.  June  11,  1865. 

Buckles,  Elisha,  died  at  Chattanooga,  Sept 
29,  1864 

Calvin,  George  W.,  m   o.  June  11,  1865. 

Calister,  Joseph,  m   o   July  l,'65,^)ris  war. 

Cokenour,  Alfred,  disch..  Oct.  24,  '63  ;  disa- 
bility 

Cross,  George  W.,m   o.  June  11,  1865. 

Campbell,  George  W.,  in   o.  June  11,  1865. 

Dixon,  William,  killed  at  Dalton,  Ga  ,  Oct 
13,  1864. 

Dupee,  Francis  M.,  killed  at  Chickamauga, 
Sept.  20,  '65. 

Dupee,  Daniel  T.,  m.  o.  June  11,  1865. 

Dupee,  James  C,  m.  o  July  1,  65  ;  pris  war. 

Dace,  Michael,  m.  o.  June  11,  1865. 

Dace,  Edwin,  m.  o   June  11,  1865. 

Deal,  Strathearn,  died  at  Danville,  Kv  ,  Jan. 
27.  1863. 

Everhart,  Samuel,  disch.  April  30,  '63;  disa- 
bility. 

Eads,  Samuel  S.,  m  o  June  11,  1865. 

Fagan,  Patrick,  m  o.  June  11,  1865 

Gory,  Martin,  m_o  June  11,  1865. 

Gregory,  George,  m.  o.  June  11,  1865. 

Harlon,  William,  died  Jeffersonville,  Ind  , 
Jan.  2,  1865. 

Herron,  William,  m.  o.  June  11,  18G5. 

Ishinael,  Francis  I)  ,  m.  o.  June  11,  1865. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  Corp.,  died  at  Huntsville. 
Feb.  1,  1865. 

Jones,  Nathan,  killed  at  Dalton,  Ga.,  Oct.  13, 
1864. 

Jacoby,  Christopher,  in.  o.  June  11,  1865. 

Kent,  Asher,  deserted  Sept   28,  1862. 

Lamaster,  Charles,  m.  o.  July  1,  '65,  pris  war. 

Lent,  Jeremiah,  dish  ,  Dec.  24,  '64  ;  disability 

Lenover,  Alexander,  disch.,  March  24,  '63,  dis- 
ability 

Lane,  Garrett,  m.  o.  June,  11,1865,  as  corp'l. 

Loe,  Fieldon,  killed  near  Dalton,  Ga..  Oct.  13, 
1864. 

Masterson,  George,  m.  o.  June  1 1,  '65,  as 
corporal. 

Myers,  Daniel,  disch.,  April  12, '65  ;  disability. 

Moreland.  John,  in.  o.  July  1,  '65  ;  pris  war, 

Muck,  Humphrey,  m.  o.  May  18,  '65,  wnd'd. 

Monnett,  William,  died  at  Danville,  Ky.,  Feb. 
15,  1863. 

Miller,  Henrv,  trans.,  to  eng.,  corps,  Aug.  15, 
1863. 

Newell,  James,  disch.,  April  20,  '64;  disab'tv. 

Parish.  John,  killed,  at  Dalton,  Ga.,  Oct.  13, 
1864. 

Park,  Overton,  m.  o.  June  11,  '65,  as  corp'l. 

Pickenpan,  tr.,  to  eng.  corps,   Aug.    15,  '64. 

Russel.  Isaiah,  m.  o.  June  II,  1865. 

Robertson,  James  W.  m.  o.  July  1,  '65,  pris 
war. 

Root,  Jacob,  mustered  out  June  11,  1866. 

Smedlev,  John  M.  killed  at  Chickamauga. 
Sept.  20,  1863. 

Smedlev,  David  L.,  disch.,  April  12, '63, disa- 
bility. 

Smedley,  Thomas  I.,  m.  o.  July  1,  '66,  pris 
war. 

Smedley,  William  A.,  died  at  Chattanooga, 
Oct.  15,  '63,  wounds. 

Stark,  John,  dish.,  March  7,  '63  ;  wounds. 

Stoneking,  Jaeob,  disch.,  Oct.  7,  '61  ;disab'ty. 

Stoneking,  Washinston  P.,  tr.,  to  V.  R,  C, 
Sept.  1,  '63. 

Smith,  John  S.  died  in  Andersonville  prison, 
Feb.  3,  '65,  No.  of  grave  12,566. 

Stephens,  John  M.  m.  o.  July  1,  '65,  pris  war. 

Terrell,  Andrew  J.,  in.  o.  July  1,  '65,  pris  war. 

Thompson  , James,  m.  o.June  11.  '65,  as  corp. 

Tyson,  William,  m.  o.  July  1,  '65,  pris  war. 

Tyson,   George  W.,  died  at  Resaca,  May  21; 

Teeple,  Jackson,  disch  April  20,  63  ;  disability. 

Underbill,  William  B.,  in.  o.  June  11,  '65. 


Underhill,  Anson  W.,  m.  o.  July  1,  '65,  pris 

war. 
Welker,  Steward,  m.  o.  June  11,  '65. 

Recruits. 

Jackson,  Jesse,  tr.,  to  Co.,  A.  21  111.,'  Inft'y, 

in.  o.  Dec.  16,  '65. 
Julium,   Milton  P.,  tr.,   to  Co.,  A.  21    111., 

Inft'y,  paroled  pris  war,  dich.  Aug,  30,'65. 
Stephens,  Elias,  in.  o.  July  1,  '65,  pris  war. 
Scott,  Richard,  disch.,  June  5,  '65,  as  corp'l, 

disability. 
Zimmerman,  Patman,  m.  o.  June   11,   1865, 

corpl.  pris  war. 

Muster  Roll  Company  D. — Men  from  Brown 
comity. 

Privates. 

Ishinael,  Francis  D.,  m.o.  June  11,  '65. 
Jones,  Nathan,  killed  at  Dalton,  Ga  ,Oct.  13, 

1864. 
Sebastian,  George  S.,  deserted  Feb.  22,  63. 
Thomas,  James  R. ,  m.  o.  June  11,  65. 

One  Hundred  and  Eighteenth.  —  Three 
Years  Service.— Muster'Roll  Company  I. — 
Men  from  Brown  County. 

Captain, 

James  E.  Logan,  m.  o.  Oct.  1,  1865. 

One  Hundred  and     Nineteenth    Infantry. 
Three  Years  Service. 


The  119th  regiment  was  organized  at 
Quincy,  Illinois,  in  September,  1862,  by 
Col.  Thomas  J.  Kinney,  and  was  mus- 
tered on  October  10th,  by  Lieutenant  R. 
Knox,  U.  S.  A.  November  2d.,  moved 
to  Columbus,  Kentucky,  and  thence  to 
Jackson,  Tennessee.  On  Dec.  3d, 
moved  to  Post  Kenton.  On  Dec.  2 1st., 
companies  G.  and  K.  were  captured  at 
Rutherford's  Station.  Feb.  6th,  1863, 
moved  to  Humboldt.  May  30th,  moved 
to  Memphis,  and  was  assigned  to  the 
Fourth  Brigade,  Col.  D.  Moore  com- 
manding ;  Fifth  Division,  Brig.  Gen.  J. 
C.  Veach  commanding;  Sixteenth 
Corps,  Major  General  S.  A.  Hurlbut, 
commanding.  January,  1864,  the  r<g- 
iment  moved  to  Vicksburg,  Mississippi. 
Was  engaged  in  the  Meridian  Campaign, 
under  Gen.  Sherman.  Engaged  in  the 
battle  of  Fort  De  Bussey,  losing  2 
killed  and  18  wounded.  Was  engaged 
at  Pleasant  Hill,  Louisiana,  May  9th, 
1  killed,  and  1  wounded.  At  Bayou  la 
Moore— 1  killed  and  1  wounded.  At 
Yellow  Bayou,  March  18th — losing  1 
officer  and  3  men  killed,  3  men  mortally 
wounded,  and  3  officers  and  34  men 
wounded.  Moved  to  Vicksburg,  May 
25th,  and  to  Memphis,  June  24lh. 
Moved  by  rail  to  La  Grange,  and  July 
5th,  commenced  march  through  Missis- 


182 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


sippi  Engaged  Forrest's  forces  at  Tu- 
pelo, on  the  14th,  and  returned  to  Mem- 
phis, on  the  27th.  Sept.  5th,  moved  to 
Jefferson  Barracks,  Missouri.  October 
2d,  started  after  Price,  and  returned  No- 
vember 18th,  having  marched  over  700 
miles. 

December  1st.  arrived  at  Nashville. 
Was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  December 
15th  and  16th — loss  9  wounded.  Pur- 
sued the  enemy  as  far  as  Eastport.  Em- 
barked for  New  Orleans.  March  5th, 
moved  to  Dauphine  Island  ;  19th,  moved 
to  Spanish  Fort  and  Blakely.  Was 
engaged  at  both — losing  2  killed  and 
14  wounded — the  One  Hundred  and 
Nineteenth  being  in  the  skirmish  line, 
on  April  9th.  The  regiment  was  mus 
tered  out  August  26th,  1865,  by  Captain 
S.  C.  Howell,  A.  C  M.,  and  arrived  at 
Camp  Butler,  Illinois,  Sept.  4,  1865, 
where  it  received  final  payment  and  dis- 
charge. 

Men  from  Schuyler  county. 

Colonel. 

Thomas  J.  Kenney,  promoted  brevet,  brigadier 
general,  Mar.  26,  1865.  M.  O.  Aug.  26, 
1865. 

Surgeons. 

Thomas,  Mimroe,  resigned  June  10, 1864. 

Non-Coin  missioned  Staff. 

Sergeants — Majors. 

Henry  E.  Warsham,  mustered  out  Aug.  26, 
1865. 

Quarter- Master  Sergeant. 
Daniel  O.  Cross,  mustered  out  Aug.   26,  1865. 

Commissary  Sergeants. 
Cyrus  W.  Graff,  mustered  out  Aug  26,  1865. 

Principal  Musicians. 
William  H.  Cadv,  musterel  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Tracy  F.  Castle, "mustered  out  Aug.  26, 1865. 

Muster  Roll  Company  B. 

Captains. 
George  Parker  died  Aug.  14,  1863. 
Johston  C.  Dilworth  resigned  Nov.  5,  1864. 
Charles  H.  Sweeney  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Firet  Lieutenant. 
Geo.  F.  Owen,  mustered  out  Aug.  6,  1865. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Ezekiel  M.  Bradley,  M.O.  Aug  12, 1863. 
Jason   C.    Duncan,    dishonorably    dismissed 

June  1,  1864. 
George  Warren,  M.  O.  (as  sergeant)  Aug.  26, 
1865. 

Sergeants. 
Abraham  K.  Long,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Abraham- Vail,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Corporal. 
George  Bebbmann,  mustered    out    Aug,   26, 
1865,  as  sergeanL 

George  W.  Brown,  discharged  April  2,  1863, 

disability. 
Levi  Jones,  deserted  Nov.  13,  1862. 


McHenry,  Rum  k,  in.  o.  Aug.  24,  1865,  as  priv't. 
Geo  Willard,  M.  O.  Aug.  24,  1865  as  serg'  nt. 
John  C.  Gregory,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
James  Maynard.  deserted  Nov.  13,  1862. 
Andrew  H.  McCormack,  mus  tered  out 
Aug.  26,  1865. 

Privates. 

Anderson,  Edwin,  mustered  out  Aug.  26, 1865, 

as  corporal. 
Bridgewater,  Levi,  must'd  out  Aug  26,  1865, 

as  corporal. 
Black,  John  L.,  died  at  Memphis  Feb.  14,  '64. 
Bensby,  Edwin,  mustered  out  Aug.    24,   1865. 
Baker,  Baxter,  mustered  out  Aug.  24,  1865,  as 

corporal. 
ISiggs,  James  P.,  mustered  out  Aug.  24,  1865. 
Chapman,  Elijah,  mustered  out  May  29, 1865. 
Carter,   Lawrence   C.,    discharged    April   30, 

1863,  disability. 
Cox,  John  S.,  mustered  out  July  28,  1865. 
Dunn,  James  H.,  discharged  Sept.  5,  1863,  dis- 
ability. 
Daniels,  Lewis  B.,  died  at  Chicago  Sept.  25, 

1864. 
Dennis,  Francis  M.,  died  at  Memphis  April  13, 

1864. 
Gain,  George,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Gabbert,  Alfred  P.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865 
Garrison,  Henry  V.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Garvin,  Thomas,   discharged    May    18,    1865, 

wounds. 
Gilham,  Thomas  J.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Gardner,  Henry  W.,  trans,  to  V.  K.   C.  Feb. 

11,1864. 
Geer,  John  M.,  died  Memphis  June  26,  1864. 
(jrubb,  Horace,  mustered  out  Aug,  26,   1865. 
Gwin,  John,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '1865. 
Garrison,  Daniel,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Gorsage,  Joel,  J.,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Gorsage,  John,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Gillham,  David  B.,  deserted  Jan.  26,  1864. 
Herbert.  Cvrus,  transferred  to  V.  R.   C.  Jan- 

14,  1864. 
Ilollingsworth,  Avenant,  died  at  Jeff.  Barracks 

September  13,  1864. 
Ilollingsworth,  Enoch  B.,  mustered  out  Aug. 

24,  1865. 
Hatfield,  William  F.,  died   at   New  Orleans 

April  11,  1865. 
Henslev,  William  H.,  mustered  out  Aug.  26, 

1865. 
Huff,  John,  mustered  out  Aug.  24,  1865. 
Irwin,     Eleazer     D.,  died  at  Buntvn  Station 

April  3,  1863, 
Johnson,  James  M.,tr.  to  V.  B.  C.  Feb  11,  '64. 
Jones,  Patrick,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Kelley,  Henry  P.,  must'd  out  July  28,  1865. 
Knowles,  Edwin,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865, 

as  corporal. 
Leger,  William,   died  of  wounds  received  at 

Fort  De  Russey,  La.,  March  14,  1864. 
Leek,  William,  mustered  out  Aug  26,  1865. 
Livingston,  Hugh,  transferred  to  V.  R.  C.  Feb. 

11,  1864. 
Lane,  Alfred   G.,  discharged   May   24,  1865, 

disability. 
Lane,  Benton,  mustered  out  Aug.  24,  1865,  as 

corporal. 
Marquis,  James,  discharged  Feb.  26, 1863,  disa- 
bility. 
McNew,  Robert,  mustered  out  June  7,  1865. 
Meriwether,  George,  must'd  out  Aug.  26    '65. 
Matheny,  James,  died  at  Humbolt,  Tennessee, 

Feb.  20,  1863. 
McGaugh,  David,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
McCombs,  Martin,  deserted  Oct  10, 1864;  2d 

desertion. 
Morgan,  Walter  R.,  transferred  to  V.   R-  C„ 

Nov.  28. 1863. 
Nell,  Frederick,  mustered  Aug.  26, 1865. 
Phillips,  Benjamin  F.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,'  65. 
Price,  Henrv,  transferred  to  Co.  C.  Nov.  1,'62, 

M.  O.  June  7.  1865. 


Pruet.  Andrew  J.,  died  Kenton,  Tenn.  Dec.  7, 

1862. 
Rodgers,  William,  discharged  April  30,  1863, 

disability. 
Randall,  John  T  ,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  May  1,  '64. 
Rose,  James,  died   at  Jeff.   Barracks,'  M.   O. 

Sept.  7,  '64,  wounds. 
Sprouls,  Charles,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Smith,  Hezekia,  mustered  out  Aug  26, '65. 
Shields,  Joshua,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C.  Oct.  5,  '63,  died 

Rock  Island,  III  March  3,  '65. 
Seborn,  Jacob,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  65. 
Simpson.  William,  discharged  May   19,  1863, 

disability. 
Tipton,  George  W.,  killed  Yellow  Bayou,  La., 

May  18,  64. 
Tipton,  John,  mustered  out  Aug.  27,  '65. 
Tate,  John  W.,  mustered  out  Aug.  27,  '65, 

corporal 
Vaughn,  Jacob,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Widsom,  Benton,  died  Fry  Station,  Tennessee. 

Feb.  13,  '63, 
Winchel,  Admiral,  M.  O.  Aug.  26.  '65. 

Recruits. 
Edgar,  John  E.,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Garrett,  Andrew  M.,  mustered  out  Aug,26  '65. 
Garrett,  Patrick  A.,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Gossuch,  Joshua-  died  at  Jefferson   Barracks 

Feb.  11, '65. 
Montooth,  James,  mustered  out  Aug.  65. 
Mace,  Andrew  M.,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Miller,  James  L..  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Norval,    Alexander,   discharged   May   8,   '65, 

disability. 
Phelps,  William  P.,  died  Hospital  Boat  Mar. 

16,  '64,  wounds. 

Robertson,  Daniel,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C.  Nov.  28,  '63. 
Webster,  Daniel,  died  Memphis  July  29,  '64. 
Willard,  Patrick  H.,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,'  65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  C. 

Captains. 
Robert  L.  Greer,  resigned  Dec.  1,  '73. 
Thomas  I.  Curry,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  65. 

First  Lieutenant. 
Adam  J.  Bower,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Benjamin  Goodwin,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65 

First  Sergeant. 
George  W.  Potts,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 

Sergeants- 
Thomas  McNeely,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
William  McNeely,  discharged  April  3,  '65, 

disability. 
James  R.  Coony,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Corporals. 

Thomas  Goodwin,  priv.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C,  Oct. 

17,  1864. 

Jacob  Washaburgh,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Perry  James,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Resolvo  M.  Leezer,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865,  as 

private. 
Wm.  T.  Simpson,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Alexander  Simpson,  private,  died  East  Port, 

Miss.,  Jan.  27,  1865. 
De  Witt  C.  Ellis,  disch.  Juna  3,  1864. 

Privates. 
Avery,  Joseph  O,  mus.  out  Aug.  26.  1865. 
j  Angle,  John,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Bellchamber,  John,  mus.  out  Aug.  1865. 
Berry,  David,  died  at  Memphis,  June  10,  '63. 
Boileau,  Isaac  G.,  died  Buntyn  Sta.,Tenn.,  Apr. 

15,  1863. 
Burnett,  Geo.  H.,  died  at  Alexandria,  La.,  May 
1,  1864. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


183 


Brown,  Win.  H.,  disch.  Dec.  11,  '62;  disab'ty. 
Chirk,  Thomas  W.,  died  at  Memphis,  July  31, 

1864. 
Collasure,  Wm,  mus.  out  June  29,  1865. 
Curry,  James,  mus.  out  Aug.  26.  1865. 
Connor,  Roger  O.,  disch.  Dec.  17,  '64  ;  wounds. 
Conney,  James  M.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C,  re-trans. 

to  company  Feb.  14,  1865. 
Clark,  Wm.  J.,  corp'l;  drowned  Feb.  11, '65. 
Coppage,  Jas.  W-,  m.  o.  Aug.  56,  1865. 
Cams,  John  B.,  disch.  June  25,  '64;  disab'ty. 
Demiss.  Thomas,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Davis,  Richard,  disch.  Aug.  18,  '65;  disab'ty. 
Dangherty,  Harkness,  disch.  Aug.  22,  '65. 
Easton,  Geo.,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C.  Oct   17,  1864. 
Ellis,  John,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Easton,  John,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865,  as  sergt. 
Garrison,  Martin  A.,  m.  o.  June  30,  1865. 
Gillham,  Jas.,  m.  out  Aug.  26,  1865,  as  corp'l. 
Harmon,  Charley  disch.  Feb.  17,  1863  ;  dis'y. 
Holliday,  William II.,  disch.  April  30,  1864; 

disability. 
Horgan,  Dennis,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Jenkins,  Charles  A.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Jones,  Osborne  C,  disch.  Aug.  22,'64,  as  corp'l. 
Kendrick,  John,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Kennedy,  Quincy,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
King,  Greenberry,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Lewis,    William  A.,  died  Jefferson  Barracks, 

Dec.  7,  '64. 
Lincoln,  Charles,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Lewis,  William,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Lewis,  Jasper,  disch.  Dec.  17,  '63;  disability. 
McCabe,  Wilber,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Mvers,  Stephen,  died  Jeffersonville,  Ind.,  Jan. 

30,  '65. 
McGraw,  Michael,  mus.  out  Aug  26,  '65. 
McAmish,  Thompson,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C. 
Owen,  Jacob  H.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Parks,  Thomas,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65,ascorp. 
Pierson,  John,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Price,  John  C,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65.   . 
Pitner,  Washington,  mus.  out  May  31,  '65. 
Quinn,  Thomas,  died  at  Vicksburg,  May  23, 

'64 ;  wounds. 
Reno,  Oris  McCartney,  mus.  out  Aug    26,  '65. 
Stockwell,  Jeremiah,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Shields,  David,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C. 
Stevenson,  James,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Sloat,  Lucien  W.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Sloat,  Earland  M.,  disch.  Oct.  11,  '64;  disab'y 
Spriggs,  George,  died  at  Memphis,  Oct.  8,  '63. 
Tharpe,  James,  disch.  Aug.  18,  '65  ;  disability. 
Todhunter,  Washington,  deserted  June  25,  '64. 
Tweedle,  William  B.,  disch.  Apr.  15,  '63 ;  dis'y. 
Underwood,  Benj.  F.,  died  Helena,  Ark.,  Mar. 

12, '64. 
Vincent,  Merrick,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Waug'.i,  Hiram,  disch   Aug.  21,  '64;  wounds. 
Wrard,  Lewis  E.,  disch.  Aug.  21,  '64. 
Woods,  John,  disch.  June  14,  '65  :  disability. 
Young,  James  A.,  disch.  Apr.  3,  '65 ;  disab'ty. 
Young,  William  S.,  mus.  out  Aug.  27,  1865. 
Yeo,  Geo.  C,  mus.  out  Aug.  27, 186">. 
Young,  Wm.  A.,  mus.  out  Aug.  27,  1865. 
Young,  Chas.  E  ,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865,  as 

corporal. 

Recruits. 

Berry,  John  J.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Brown,  Frederick  W.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Cruse,  John,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Ennis,  James  K.  P.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Eades,  Henry,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Grafton,  Samuel,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Hall,  James,  disch.  Dec.  16,  1864;  wounds. 
Jones,  George,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Lewis,  Jonathan,  died  at  Quincy,  Jan.  7, 1865. 
Race,  William,  disch.  Dec.  5,  1862;  disability. 
Smitb,  Matthew  H,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Thornton,  George  M.  D.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26, 

1865. 
Williams,  Elijah,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Young,  James  A.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 


Muster  Roll  Company   I  '.. 

Recruit. 
Bates,  Francis  M.,  killed  Ft.  Blakely,  Ala,  Apr. 
9,  1865. 

Master  Roll  Company  r. 

Captain. 

Joshua  Slack,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Iurst  Lieutenants. 

Oliver  P.  Brumback,  resigned  June  20,  1863. 
Lewis  Cravcraft,  dishonorably  dismissed,  Sep. 

15,  1863. 
Charles  R.  Ward,  died  Sept.  1,  1864. 
James  M.  Ashbury,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
Elisha  G.  West,  mus.  out  (as  serg't)  Aug.  26, 
1865. 

First  Sergeant. 

Preston  E.  Veatch,  died  at  Btintyn  Station  T., 
Mar.  27,  1863. 

Sergeants. 
Frank  B.  Clarkson,  died  at  Memphis,  July  9, 

1864. 
James  M.  Baird,  mus.  out  July  29,  1865. 

Corporals. 

Obed  Ramsev,  died  at  Humbolt,  Tenn.,  Mar.  6, 
1862. 

Green  B.  Brown,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Robert  Golden,  disch.  June  30,  1863. 

John  Wilson,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865,  as  serg't. 

Trueman  S.  Lowe,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865 ;  re- 
duced to  ranks  at  his  own  request. 

John  Aulger,  m.  o-  Aug.  26,  1865,  as  serg't. 

Jefferson  Hicks,  died  at  Medon,  Tenn.,  Dec. 
14,  1862. 

Madison  Koontz,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Wagoner. 
Robert  McKoy,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Privates. 
Ashcraft,  Eli,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Brooks,  Christopher  C,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865,  as 

corporal. 
Blackburn.  Arthur,  detached  at  m.  o.  of  reg't. 
Blackley,  William,  died  at  Humbolt,  Tenn., 

Mar.  10,  1863. 
Brown,  Alfred,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Baard,  John  S.,  died  at  Humbolt,  Tenn.,  Mar. 

6,  1863 
Black,  William,  disch.  Aug.  17,  1865. 
Bowling,  Silas  A.,  detached  at  m.  o.  of  regt. 
Biggs,  Christopher  C„  deserted  Mar.  6,  1863. 
Chapman,  Thomas,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Cady,  Orin,  died  at  Humbolt,  Tenn.,  Mar.  11, 

1863. 
Clark,  Henry,  died  at  Humbolt,  Tenn,  Mar. 

12,  1863. 
Cornagie,  George  M.,  m.  o.  Aug  26,  1865. 
Clayton,  Henry,  deserted  Mar.  6,  1863. 
Croxten,  Sampson,  died  at  Memphis,  July  9, 

1863. 
Caldwell,  William,  disch.  Dec.  13,  1864;  disa- 
bility. 
Ewing,  William,  m.  o.  May  24,  1865. 
Fowler,  Mordica,  died  at  Memphis,  Feb.   14, 

1864. 
Finch,  Marshall  B.,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Oillingwater,  Irving,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Griggs,  Jacob  M.,  detached  at  m.  o.  of  regt. 
Oillespie,  Robert,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Green,  James  R.,  disch.  Aug.  17,  1865. 
Green,  James  H,  killed  at  Bayou  Le  More,  La., 

May  7,  1864. 
Haley,  James  B,  corp'l;  wounded  May  18, '64, 

detached  at  m.  o.  of  regt. 
Hawkins,  James,  m.  o.  Aug.  26, 1865. 
Hill,  Amaziah,  m.  o.  June  29,  1865. 


Hedrick,  James  M.,  detached  at  m.  o.  of  regt. 
Irvin,  William  T.,  sergt. ;  detached  at  m.  o.  of 

regiment. 
Kepler,  Francis  M.,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Lewton,  William,  died  Mar.  7,  1865. 
Lahman,  Peter,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Lawson,  William  G.,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Loury,  James,  disch.  June  13,  1865. 
McHatten,  William,  m.  o.  June  22,  1865,  as 

corporal. 
Mel vin,  Samuel,  corp'l ;  died  Memphis,  July 

3,  1863. 
McCurdy,  Arthur,  corp'l ;  killed  at  Bayou  de 

Gloze,  La.,  May  18,  1864. 
McIIaley,  John,  m.  o.  Aug.  8,  1865. 
McCready,  William  A.,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865,  as 

corporal. 
McCready,  John  J.,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Owens,  Benjamin,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Plunckett,  Jesse,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Jan.,  1864. 
Poe,  Virgil  D.,  detached  at  in.  o.  of  regt. 
Race,  Sandy,  died  Memphis,  June  6,  1863. 
Race,  Robert,  detached  at  m.  o.  of  regt. 
Rosson,  John  J.,  detached  at  m.  o.  of  regt. 
Hide  lger,  George,  deserted  Oct.  20,  1862. 
Ridcnger,  Wilson,  deserted  Oct.  20,  1862. 
Stair,  Isaac  II.,  died  at  Quincy,  111.,  Nov.  15, 

1862. 
Stacker,  Abraham,  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Smith,  Peter,  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Sims.  Jasper  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Therman,   Meredith,   disch.   Sept.   18,   1865; 

disability. 
Thomhill,  Brvant,  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Tunett,  John.'deserted  Feb.  2,  1863. 
Vanormer,  Jackson,  died  at  home  Jan.  2,  '65. 
Watts,  Wm   II.,  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Wilson,  Achilles,  must,  out  Aug.   26,  1865; 

wounded. 
Wilson,  Lycurgus.  must,  out  Aug.  26.  1865. 
Wilson,  Ptolemicus,  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865, 

as  corporal. 
Wilson,  Ulysses,  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Wilson,  Willis,  deserted  Feb.  17,  1863. 
Wilson,  Newton,  must,   out  Aug.    26,   1865 ; 

wounded. 
Whitmore,  John,  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Whitmore,  Jonas,  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Williams,  Henrv,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Feb.  11, 

1864. 
Wood,  William,  must,  out  Aug.  26,  1865,  as 

corporal. 

Recruits- 
Ashcraft,  Harvev,  died  at  Memphis  May  26, 

1864. 
Craycraft,  Charles,  vet.,  recruit,  detached  at  m. 

o.  of  regiment. 
Irvin,  Jerome  B.,  died  at  Memphis,  July  5, 

1864. 

Snediker,  George,  must,  out  May  29,  1865. 

Wilson,  James,  detached  at  must,  out  of  regt. 

Muster    Roll  Company  G. 

Privates. 

Avery,  David,  tr.  to  Co.  C ;  died  at  Humbolt, 

tenn.,  Mar.  2,  1863. 
Bvers,  James  II. ,  tr.  to  Co.  C;  died  at  Buntyn 

Station,  Tenn.,  April  19,  1863. 
Belomy,  James  W-,  tr.  to  Co.  C ;  m.  out  Aug. 

26,  1865. 
Enos,  William,  tr.  to  Co.  C ;  disch.  Apr.  8,  '65 ; 

disabilitv. 
Hamilton,  Wm.,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
McNealy,  Alexander,  tr.  to  Co.  C;  m.  o.  Aug. 

26,  1865. 
Winans,  William  M.,  tr.  to  Co.  C  ;  m.  o.  Aug. 

26,  1865. 

Recruit. 
Arlington,  Frank  J.,  m.  o.  Aug.  17,  1865. 
Muster  Roll   Company  H. 
Privates. 

Arnold,  Chas.  E.,  tr.  to  Co.  B;  m.  o.  Aug.  26i 
1865. 


184 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Bucklev,  Jeremiah  B.,  tr.  to  Co.  F ;  died  at 
Jackson,  Tenn.,  Feb.  1,1863. 

Chadsey,  Asaph  N.,  tr.  to  Co.  C ;  disch.  Aug. 
18,  1865,  as  serg't;  disability. 

Duke,  Abraham,  tr.  to  Co.  B ;  deserted  Nov. 
24,  1864. 

Erwin,  Harry,  tr.  to  Co.  C ;  m.  o.  Aug.  26.  '65, 
as  corp'I ;  wounded. 

Garrett,  Patrick,  tr.  to  Co.  B.,  M.  0.,  Aug. 
26,  1865. 

Gillespie,  John  B.,  tr.  to  Co.  F.,  died  at  Hum- 
bolt,  Tenn.  Mar.  10,  1863. 

Jones,  Jas.  W..  tr.  to  Co.  C.  M.  0.,  Aug.  28, 
1865. 

James,  John  C,  tr.to  Co.  B.,  M.  0.,  May,  18, 
I860. 

Norton,  John,  tr.  to  Co.  B.,  died  at  Quincv, 
111.,  Jan.  22,1865. 

Parker,  Henry,  tr.  to  Co.  B..  M.  0.,  Aug.  24, 
1865. 

Robertson,  Joel,  tr.  to  Co.  B  ;  M.  O.  Aug.  26, 
'65. 

Shaver,  James  L.  tr.  to  Co.  F ;  died  at  Jack- 
son, Tenn.  Mar.  14,  '63. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  I. 

First  Lieutenant. 
Edwin  M.  Anderson,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 

Privates. 

Grav,  James  B.  tr.  to  Co.  B ;  must'd  out  Aug. 

"26,  '65. 
Hills,  Reuben  M-,  tr.  to  Co.  F ;  tr.  to  V.  R.  C. 

Feb.  11,  '64. 
Miller,  Ezra,  tr.  to  Co,  B  ;  must'd  out  Aug.  26, 

'65. 
Peckenpaugh,  Christ.  C,  tr.  to  Co.  B  ;  died  in 

Memphis  July  1,  '63. 
Potts,  Lewis  W.,  tr.  to  Co.  C;  must'd  out  Mav 

31,  '65. 
Yates,  Rufus,  tr.  to  Co.  F ;  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  '6-5 

Recruits. 

Bilderback,  Willis,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Granger,  William  J.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Harrison,  Thomas,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Riley,  Abraham,  must'd  out  ATlg.  26,  '65. 

Master  Roll,  Company  K  . 
Privates. 

Baxter,  James  M.,  must'd  out   Aug.  26,  '65  as 

Corporal. 
Bohannon,  William  T.,  must'd  out  Aug.   26, 

'65 as  Corporal. 
Campbell,  John  R.,  tr.  to  Co.  C  ;  m.  o.   Aug. 

26, '65. 
McCreery,  John  P.,   trans,  to   Co.  Cj  died  in 

Anderaonville   prison  Aug.    22, '64;  No. 

of  grave,  6513. 
Sweenv.  John  L.,  trans,  to  Co.  B  ;  must'd  out 

Aug.  26,  '65. 
Windle,  Francis,  disch'd  July  31  ,'6^ ;  disability. 

Recruits. 
Noel,  Clement  S. 

Noble,  William  H.,  must'd  out  May  21,  '65. 
Noble,  Francis  M.,  rejected. 
Roberts,  John. 


One   Hundred  and  Nineteenth  Regiment. — 
Men  from  Brown  County. 

Lieutenant  Colonel. 
Samuel  E.  Taylor,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 

Second  Asst.  Surgeon. 
Geo.  A.  Byrns,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 

Chaplain. 

Clavbourne,  S.  Williamson,  must'd  out   Aug. 
26, '65. 


Non-Commtssioned  Stair. 

Hospital  Steward. 
John  T.  Bradbury,  must'd  Aug.  26,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  A. 

Private. 

Fleming,  Lewis,  trans,  to  Co.  D;  died  at  Bun- 
tvn,  Tenn.  April  10,  '63. 

Muster  Roll  Company  C. 

Private. 
Cox,  Jonathan,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  I ». 

Captains. 

John  H.  Hambaugh,  resigned  Aug.  22,  '64- 
Hiram  E.  Henry,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 

First  Lieutenants. 

William  H.   Breckenridge,     resigned   (as  2d 

Lieut.)  Nov.  5,  '64. 
Andrew  J.  Nighswonger,  must'd   out  Aug.  26, 

'65. 

Second  Lieutenant. 

Harrison   Howell,  must'd   out   (as  sergeant) 
Aug.  26,  '65. 

First  Sergeant. 

Robert  Byrnes,  died  June  4,  '64 ;  wounds. 

Sergeants. 

John  M.  Thomas,  discharged  Nov.  29,  '63. 
Andrew  J.   Powell,  died  at   Memphis,  Tenn. 

Aug.  11,  '56. 
George  W.  Emrick,  must'd  out  Aug.    26,  '65, 

as  private. 

Corporals. 

William  B.  Grav,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,   '65,   as 

Serg't. 
Francis  O-  Howes,  died  at  Memphis,  June  30, 

'64. 
Samuel  Whiled,  deserted  Mar.  6,  '63. 
John  G.  Dennis,  must'd   out  Aug.  26,  '65,  as 

Serg't. 
John  Q.  Adams,  must'd   out   Aug.   26,  '65. 

Privates 

Anderson,  David  H.,  tr.  toV.  R  C.  Dec  21.  '64. 
Baker,  Samuel,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C.  Dec.  21,  '64. 
Baker,  Joseph,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Bates,  Randall  M.  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Baker,  James,   disch'd  Apr.  29, '63 ;  disabled. 
Brisco,  James,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Bartlebaugh,  Henry,  detch'd  at  m.  o.  of  reg't 
Bordenkircher,   Daniel,  died  at   Quincy,  III., 

Nov.  1,  '62. 
Bordenkircher,  Geo.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65, 

as  Corporal. 
Berry,  Amanuel,  died  at  Jackson,  Tenn.,  Nov. 

8, '62. 
Briggs,  Napoleon,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C.  1863. 
Byrns,  Wm.,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C.  Dec.  21,  '64. 
Byrns,  Dennis,  pris.  of  war  wounded  July  4,  '64. 
Beans,    Uriah   N.,   corporal,   died   at  Grand 

Ecore,  La.,  April  17,  1SG4. 
Beans,  John  T.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Craig,  James  P.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Cooper,  Thomas  F.,  m.  o.  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Cooper,  William  A.  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Cox,  Stephen  D.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Davis,  John  M.,  tr.  to  V.   R.   C.  Dec.  1,  1861. 
Dunbar,  Henderson,  died  at  Memphis  Aug  11, 

1864. 
Eekert,  Charles,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Fleming,  Lewis,  died  at  Buntvn,  Tenn.  April 

10, 1863. 
Fry,  Henry,  disch'd  Mar.  30.  '63;   disability. 
(iaikill,  Edward,  absent ;  sick  at  m.  o.  of  reg't. 
Gibson,  Wm.,  detached  at  m.  o.  of  reg't- 


Gentrv,  John  W.,  detch'd  at  111.  o.  of  reg't. 
Hume,  William  B.,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C.Dec.  1,  '63. 
Hambaugh,  James  H.,  must'd  out  June  7,  '65. 
Howell,  Isaac,  died  at  Quincy  III.  Nov.  14, '62. 
Henry,  Francis  J.,  corp'I ;  trans,   to   V.  R.  C. 

Jan.  28,  1865. 
Henry,  Martin  A.,   corp'I,   detch'd  at  must'd 

out  of  regiment. 
Hagel,  Jacob,  corp'I,   detch'd  at  m.  o.  of  reg't. 
Hamilton,  George  W.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Hullett.  George,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Iterman,  John,  must'd  out  June  22,  1865. 
Knight,  James,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Long,  DavidHmust  d  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Lewi*,  John,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65,  as  corp'I. 
Martin.  Isaac,  died  at  Quincy,  III.  Nov.  1,  '62. 
Monk,  Samuel  P.,  died  at  Memphis  July  1,  '64. 
Monk,  James  W.,  detch'd  at  must'd  out  of  reg't. 
McGlauchlin,  Fred  S.,  tr.   to  V.  R.   C.  Dec.  1, 

1863. 
Milton,  Andrew,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
McClarv,  Joseph  E.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Dec.  1 , 

1863. 
McNeal,  Alexander,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Dec.  1, 

1863. 
Northern,  Jeremiah,   must'd  out  Aug.  21,  '65. 
Perrings,  Justice  S.,  trans,   to   V.  R.  C.   Feb. 

15,  1864. 
Powell,  Napoleon  B.,  Detached  at  muster  out 

of  regiment. 
Price,  Flavius  C,  must'd  out  Aug.  18,  1865. 
Price,  James  M.,  must'd  out  Aug.  18,  1865. 
Putnam,  Marion  Z.,  deserted  Nov.  5, 1862. 
Reddick,  Thomas  M.,  detch'd  at  muster  out  of 

regiment. 
Riley,  George  W,  must'd  out  Aug.    26,1865. 
Riley,  Thomas  J.  detch'd  at  m.  o.  of  reg't. 
Shaffer,  John  S.,  died  at  Memphis  July  17, '64. 
Stuller,   Hezekiah   L.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C.  Dec. 

31,  1864. 
Stuller,  Jacob,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Simpson,  Geo.  W.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Stabler,  Wm.,  disch'd  Mar.  30,  '63 ;  disability. 
Thomas,  Wm.  A.,  detch'd  at  must,  out  of  reg't. 
Tebo,  William  T.,   mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65, 

as  corporal. 
Thacker,  Isaac,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C.  Feb.  15,  1864. 
Vandeventer,  John,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Wilson,  John  C,  corp'I,  died  at   Montgomery, 

Alabama.  May  2,  1865. 
Wilson,  Curtis,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Wilson,  Christopher,  died  at  Benton  Barracks, 

Mo.  Jan.  30,  1863. 
Wilson,  Wm.  B.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,   1865. 
Wilson,  James  L,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Whitehead,  Henry,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 
Wliited,  Stephen, "deserted  Mar,  6,  1863. 
Weigand,  Jacob  J.,  mustered  out  Julv  25, '65. 
Weigand,  Charles,  tr.  to  V.  R  C.  Feb."  15,  '64. 

Recruits. 

Bell,  Wm.  H.,  mustered  out  Aug.  21,  1865. 
Bratton,  John  T.  disch'd  Jan.  19,  '65 ;  disability. 
Higgins,  Thomas,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Lane,  Joab  R.,  detached  at  must,  out  of  reg't. 
Taylor,  Joseph  C  ,  mustered  out  Aug.   26,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Compauy  K. 

Captains. 

William  N.  Mumford,  resigned  Aug.  13, '64, 

disability. 
Sylvester,  D."  Nokes,  must'd   out  Aug.  26,  '65. 

.First  Lieutenants. 

David   K.   Watson,   resigned   Nov.    19,   '64; 
wounded. 

Second  Lieutenants. 

George  W.   Meaus,  mustered   (as  serg't)  Aug. 

26,  1865. 
M.  C.  Osborne,  promoted  1st  Lieut,  must'd  out 

Aug.  26,  1865. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


185 


Serg  ants. 

Philander,  Nokes  tran«.  to  V.  R.  C.  Jan.  10,'65. 
William  Shank,  musterc  I  out  Aug.  25,  1805. 
G.-orge  Biuks     Private,  died   at   Mound  Sta- 
tion 111.  Aug.  3,  1864. 

Corporals. 

Andrew  Scott,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65,  as  serg^t. 
William  Green,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65,  as  pv't. 
Chas.  H.  Junk,  disch'd  Mar.  23,  '05  ;  disability. 
Henderson,  Chapman,  mustered  out  Aug.  20, 

1865,  as  sergeant;  wounds. 
Cornelius  Durbin,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865, 

as  private. 
James  W.  Dunnivan,  died  in  Tenn.,  Feb.  23. 

1863. 
Jacob  R.  Rabb,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Privities. 
Arnold,  Geo  ,  mus.  out  Aug.  20,  '05,  as  eorp'l. 
Arnold,  John,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C,  May  31,  '04, 
Anderson,  Win.  J.,  must'd  out  Aug.  20,  1805. 
Beckman,  Simon  P.,  disch'd  Jan.  8,  '04,  disby. 
Bell  Marion,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Bell,  Ira,  must,  out  Aug,  26,  18.65,  as  eorp'l. 
Brake,  Cornelius,  mustered  out  Aug.  11,  1865. 
Bean,  Frederick,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Creason,  Gillpin,  died  at  Mound  City,  III.,  Sep. 

15,  1804. 
Carr,  James,  R.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1805. 
Chapman,  Win.,  mus.  out  Aug.  21,  1805. 
Clifford,  Henry  H.,  mus.  out  Aug,2G,  1865. 
Davis  John,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1805. 
Davis,  Hiram,  disch'd  June  8,  1805,  disabiltv. 
Dodd,  Win.  H.  H.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C,  Oct.  17, 

1864. 
Dosier,  Geo.  W  ,  mustered  out  June  22,  1805, 

wounds. 
Davis,  Joseph  V.,  mus.  out  July  29,  1865.  " 
Easton,  Wellington,  died  at   Kenton,  Tenn., 

Dec.  11,1862. 
Francis,  James,  died  at  Clavton,  111.,  July  21, 

1864. 
Francis,  John,  mus.  out  Aug.  20,  1805. 
Gill,  Geo.  dis.  Feb.  4,  1803,  disability. 
Guy,  Geo.  W.  dis.  May  29,  1803,  disability. 
Graham,  Irwin,  died    at    Humboldt.  Tenn  , 

March  2,  1803. 
Gillenwater,  Isaac  A.  mustered  out  Aug.  26, 

1805,  wounded. 
Hueston,  Wm.  G,  mustered  out  July  29,  1SC5. 
Hudleson,  Chas.  mus.  out  Aug.  20,  1805. 
Hudleson,  David,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  Feb.  11, 1804. 
Hudleson,  Wm.,  disch'd  Mav  19,  18G5,disbly. 
Hults,  Moses   D-,  died  at  Montgomery,  Ala., 

July  1,  1805,  wounds. 
Hiles,  William  G.,  detached  at  M.  O.  of  Regt. 
Hogan,  John,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C,  May  31,  '04. 
Knight,  Francis  M.,  died  at  Benton,  Tenn., 

April  14,  1803. 
Knight,  Daniel  B>,  died  at  Mi.  Pleasant,  111., 

Oct.  5,  1803. 
Little,  William  W.,  mustered  out  Aug.  20, 

1805,  wounded. 
Lockey,  Abel  M.,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1805, 

wounds. 
Lilburn,  Wm.  T.,  died  at  La  Grange,  T.,  Apr. 

28,  1803. 
Lowell,  Henry  L.,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C,  May  31, 

1804. 
Lafferty,  Samuel  P.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Moses,  William  E.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865,  as 

corporal. 
MeKean,  Samuel,  disch'd  Feb.  2,  1804. 
Miller,  Austin,  must'd  out  Aug.  20,  '05, eorp'l. 
M<  Daniel  James  W.,  disch'd  Jan.  15,  '03.  dis. 
Marshall,  Jas.,  died  at  Memphis,  Dec.  18,  '68. 
McGlochlin,  James,  eorp'l,  detached  at  M.  O. 

of  regiment. 
Modisett,William,  disch'd  May  28, 1864,  dsblty. 
McKinney,  Middleton,  disch'd  Aug.  26,  1803, 

disability- 
Marshall,  Joseph,  disch'd  April  3,  '05.  dsblty ; 

corporal. 

24 


Nokes    Philo,  eorp'l,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  Jan,  14, 

1864. 
Nokes,  Samuel,  died  on  hospital-boat,  May  12, 

1805. 
Norton,  Wm.,  mustered  out  July  29,  1865. 
Osborne,  Chas.  M.,  died  at  Jeffersonville,  Ind., 

Jan.  18,  1805,  wounds. 
Parker,  Charles,  eorp'l,  detached  at  M.  O.  of 

regiment. 
Parker,  Richard  A.,  must'd  out  June  22,  '05. 
Rankin,  Geo.,  must'd  out  Aug.  20,  1805. 
Raymond,  Chas.,  disch'd  Oct.  18,  1864,  dsblty. 
Rockwell,  Morris  C,  disch'd  Dec.   24,   1862, 

disability, 
Snow,  John  W.,  died  in  Tenn.,  Jan.  19,  1803. 
Stiffv,  John,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Shaffer,  Charles,  eorp'l,  died  at  home,  July  15, 

18G4. 
Stephenson  Hugh,  must'd  out  Aug.  18,  1804. 
Stiffy,  Tobias,  died  at  Memphis,  April  18,  '64. 
Shaffer,  Hiram  D.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Stiffy,  Robert  L.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,   1865, 

Furlough. 
Stiffy,  George,  trans,  to  V.  R.  C,  Feb.  11,  '64. 
Williams,  John,  detached  at  M.  0.  of  regt. 
Warcaset,  Madison  H.,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  '65. 

Recruits. 

Bates,  Francis  M.,  killed  at  Blakely,  April  9, 

1805. 
Barnett,  John,  mus.  out  March  12,  '03,  dsblty. 
Barnes,  Francis  H,  mus.  out  Aug.  26,  I860. 
Jones,  Griffin,  died  in  rebel  prison,  Cahawba, 

Ala.,  Nov.  10,  1861. 
Lester,  John,  must'd  out  Aug.  20,  1805. 
Miller,  Joseph,  detached  at  M-  O.  of  regt. 
Meserer   Benj  E.,  mus.  June  22, 1865,  as  lieu. 
Nokes,  Joseph,  disch'd  March  4,  '05,  disablty. 
Smith,  James  T  ,  must'd  Aug.  20,  '05,  w'nded. 
Shank,  Jacob,  must'd  out  Aug.  20, 1805. 
Bartlett,  Edward,  must'd  out  Aug.  20,  1865. 
Carter,  Commodore,  miri.  out  Aug.  20,  1805, 

corporal. 
Gallaher,  James  II.,  mus.  out  Aug.  20,  1805. 
Smith,  Elijah  T.,  must'd  out  Aug.  20,  1805. 

9f  niter  Roll,  C  omptnf  1'. 
Privates. 
Kinman,  Wm.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Love,  Thos.  S.,  mustered  out  Aug.  26,  1865,  as 
corporal. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  O. 


Privates* 

Adevlott,  Thomas  B.,  was  prisoner;  deserted 

'Jan.  15,  1863. 
Crawford,  William  H.,  disch'd  Oct.  15,  1862, 

disability. 
Clark,  Harvey  L.,  detached  at  M-  O.  of  regt. 
Effirt,  Franklin,  musi'dout  Aug.  20,  '65,  wnd. 
Huffman,  Casper,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Ishmael,  William  S.,  disch'd  Oct.  5,  '64,  dsbty. 
O'Neal,  Jeremiah,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865, 

sergeant. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  I. 

Corporals. 

Daniel  J.  Lee,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 
Charles  M.  Ausmus,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  1865. 

Privates. 
Ausmus,  James  must'd  out  August  26, 1865. 
Ballard,  Franklin,  transfer'd  to  Co.  G;  disch'd 

August  5,  1865. 
Davis,  Richard  M.  J.,  must'd  out  Aug.  26,  '65, 

as  corporal. 
Wheeler,  Henry,  disch'd  April  18,  1863,  dis. 

Recruits. 
Davis,  Abraham,  M.  O.  Aug.  26,  '65,  vet.  rcrt. 
Jackson,  Elijah,  M.  O ,  date  unknown. 
York,  Henry  I.,  disch'd  April  4,  1865,  disby. 


One  llnndra  ,1  and  Twentieth  Infantry.— 
Three  Years'  Service.— Muster  Roll,  Com- 
pany D.— Men  from  Broiru  county. 

Recruit.  « 

Maginnis,  John  G,  died  at  Memphis  January 
18,  D64. 


One      lliiuili.il      and    Twcnty-Fonrth     In- 
fantry— Three  years  service. 

Was  organized  at  Camp  Butler,  111., 
September.  1862,  by  Col.  Thomas  J. 
Sloan,  and  mustered  in  Sept  10th,  by 
Lieut.  DeCourcey.  These  countieswere 
represented  by  a  few  men,  whose  names 
may  be  seen  below.  The  regiment 
moved  from  Camp  Butler,  October  6th, 
arriving  at  Jackson,  Tennessee  on  the 
9th.  It  was  engaged  in  the  bittlet  of 
Raymond,  May  12th,  1863  ;  at  Jackson, 
14th  ;  Champion  Hill,  16th,  and  during 
the  entire  siege  of  Vicksburg,  including 
the  charge  on  the  fortifications,  May 
22d.,  and  assault  on  Fort  Hill,  June 
26th.  During  the  latter  part  of  the 
seige,  Brig.  Gen.  M.  D.  Leggett,  com- 
manded the  Brigade.  Brownsville, 
October  16th  and  17th.  Won  the  prize 
banner,  for  excellancy  in  drill,  appear- 
ance and  discipline.  Was  at  the  siej.e  of 
Spanish  Fort,  March  29th,  1865,  until 
the  surrender  of  the  Fort.  Was  mu  - 
tered  out  August  15th,  1865,  by  Capt. 
G.  W.  Hill,  U.  S.  A. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  D.-Men  from  Schuy- 
connty. 

Corporals. 

William  Orwig,  serg't  tr.   to  V.  R.  C,  Sept. 
3,  1863. 

Privates. 

Connor  Thomas,  m:ist'd  out  August  15,  1865, 

as  corporal. 
Causey,  James  M.,  died  at  Jackson,  T-,  Nov. 

6,"  1802. 
Johnson,  John,  must'd  out  August  15  (869. 
Roper,  Jacob,  died  June  29,  1863,  wounds. 
Warn!/.,   Jacob,  must'd  out  Aug.  15,  18G5,  as 

corporal. 

Recruits. 

Bloomshire,  Nicholas,  disch'd  June  8,  1865. 
Duncan,  Joseph,  trans,  to  33  III. ;  M.  O.  Nov 

24. 1805. 
McCollough,  Hugh,  trans,  to  33  111. ;  M.  O- 

Nov.  24,  1805. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  K. 

Privates. 
Baker,  Abraham,  disch'd  Nov.  8,  1863,  disbty 

Muster  Roll.Company  D.— Men  from  Brown 
county. 

Recruits. 

Pitman,  Henry  C.  trans,  to  33  111.;  disch'd 
October  15,  1865,  disability. 


18G 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


One  1 1  n  n.l  i .  .1  and  Twenty-  Seventh  In- 
fautrr.— Three  Year*  Service.  —  Mu»ter 
Roll  Company   II. 

,  Private  from  Schuyler  County. 

Rice.  William  B..  died  at  Chickasaw  Spring?, 
Miss.,  June  SO,  1863. 

One  Hundred  and  Twenty- Ninth  Infantry 
— Three  Tear*  Service.  —  Muster  Roll, 
Company   I 

Recruit. 

Reynolds,  Andrew  J.,  trans,  to  Co.  D,  16  111. ; 
'  M.  O.  July  8,  1865. 

One  Hundred  and  Thirty-First  Infantry. 
—Three  Tears  Service.  —  Muster  Roll 
Company  A.  —  Men  from  Schuyler 
county. 

First  Lieutenant.   • 

Thomas  N.  Stephens,  died. 

First  Sergeant. 

Samuel  B.  McAfee,  tr.  to  Co.  A,  consolidated. 

One  Hundred  and  Thirty-fiifth  Infantry. 
lOO  Days  Service.— Muster  Roll  Com- 
pany P.— Men  from  Brown  county. 

Sergeant. 
Moses  Lyttaker,  mustered  out  Sept.  28,  1864. 

Corporal. 

William  File,  mustered  out  Sept.  28,  1864. 

Privates. 

Andrup,  Frederick,  must'd  rut  Sept.  28, 1864. 
Brows,  The*.  M.,  nn:st'd  out  Sept.  28,  1864. 
Ciaig,  Joseth  J.  must'd  out  Sept.  28,  1864. 
Craig,  John  A.,  must'd  out  Sept.  28.  1864. 
Gracv  Geo.  W.,  mustered  out  Sept.  28,  1864. 
Hijm'ight,  Wm.  H.,  must'd  out  Sept.  28,  1864. 
Rathbuine,  James,  must'd  out  Sept.  28, 1864. 

ffwi  nil " 
Brown,  Mathias,  must'd  out  Sept.  28,  1864. 

One  Hundred  and  Thirty-Seventh  Infantry 
— One  hundred  days  service. 

The  above  named  regiment  was  or- 
ganized at  Camp  Wood,  Quincy,  III.,  by 
Col.  John  Wood,  and  mustered  in  June 
5th,  1864,  for  one  hundred  days  June 
9th,  1864,  the  regiment  left  Quincy,  and 
proceeded  to  Memphis  Tennessee,  where 
it  was  assigned  to  Fourth  Brigade,  Dis- 
trict of  Memphis,  Col.  E.  L.  Baltwick, 
Thirty-ninth  Wisconsin,  commanding. 
July  9th,  was  assigned  to  the  Third  Bri- 
gade, Col.  John  Wood  commanding, 
and  was  stationed  on  the  Hernando  road, 
on  picket  duty.  The  Regiment  was 
mustered  out  of  the  U.  S.  service  at 
Springfield,  Illinois,  Sept.  24th,  1864. 

Muster  Roll  Company   K. — Men  from 
Schuyler  countj*. 

Captain. 

Rob*.  A.  Williams,  musi'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

First  Lieutenant. 

.  Luke  W.  Clark,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 


Second  Lieutenant.  Recruits. 

William  H.  Ilice,  mu.u'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864.       Bumham,  Robert,  must  d  out  Sept.  21,  1861. 

First  Sergeant. 
Albert  B.  Clark,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864, 

Sergeants. 
Rice  D.  Suddoth,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,'I864 


Men   from    Brown   ( 'iiiuirj  .     \  mH  un.- 

sioned  StafC 


Abira  G.  Meacham,  must'd  out  Sept.  21. 1864. 
William  T.  Yoe,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
George  C.  Ray,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Corporals. 
Finlev  Chandler,  must'd  out  Sept.  21,  1864. 
John'Price,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Charles  Perkins,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Nathan  Montgomery,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  '64 
Joseph  Manlove,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
John  Tharp,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
George  H.  Sargeant,  must'd  out  Sept  21,  '64. 
Robert  M.  Roe,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

I'rivates- 

Black,  Biehard,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Beghtol,  William,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Bertholp.  John  A.niusM  out^Sept  24,  1865. 
Berry,  William  F.,  musi'd  out  Sept.  24,  1865. 
Beaty,  Bartley,  prisoner  of  war  at  muster  out 

of  regiment 
Bailey,  Josiah  F.,  mn*t'd  ont  Sept  24.  1S61. 
Boice,  Wesley,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864 
Bridge  water,  Joseph  N.,  mt'd  out  Sept.  24,  '64. 
Bly,  Thos.,  died  at  Memphis,  July  9,  1864. 
Corbridge,  Wm.  H.,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  '61. 


Commissary-Sergeant. 
George  W.  Gunn.,  raus.  out  Sept  21,  1864. 
Muster  Roll  Company  A. 

Private, 
Hersman,  John  J.,  mus.  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Muster  Roll  Company  D. 

Corporai. 

Thomas  R.  Johnson,  mus.  oat  Sept  24,  1864. 

Privates. 

Cox,  William  M.,  mus.  ont  Sept  24.  1864. 
Dressed,  Peter,  mus  out  Sept.  24,  1861. 
Lippey,  David  E.,  mus.  out  Sept  24,  1864. 
Nelson,  James  P  ,  mus.  out  Sept.  24.  1864. 
!  Sanford,  Alonzo,  mus.  out  Sept  24,  1864. 
Shultz.  David  H,  mus.  out  Sept.  24, 1864. 
Walton,  John  J  ,  mus.  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Muster  Roll  Company  H. 

First  Lieutenant. 

Henson,  S  Vandeventer,  mus.  out  Sept.  24,  '64. 

Sergeants. 


Dunn,  Jasper,  prisoner  of  war  at  muster  out  I  _     ,    .  ,   _    „  ,,         _         „,   ,„, 

of  reeiment  '  Frederick  D.  Crane,  must'd  out  Sept.  24.  '64. 

Barton  W.  Stout,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864.  , 
John  H.  Byms,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Juliu   C.  Hedenburg,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  '64 


Dunn,  Daniel,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Demos,  James  W.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
DeWitt,  Theodore,  must'd  out  May  23,  1865, 

prisoner  of  war. 
English  John  C-,  must'd  out  June  9.  1865. 
Ellis,  Samuel  E.,  musi'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864 
Fry,  Joel,  mustered  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Howe,  Wesley  W.,  must? d  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Hand,  Joseph,  musi'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Hill,  John,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  1894. 
Harrington,  Geo.  P.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  '64. 
Ingraham,  Oliver  W.,  mt'd  out  Sept  24,  '64. 
Ingraham.  Ira,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Jones,  John  T.,  must'd  ont  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Jewel,  Thomas  F.,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  1864. 
Landis,  Benjamin,  must'd  out  Sept  24   1864. 
Mercer,  Alfred  S.,  musi'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Mitchell,  Francis  M.,  rot't  out  Sept  24,  1846 


Corporals. 

W.  T.  Henderson,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  1864. 
L">mar.  Robinson,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
John  Marett,  must'd  out  Sept.  24.  1864. 
Silas  Hagerty,  must'd  out  June  9,  1865,  pris'r 
war. 

Prita/es. 

Baker,  Noah,  must'd  out  May  30,  1865,  prisn'r 

war. 
Biggs,   Thomas,   must'd   out  Sept.   24,   1864. 
Brewer,  Samuel  G.,  must'd  ont  Sept.  24.  1864. 
Briggs,  J.  K.  P.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Crabb,  Hugh  M  ,  must'd  out  Sept.  24.  1864. 


McCully.  Andrew,  musi'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864.    Cum,  Robert,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 


Noble,  William,  musi'd  Out  Sept.  24.  1864 
O'Neal,  Daniel,  must'd  ont  Sept  24,  1864. 
Parrott,  Joshua  S.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Roberts,  John,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Ritchey,  John  A.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24.  1864. 
Ritchev.  John  Q.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Riley,  Thomas,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Ripetoe,  Harrison,  mustered  out  May  23, 1865, 

prisoner  of  war. 
Spoonemore,    John   H.,    died    at    Memphis, 

July  30,  1864 


De  Witt,  George  W.,  absent  sick  at  must'd  out 

of  regiment 
Huston,  George  W:,  must'd  out  May  21,  1865, 

prisoner  war. 
Hedenburg,  Josephus,  musi'd  out  May  21,  '65, 

prison  *r  war. 
Hawk,  Jacob,  must'd  out  Sept.  21,  1864. 
Hill,  Jonathan,  must'd  out  Sept.  24.  1864. 
;  Hix.  William  C,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Irwin,  William  D.,  musi'd  out  May  21,  1865, 

prisoner  war. 


Stewart,  ThaddeusS.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24, 1864  Johnson.  John  W.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Smith,  Albert,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  1864.  Kibby,  Nelson,  must'd  out  June  7,  1865,  pris'r 
Savers,  Francis  M-,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  1864.  war. 

Shippey,  John  A.  B.,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  '64.  Lemon,  Benjamin  F.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  '64. 


Sours,  Samuel,  must'd  ouu  Sept.  24,  1S64. 

Schroder,  William,   must'd    out  Sept.  24,  '64. 

Swain,  Amos,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Tolle,  Leman  A.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24, .1864. 
i  Teeples,  Geo.  W.,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  1864. 

Taylor,  John,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  1864. 
,  Vanorder,  James,  musi'd  out  Sept  24.  1864. 

Vandevere,  Edward,  must'd  out  Sept  24,  '64. 

Whiltson.  AVm.  H..  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Wilhrow,  Philip  B.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24, 1864. 

Wright.  George  T.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Ware,  Perrv,  must'd  ont  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Winco,  Richard,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Woods,  Marion  B.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 


Milton,  Thomas,  must'd  out  Sept.  24. 1864. 
Martin,  John  D„  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
McDaniel,  Nathan,  died  at  Memphis,  July  3, 

1864. 
Mapel,  John,  must'd  ont  Sept.  24, 1864. 
McCabe,  William  H„  must'd  out  Sept.  24,'  64. 
Nightsnnger,  Hamilton,  must'd  out  Sept.   24, 

1864. 
Payne,  George,  rejected  for  disabilty. 
Putnam,   Benjamin   F ,    must'd   out  June   3, 

1865,  prisoner  war. 
Sides,  William,  must'd  ont  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Turner,  Joseph  J.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1861. 
Varner,  Henry,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 


HJSTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


187 


Webb,  O.,  ranst'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Waters,  James,  rejected  for  disability. 
Wingt,  William,  ranst'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
Yaples,  Josepli  J.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 
York,  John  F.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Recruits. 
Ohara,  James  E.,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,  1864. 

Muster  Roll  Company  I. 

Recruits. 
Mallams,  Robert,  must'd  out  Sept.  24,1864. 

One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  Infantry. 
— Men  from  Brown  County. — Muster  Roll 
Company  II. 

Recruit. 

Kinney,  Josepli,  must'd  out  July  14,  1865. 

Muster  Roll  Company  I. 

Recruit. 

Smith,  George  T.,  must'd  out  July  14,  1865. 

One  Hundred  and  Forty-seventh  Infantry 
(one  year  service.)— Men  from  Brown 
County. 

Major. 

Frank  Clendening,  mmt'd  out  Jan.  21,  1865. 

Muster  Roll  Company  B. 

Captain. 
George  H.  Fay,  must'd  out  Jan.  2 »,  1866. 

Privates. 

Dod™e,  James  M.,  must'd  out  Jm.  24,  1866. 
Laibourne,  William  R.,  must'd  out  Jan.  24, 

1866. 
Morgan,  Benjamin,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
Pollard,  Erastus  J.,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 

One  Hundred  and  Forty-eighth  Infantry 
(one  year  service). — Men  from  Brown 
County. — Muster  Roll  Company  H. 

Corporals. 

James  H.  Haley,  must'd  out  Sept.  5,  1865,  as 

private. 
Thomas  Nolan,  must'd  out  Sept.  5,  1865,  as 

private. 
James  T.  Anderson,  died  at  Nashville,  Tenn., 

April,  1868. 
William  A.  Fraud,  must'd  out  Sept,  5,  1865, 

as  private. 

Privates. 
Amen,  Francis  M.,  must'd  out  Sept.  5,  1865. 
Gudgel,  Calvin,  must'd  out  Sept.  5,  1865. 
Gndgel,  William  W.,  must'd  out  Sept,  5. 1865. 
Gearheart,  Ezra,  must'd  out  Sept.  5,  1865. 
Galligher,  William,  must'd  out  Sept.  5,  1865. 
Halev,  George  W.,  must'd  out  May  24,  1865. 
Stephenson,  Reuben,  must'd  out  June  13,  1865. 
Vantassell,  Alonzo,  must'd  out  Sept.  6,  1865. 

One  Hundred  and  Forty-ninth  Infantry 
(one-year  Service). — Muster  Ro'l  Com- 
pany G. — Men  from  Schuyler  County. 

Privates. 

Byers,  John  R.,  must'd  out  Jan.  27,  1866. 
Johnson,  Finley  G,  must'd  out  Jan.  27,  1866. 
Trader,  James,  dishonorably  must'd  out  Feb. 
19,  1866,  to  date  Jan.  27,  1866. 

One  Hundred  and  Forty-ninth  Infantry. 
(One  Year's  Service.) — Muster  Roll  Com- 
pany G.— Men  from  Brown  county. 

First  Sergeant. 
John  Reid,  mustered  out  Jan.  27, 1866. 


Corporal. 

John  W.   Shultz,   died  at  Cleveland,  Tenn., 
March  17,  1866. 

Musician. 
Edward  L.  Holt,  mustered  out  Jan.  27, 1866. 

Privates. 

Dowden,  Otho,  mustered  out  Jan,  27,  1866. 
Fielder,  Robert  F.,  deserted  July  21,  1865. 
Fielder,  Benjamin,  deserted  July  21,  1865. 
Fielder,  Jesse,  deserted  July  2l,  1865. 
Hersman,  John,  mustered  out  Jan.  26,  1866. 
Terrat,  or  Terrant,  Pat.,  must'd  Jan.  27,  '66  as 
Sergeant. 

One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Infantry.— (One 
Hundred  days'  Service.) — Muster  Roll 
Company  I. — Men  from  Bro  wn  county. 

Pnvate. 
Conrad,  Nathaniel. 

One  Hundred  and  Fifty-first  Infantry  —(One 
Year's  Service.) — Muster  Roll  Company 
I. — Men  from  Schuyler  county. 

Private. 
Bair,  Jerry,  mustered  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 

Muster  Roll  Company  K. 

Captain. 
John  Sutton,  mustered  out  Jan.  24, 1866. 

First  Sergeant. 
Samuel  Everhard,  must'd  out  Jan.  25,  1866, 

Sergeant. 
John  0.  Woods,  mustered  out  Sept.  27,  1865. 

Corporals. 

James  J.  Mason,  mustered  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
William  B.  Jones,  mustered  out  Jan.  25, 1866. 
James  E.  Matthews,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 

Privates. 

Bonneer,  James,  died  at  Columbia,  Ga.,  Sept. 

12,  1865. 
Emerson,  Harlow,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
Hand  Joseph,  mustered  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
Ingraham,  Ira  mustered  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
King,  Edward,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
O'Neal,  Daniel,  must'd  out  Jan   24,  1866. 
Roberts,  Charles,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
Swain,  Amos,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
Spear,  Bowlin,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
Sites,  Henry,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
Winters,  James  B.,  must'd  out  Jan.  24,  1866. 
Woods,  Marion  B.,  must'd  out  Jan.  24, 1866. 

Second    Cavalry  —  (Three    Years    Service.) 
Muster    Roll    Company    H.— Men     from 
Schuyler  county. 

Captain. 

Josephus  B.  Venard,  must'd   out  Nov.  22,  '65, 
as  Captain  Co.  E  ;  as  consolidated. 


W 


Second  Lieutenants 


William  Birdwell,  resigned  July  5,  1862. 
Alexander  M.  Pratberj  must'd  out  (as  Serg't), 
Nov.  22,  1865. 

Sergeants. 

Jesse  O.  Beale,  discharged  August  11,  1864. 
Shobal  Chitman,  dis.  August  11,  '64,  as  Serg't. 
Clinton  L.  Bissell,  dis.  Aug.  11,  '64,  as  Bugler 


Farrier. 
Samuel  Reynolds,  discharged  Aug.  11,  1863. 

Pi-ivates. 
Angel,  James  M-,  discharged  August  11, 1864. 
Atkinson,  Joseph. 

Berry,  Moces,  dis.  Aug.  II,  1831,  as  Sergeant. 
Bowlin,  John,  disharged  August  11,  1864. 
Barker,  James,  vet.,  tr.  to  Co.  U,  con.,  disch'd, 

June  19, 1865  ;  disability. 
Chitwood,  Jas.  A. ,  dis.  Aug.  11,  '64,  as  corp'l. 
Chitwood,  John  J.  dis.  Aug.  11,  '61,  as  Serg't. 
Goree,  William. 

Green,  Wm.  disch'd  June  25,  '62  ;  disability. 
Gregg,  Wm.  vet.,  must'd  out  June  22,  1865. 
Hill,  John,  disch'd  Aug.   11,  '64,  as  Sergeant  ; 

term  expired. 
Lowry,  Ross,  disch'd  Dec.  28,  1862. 
Lamaster,  John,   vet.,  tr.  to   Co.  E,   consol'd  ; 

deserted  Sep.  1 1,  1865. 
Montgomery,  Jas.  discharged  August  11,  1864. 
Melts,  John  II.,  vet.,  tr  to  Co.  E,  consolidated, 

deserted  Sept.  11,  1865. 
Muck,  Francis  M, 
Quintin,  John,  diid  Sabine  Cross   Roads,  La, 

April  8,  1864;  wounds. 
Quinn,  William  P. 
Roberts,  William. 

Randall,  Peter,  discharged  August  ll,  1864. 
Sparks,  William  Riley,  disch'd  April  28, '62; 

disability. 
Tyson,  Alfred  D.,  discharged  Aug.  11,  1864. 
Vail,  Robt.  dis.  May  15,  '64;  disability. 

Recruits. 

Barnaby,  Jos"ph  P.,  tr,  to  Co.  E,  consol'd  raus. 
out  Nov.  22,  1865. 

Frakes,  Henry  H.,  tr,  to  Co.  E,  Consol'd,  must, 
out  Nov.  22, 1865. 

Frakes,  Jacob,  tr.  to  Co.  E,  consol'd,  must,  out 

Frakes,  John  K„  tr,  to  Co.  E,  consol'd,  must, 
out  Nov.  22, 1865. 

Grass,  Daniel,  tr.  to  Co.  E,  consol'd,  must,  out 
Nov.  22,  1865. 

Hill,  Edmund  B.,  mustered  out  June  11. 1865. 

Moriarity,  Gilbert,  tr.  to  Co.  E,  consol'd,  ab- 
sent, sick  at  muster  out  of  Regiment, 

Owens,  Peter,  tr.  to  Co.  E,  consol'd  must,  out 
Nov.  22,  1865, 

Unassigned  Recruits. 
Acres,  Locke  P, 

Muster  Roll  Company  F. — Men  from  Brown 
County. 

Privates. 

Allen,  John  T.,  vet,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865, 

sergeant.  . 

Leigh,  Amos,  veteran,  mus.  out  Nov.  22, 1865, 

sergeant. 
Parks,  George  H.,  corpl,  m  out  Nov.  22,  1865, 

company  com.  sergeant. 
Rathburn,  W.  C,  vet,  mus  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 
White,   Samuel,  discharged   Feby   24,   1864, 

disability. 

Veterans. 
Knight,  Arrod,  trto  Company  A,  consolidated 

must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865,  as  corporal. 
Martin,  Francis,  tr  to  Co.  A  con,  mustered  out 

Nov.  22,  1865 
Tuthill,  John  R.  must'd  out  June  24,  1865,  as 

1st  sergeant 

Muster  Roll  Company  I. 

Privates. 
Brooks,  Aaron 

Craig,  John  H,  mus'd  out  Aug  11,  64,  as  corp'l 
Listen,  Thomas  J.  vet'n.  tr  to  Co.  C  as  consol'd 

must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865 
Roll,  Edwin  M.  discharged  Aug.  14,  '63 
Smith,  Rob.  I),  disch'd  March  28,  '64,  disab'y 


188 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Third  Cavalry  Regiment. 

The  Colonel  of  this  regiment  was 
Eugene  Can-  of  the  regular  army.  A 
portion  of  company  H.  from  Schuy- 
ler county  and  one  whole  company  (G) 
from  Brown  county,  composed  part  of  it. 
The  regiment  was  organized  at  Camp 
Butler,  in  August  1861.  Its  first  move- 
ment was  to  St.  Louis,  Sept.  25th,  and 
thence  up  the  Missouri  river  to  Jefferson 
City,  and  thence  to  Warsaw,  in  the  di- 
rection of  Springfield,  Mo.  Under  Gen. 
Hunter,  it  reached  Rolla,  Nov.  19, 
where  it  remained  till  the  29th  of  Dec. 

1861,  when  it  moved  in  advance  of  Gen. 
Curtis'  army  for  the  south-west.  On  the 
13th  of  Feb.  1862,  near  Springfield,  the 
Third  cavalry  fought  the  first  engage- 
ment, and  won  the  first  victory  of  Gen. 
Curtis'  campaign. 

On  the  14th  of  February,  1862,  occu- 
pied Springfield,  Mo.  On  the  15th  came 
up  with  Gen.  Price's  retreating  army, 
and  took  some  prisoners.  On  the  18th, 
at  Sugar  creek,  Ark.,  the  Third  battalion 
participated  in  a  cavalry  charge,  rout- 
ing the  enemy.  Had  various  skirmishes 
and  short  marches  during  the  summer 
and  fall  in  Arkansas  and  west  of  the 
Mississippi  river,  whe»,  on  the  23d  Dec. 

1862,  it  reported  to  Brig.  Gen.  Steel,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  river,  formed 
part  of  the  force,  and  did  good  service 
in  the  disastrous  attack  on  Vicksburg, 
Miss.,  under  Gen.  Sherman.  It  was 
among  the  last  to  leave  the  field  and 
embark  on  the  boats,  after  the  battle. 

The  Battalion  of  which  the  regiment 
formed  a  part,  under  Col.  McCrillis,  of 
Springfield  Ills.,  took  part  in  the  West- 
ern Louisiana  campaign  under  Gen. 
Banks.  In  Dec.  1864,  Major  O'Conner, 
ofPana,took  command  of  the  Battalion, 
and  it  moved  to  Port  Hudson,  and  from 
thence  to  Memphis,  Tenn.,  rejoining  the 
regiment,  which  had  been  separated  into 
three  divisions.  In  the  month  of  July, 
a  large  portion  of  the  regiment  re-enlisted 
as  veterans.  The  non-veterans,  under 
Major  O'Conner,  were  stationed  as  gar- 
rison at  Germantown  Tenn.  On  the 
21st  of  August,  the  regiment  parti- 
cipated in  the  repulse  of  Gen.  Forrest, 
in  his  attack  on  Memphis.  On  the  24th 
of  August,  1864,  the  non-veterans  hav- 
ing been  mustered  out,  the  veterans  were 
consolidated  into  a  Battalion  of  six  com- 
panies. 


Master    Roll  Company  G. 

Captain. 


The    Battalion   operated    below  and 

around  Nashville,  and  took  part  in  the    . 

,        ,         .  .     n      '  ,,  -Tv         James  B.  Moore,  resigned  April  8.  1862. 

battles  with  Gen.  Hood  s  army  in   Dec.   Enos  P.  MePhail,  killed  at  Vkksburg,  May 

1«64.       Tn    M«v.    Iftnft    if    PmhnrVwl    fnr  22,1863. 


In  May,  1865,  it  embarked  for 
St.  Louis,  Mo.,  tbence  to  St.  Paul,  Min- 


Samuel  S-  Merritt,  term  ex.  Sept.  5,  1864, 
First     Lieutenant 


nesota,  reporting  to  Major  Gen.  Curtis. ! 
On  the  4th  of   July,  1865,  it  was  ordered   Charles  N .Clark  resigned  March  16.  ;63. 
' .  .  .        Pleasant  H.  Kerley,  term  ex  Sept.  a,  64. 

on  an  Indian  expedition  over  the  plains 

of  Minnesota  and  Dakota,  north  to  the !  Smmd  Lie>*™>n'*- 

British  lines,  and  then  returned  to  Fort  <££  %$£££$£  ^  ^ 
Snelling,  Oct.  1st,  arriving  at  Spring-   Sanford  J.  Baker  must'd  out  as  sergeant,  July 
field,  Illinois,  Oct  13th,  1865,  and  was  10, 1863' 

mustered  out  of  service.    Such  are  some  Sergeants. 

of  the  leading  movements  of  the  Third  i  J»>^  W- Thomas  disch'd  Mar.  25,  62,  disab 
_       ,       _     ■  .         ,.,      ,  JnoM   kirkpatnck,  killed  at  Pea  Ridge,  Ark. 

March  7, 1862. 

Corporals. 

'  Edmund  Terril,  disch'd  Mav  20,  62,  disability. 
Third  Cavalry- Three  Years  8ervicc-Hu»-    John  p_  Alexander,  must'd'out  Sept.  5,  1864. 
ter  Roll  Company  H.-Mm  from  Sthiiy-    jamea  Snields>  died  at  St.  Louis,  Oct.  20,  '62. 
ler  County.  Geo   w.  Graves,  must'd  out  Sept.  5.  1864. 

Lewis  Rettig  must'd  out  Sept.  5,  1S64. 
Milton  F.  Davis,  died  at  Mt  Pleasant,  August 

20,  1863. 
Samuel  Stabler,  disch'd  May  13,  '63,  disability 
James  Bond,  disch'd  April  18,  '62,  disability. 


Cavalry  Regiment,  in  which  these  men 
largely  participated. 


.First  Lieutenant. 

George  H.  Horton  tr.,  to  Co.  B.  Consolidated. 
Resigned  May  22,  1861. 

Sergeants. 

John  H.  Reed  Discharged. 

Privates 

Bradjev,  John  W.  vet,  tr.,  to   Co.   B   consl*d. 

in.'  o.  Oct  10,  1865. 
Beretter,  John,  Mustered  out  Sept.  5.  1864. 
Bradley  Thomas  H.  mustered  out  Sept  5, 1864 
Bixby,  Henry  C. 
Bollman,  William  C.  vet,  tr.,  to   Co.    B   con- 

Rol'd.  m.  o.  Oct.  10,  '65  as  Sergt. 
Edwards,  William  B.  Died  Helena,  Ark.,  Aug., 

28,  1862. 
Geer,  Sidney  A.  vet,  tr.,  to  Co.  Bconsol'd.  m. 

o.  Oct.  10,  '65  as  Corpl. 
Gossage,  Andrew  J.  vet.  tr.,  to  Co  B  consol'd. 

absent  at  m.  o.  of  Regt 
Kingrev  William  H.  vet.,  tr.,  to  Co.  B  consl'd. 

Pro.  Segt.  the  2d.  Lieut,  m.  o.  Oct.  10,  1865 
Onion,  William  T. 

Rucker,  Eli  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  1861. 
Shaw,  Liberty  deserted  Feb.  10,  1862. 
j  Williams,  Walter  vet.  tr.,  to  Co.   B   consol'd. 

deserted  June  6,_'65. 


Buglers. 

Jcseph  A.Boct  mus.  out  Sept.  5,  (ilasco.  q.m 

sergeant. 
Thomas  Post  died  at  St  Louis,  Dec.  1,  '61. 

Farrier. 

James  Hazelett,  dis.  April  18,  1862,  disability. 

Blacksmith. 

Edward  Divinna,  died  near  Rolla,  Mo,  Nov. 
19,  1861. 

Saddler. 
Alerack  R.  Thompson,  mus.  out  Sept.  5,  1864, 

Wagoner. 
James  T.  Ross,  disch.  April  18,  '62,  disability: 

Privates. 
Alstrott,  John,  mus  d  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Anderson,  J.  M,  disch.  Dec.  27,  '61,  disability. 
Burgesser,  Allen,  disch.  Jan.  29,  '63,  disability 
Bennett,  Henry,  disch.  Dec.  27,  '61,  disability. 


Byrns,  Urban  L,  died  at  Rolla,  Mo.,  Dec.  25. 

'        _  „,  Bodenhimer,  John  P, '61,  wounds. 

Chapman,  W  llliam   tr.,  to  Co.,  B   consol'd.  m.    Bratton,  James  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 

o.  Oct.  10,  I860.  1  Bean,  Levi,  m  o  Sep.  5, '64,  as  co.  com.  serg'nt 

Chapman  John  C,  tr,  to  Co.,  B  consol  d.  m.  o.  :  Bovinger,  John,  died  at  Mount  Sterling,  111, 

Oct.  9,  '62. 
-    Brokan.  Ephraira,  must'd  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Cameron,  August,  must'd  out  Sept  5,  '64. 


Oct.  10,  1865. 
Edwards,  Charles  X.  tr.  to  Co,  B  conslo'd.  m.  o. 

Oct.  10,  1865. 
Justus^  John  A.  tr,  to  Co, B consol'd.  m.  o.Oct  !  CoanVHenrVoT rous?d"out  Sept  57''64 
Di.li-        j   u     ixr    .      ,    n     -a  ,.j         I  Cobs.  Jacob,' disch'd  Dee.  27, '61,  disability 

Phillips,  Asheal  M,  tr,  to  Co,  B  consol  d.  m.  .  CoUUer,  John,  musfd  out  Sept  5,  '64. 

o.  Oct.  10,  I860. 
Talbott,  Isaiah,  tr.  to  Co,  B  consol'd.  m.  o.  Oct 

10.  1865. 


Men  from  Brown  county. 

First  Assistant  Surgeon, 
Charles  N.  Irwin,  term  exp  Sept  5,  1S64. 

Noncommissioned  Staff. 

Commissary  Sergeant. 

Levi  Leavit,  mustd  out  Sept.  5,  '64,  term  exp. 

Muster   Roll-  Company  P. 

Becruits. 
Hersman,  Joseph,  mus'd  out  Sept.  5,  1864. 


Coss,  Theodore,  di.-c  April  10,  '63.  disability. 
Cranston,  James,  killed  at  Pea  Ridge,  Ark, 

Mar.  7,  '62. 
Cougenower,  Henry  N,  disch'd  May  17,  1862, 

disability. 
De  Witt,  Clinton,  died  at  Rol!a,Mo.,  must  out 

Dec.  31.  '61. 
Davis,  Washington  WT,  must,  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Davis,  Elisha,  mustd  out  September  5,  '64. 
Dunn,  William  A.,  m  istered  out  Sept  5,  '64. 
Fay,  Patrick,  mu.-tered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Frank,  Xoah,  died  at  Wa)nesvil!e,  Mo,  Janv 

21,  1863 
Falkner.  John  P,  disch.  Dec  27,  61,  disability. 
Goliher,  Harvev,  disch.  Aug.  19,  62,  disabiliiv 
Hartsell,  J,  died  at  Helena,  Ark,  Sept  20, 1862 


'HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


189 


Hays,  Hiram  C,  disch.  April  13, 1862,  diasaby. 
Hartnion,  Dan'l  T.,  disch.  Apr.  18,  '62;  disb'y. 
Henry,  Levi,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Hazelett,  Jacob,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Hinman.  Joseph,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Irwin,  John,  disch.  June  9,  '62;  disability. 
Keller,  George,  disch.  May  30,  '62;  disability. 
Leeper,  John,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Lackey,  Charles  T.,  died  at  Helena,  Ark.,  Sept. 

11,  '62. 
Means,  John  E.,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64,  as 

1st  sergeant. 
Moore,  Joseph  A.,  disch.  Mar.  7,  '63;  disbl'ty. 
McCoy,  Chas.  II.,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Miller,  John  M.,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
McPhail,  Archibald,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Myers,  George,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
McClintock,  Thomas,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Maher,  James,  died  near  Jackson,  Miss.,  July 

10,  '63. 
McCherchy,  Marvin,  died  at  St.  Louis,  Nov. 

18,  '61. 
Nokes,  Alvin,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Night,  Peny,  disch.  April  18,  '62;  disability. 
Nokes,  Mvron,  mustered  out  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Pilcher,  j'as.  L,  disch.  Aug.  30,  '62;  disabl'ty. 
Porter,  Alonzo,  m.  o.  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Putman,  Jas.,  died  at  St.  Louis,  Nov.  29,  '61. 
Peters,  Alexander,  died  at  Holla,  Mo.,  Jan.  27, 

'62. 
Schenck,  Darwin  M.,  mo.  Sept.  5,  '64  ;  assg't. 
Shields,  John  T.,  disch.  Jan.  5,  '63 ;  disability. 
Smith,  Alex.  M-,  killed  at  Port  Hudson,  La., 

April  8.  '64. 
Strotiier,  French,  disch.  April  18,  '62;  disabl'ty. 
Sirother,  John,  m.  o.  Sept.  5,  '64.' 
Simpson,  John,  m.  o,  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Schall,  Israel  P.,  died  at  Port  Hudson,  La., 

April  28,  '64. 
Simpson,  Geo.  VV.,  disch.  Jan.  7,  '62 ;  disabl'ty. 
Scroggan,  Walter,  disch.  Dec.  23,  '61. 
Stinson,  Jas.  W.,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C,  Sept.  1,  '63. 
Thomas,  Samuel,  died  at  Helena,  Ark.,  Aug. 

16,  '62. 
Thorougliman,  Albert,  in.  o  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Tallman,  Jas.,  m.  o.  Sept.  R,  '64. 
Windram,  Jas.,  died   at  Mound  Station,  111., 

Oct.  20,  "62. 
Williams,  Thomas,  m.  o.  Sept.  5,  '64. 
William,  Noble,  died  at  Rolla.  Mo.,  Nov.  3,  '61. 
Wheatly,  John,  tfi.  o.  Sept.  5,  '64. 
Williams,  Stephen, disch.  Jan.  7, '62;  disabl'ty. 

Recruits. 

Baird,  John  F.,  disch.  April  1,  '64,  and  com- 
missioned in  colored  regiment. 

Carter,  Alonzo,  m.  o.  June  14,  '65. 

De  Witt,  Fernando,  m.  o.  May  21,  '65. 

East,  William  J„  m.  o.  Julv  8,  to  date  May 
3C,  '65. 

Ellis,  George  D.,  deserted  Mar.  13,  '63. 

Myers,  Jacob,  m.  o.  May  21,  '65. 

Putman,  Simon,  pro.  2d  lieut.,  Co.  C,  consoli- 
dated. 

Seybold,  Gates  D.,  disch.  Mar.  3,  '63;  disabl'ty. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  H. 

Privates. 
Cleaves,  Martin. 

I  ii it -.1:;  in  il  Recruits  to  Third  Cavalry  Con- 
solidated. 

Gilmore,  Henry. 

Sixth  Cavalry  Regiment — Three  Years  Ser- 
vice—Muster Roll,  Company  A.— Men 
from  Brown  County. 

Private. 

De  Witt,  James,  vet.,  m.  o.  Nov.  5,  '65,  as  pv't 

Veterans — Sergeant. 

Claylon,  Baker,  m.  o.  Nov,  5,  '65,  as  private. 


Seventh  Cavalry. — Three  Years'  Service. — 
Muster  Roll,  Company  K.— Men  from 
Schuyler  County.; 

Recruits. 

Cook,  Isaac,  m.  o.  Nov.  4,  '65. 

Lamb,  William  D.,  m.  o.  Nov.  4,  '65. 

Lamb,  Charles,  m.  o.  Nov.  4,  '65. 

Lake,  Thomas  D.,  m.  o.  Nov.  4,  '65. 

Miller,  Henry,  died  at  East  Port,  Miss.,  Mav 

24,  '65. 
Nichols,  Luzerne,  rnajO.  Nov.  22.  '65. 
Risley,  Samuel,  m.  o.  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Vandervort,  Freight,  m.  o.  Nov.  22,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  F. 

ReCTUlt. 

Mitchell,  Charles  W,  m.  o.  Nov.  22,  '65. 

Seventh  Cavalry— Three  Years'  Service. — 
Muster  Roll  Company  B. — Men  from 
Brown  County. 

Privates. 

Bennett.  Chas.  II.,  disch.  July  20,  1862;  dis'y. 
Crampton,  Martin,  died  at  Mound  City,  111. 
Campbell,  George  W.,  m.  o.  Apr.  25,  '65,  corp'l ; 

prisoner  war. 
Fraker,  John  W.,  vet.,  m.  o.  Nov.  4,  1865. ' 
Lockhart,  Joseph  C,  m.  o.  Oct.  15,  1864,  as 

sergeant. 
Moulding,  John,  vet.,  absent  sick  at  m.  o.  of 

regiment. 
Noble,  Charles  B.,  tr.to  V.  R.  C.  Feb.  15,  '64. 
O'Kane,  Joseph,  pro.  1st  serg^,  then  2d  lieut. 
Robinson,  Isaac  E..  m.  o.  Cvt.  15,  1864. 
Thorpe,  Andrew,  died  at  Big  Springs,  Miss, 

June  28,  1862. 
Van  Epps,  Austin  IL,  vet.,  pro.  serg't,  then  2d 

lieutenant. 

Recruits. 

Barton,  William  N.,  died  at  East  Port,  Miss., 

May  4,  1865. 
Cady,  Samuel  P.,  vet.,  m.  o.  Nov.  4,  1865. 
Dyer,  Edgar  A.,  disch.   for   wounds  received 

Mar.  28, 1863. 
Dorman,  Christian,  disch.  for  wounds  received 

Nov.  5,  1862. 
Johnson,  James  H.,  vet.,   m.  o.  N-jv.  4,  1865. 
Johnson,  James,  killed  by  guerillas  at  Town 

Creek,  Ala.,  Aug.  20,  1862. 
McCaulev,  Patrick,  m.  o.  Nov.  4,  1864. 
Smith,  David,  deserted  July  22,  1865. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  H. 

Recruits. 

Fordick,  Lewis  B.,  m.  o,  Nov.  4,  1865. 
Mealy,  Fred.  F.,  m.  o.  Nov.  4  1865. 
Horton,  Retzemond,  m.  o.  Sept.  23,  1865. 
Jenkins,  James  H.,  m.  o.  Sept.  23,  1865. 
Rogers,  Geo.  A.,  m.  o.  Sept.  23,  1865. 
Smith,  Garland  T.,  ui.  o.  Sept.  23,  1865, 

Muster  Roll  Company  K.— Men  from  Schuy- 
ler county. 

Recruit. 

Carnahan,  David,  m.  o.  July  17,  1865. 


Three  Years  Service. 

of  cavalry  was  organ- 
es,  111.,  in   September, 

F.Farns  worth,  and 
September   18,  1861. 

regiment  moved  to 
and  camped  at  Meri- 
17th.     June  26th,  six 


Eighth  Cavalry 

This  regiment 
ized  at  St.  Charl 
18-31,  by  Col.  J 
was  mustered  in 
Octiber  13,  the 
Washington  city, 
dian  Hill,  on  the 


companies  of  the  regiment  met  the  ad- 
vance of  the  enemy,  under  Jackson,  at 
Mechanicsville,  and  held  it  in  check  un- 
til three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when 
their  line  was  driven  back  to  the  in- 
fantry lines.  At  Malvern  Hill,  and 
Gaines'  Hill,  the  regiment  covered  the 
rear  of  the  enemy,  continually  skirmish- 
ing with  his  cavalry.  It  led  the  advance 
to  the  second  occupation  of  Malvern 
Hills,  and  with  Benson's  Battery  (United 
States  Artillery)  bore  the  blunt  of  the 
fight.  August  4,  1862,  crossed  into 
Maryland,  and  was  engaged  at  Pools- 
ville;  captured  the  colors  of  the  12th 
Virginia  (rebel)  cavalry,  at  Monocacy 
Church.  Captured  twenty  prisoners 
at  Barnesville;  was  engaged  at  Sugar 
Loaf  Mountain,  Middletown,  and  South 
Mountain,  and  at  Boonesboro ;  capturing 
2  guns,  killing  and  wounding  67  men, 
and  taking  200  prisoners  ;  participated 
in  the  battle  of  Antietam,  Oct.  1st,  had 
a  severe  fight  with  the  enemy,  during  a 
reconnoisance,  to  Martinsburg;  moved 
in-advance  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  was  engaged  with  the  enemy's  cav- 
alry at  Philemonte,  Uniontown,  Upper- 
ville,  Barbee's  Cross-roads,  Little  Wash- 
ington, and  Amesville,  arriving  at  Fal- 
mouth, Nov.  23d,  1862.  In  the  battle 
of  Fredericksburg,  Dec.  13th,  1862,  the 
two  squadrons  were  in  the  city  till  its 
evacuation.  Loss,  up  to  this  time,  27 
killed,  71  wounded,  and  20  missing. 
During  the  campaign  of  1863,  the  regi- 
ment was  in  many  battles  and  skirmishes, 
losing  23  killed,  116  wounded,  and  37 
missing.  The  regiment  was  mustered 
out  of  service  at  Benton  Barracks  Mo., 
July  17,  1865,  and  ordered  to  Chicago 
for  final  payment  and  discharge.  The 
following  men  enlisted  from  Brown 
county  in  this  regiment : 

Mnster  Roll  Company  C. 

Captains. 

Daniel  D.  Lincoln,  term  expired  Dec.  5,  1864. 
Portus  J.  Kennedy,  m.  o.  July  17,  1865. 

Corporals. 
Chas.  H.  Henshaw,  vet.,  m.  o.  July  17,  1865. 

Privates. 

Cady,  Wm.  W.,  m.  o.  May  20,  1862  :  pris.  war 
Davis,  Newman  J.,  ditd  at  Alexandria,  Va. 

Feb.  19,  1862. 
Hawes,  Albert  D.,  vet.,  m.  o.  July  17,  1865,  as 

corporal. 
Heaton,  Alfred,  disch.  Sept.  1862. 
Hoag,  Simon  V.,  vet.,  in.  o.  July  17,  1865. 


190 


EISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Johnston,  Wni.  J.,  vet.,  m.  o.  July  17,  1865. 

Lincoln,  Lucius  A. 

McCHntock.  Hiram  B..  vet.,  ra.o  .  July  17,  '65. 

Marshall,  Homer  H,  disch.  Mar.  9,  1862. 

McCarthy,  Michael,  deserted. 

McGuire,  John,  tr.  to  Co.  L  ;  killed  near  Reed- 
town,  Va.,  Oct.  10,  1864. 

McCrea,  Alfred  B.,  vet.,  m.  o.  July  17,  '65,  as 
sergeant. 

Patterson,  Joshua,  vet.,  m.  o.  July  17,  1865. 

Pratt,  Lyman,  vet.,  m.  o.  July  17,  1865,  as 
corporal. 

Svinonds,  Robert,  tr.  to  V.  R.  C.  Jan.  5,  1864. 

St.  Clair,  Hassor,  vet.,  deserted  Feb.  28,  1865. 

Stevenson,  William  H,  vet.,  must'd  out  July 
17,  1865. 


The  Battalion  participated  on  this 
march  in  the  engagement  at,  Cache 
River,  where  Gen.  Rusk's  rebel  force 
undertook  to  stop  the  advance  of  Cur 
tis.  After  reaching  Helena,  the  Battal- 
ion were  on  constant  duty  scouting  and 
doing  picket  duty,  taking  part  in  three 
raids  in  Mississippi  under  Gen.  Wash- 
burn. Col.  Conrad  Baker  and  Col.  Lip- 
pincott  were  on  the  first  expedition 
against  Arkansas  Post.    About  the  1st 


Troop,  Joseph  Allen,  vet.,  must'd  out  July  17,  of  May,  1863,  were  ordered  to  join  Gen 


Grant's  army  at  Milliken's  Bend,  La., 
and  were  left  at  this  place  to  do  patrol 
duty  while  the  army  moved  around 
Vicksburg,  were  in  two  fights  at  Rich- 
mond, La.,  and  at  the  engagement  at 
Milliken's  Bend,  June  10th.  June  16th 
moved  to  Young's  Point,  and  was  used 
there  for  scouting  purposes  to  watch  the 
movements  of  Gen.  Dick  Taylor's  army. 
After  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  was 
ordered  to  join  the  regiment  via  Helena, 
Ark.  The  1st  and  2d  Battalion  during 
this  time  were  doing  hard  duty  in  the 
Southwest,  fighting  guerilla  bands  that 
infested  that  country  ;  they  took  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  battle  of  Prairie  Grove. 


1865,  as  sergeant. 
Wilson,  James  E.,  died  at  New  York  City  ! 

Sept.,  18d2. 
Woodruff,  Winfield  W. 

Recruits. 
Clendenin,  Frank,  trans,  from    Co.  A,  2d  Car., 

must'd  out  Oct  14,  1862. 
Carter,  James,  must'd  out  July  17,  1865. 
Heaton,  Lucius  R.,  must'd  out  Julv  17,  1865. 
Heaton,  J.  W.,  died  Giesboro'  Pt.  t>.  G,  April 

27, 1864. 
Miller,  Hiram  H.,  vet.,  must'd  out  July  17,  '65. 
Pratt,  William  D. 

Muster  Roll  Company  C. 

Recruits. 
Erkison,  John,  died  at  White  Plains  Va.,  Nov. 

1,  1864,  accidental  wounds. 
Walsh,  Nicholas,  must'd  out  July  17,  1865. 

Tenth  Cavalry.— Three  Tears  service. 

Was  organized  November  25th,  1861,  Col.  Wickersham  commanded  the  Ca- 
at  Clear  Lake  near  Springfield.  James  valry  forces  in  this  engagement.  The 
A.  Barrett  was  its  first  Colont  1,  who  re-  Regiments  were  united  while  on  the 
signed  (for  the  good  of  the  service)  May  march  from  Southeast  Mo.  to  Little 
15th,  1862,  and  the  same  day  Col.  Dud-  Rock,  and  took  part  in  the  different  en- 
ley  Wickersham  was  appointed  Colonel  gagement  in  this  campaign  under  Gens, 
of  the  Regiment.  On  the  20th  Dec.  Steel  and  Davidson,  and  at  the  final 
1861,  it  moved  to  Quincy,  111.,  where  it  capture  of  Little  Rock.  In  Dec.  1863 
remained  doing  picket  duty  at  bridges  about  500,  nearly  all  of  the  Regiment, 
and  block  houses  on  the  Hannibal  and  took  advantage  of  the  government's 
St.  Joe  R.  R.  for  about  six  weeks,  then  proposition  to  re-enlist  as  Veterans,  and 
moved  to  Benton  Barracks,  from  there  came  home  on  thirty  days'  furlough.  At 
to  Rolla,  Mo.,  thence  to  Springfield,  Mo.  expiration  of  furlough  were  ■  sent  to 
To  follow  this  regiment  on  its  line  of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  to  form  part  of  the 
march,  from  this  time  until  January  1st,  j  army  of  the  Cumberland,  but  soon  after 
1866,  when  it  landed  within  two  miles  arriving  there  they  were  ordered  to 
of  its  starting  place,  would  be  difficult  Little  Rock,  where  they  were  joined  by 
work.  The  track  of  this  regiment  \  the  non-veterans  and  recruits.  From 
crosses  every  township  in  Southwest  this  time  until  January,  1865,  they  were 
Missouri,  from  one  to  five  times.  About  on  constant  duty,"  marching,  scouting, 
the  1st  of  June,  1862,  the  first  Battal  fighting  Price's,  Marmaduke's  ana  Shel- 
ion  and  2d  AVUconsin  Cavalry,  Gen.  C,  by's  rebels.  Jan.  18G5,  the  10th  was 
C.  Washburn  commanding,  were  ordered  consolidated  into  nine  companies,  and 
to  join  Gen.  Curtis'  army  on  White  j  the  15th  Cavalry  into  three  companies. 
River.  After  a  hard  march  and  some  !  and  all  reorganized  into  the  10th  111. 
fighting  with  the  rebel  forces  under  j  Veteran  Vol.  Ca v.,  Col.  James  Stuart 
McBride  and  Jackman,  they  reached  commanding.  Feb.  1865,  was  ordered 
Curtis' army  at  Jacks  mport,  Ark  ,  on  the  to  the  Mississippi  River  and  to  New 
4th  of  July,  and  started  next  day  on  Orleans,  from  thence  to  Mobile,  but 
the    march    to    the  Mississippi  River,  j  owing  to  lack  of  transports  only  a  part 


of  the  Regiment  went  to  Mobile.  The 
Regiment  was  in  New  Orleans  when  the 
news  of  the  death  of  President  Lincoln 
was  received.  The  prompt  and  energetic 
action  of  the  Regiment  undoubtedly 
saved  the  city  from  a  scene  of  bloodshed 
and  confusion,  and  won  from  the  Gener- 
al commanding  a  flattering  compliment 
in  General  Orders.  In  the  attempt  of 
the  Rebel  Ram  Webb  to  run  the  block- 
ade she  was  recognized  by  a  member 
of  the  Regiment,  and  the  authorities 
notified  of  her  character.  She  was 
blown  up  thirty-five  miles  below  the 
city.  The  entire  crew  except  a  few 
were  captured  by  companies  D  and 
G.  June  1st |  were  ordered  up  River 
and  landed  at  Shreveport,  Louisiana.  Co. 
D  was  detached  here  and  sent  to 
Marshall,  Texas  with  the  8th  111.  Infan- 
try, and  done  duty  gathering  up  Rebel 
arms,  until  they  were  ordered  to  re-join 
the  Regiment  who  were  then  on  the 
march  from  Red  River  to  the  Rio 
Grande  under  the  command  of  Gens. 
Merritt  and  Custer.  They  reached  San 
Antonio  in  August,  and  from  there 
several  extended  trips  were  made  to  the 
mountains  North  and  West,  ostensibly 
after  Indians,  but  really  to  accustom  the 
inhabitants  to  blue  coats.  The  order  to 
muster  out  was  received  and  executed 
Nov.  22,  1865,  were  then  ordered  to 
Springfield,  111.  (by  way  of  the  Gulf,) 
for  final  pay  and  discharge.  On  the 
way  from  Galveston  to  New  Orleans  they 
were  put  on  an  unseaworthy  vessel  in 
company  with  the  2d  111.  Cav.  and  came 
near  being  shipwrecked,  were  caught  in 
storm,  and  after  drifting  for  two  days 
and  nights  were  towed  back  to  Galves- 
ton, and  reloaded  on  another  vessel. 
They  arrived  at  Camp  Butler,  January 
1st,  1866,  in  a  blinding  snow  storm,  the 
men  were  poorly  clad,  having  just  come 
from  a  warm  climate,  they  suffered  ter- 
ribly. They  received  their  final  pay  and 
discharge  January  6th,  1865. 

The  following  are  the  soldiers  from 
Schuyler  and  Brown  counties,  who  were 
members  of  this  Regiment. 

Master  Roll  Company]!. — Men  from  Schuy- 
ler county. 

Recruit. 
Frakes,  Robert,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 

Muster  Roll  Company  K. 

Recruit. 
Corbri.Ige,  W.  II.  II.,  disch.   Dec.   27,   1S62, 
disability. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


191 


Herbert,  Francis  M.,  nitist'd  out  Oct.  22,  18C5 
Scanland,  Sidney  B.,  nmst'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
William,  Wilson,  deserted  Sept.,  1862. 

Master  Roll  Company  M. 
Private. 
Curry,  John   W.,  died  at  Pilot  Knob,  Mo., 
June  2,  1863. 

Men  from  Brown  Comity. 

Major. 
David  H.  Wilson,  resigned  (as  Captain)   Bee. 
.    2,  1864. 

Non-Commlgsloned  Staff. 

Sergeant  Major. 
Charles  G.  Robinson,  disch.  July,  1862  dis'h'ty 
James  V.  Campbell,  must'd  out  Nov.  5,  1£62. 

Quarter -Master  Sergeants. 

Franklin  L<ster,  died  at  Benton  Barrack,  Mo., 

March,  1862. 
Oliver  Kadley,  disch.  Nov.  5,  1862. 

Hospital  Steward. 
Jefferson  Easley,  disch.  April,  1862,  disability. 

Veterinary  Surgeon. 
Calvin  G.  Woods,  must'd  out  Nov.  5,  1862. 

Mnster  Roll  Company  K. 

Captains. 
Cavil  K.  Wilson,  resigned  Feb.  23,  1863. 
David  H.  Wilson,  promoted  Major. 
George    W.   Curry,   see   Company   D.   as  re- 
organized. 

First  Lieutenants. 
David  H.  Wilson,  promoted. 
George  W.  Curry,  promoted. 
Benjamin  F.  Hatcher,  resigned  (as  2d  Lieut.) 
Dec.  9,  1864. 

Second  Lieutenants. 
George  W.  Curry,  promoted. 
Benjamin  F.  Hatcher,  promoted. 
William  II.  Summy,  see  Co.  D.  as  re-organized. 

First  Sergeant. 

B.  F.  Hatcher,  promoted  2d  Lieutenant. 

Quarter-Matter  Sergeant. 
Oliver  Kadley,  promoted  Reg.  Q.  M.  Sergt. 
Sergeants. 

C.  G.  Robinson,  promoted  Sergeant  Major. 
Isaiah  Pelsor,  vet.,  see  Co.  D.  as  re-organized. 
William  A.  Hines. 
William  Massie,  disch.  Dec.  24,  '62,  disability. 

Corporals.      . 
William  H.  Summy,  promoted,  see  Co.  D.  as 

re-organized. 
James  M.  Bates,  disch.  May,  1862  disability. 
John  J.  Tapp,  vet.,  see  Co.  D.  as  re-organized. 
Washington  Brockman,  trans,  to  invalid  corps. 
Daniel  Barker,  disch.  Nov.  12,  1862,  wounds. 
John  W.  Byram.disch.  Nov.  12, 1862,  disability 
Patrick  Brady,  vet.,  see  Co.  D.  as  re-organized- 
William  H.  Crawfoid,  dkd  at  St.  Louis,  June 

28,  1863. 

Farrier. 
John  W.  Fry,  disch.  May,  1862,  disability. 

Blacksmith. 
Calvin  A.  Wood,  promoted  Veterinary  Surg. 

Privates. 

A  usmus,  Andrew  J.,  died  St.  Louis,  March  '63. 
Allen,  Julius  D.,  drowned  en  route  to  Vicks- 
burg,  April  30,  1863. 


Ausmus,  John,  re-enlisted;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Biddle,  Henry,  disch'd  July,  1862,  as  saddler  ; 
disability. 

Barlow,  Joseph  W.,  re  enlisted ;  see  Co.  D,  as 
re-organized. 

Bell,  John,  re-enlisted ;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Bolger,  Michael,  disch'd  Mar.  1862;  disability. 

Bradbury,  James  T.,  re-enlisted;  see  Co.  D, 
as  reorganized. 

Cook,  Jacob  A.,  disch'd  Aug.  1862;  disability. 

Cochran,  Joseph,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Champ,  James  M.,  re-enlisted  ;  see  Co.  D,  as 
re-organized. 

Conner,  Owen,  re-enlisted ;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Campbell,  James  V.,  promoted  serg't  major. 

Dunn,  Joseph,  re-enlisted  ;  died  Mt.  Sterling, 
111.,  March  31,  1864. 

Easley,  Jefferson,  promoted  hospital  steward. 

Elliott,  William,  re-enlisted;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Greenwell,  William  M  ,  re  enlisted  ;  see  Co. 
D,  as  reorganized. 

Gregg,  Samuel,  deserted  April,  1862. 

Hurley,  Arthur,  re-enlisted  ;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Hodlin,  Ambrose,  re-enlisted;  see  Co.  D,  as 
reorganized. 

Hamilton,  James,  re-enlisted ;  see  Co.  D,  as 
reorganized. 

Klepper,  Daniel,  died  Young's  Point,  La., 
June  17,  1863. 

Kendrick,  John  R.,  disch'd  Feb.  21,  1863 ; 
disability. 

Kindred,  James  T.,  re-enlisted;  see  Co.  D,  as 
reorganized. 

Lester,  Frank,  prom,  regt,  quartermaster  sergt. 

Lisinbee,  Andrew  J.,  dis.  Sept.  '62;  disb'lty. 

Meter,  Louis,  re-enlisted  ;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

McNeal,  William,  re-enlisted;  see  Co.  D,  as 
reorganized. 

Mallonee,  David,  died  at  Memphis  Nov.  30, 
1863. 

Mondy,  John,  see  Co.  D  as  reorganized. 

Murphy,  Michael,  re-enlisttd  ;  see  Co.  D,  as 
reorganized. 

Price,  George,  dierTSt  Louis  Nov.  1,  1862. 

Putman,  George,  died  Mt.  Sterling,  111.,  Jan. 
10,  1862. 

Putman,  Milton,  disch'd  Nov.  6,  '62disbl'ty. 

Quinn,  Josiah,  disrbarged  March,  1862. 

Rouch,  John,  disch'd  Jan.  5,  1863;   disability . 

Robertson,  Charles  VV-,  must'd  out  Dec.  30,  '64. 

Rule,  William  G-,  re-enlisted;  see  Co.  I,  as 
reorganized. 

Ross,  Jerome,  promoted  1st  lieut.  Co.  B,  as 
reorganized. 

Smith,  Robert,  re-enlisted ;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Stover,  John,  re-enlisted  ;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Smith,  Henry,  re-enlisted;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Stover,  Jas.  II.,  disch'd  May,  1862;  disability. 

Shay,  James,  drowned  in  White  river,  Jan. 
19,  1864;  veteran. 

Stone.  George  E..  died  at  Little  Rock,  Ark., 

Nov.  14,  1863. 
Taylor,  Josiah,  disch'd  Dec.  1862  ;  disability. 
Townsend,  William,  re-enlisted  ;  see  Co.  D,  as 

reorganized. 
Tinnen.    James  R.,  died  St.  Louis  Nov.  1862. 
Truax,  Henry,  re-enlisted;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 
Whitesides,  Charles  C,  disch'd  April  5,  1862, 

disability. 
Waugh,  Franklin,  died  at  Paducah,  Ky.,  Sept. 

15,  1863, 
Wilson,  John,  died  Versailles,  111.,  Ap.  1,  '62. 
Wood,  James  A.,  re-enlisted;   see  Co.  D,  as 
reorganized. 


Waugh,  Charles  R„  re-enlisted ;  see  Co.  D,  as 
reorganized. 

Walker,  Anderson,  re-enlisted ;   see  Co.  D,  as 
organized. 

Recruits. 

Brown,  James  T.,  re  enlisted ;  see  Co.  D,  as 
reorganized. 

Brick,  Martin,  re-enlisted ;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized, 

Champ,  William,  died  at  Helena,  Ark.  Feb. 
6,  1863. 

Cheneweth,  John,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Eskew,  Virgill,  killed  at  Richmond,  La.,  June 
6,  1863. 

Easton,  Lucian,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Friend,  John,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Gearhart,  Mordecai,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Guinn,  Joseph  B.,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Harris,  William,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Houston,  Samuel  L.  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Hamilton,  Alex.,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Howell,  Israel  H.,  died  at  Little  Rock,  Ark., 
Sept.  11,  1864. 

Imler,  Joseph,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Jaques,  Nf  phe,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Kerrigan,  Peter,  re  enlisted  ;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Leverton,  Elisha,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Lawson.  David  T.,  see  Co.  D*  as  reorganized. 

Meats,  William,  see  Co   D,  as  reorganized. 

Murphy,  Jeremiah,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Newell,  James  P.,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Northern,  Casper,  disch'd  Dec.  '62  ;  disb'lty. 

Nighswonger,  James  L.,  died  Memphis,  Oct. 
1863. 

O'Neil,  J.  William,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Patton,  Tbos.,  disch'd,  March  1862;  disb'lty. 

Thomas,  Phillip,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Patten,  Luther,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Radley,  Oliver,  re-enlisted  ;  see  Co.  D,  as  re- 
organized. 

Sturdevant,  George  II.,  promoted  ;  see  Co.  D, 
as  reorganized. 

Sturdevant,  James  E.,  re-enlisted  ;  see  Co.  D 
as  reorganized. 

Scanland,  Sidney  W.,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Stoner,  James  H.,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Sturdevant,  Sol.  R.,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Surratt,  Stephen  H.,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Stinson,  James  H,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Thompson,  W.  H.,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Wilson,  Alfred  M.,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Warden,  Robert,  see  Co.  D,  as  reorganized. 

Tenth  (Reorganized)  Cavalry  Regiment. 
Non-commlssloned  Staff. 

Commissary  Sergeant. 

Oliver  Radley,  mustered  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 

Muater  Roll  Company  II. 

First  Lieutenant. 

Jerome  Ross,  hon.,  disch'd  Sept  20,  1865. 

JMtiater  Rol,  Company  C. 

Angel,  David,  mustered  out  Nov.  22.  1865. 
Currv,  James  A.,  1st  serg't,  must'd  out  Nov.  22, 

1865. 
Currv,  James,  com.  serg't,  mus'd  out  Nov.  22, 

1865. 
Cox,  W.  T-,  corp'l,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 
East,  Edward  H.,  private. 

Muster  Roll  Company  D. 

Captain. 
George  W.  Curry,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 

First  Lieutenant. 
William  H.  Summy^  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
George  II.  Sturdevant,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 


192 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


First  Sergeant.  Thompson,  William,  mustered  out  Mav  25,'  65. 

Wm.  M.  Greenwell,  must'd  out  Nov.  22, 1865.  i  Waugh,  Charles  R„  must'd  out  Nov.  27,  '65. 

Walker,  Anderson,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 


Quartermaster  Serfftint. 

William  E.  Elliott,  disch'd  June  20,  1865; 
wounded. 

Chmmissury  Sergeant. 
Isaiah  Pelsor,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 

Sergtants 

Patrick  Brady,  mustered  out  Nov.  22.  1885. 
Joseph  W.  Barlow,  must'd  out  Nov.  2i,  '65. 
Bradburv,  James  T.,  mustered  out  Nov.   22, 
I860. 

Corporals. 

Townsend,  William, 

Tapp,  John  J. 

McNeil,  William,  must'd  out  Nov.  22.  65. 

Conner,  Owen,  must'd  out  Nov.  2i,  1SC5. 

Farrier. 
James  T.  Kindred,  mustered  out  Nov.  22,  '65 

Saddler. 

Louis  Meter,  mustered  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 

Bugler. 

John  W.  Chenoweth,  mustered  out  Nov  22, 
1865. 

Blacksmith. 

James  F.  Brown,  must'd  out  Nov.'22,  '65. 
Privaim. 

Ausmns,  John,  mustered  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Brick,  Martin,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 
Bell,  John,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 
Champ,  James  M.,  musiered  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Cochran,  Joseph,  deserted  Oct  15,  1865. 
Easton,  Lucian,  must'd  out  Nov.  22, 1865. 
Friend,  John,  must'd  out  Nov.  22, 1865. 
Guinn,  Joseph,  mustered  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Gearhart,  Mordeeai,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Gentry,  Owen   P.,  Absent,  sick,  at   M.   O.  of 

regiment. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  must'd  out  Nov.  22, '65. 
Harris,  William,  must'd  out  Nov.  22.  1865. 
Hurly,  Arthur,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 
Hodling,  Ambrose,  discharged  June  3d.   65. 
Hamilton,  James,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 

disabilty. 
Houston.  Samuel   L.,  mustered  out  Sept  12, 

1865. 
Jaques,  Nephi,  mustered  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 
Kerrigan.  Peter,  mustered  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Lawson,  David  T\,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Leaverton,  Elisha,  must'd  out  Oct.  21,  1865. 
Mnr  hy,  Michael  must'd  out  Nov.  22, '65. 
Moudy,  John,  deserted  Oct  15,  1865. 
Murphy,  Jeremiah,  died  at  Brownsville  Ark., 

Feb.  6,  1865. 
Meats,  William  C-,  mustered  out  Feb.  23,  '65. 
Newell,  James  P.,  must'd  out  Mar.  4,  '65. 
Oneal,  William,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 
Patton,  Luther  L.,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Ross,  Jerome,  promoted  1st  lieutenant  Co.  B. 
Kuhl,  William  G.,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Sturdevant,  James  E.,  absent  at  M.  O.  of  regi- 
ment. 
Smith,  Robert,  deserted  July  10,  '65. 
Smith,  Henry,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  1865. 
Stover,  John,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Sturdevant,  Sol.,  absent  at  M.  O.  of  reg"t. 
Sarratt,  Stephen,  died  Mound  City  111.,  Nov.  2, 

1864. 
Stinson,  James  H.,  must'd  out  Nov.  22,  '65. 
Scanland,  Sidney  W,  mustered  out  Nov.  22, 

1865. 


Wilson,  Alfred  M.,  discharged  Feb  27,   1865, 

term  ex. 
Warden,  Robert,  must  out  Nav.  22  '65. 

Klevcnth  Calvary  Rcjrtment.— Three   Years 

Service.— Muster      Roll     Company    C— Men 

from  Brown  county. 

Recruit. 
Parks,  Madison  G.,  mus.  out  Sept  10,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  K. 

Recruit. 

Allingham,  Charles  A.,  tr  to  E.  5th  cavalry  M. 
O.  July  9, 1865. 

Twelfth    Cavalry.— Three    Tears    Service.— 
Men  Prom  Schuyler  County. 


Fifteenth  Cavalry— Three    Years    Service.— 

Muster  Roll   Company    B. — Men   from 

Schuyler    county. 

Sergeant. 
David  Lauglilin,  disch.  Nov.  22,  '62,  disabil'y. 

Corporal. 
Francis  D.  Fluce,  disch.  July  21,  '65,  disab'ty. 

Privates. 

Barnum,  James  C.,  died  at  Savannah,  Tenn., 

April  27,  1862. 
Lemley,  John,  must'd  out  Aug.  25,  '64. 
Madden,  Wm.  H.,  disch.  Oct.  24,  '62,  dwab'y. 
Patterson,  Frs.  M.,  disch.  Nov.  3,  '63.  disab'v. 
Patterson,  Thos.  N.,  must'd  out  Aug.  25, 1864, 

as  corporal. 

Sixteenth  Cavalry  Regiment— Three    Years 
Service* — Men  from  Brown  county. 

Friv  ites. 


This  regiment  was  organized  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1862,  at  Chicago.  Arno  Vass 
was  its  first  colonel ;  it  formed  a  part  of 
the  grand  army  of  the  department  of 
the  Mississippi,  and,  in  pursuance  of 
general  order,  issued  March  2d,  1865,  it !  sPecial  authority  from  the  War  Depart- 
was  consolidated  into  an  eight  company  \  ment>  issued  August  12th,  1863.  John 
organization.     Hasbrock  Davis  became   L-  Beveridge  was  made  colonel.     The 


Adams,  James,  mn«t'd  out,  Aug.  19,  '65. 
Smith,  Peter,  must'd  out  Aug.  19,  '65. 

Seventeenth    Cavalry— Three  Years  Service. 

This  regiment  was  organized  under 


colonel. 


Unassigned  Recruits. 


Colter,.  Hugh,  tr.  to  17  111,  cavalry  M.  O.  Dec. 

20,  1865. 
Compton,  Lewis,  tr.  to  17  III.  cavalry,  deserted 

May  21,  1864. 
Carman,  James,  tr.  to  17  111.  cavalry,  deserted 

after  completion  of  muster  out  roll. 
Kech,  Charles,  tr.  to  17  111.   cavalry,   died  at 

Alton,  111.,  July  8,  '64. 
Moran,  William  J.,  tr.  to  17  III.  cavalry,  M. 

O.June  6, 1865. 
Stumpf,  Leonard,  mustered  out  Dec.  20,  '65. 


The  following  list  comprises  the  en- 
listed men  from  these  counties  who  went 
out  in  this  regiment 

Muster     Roll    Company    G.— Men    from 
Brown    County. 

Private. 
Huff,  Lewis,  vet,  must,  out  May  29,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  M. 

Private. 

Johnson,  Robt,  tr.  to  Co.  II,  as  consol.;  deserted 
March  19,  '65. 

Unassigned  Recruits. 

Burnett,  Newton  T.,  must,  out  Nov.  16,  1866, 

to  date  Feb.  3,  1864. 
Dunbar,  Gabriel,  tr.  to  17  111.  Cav.  must'd  out 

Dec.  22,  1865. 
Haynie,  James  E. 
Morris,  Henry  C,  tr.  to  17  111.  cav.  must  out 

Dec.  15*,  1865. 
Roberts,  John  Y. 
Roberts,  John  T. 
Ramey,  James  C.  M, 


Stover,  James  IL,  deserted  July  10,  '65. 

Truax,  Henry  F.,  absent,  sick  at  M.  O.of  reg-  j  TaWor.'Ge^!  W,!tr?to  17th  III.  cav.  must  on 
lment-  I  Dec  22,  1865. 


muster  was  completed  Feb.  12th,  18G4. 
The  regiment  was  most  of  the  time  di- 
vided into  three  battalions,  and  moved 
in  different  directions.  It  did  gallant 
service,  and  served  out  its  full  time. 

Muster  Roll  Company  D— Men  from  Schuy- 
ler county. 

Corporals. 
James  M.  Bell,  M.  O.  Dec  20,  '65,  as  co  serg. 
Martin  Richardson,  deserted  Sept  26,  '64. 
Henry  C.  Ben,  m.  o.  Dec.  20,  '65,  as  private. 
Fdwin  C.  Mercer,  m.  o.  Dec  20,  '65,  as  priv. 

Privates. 
Bonsen,  Wm.  B.,  must  d  out  Dec.  20,  '65. 
Ballen,  Abijah,  must'd  out  Dec.  20,  '65. 
Greenwood,  W.  B.,  M.  O.  Dec.  20,  '65,  assergt. 
Hamilton,  J.  W.,  M.  O.  Dec  20,  '65,  as  corp'l. 
Harris,  Wm.  H.,  deserted  Oct.  3,  1865. 
Jump,  Ab'ni,  must'd  out  Dec.  20,  1865. 
Keeler,  Martin,  absent  sick,  at  m.  o.  of  regt. 
Lamaster,  Wm.  H.,  mustu  out  Dec.  20,  '65. 
McKee,  Wm.,  died  at  St  Charles,  Ills.,  April 

19,  1864. 
Morris,  Napoleon  B..  must'd  out  Dec.  20,  '65. 
Martin,  George,  must'd  out  Dec  20,  '65. 
Richardson,  William,  must'd  out  Dec  20,  '65. 
Thurman,  John,  must'd  out  Dec'r  20,  '65. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  K.— Menfrom  Brown 
County. 

Recruit. 

Roberts,  John  T ,  tr.  to  Co.  K,  must'd  out  Dec. 
22,  1865. 

Muster  Roll,  Company  H. 

Recruit. 

Morris,  Henrv  C,  tr.  fro.  12  111.  cav.,  must'd  out 
Dec.  15,  1865. 

One  Hundred  and  Eighth  V.  S.    Colored. 
Men  from  Brown  County. 


Clendenin,  William. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


193 


First   Army  Corps.—  Enlisted   M «  n  of  Com- 
pany No.  3. 

Enlisted  men  of  Company  No.  3  assigned  to 

Co.  IT,  2d  Reg't  U.  S.vet.  Volunteers. 
Privates. 
Priveee,  Arthur,  must'd  out  Feb.  24,  18C6. 
Enlisted  men  of  Company  No.  9  assigned  to 

Co.  D,  6th  Reg't  U.  8.  vet.  Volunteers. 
McKnight,  John,  must'd  out  March  29,  1866. 
First    Artillery— Three  Years    Service. — Men 

from  Schnyler  comity.— Battery  F. 

First  Lieutenants. 

SamuelS  Smith,  pro  capt.,  Co.  A,  (asconsol'd) 

must'd  out  March  28,  '65;  term  expired. 
Jefferson  F.  Whaley,  must'd  out  March  7,  '65. 

Second  Lieutenant. 
Robert  Richey,  must'd  out  March  7,  1865. 

Privates. 
Eerringer,  0.,  dis.  Jan.  4,  '65  •  term  expired. 
Berrirfger,  Lloyd,  vet.  must'd  out  April  11,  '65, 

as  Corporal. 
Christance,  G.  W.,  disc.  Jan.  4,  '65 ;  term  exp'd. 
Chri.-tance,  Cornelius,  must'd  out  March  7,  65, 

as  Sergeant. 
Doctor,  Valentine,  vet.  mustered  out  April  11, 

1865.  as  Corporal. 
Fuller,  Fred'k.disch'd  April  14, '62  ;  disability. 
Parker,  S  E.,  died  at  Memphis,  Feb.  27,  1864. 
Whaley,  Johnson,  dis.  Jan.  13,  '63;  disability. 
Youngs,  Albert,  dis.  Jan.  4,  '65;  term  expired. 

Recruits. 
Aird,  Frank,  tr.  to  Co.  I,  M.  O.  July  26,  1865. 
Christiance,  VVm.  H.,  tr.  to  Co.  I,  absent,  sick 

at  M.  O.  of  regiment. 
Fairchilds,  Samuel   C,  tr.  to  Co.  I,  M.  O.  July 

26,  1865. 
Mead,  Cbs.  A  ,  died  Marietta,  Ga.,  Sep.  8,  '64 
Sweet,  Amos,  trans,  to  Co.  I,  M.  O.  July  26,'65 
Winter,  John,  trans,  to  Co.  B,  M.O.  July  6, '65 
Names  of  Brown  county  Soldiers  Enlisted 
In  Company  C,  3d  Missouri  Cavalry- 
Three  Years  Service. 

Corporals. 
Warren  Littlefield,  must'd  out  Oct.,  '64 ;  term 

expired. 
Joseph  Hiles,  mustered  outOct.,  '64;  term  ex. 

Primtes. 
Ballard,  Jas.  A.,  must'd  out  Oct.,  '65  ;  term  ex 
Hamilton,  W.  T.,  must'd  out  Oct.,'65  ;  term  ex 
Wells,  Hold  ridge,  mustjl  out  Oct  ,'65;  term  ex. 
Powers,  John,  killed  at  Jlouston,  Mo.,  1863. 
Stevens,  J.  J.,  killed  at  Poison  Springs,  Ark., 

1864. 
Lucas,  Geo.  W.,  must'd  out  Mar.,  '64;  term  ex. 
Wilson,  Chas.,  must'd  out  Oct.,  '64  ;  term  ex. 
Tenth  I  .  S.  Regiment,  from  Missouri. 

Below  is  a  list  of  the  men  from  Schuyler  Coun- 
ty, who  Joined  Company  .1.,  Tenth  Missouri  Reg- 
iment, excepting  those  included  in  the  Littleton 
mster,  immediately  following  this. 

I  brporalt.  Jacobs,  Peter  S. 

.(as.  Middleion,  Johnson    Samuel 

John  McNeill,  '""'•  h;  I"'""1    ,, 

George  W.  Hell.  Lucas,  \\  ,  ham  It. 

Mel. rath,  Lord 
Drummer  Middleton,  D.  F. 

nntmme,.  Middleton,  John  M. 

XN  "'•  L,ne-  Moriartv,  O.  L. 

Moore,  Henry 
'' '•'''••  Melntire,  Wjliam 

M..-es  ('.  Tolle.  Melton,  Samuel 

Parson,  Jacob 
Privates.  Parei  i>avid  J. 

Adkinson,  Daniel  Peyton,  A.  D, 

Ashcraft,  J.  F.  Reed,  John  S. 

Ashcraft,  Richard  Reed,  Samson  W. 

Ashcraft,  Samuel  Rice,  Thomas  A. 

Burnett,  Knos  Roach,  John  N. 

Bird,  John  Roach,  Levi  W. 

Belehambers,  Frank       Roberts,  Thomas 
Bly,  William  F.  Roper,  Henry  F. 

Bingham,  Joseph  R.      Swim,  J  no. 


Bell,  James  M. 
( 'ooper,  Joseph  A. 
Castor,  Lewis 
Dtinlavy,  Jas.  G. 
Dasher,  William 
Dennis,  William 
Gould,  John  C. 
Holmes,  Cvrus 
Herbert,  Jas.  W. 


Severns,  L.  J. 
Sheppard,  Rob't 
Sanl'ord,  Volney 
Thrush,  Win.  F. 
Thrush,  Rob't  A. 
Tolle,  Chas.  W. 
Williams,  William 
Wilson,  Parker 
Wimple,  Minard 


We  append  a  list  of  all  the  Soldiers  that  went 
from  Littleton  township  to  the  late  rebellion  ; 
showing  the  different  regiments  unci  companies 
in  which  they  enlisted.  The  record  was  careful- 
ly kept  by  fir.  Hoses  Davis,  of  Littleton,  at  the 
1  time  when  the  parties  departed  for  service,  and 
may  be  relied  upon  as  correct. 

Sixteenth  Illinois,  Company  t.. 

Charles  Abbott,  Adam  Batchlett, 

Wither  A.  Barnes,  Webster  Dodds, 

William  Dodds,  Josiah  B.  McCoy, 

William  Marlow,  James  Marlow, 

Teel  Nelson, 

Byard  Pittman;  killed  in  battle. 
Isaac  Pennington  ;  died  of  disease. 
'  Tillman  Stodgel ;  died  of  disease. 
John  Thrush;  killed  in  battle. 

Tenth  Missouri,  Company  A. 

B.  T.  Applegate,  Moses  R.  Abbott, 

Albert  S.  Ainsworth, 

William  Bawden  ;  died  of  disease. 

Zebulon  Busby  ;  died  of  disease. 

William  H.  Briggs  ;  lost  on  Steamer  Gen.  Lyon. 

A.  R.  Colt ;  was  promoted  Capt;  of  Colored  reg. 

Janus  II.  Cross,  Charles  Craycraft, 

James  A.  Dewitt,  Edmund  Dewitt, 

!  A.  J.  Davis ;  promoted  Capt.  Co.  B.,  10th  Reg.    ■ 

Michael  Daily,  William  H.  Ellicott, 

Capt.  Leonard  Horney;  killed  as  Lieut.  Col.  at 
Champion  Hills,  Miss. 

John  S.  Harbison  ;  died  of  disease. 

James  M.  Legg,  Benjamin  R.  Logan, 

Jacob  Clement  Long;  died  of  wounds. 

Miles  McCabe,  G.  W.  Nichols, 

Alfred  J.  Odell,  D.  Clinton  Odell, 

Sandford  Pitman;  died  of  wounds. 

James  Pennington, 

Samuel  Spragne;  died  of  disease. 

Leroy  Sellers, 

Andrew  Sellers;  Lost  on  Steamer  Gen.  Lyon. 

Francis  M.  Stodgel ;  lost  on  Steamer  Gen.  Lyon. 

Lafayette  Sellers  Daniel  Sheesely, 

William  Snyder,  David  H.Snyder, 

William  F.Snyder,         George  Thrush, 

George  W.  Thompkins,  Samuel  S.  Thompson, _ 

Howard  Toland  ;  died  of  disease. 

Cornelius  Vosburg;  died  of  disease. 

1st  Lieut.  Joseph  Walker;  pro.  to  Maj.  of  Reg. 

James  A.  Wyckoff,         Elijah  M.  Wilson,  Jr. 
Sixty-second  Illinois,  Company  I. 

Capt.  Joseph  McLain,     Nelson  Ainsworth, 

Elijah  Barton;  died  of  disease. 

James  O.  Bates,  Perry  Bates, 

!  John  Caldwell, 

Joel  Cooper;  died  of  disease. 

Seth  Chandler;  died  of  disease. 

Noah  A.  Cooper;  died  of  disease. 

Lewis  Cooper ;  died  of  disease. 

John  S.  Dodge. 

George  C.  Dewitt ;  died  of  disease. 

Louis  Detrick  ;  died  of  disease. 

William  I).  Ellis,  George  W.  Ellis, 

James  W.  Green, 

Ferdinand  Jalin;  died  of  disease. 

Cornelius  Lowdernian, 

Austin  Lowdernian  ;  died  of  disease. 

Charles  Pershing,  D.  C.  Pain, 

John  D.  Pain, 

Thomas  Roberts  ;  promoted  Lieutenant. 

Daniel  Ritchey,  Smith  M.  Raper, 

John  Sites;  died  of  disease. 

Robert  Thrush,  John  W.  Toland, 

James  Van  Winkle,  Moses  C.  VanWinkle, 

Mathias  Whiteman,        Calvin  Whiteman, 

David  H.  Wheat,  Otto  Yaapt, 

David  Fream;  died  of  disease. 

119th  Illinois,  Company  B. 

James  M.  Beard, 

John  Black  ;  died  of  disease. 

James  P.  Biggs,  William  Caldwell, 


Henry  V.  Garrison,        James  Hall, 

William  T.  Irwin, 

Jerome  Irwin  ;  died  of  disease. 

G.  B.  King,  Frank  Kepler, 

John  Mahaley,    '  Patrick  Murphy, 

Abraham  Stacker,  George  SnedikeY, 

Seventy-third  Illinois,  Company  <-. 
John  Wesley  Colt;  killed  in  battle. 
N.  Fuller, 

William  II.  Horton  ;  died  of  disease. 
Thomas  Horton,  Alexander  Penning!  on, 

1st  Lieut.  Richard  It.  Randall;  pro.  Maj. of  Keg 
James  O.  Thompson, 

Thomas  J.  Window;  promoted  Lieutenant. 
Charles  Yaapt. 

Fiftieth  Illinois,  Company  G. 

Seth  Alexander,  -  Dewitt  C.  Ellis. 

Fiftieth  Illinois,  Company  I. 

Benjamin  Greer,  Engineer, 
Josiah  Sheesely,  Engineer, 
Aaron  Sheesely,  Engineer. 

129  Illinois,  Company  I. 
Henry  C.  Hutchinson. 

3d  Illinois  Cavalry,  Company  B. 

John  Horton;  died  of  disease. 

David  A.  Seward,  Stephen  II.  Seward. 

I  I  th  Illinois  Cavalry,  Company    I. 
Samuel  W.  Latter. 

r;  I  Hi  Illinois.    Company  I. 
David  llama,  Hugh  McCullough, 

Peter  Newman  Engineer,  Company  I. 

Seventy-eighth  Illinois,  Company  I. 

Charles  Neidy  ;  died  of  disease. 
William  Wycoknff. 

Eighty-fourth  Illlno  is,  Company  A. 

Wenen  S.  Odell. 

Second  Illinois  Cavalry. 

William  K.  Roberts. 


Ami  Reed 


I'liij •  tifili   Illinois. 

died  of  disease. 


Black  Hawk  Cava  lry. 

Garrett  Seward  ;  died  of  disease. 

The  above  named  all  enlisted  for  three  vears 
service,  and  three  of  them  wire  discharged  and 
re-enlisted  for  three  years,  viz: — Joel  Cooper, 
David  Fream  and  James  M.  Legg.  Eight  of  the 
Dumber  enlisted  as  veterans, — Charles  Abbott, 
Nelson  Ainsworth,  Adam  Batchlett,  James  O. 
Bates,  John  Caldwell,  Thomas  Roberts,  David 
II.  Wheat  and  Otto  Yaapt;  ami  many  more  of 
the  Sixty-second  regiment  offered  their  services 
again,  but  were  not  accepted. 

Following  are  the  names  of  those  who  enlisted 
in  the  One  Hundred  days  service: 

137th  Illinois,   Company  K. 

Richard  Black,  Joseph  A.  Thompson, 

Theodore  Dewitt, 
Joseph  Hand, 
John  L.  Ritchey, 

Eighth  Illinois,   Company  K. 

Samuel  Sours. 

Ninth  Illinois,  Company    K  . 
John  Spoonamore  :  died  of  disease. 
15th  Illinois,  Co.  K One  Year's  service. 

Daniel  O'Neal, 

Henry  Sites, 


William  Noble, 
David  O'Neal, 
John  I.  Ritchev. 


Joseph  Hand, 
Charles  Roberts. 
Bowlen  Speer, 
James  B.  Winless. 


After  the  Township  quota  had  been  filled,  the 
following  enlisted  for  one  year  and  were  credited 
toother  townships: — William  Roberts,  William 
Noble.  Francis  Noble,  Jeremiah  Bair,  James  R. 
McCullough  and  Richard  Black,  making  in  all, 
one  hundred  and  forty-nine  different  persons 
that  enlisted  in  the  army  from  Littleton  Town- 
ship during  the  war. 


194 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


(■"VMOX  SCHOOLS. 


BY    H.  A.   SMITH. 


SCHUYLER    COUNTY. 


HE  great  difficulty  experienced  in  obtain- 
ing correct  information  in  regard  to  the 
early  schools  of  Schuyler  Co.  and  know-- 
ing  that  the  events  of  the  present  will 
be  subjects  of  history  in  the  future,  is 
sufficient  reason  for  cotnmitting  to  the 
safe  custody  of  permanent  record  such 
facts  as  are  now  known. 
To  whatever  part  of  the  West,  intelligent  families  have 
gone,  there  schools  and  churches  have  been  considered 
among  the  first  requirements.  Schuyler  county  was  no  ex- 
ception to  this  rule.  Some  of  the  first  schools  were  held  in 
private  dwellings,  some  in  deserted  cabins,  and  others  in  log 
houses  built  for  school  purposes.  When  we  consider  the 
character  of  the  early  settlers,  their  general  intelligence,  their 
self-sacrificing  determination  that  their  children  should  en- 
joy the  best  advantages  that  the  circumstances  would  allow, 
we  see  why  they  gave  a  hearty  welcome  to  the  pioneer 
teacher. 

Some  of  these  teachers  were  sadly  in  need  of  instruction 
themselves  in  the  matter  to  be  taught  and  the  manner  of 
imparting  to  others.  But  many  excellent  eastern  teachers 
found  their  way  to  different  settlements  and  produced  a  last- 
ing influence.  Such  communities  are  intelligent,  prosperous 
and  happy.  Many  have  gone  out  from  thereto  occupy  high 
positions  of  honor  and  trust.  However,  Schuyler  has  had 
some  opponents  of  free  schools.  Others  fought  against  tax- 
ation to  support  schools  where  anything  was  taught  beyond 
the  three  It's — Reading,  Riting,  Rithmetic.  They  were  as 
much  behind  their  day  as  those  who  are  said  to  have  brought 
the  following  accusation  against  Lord  Say ;  "  Thou  hast  most 
traitorously  corrupted  the  youth  of  the  realm  in  erecting  a 
grammar-school ;  and  whereas,  before,  our  forefathers  had 
no  other  books  but  the  score  and  tally,  thou  hast  caused 
printing  to  be  used  ;  and  contrary  to  the  king,  his  crown 
and  dignity,  thou  hast  built  a  paper  mill.  It  will  be  proved 
to  thy  face  that  thou  hast  men. about  thee,  that  usually  talk 
of  a  noun  and  a  verb,  and  such  abominable  words,  as  no 
Christian  ear  can  endure  to  hear. " 

Intelligent  people  took  a  broader  view  of  the  subject. 
The  commonwealth  saw  in  the  youth  the  future  citizen  and 
statesman.  The  state  assumed  the  right  to  foster  the  public 
school  as  a  matter  vitally  affecting  its  strength,  prosperity 
and  perpetuity.  In  a  republic  the  ignorance  which  is  suffered 
to  abound  must  adjudicate  upon  the  rights  of  the  wealthy  and 


the  intelligent.  The  citizen  should  have  a  broad  culture 
and  be  able  to  analyze  the  complicated  mechanism  of  our 
triune  forms  of  government  and  to  note  the  harmonious  re- 
lations of  its  different  elements. 

The  first  school  law  of  the  state  was  enacted  in 
1825,  and  has  the  following  preamble :  "  To  enjoy  our  rights 
and  liberties  we  must  understand  them  ;  their  security  and 
protection  ought  to  be  the  first  object  of  a  free  people  ;  and 
it  is  a  well-established  fact  that  no  nation  has  continued  long 
in  the  enjoyment  of  civil  and  political  freedom,  which  was 
not  both  virtuous  and  enlightened  ;  and  believing  that  the 
advancement  of  literature  always  has  been,  and  ever  will  be, 
the  means  of  developing  more  fully  tbe  rights  of  man,  that 
the  mind  of  every  citizen  in  a  republic  is  the  common  property 
of  society,  and  constitutes  the  basis  of  its  strength  and  hap- 
piness ;  it  is  therefore  considered  the  peculiar  duty  of  a  free 
government  like  ours  to  encourage  and  extend  the  improve- 
ment and  cultivation  of  the  intellectual  energies  of  the 
whole ;  therefore,  a  common  school  or  schools  shall  be  estab- 
lished in  each  county  of  this  state.  " 

The  school-houses  being  few  and  far  between,  some  of  the 
pupils  had  to  trudge  several  miles  to  a  log  cabin  in  the  woods, 
to  woo  the  goddess  of  wisdom.  I  find  in  the  treasurer's 
book  of  T  2  N.  1  W.  the  following :  "  Aug.  3, 1841.  On  this 
day  the  township  was  first  organized,  and  the  first  Board  of 
School  Trustees,  five  in  number,  namely — Benjamin 
Chadsey,  William  Davis,  Henry  Klippur,  J.  T.  Worthington 
and  John  Scripps,  sat  to  do  business.  " 

On  January  1st  1842,  the  Board  met  and  divided  the 
township  into  two  districts  by  a  "  line  running  North  and 
South  through  the  center  of  sections  5,  8, 17,  20,  29,  and  32. 
All  west  of  said  line  containing  sections  6,  7, 18,  19,  30,  and 
31,  and  west  half  of  sections  5,  8,  17.  20,  29  and  32,  constitut- 
ing the  Town  District  or  No.  1,  and  the  east  side  containing 
balance,  or  24  sections  and  6  half  sections,  No.  2  or  the 
Country  District.  "  On  October  13, 1847,  the  township  was 
laid  off  into  seven  districts.  John  Scripps  was  treasurer  of 
this  township  from  the  time  of  the  organization  of  its  first 
School  Board  election  in  1841  until  his  death  in  1864. 

Below  is  a  list  of  the  present  treasurers  of  the  several 
townships : 


Oakland,  T.  3  X.  1  W Edwin  Fisk. 

Littletown,  "  3  N.  2  W Jas  Dewitt. 

Brooklyn,  "  3  N.  3  W C.  L.  Bessett. 

Birmingham,  "  3  X.  4  W David  M.  Sapp. 

Huntsville,  "  2N.4W Geo.  W.  Bnrke. 

Camden,  "  2  N.  3  W Win.  T.  McHalton. 

Buena  Vista  "  2  N.  2  W Henry  Kirkham. 

Rushville,  "  2  N.  1  W Martin  W.  Greer. 

Browning  "  2  N.  1  E S.  D.  Bader. 

Hickory  «  2  N.  2  E Herman  C  Sliultz. 

Frederick,  •'  1  N.  1  E Grove  Conningham. 

Bainbridge,  "  IN.  1  W George  W.  Frisby. 

Woodstock,  "  1  N.  2  W John  S.  Stutsman. 

1  S.  2  W.  united  with  Brown  county  for  school  purposes. 
1  Q   1  av        «         *•  "  *«         «         «  « 

Rushville  Union  School,  Owen  Jackson,  Rushville. 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


195 


Statistics  of  the  Schools  of  Schuyler  County  for  the  Years 
1861,  1871,  and  1881. 


b  . 

•2  & 

i   &  !1 

Its 

Wages  1881. 

1 

Iff 

1 

if 
P 

~  a  tJSK  §!C  -31- 

COO    ^SMo30    =330 

Iff  r  t 

"2  X 

A 

i 

Pri 

I  a 

i 

i 

i 

• 

i 

5 

Principal  of  T 
ship  Fund 

Amountexpena 
School  purpi 
1881. 

No  of  Schools, 

Oakland, 

t 

S           $           $ 

3  N.  1.  W 544    414    598    320    691 

299 

25  to  43 

17  to  33  1196  19  1451  85        5 

Littleton, 

3N.2W 700;  362    590    410    558 

331 

20  to  40 

17  to  30  2059  03  2800  46      10 

Brooklyn, 

3  N.  3  W 606    466    587    271    607 

378 

20  to  50 

20  to  33  1285  40  2054  67        6 

Birmingham, 

' 

9  N.  4  W 606    .'till    710    330    514    320 

18  to  40 

18  to  35  1599  50  2330  39        8 

Huntsville, 
2  N.  4  W 

1 

594 

491    599    412    565 

373 

20  to  45 

18  to  35  2131  61  2274  00        9 

Camden, 

2N.3W 

544 

430    570    235    546 

316 

25  to  50 

18  to  28  1654  61 

1675  44        5 

Buena  Vista, 

400    SO.)    HI    591 

277 

20  to  44 

W/£  to  35  6820  70 

1690  86        7 

RushviUe, 

I  N.  1  W 1430  1138    735    429    587 

2C7 

25to50 

18  to  35  2730  00 

2113  11        7 

Browning, 

445    861    513    801 

440 

25to45 

15  to  35  1586  14  1941              0 

Hickory, 

2N.2E 360    180    305    221    292 

143 

33  to  45 

1177  15 

852  03 

Frederick, 

1  X.  1  K 205    111!    210    111    151 

101 

50  to  60 

30  to  30!  750  00 

615  47 

1 

Bainbridge, 

1  N.  1  W 714    296    586    392   587 

243 

20  to  36 

20 to 33.2079  90 

1441  44 

6 

Woodstock, 

1N.2W 808    304    778    452    642 

343 

35  to  40 

18  to  40 

2057  12  1376  07 

7 

1  S.  1  W.  united 

with  Brown 

Co.  for  sch'i 

purposes 100      50      80      32 

1   S.  2  W.  united 

87 

39 

26  to  25 

,     92  00 

1 

with  Brown 

Co.  for  seh'l 

itff 

purposes 

43 

36      92      54      85 

c*         w' 

20  to  28 

230  48 

1 

Kushville  I'ni'n 

OSS!  515    868    518 

130  00 

40  to  55 

7553  90  5167  38 

1 

Totals  , 

870315467  8751  !4945  8178 

!    •    i        i 

4439 

83 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  School  Commissioners  and 
Superintendents  of  Schuyler  county,  and  the  time  their  offi- 
cial term  expired : 

NAME.  TERM  EXPIRED. 

Alexander  Curry .-  .    .  1835. 

Henry  B.  Burtholf 1838. 

Wm.  Ellis • 1839. 

J.  D.  Manlove 1845. 

John  Scripps 1849. 

D.  T.  Berry 1850. 

Charles  Neill 1857. 

Geo.  B.  Benton 1861. 

A.  D.  Davies 1863. 

Henry  Smither 1864. 

Jesse  Fox 1869. 

J.  R.  Neill 1873. 

W.  A.  Clark 1877. 

H.  H.  Foley 1882. 

When  the  school  law  of  1855,  went  into  effect  the  com- 
missioners were  required  to  visit  and  inspect  all  the  schools  at 
least  once  a  year.  The  law  of  1872,  left  it  optional  with  the 
county  board  whether  this  work  should  be  done  or  not. 

The  name  of  commissioner  was  changed  to  that  of  super- 
intendent as  more  appropriate,  for  it  was  intended  that  this 
officer  should  have  a  close  supervision  of  the  schools.  But 
the  supervisors  of  this  county  appropriate  nothing  for  this 
purpose.  With  the  ability  and  faithful  services  of  our  pre- 
sent superintendent,  the  people  have  a  guarantee  that  the 
work  of  supervision  will  be  well  done.  Money  is  no  where 
more  judiciously  expended  than  in  efficient  supervision. 


In  1866,  a  Teachers'  Institute  was  held,  the  first  in  five 
years,  at  which  twenty  teachers  were  present.  An  Institute 
has  been  held  at  Rushville  during  the  month  of  August  each 
year  since,  usually  lasting  three  days.  In  the  year  1868, 
the  teachers'  organized  the  "  Schuyler  County  Teachers'  In- 
stitute"    The  following  is  the  preamble : 

"  Whereas,  we  believe  that  the  cause  of  education  in  this 
county  has  long  needed  the  stimulus  that  can  only  be  de- 
rived from  an  organized  and  determined  effort  on  the  part 
of  its  friends,  and,  believing  that  such  results  can  best  be  at- 
tained by  a  County  Teachers'  Institute,  therefore, 

Resolved.  That  we  do  now  organize  ourselves  under  the 
name  and  style  of  the"  Schuyler  County  Teachers'  Institute." 
The  County  Board  has  in  no  way  encouraged  this  Institute. 
It  has  never  appropriated  any  thing  for  lectures,  instructors, 
or  incidental  expenses. 

The  teachers  in  attendance  have  taken  the  part  of  in- 
structors, and  by  questions  and  discussions  have  made  the 
sessions  of  that  institute  very  pleasant  and  profitable. 

In  1875,  and  also  in  1876,  William  Gray  held  a  Teachers' 
Normal  at  the  High  School  iu  Rushville,  which  was  well 
sustained  by  the  teachers  of  the  county.  In  1877,  H.  A. 
Smith  and  E.  A.  Allen,  held  the  Normal  Teachers'  drill. 
For  the  last  five  years,  Nathan  T.  Veatch,  a  close  and  ac- 
curate student  and  good  instructor,  has  conducted  the  Nor- 
mal. The  influence  of  these  drills  is  felt  throughout  the 
county  in  the  improvement  of  the  schools. 

William  Hobart  Taylor  taught  school  in  the  house  of 
Calvin  Hobart,  in  the  winter  of  1832-34.  This  was  a  small 
school. 

The  first  schools  held  in  cabins  unoccupied  by  a  family, 
were  in  the  summer  of  1826,  when  Jotiathan  D.  Manlove 
taught  a  school  in  his  own  house  on  the  N.  W.  i,  sec.  30, 
Rushville  township.  At  the  same  time  Sophronia  Chadsey, 
afterwards  Mrs.  Manlove,  taught  in  the  cabin  on  N.  E.  i 
of  S.  E.  },  section  16,  the  first  built  in  the  county.  As  J. 
D.  Manlove  was,  for  many  years,  one  of  Schuyler's  most 
honored  citizens,  and  is  authority  on  most  questions  regard- 
ing the  early  history  of  Schuyler  county.  I  copy  the  follow- 
ing letter  from  him  to  the  Schuyler  Citizen : 

1826  versus  1881." 

Mr.  Editor:  With  unfeigned  pleasure  I  read  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Rushville  High  School,  recently  published  iu  the 
Citizen.  The  performance  was  very  creditable  to  all  con- 
cerned. If  I  were  to  criticise  anything,  it  would  be  the  uni- 
formity of  old  heads  on  young  shoulders,  as  shown  by  the 
form  of  thought  each  pupil  possessed  ;  but  as  the  ideas  were 
all  good  and  important  to  success,  no  strictures  are  in  order. 

"  My  mind  reverts  back  to  the  summer  of  1826,  when  I 
taught  a  school  in  a  log  cabin  where  Mr.  Little's  house  now 
stands,  northeast  of  your  city.  The  cabin  was  the  largest 
one  in  the  county,  and  had  been  occupied  by  a  family  not 
censurable  for  the  godly  virtue  of  cleanliness,  and  was  infested 
with  a  numerous  progeny  of  bugs,  whose  odorous  perfume 
was  not  pleasant  to  the  olfactories  of  teacher  or  pupils. 
They  had  prior  possession,  and  had  fortified  and  were  taking 
possession  of  the  books  and  dinner  baskets.  We  were  compelled 


196 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


to  declare  a  war  of  extermination.  We  procured  a  large 
iron  kettle,  and  when  ready  with  boiling  water  all  hands 
moved  on  the  enemies'  works,  and  after  a  long  and"  bloody 
battle,  succeeded  in  destroying  all  their  army,  except  a  very 
considerable  number  of  stragglers  that  returned  early  to 
their  well  known  and  impregnable  hidings.  Peace  reigned 
in  Warsaw,  the  six  inch  benches  were  again  occupied,  and 
the  daily  supply  of  muskmelons,  which  was  furnished  by 
the  teacher,  eaten  ;  and  all  were  happy  and  contented.  And 
right  here  I  must  refer  to  the  first  effort  to  build  a  school - 
house  in  Schuyler.  I  think  it  was  in  1827,  and  near  B. 
Chadsey's,  perhaps  on  Wheelhouse's  farm,  then  owned  by 
Jesse  Bartlett.  A  log  house  was  pu  t  up  and  perhaps  covered ; 
it  was  done  under  a  very  imperfect  law,  the  first  in  the  State 
that  was  called  a  free  school  law.  There  was  great  prejudice 
at  that  time  with  a  portion  of  our  southern  and  western 
population  against  any  law  regulating  and  requiring  each 
citizen  to  assist  in  the  promotion  of  schools.  Many  a  poli- 
tician was  popular,  or  the  reverse,  owing  to  his  views  pro 
or  con.  The  house  was  never  finished  because  of  the  ignor- 
ance and  prejudice  then  extant.  Fifty-five  years  have  passed, 
and  where  are  the  friends  of  education  to-day  ?  A  reasonable 
appreciation  of  its  value  is  almost  universal.  It  is  be- 
lieved by  the  ripest  minds  of  the  age,  to  be  the  anchor  of 
hope  for  the  perpetuation  of  our  system  of  government,  a 
necessity  if  the  system  survives,  and  a  beacon  light  to  all 
ignorant  and  savage  nations.  This  diffusion  of  knowledge 
must  imbue  the  minds  of  the  future  generations  with  the 
grandest  conceptions  of  truth,  the  scope  of  which  combines 
all  that  is  useful  and  beautiful  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  in  re- 
ligion and  in  all  the  works  of  God  and  man.  It  will  dispel 
superstition,  promote  morality  and  true  Christianity.  For 
truth  is  science,  and  science  is  truth  demonstrated,  and 
neither  conflicts  with  true  Christianity.  Let  me  say  to  the 
young  scholars  above  referred  to  that  in  intellectual  cultiva- 
tion as  in  everything  else :  to  think  we  are  able  to  achieve 
is  almost  achievement.  Everywhere  are  found  the  means  or 
facilities  for  obtaining  an  education,  and  if  we  have  the  fixed 
purpose  to  use  them,  we  can  surely  make  advancement. 
Permit  a  quotation  from  the  Irish  orator,  Phillips.  He 
says :  "  Education  is  a  companion  which  no  crime  can  de- 
stroy ;  no  enemy  alienate ;  no  despotism  enslave.  At  home 
it  is  a  frieud,  abroad  it  is  an  introduction,  and  in  society  it  is 
an  ornament.  It  chastens  vice,  guides  virtue,  and  gives  at 
once  grace  and  government  to  the  genius.  Without  it  what 
is  man?  A  splendid  slave,  a  reasoning  savage,  vacillating 
between  the  dignity  of  an  intelligence  derived  from  God, 
and  the  degradation  of  passion  participated  with  brutes.  " 

The  history  of  the  schools  of  the  different  townships  is 
nearly  the  same.  The  first  schools-  were  "  pay  schools  "  or 
subscription  schools.  When  the  16th  section  was  sold  it 
created  a  fund,  the  interest  of  which  was  to  assist  in  support- 
ing free  schools.  The  state  school  tax  and  revenue  derived 
from  fines,  together  with  the  school  tax  of  each  district, 
were  for  the  same  purpose.  Oakland  sold  her  school  land 
in  June,  1837.  The  first  school  in  the  township  was  taught 
by  a  Mr.  Preston  in  a  log  cabin  built  by  Frederick  Noble, 
on  the  S.  E.  }  of  section  24,  in  the  summer  of  1835.     Schol- 


ars in  attendance  were  Abner  and  William,  children  of 
Richard  Ashcraft ;  Harriet,  daughter  of  William  Burress  ; 
Rebecca  and  Nancy,  children  of  Josiah  Downer  ;  Benjamin, 
Martha  Ann,  Sarah  Jane  and  Joseph  S.,  children  of  Joseph 
Logan  ;  and  three  children  of  the  teacher.  The  subscrip- 
tion was  81.50  per  month.     Session  three  months. 

Thomas  Bronaugh  taught  the  first  school  in  Littleton, 
in  a  deserted  cabin  in  the  summer  of  1835.  The  cabin  was 
on  S-  W.  \  section  21.  Pupils:  Julia,  Margaret,  John,  and 
Ephraim  L.,  children  of  David  Snyder;  Martha,  Nancy, 
Evaline  and  Ludwell,  children  of  Elijah  M.  Wilson  ;  Eliza 
and  Benjamin,  children  of  R.  P.  Aplegate;  Andrew  Wycoff, 
a  nephew,  John,  Thomas  Jacob,  Daniel  and  Asher,  children 
of  Garrett  Wycoff;  Jane,  Eliza  Ann,  and  Tolbert,  children 
of  Win.  H.  Crawford.  First  school-house,  a  log  cabin 
built  in  1838,  on  S.  W.  i  of  section  19,  Hon.  Samuel  Hor- 
ney,  teacher.  John  Weaver  settled  on  this  quarter  section 
in  1833,  and  the  farm  is  still  owned  by  his  youngest  son, 
David  Weaver.     Littleton  sold  her  school  section  in  1840. 

Brooklyn  did  not  sell  the  school  section  until  March  25, 
1841.  The  first  school  in  this  township  was  taught  by 
Richard  Kellough,  in  a  log  cabin,  in  the  village,  in  1837. 
The  first  school -house  was  built  in  1842. 

The  first  school  in  Birmingham  township,  was  taught  in 
a  log  cabin  in  the  village  by  Wm.  Neil  in  the  winter  of 
1837.  The  following  named  persons  were  appointed  by  the 
Schuyler  County  CommL-sioners'  Court,  trustees  for  the  school- 
land  of  3  N.  4  W. :  Wm.  Dron,  James  G.  King  and  J.  G. 
Graham.  On  petition  the  16th  section  was  sold  April  7, 
1847,  being  the  last  township  in  the  county  to  offer  its  school 
land  for  sale. 

A  Mr.  Kimball,  an  old  man  from  Kentucky,  taught 
a  school  in  a  small  log  cabin  south  of  Huntsville,  in  Hunts- 
ville  township,  in  1835-6.  There  were  three  windows  of 
leather  which  were  fastened  up  during  the  day  to  permit 
the  light  to  pass  in  between  the  logs,  and  were  closed  at 
night.  The  teacher  permited  all  to  study  aloud.  Jeremiah 
Brisco  taught  the  first  school  in  Huntsville  in  1836,  in  a  log 
cabin  built  for  the  purpose  that  season.  He  taught  for  the 
same  school  for  several  terms. 

Huntsville  has  had  many  excellent  teachers.  Miss  Mary 
Hart,  of  Conn.,  taught  the  school  south  of  Huntsville  dur- 
ing the  summer  of  1836.  H.  E.  Bryant,  now  banker  at 
Bement ;  Miss  Eunice  Kimball,  an  eastern  lady,  and  Alvin 
Bacon,  each  taught  several  terms  in  Huntsville.  Miss 
Letitia  Biscoe  taught  in  a  log  cabin  near  Shilo.  The  win- 
dows of  this  cabin  consisted  of  a  board  fastened  up  with  a 
strap. 

The  first  frame  school  house  in  Huntsville,  was  built 
about  1840.  School  land  sold  April  8, 1839.  The  first  school 
in  Camden  township  was  taught  by  Esq.  John  Thornhill,  in 
1836,  in  a  neglected  cabin  built  by  a  squatter  in  1835,  on 
section  18.  The  second  school  was  taught  in  the  winter  of 
1838-9,  by  George  L.  Gray,  who  now  owns  and  lives  on  the 
same  piece  of  land,  sec.  22,  where  he  fought  his  Christmas 
battles.  He  was  fastened  out  by  the  big  boys  until  he 
would  promise  to  treat  to  toddy.  He  finally  yielded  and 
furnished  the  money,  when  a  boy  by  the  name   of  Brown, 


HISTORY    OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


197 


went  to  what  is  now  Brooklyn,  for  the  whiskey.  The  toddy 
was  made  in  buckets,  and  the  teacher  and  pupils  enjoyed  it 
together,  and  harmony  was  restored.  Tuition  $1.50  per 
quarter.  John  Anderson  taught  in  the  northern  part  of 
what  is  now  the  village  of  Camden  in  1839.  A  brief  de- 
scription of  this  school-house,  may,  with  very  few  changes, 
apply  equally  well  to  any  one  of  our  tarly  "  temples  of  learn- 
ing," in  which  the  youth  were  wont  to  woo  the  goddess  of 
wisdom. 

It  was  built  of  logs,  as  were  all  of  the  houses  at  that  time. 
The  fire-place  occupied  nearly  the  whole  of  one  side  of 
the  room  and  a  recess  in  the  wall.  After  reaching  a 
height  of  about  6  feet  the  logs  were  placed  straight 
across  that  side  of  the  room,  and  the  chimney  of  sticks  was 
continued  up  on  the  outside  of  the  house.  It  had  puncheon 
floor  and  seats,  and  greased  paper  placed  between  the  logs 
for  windows.  The  large  boys  cut  and  carried  the  wood  for 
the  fire.     The  school  section  was  sold  in  October  1837. 

The  first  school-house  in  Schuyler  county  was  built  in 
Buena  Vista  in  1828,  on  N.  W.  i  of  sec.  1,  and  Robert 
Sexton  taught  a  two  months'  session.  On  May  10,  1830, 
Samuel  L.  Dark  commenced  a  six  months'  session  on  N.  E 
i  of  sec.  22.  In  '43-44,  George  B.  Grey  taught  at  Cross 
Boads.  The  subscription  consisted  of  various  kinds  of  pro- 
duce ;  one  patron  agreeing  to  pay  a  certain  number  of 
bushels  of  wheat,  another  a  certain  number  of  bushels  of 
oats,  &c,  &c.  It  was  not  always  the  easiest  matter  to  collect 
in  those  days,  and  the  teacher  employed  Jacob  Snyder  to  col- 
lect for  him.  Another  teacher  of  the  same  school  was  Mr. 
Wheadon.  Instead  of  the  usual  mottoes  around  the  room, 
each  pupil  could  read  the  penalty  for  certain  offences. 
?  lashes  for  talking  out  loud.  ?  lashes  for  fighting.  13  lashes 
for  quarreling  going  to  or  from  school,  and  other  rules  with 
the  penalty.  Buena  Vista  has  the  largest  school  fund  of 
any  township  in  the  county,  owing  to  the  foreclosing  of  its 
mortgage  and  reselling  of  a  portion  of  its  school  section  after 
it  hadadvanced  in  price.  This  section  was  first  sold  in  April, 
1838.  The  first  schools  of  Rushville  township  have  already 
been  referred  to  The  first  school  at  Sugar  Grove  in  this 
township,  (two  in  this  county)  was  taught  by  Miss  Mary 
Ann  Boron,  now  Mrs.  John  Lee,  in  1832. 

Joab  Moore  taught  the  first  school  in  the  Hall  neighbor- 
hood in  1833-4.  The  first  school-house  was  built  the  next 
season,  and  Charles  Neill  taught  the  first  school  in  it. 

The  first  school  in  Browning  township  was  taught  by  aman 
from  Tennessee  in  1835,  in  a  small  log  cabin  built  by 
Nathan  Glover.  This  was  the  second  township  to  sell  its 
school  section,  which  was  done  Oct.  29,  1833,  by  Alfred 
Wallace  and  John  M.  Campbell,  trustees. 

The  first  session  of  school  in  Hickory  was  taught  by  a  Mr. 
Sheldon  in  1838,  in  a  cabin  built  on  the  bluffs.  There  were 
but  two  small  fractions  of  section  16  in  this  township. 

The  first  school  in  Frederick  was  held  in  a  private  cabin 
built  by  Horatio  Benton.  The  first  school-house  was  built 
in  1846,  a  small  one  story  frame  building  now  used  as  a 
town  house. 

The  first  school  in  Bainbridge  was  in  a  log  cabin  builtfor 
the  purpose  on  section   22  about   the  year  1830.     The  first 


teachers  were  John  Keeton,Mr.  Sexton,  John  Parker,  Joseph 
Bell,  James  M.  Stevens. 

John  Greene  taught  school  in  the  winter  of  1835-6  in 
a  log  cabin  built  in  the  fall,  on  N.  E.  sect.  1. 

Samuel  Haines,  Jas.  Lawler,  and  Nathan  Winshaell  were 
appointed  trustees  at  the  June  term  of  court  in  1836.  The 
school-land  was  sold  Dec.  5,  1836. 

The  first  school  in  Woodstock  township  was  taught  by 
John  Taylor  in  1827.  The  first  school  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  township  was  taught  by  Mr.  Charles  Hatfield  in  the 
winter  of  1833,  in  a  house  built  that  fall  of  elm  poles 
in  an  elm  grove  near  Mr.  Joshua  Griffiths.'  The  pupils  and 
teacher  mixed  the  mud  on  the  floor  of  the  school-house,  af- 
ter the  school  began,  with  which  they  daubed  the  house  at 
recesses  and  noon.  Scholars  in  attendance  at  this  school 
were  William  T.  and  Isaac,  children  of  Richard  Black  ; 
Sarah  and  Rebecca,  children  of  Jacob  Fowler  ;  Houston 
and  Elihu,  children  of  Allen  Alexander ;  James  and 
Thomas,  children  of  Isaac  Sanders ;  Anderson,  Isaac  S.  and 
Pressly  Riley,  children  of  Mrs.  Amelia  S.  Riley.  The 
day  before  Christmas,  Anderson  and  Pressly  Riley  took 
the  teacher  out  and  wallowed  him  in  snow,  and  left  him  tied, 
because  the  teacher  would  not  treat  to  whisky.  The  teacher 
treated  to  two  gallons  of  whisky  on  New  Year's. 

In  the  same  school-house,  taught  Thomas  Binkly,  Mr. 
Johnson,  Enoch  Boughton,  Faunton  Muse  and  Robert  Glenn. 

Whilst  the  strife  for  the  Christmas  treat  was  going  on, 
when  Mr.  Muse  was  teacher,  he  attempted  to  descend  the 
spacious  chimney,  when  one  of  the  boys  threw  water  on  the 
coals  in  the  fire-place  which  nearly  caused  him  to  fall,  but 
he  managed  to  crawl  out,  and  promised  the  usual  treat. 

Robert  Glenn  spent  much  of  his  time  in  reading  law  whilst 
the  pupils  amused  themselves.  One  day,  desiring  to  obtain 
some  young  squirrels  in  the  top  of  a  dry  tree  about  100 
yards  from  the  school-house,  the  scholars  built  a  fire  around 
the  tree  in  the  morning  and  agreed  to  run  when  they  heard 
it  fall.  On  hearing  the  tree  fall,  all  ran  without  a%king 
permission  except  two  small  boys.  When  they  returned  the 
teacher  looked  up  and  a-ked  them  if  they  had  got  back. 
Comment  is  unnecessary. 

Townships  IS.  1  W.  and  13  S.  2  W.  are  united  with 
Brown  county  for  school  purposes. 

Rushville  has  a  very  comprehensive  school  history,  for  it 
has  had  its  Western  Seminary,  Cottage  Seminary,  Female 
Seminary,  Scripps'  Academy,  The  Seminary,  M.  E.  Church 
High  School,  Parrott  School  House,  and  Rushville  Union 
School.     Schools  were  also  held  in  many  other  places. 

There  have  always  been  strong  friends  of  education  in 
Rushville.  Taking  a  correct  view,  "they  considered  that  it 
was  cheaper  for  themselves  and  better  for  the  town  to  sup- 
port good  schools  where  their  children  could  be  educated  at 
home,  than  to  send  them  away.  On  June  25, 1845,  J.  Clarke, 
Lycurgus  I.  Kimbali,  George  B.  Rogers,  Roland  M.  Wor- 
thington,  Jas.  G.  McCreery,  Abraham  Tolls,  Wm.  E.  With- 
row,  Joseph  Montgomery  and  James  L.  Anderson,  purchas- 
ed the  lot  where  the  Union  School  building  now  stands,  and 
built  the  Seminary.  The  first  teacher  in  this  institution 
was  A.  J.  Sawyer,  now  teacher  of  mathematics  in   Chicago 


1»8 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


University,  assisted  by  Miss  Williams  and  Miss  Dayton. 
This  was  in  1848.  The  next  teachers  were  R.  H.  Griffith, 
assisted  by  Miss  Sophia  Barber,  afterwards  Mrs.  McCroskey. 
Dr.  Thomas  C.  Nichols  assisted  by  J.  N.  Speed  taught  in 
the  summer  of  1855. 

The  boys  will  not  soon  forget  Levi  Lusk,  or  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
More  or  Mr.  Wm.  English.  If  they  forget  the  first,  say 
"  pigtails,"  if  the  second,  "  who  struck  she,"  if  the  third, 
"  Billie  Moses  "  Other  teachers  at  the  Seminary  were  Mr. 
Lucas,  G.  W.  Scripps  who  followed  Mr.  English,  Geo.  T. 
Ramsey  and  daughter  Lydia,  Judge  Lucas,  Henry  Smither 
and  others. 

Mr.  Marple  built  the  Cottage  Seminary  about  1862, 
where  he  taught  until  about  1865.  He  was  a  most  excellent 
instructor  but  poor  governor. 

The  schools  at  the  Parrott  School  House  had  the  following 
names  among  the  instructors :  Mary  Moore,  and  Miss  Ed- 
wards ;  Wm.  Ellis  and  daughter ;  Mrs.  James  McCroskey. 
At  the  Female  Seminary  Miss  Anna  Gray,  now  Mrs.  Charles 
Warren,  was  a  successful  teacher.  The  long  list  of  names 
of  successful  teachers  of  Rushville  is  an  admonition  to  stop 
at  once  and  to  let  this  be  written  up  for  Rushville  instead 
of  the  county  history.  The  Rushville  High  School  Associa- 
tion sold  the  Seminary  to  District  No.  9  in  1855 

The  deed  conveying  said  seminary  to  the  public  school  of 
Rushville  was  signed  by  James  L.  Anderson,  William  H. 
Ray,  W.  W.  Wells,  R.  C  Hall,  J.  G.  McCreery,  R.  H.  Grif- 
fith, Thomas  Monroe  and  J.  C.  Bagby. 

The  female  seminary  was  bought  of  the  Cumberland 
church  and  used  for  a  ladies'  private  seminary  for  three 
years,  the  number  of  pupils  being  limited  to  twenty-five. 
The  building  is  now  owned  by  the  M.  E.  Church. 

In  March,  1869,  the  Rushville  Union  School  District  was 
incorporated  by  a  special  act  of  the  legislature.  It  is  formed 
out  of  parts  of  Rushville  and  Buena  Vista.  Wm.  H.  Ray, 
Thomas  Wilson,  W.  W.  Wells  and  R.  H.  Griffith  took  the 
old  cast  iron  oath  of  office  on  the  4th  of  June.  1869,  as  the 
first  board  of  education  of  Rushville  Union  School  District. 
On  July  7th  following  W.  S.  Irwin  was  elected  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  E.  D.  Leach. 

In  1870  the  Union  School  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  about 
845.000. 

The  schools  of  the  New  Union  School  District  were  first 
graded  by  John  F.  Gowdy  in  1869.  In  1871  they  were  all 
brought  together  in  the  new  building  standing  where  "  the 
seminary "  formerly  stood.  They  were  reorganized  and 
brought  to  a  high  standard  of  excellence  during  the  next 
two  years  by  J.  M.  Coyner,  now  of  Salt  Lake  City.  In  1 875* 
the  furnaces  were  removed  and  the  building  heated  by  steam, 
a  much  needed  improvement.  The  finishing  work  of  the 
building,  which  was  left  in  1871,  was  completed  in  1876. 
The  first  class  graduated  on  June  14,  1876,  consisting  of 
eight  girls  and  four  boys.  The  school  has  nine  departments 
and  ten  teachers.  There  is  a  regular  three  years'  high 
school  course,  and  those  completing  it  receive  the  diploma 
of  the  school.  Of  the  teachers  of  the  Union  School,  Miss 
Anna  J.  Ramsey,  Miss  Tillie  Erwin,  and  Emma  C.  Ervin, 
served  the  longest  time,  eight  to  eleven  years.     Miss  Ida 


M.  McCall,  of  Galesburg,  was  teacher  in  the  high  school 
from  1875  until  1880.  The  school  has  a  fine  cabinet  of  cu- 
riosities and  specimens. 

I  have  given  as  complete  a  history  of  the  schools  of 
Schuyler  county  as  space  would  seem  to  warrant.  Perhaps 
I  should  add,  that  there  is  at  present  but  one  log  school- 
house  left.  The  present  school-houses  are,  many  of  them, 
neat  frame  buildings,  supplied  with  blackboards,  maps  and 
globes — things  unknown  when  the  desks  were  supported  by 
pins  in  the  logs  and  the  pupils  required  to  sit  on  long  wooden 
pins,  high  up  on  the  wall,  for  punishment.  Corporal  punish- 
ment has  grown  beautifully  less. 

The  teachers  are  required  to  pass  a  rigid  examination, 
and  the  patrons  of  the  school  demand  successful  teachers. 
Instead  of  opposition  to  taxation  for  educational  purposes,  it 
is  now  regarded  as  true  economy  to  a  community  to  encour- 
age higher  development.  The  continual  cheapening  of  mere 
manual  labor  and  the  increased  demand  for  directive  energy, 
and  the  fact  that  the  wealth  of  a  community  depends  upon 
the  amount  of  its  directive  intelligence,  are  matters  better 
understood  than  formerly. 

It  is  better  that  the  youth  of  a  community  be  educated  to 
become  this  directive  intelligence  than  that  they  occupy  sub- 
ordinate positions. 

"  No  mother  should  be  so  unchristian  as  not  to  teach  her 
children  to  read  and  write."  "As  an  orange  is  not  an 
orange  till  it  is  ripe,  so  a  man  is  not  a  man  till  he  is  edu- 
cated." 


BROWN  COUNTY. 


BY   MOSES   BLACK. 


The  object  of  this  chapter  is  to  give  a  brief  account  of 
the  schools  of  Brown  county,  from  its  settlement  to  the 
present  time.  In  collecting  the  necessary  information,  I 
have  been  compelled  to  rely,  almost  exclusively,  on  the 
recollections  of  the  old  residents;  and  the  work  cannot, 
therefore,  claim  absolute  accuracy.  The  majority  of  the 
teachers  of  half  a  century  ago  were  without  any  special 
training  for  their  work.  Many  of  them  had  never  "  ciphered 
past  the  Single  Rule  of  Three,"  and  the  course  of  study  in 
the  schools  was  commonly  confined  to  the  "  three  R's" 
(Reading,  Riting,  and  Rithm'etic).  They  labored  faithfully 
to  instruct  their  pupils,  and  as  school  commonly  began  at 
sunrise  and  continued  till  sunset,  with  only  a  noon  intermis- 
sion, it  will  be  seen  that  their  work  was  not  light.  There 
were  no  class-recitafions,  except  the  spelling  classes,  which 
commonly  spelled  twice  a  day,  beginning  at  the  head,  and 
each  pupil  who  spelled  a  word  missed  by  one  standing  nearer 
to  the  head  of  the  class,  took  the  place  of  the  one  missing 
it.  Some  of  the  early  schools  were  what  is  termed  "  loud 
schools,"  and  when  in  good  working-order  could  be  heard 
quite  a  distance.  All  the  pupils  studied  aloud,  and  each 
one  exerted  himself  to  make  as  great  a  noise  as  possible. 
As  late  as  1852  a  school  of  that  kind  was  taught  in  the  old 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


199 


log-house  which  stood  a  short  distance  south  of  the  present 
building  in  the  Gilbirdsport  district,  in  Elkhom  township. 
The  gentleman  who  taught  this  school  called  upon  the  School 
Commissioner  (S.  S.  Black),  armed  with  a  request  from  the 
directors  of  his  district,  to  grant  him  a  certificate.  The  com- 
missioner, though  having  no  discretion  in  the  matter  when 
a  request  was  presented,  asked  the  applicant  a  few  questions  ; 
one  of  them  was:  "Mr.  C.  what  is  orthography?"  The 
applicant  responded :  "  I  never  studied  anything  only  the 
common  branches."  In  some  of  the  schools  they  were  per- 
mitted to  study  aloud  when  preparing  their  spelling-lessons. 
Written  or  blackboard  work  was  unknown.  The  teachers 
sometimes  wrote  the  multiplication-table,  and  gave  it  to  the 
pupils  to  memorize.  In  discipline  they  were  generally  rigid, 
the  rod  being  frequently  used.  An  incident,  which  occurred 
in  one  of  the  earliest  schools  in  Mt.  Sterling,  illustrates  the 
then  prevalent  idi-a  in  regard  to -corporal  punishment. 
During  the  school  exercises,  the  door  was  unceremoniously 
opened,  and  one  of  the  patrons  of  the  school  said  to  the 
teacher:  "Mr,  Taylor,  have  you  whipped  my  son  Alec?" 
"No,  sir;  he  is  a  good  boy,  studies  well,  and  does  not  need 
it."  "I  want  you  to  whip  him,  as  I  think  it  would  make 
him  do  better.''  Some  of  the  early  teachers  required  the 
boys  to  bow  and  the  girls  to  courtesy  to  any  person  they 
met  while  on  the  road  to  or  from  school.  This  custom  was 
continued  in  some  schools,  as  late  as  the  year  1849,  when 
the  writer  first  attended  school.  The  t<  xt  books  commonly 
used  were,  Noah  Webster's  Spelling-Book,  Pike's  Arithme- 
tic, and  the  Introduction  to  the  English  Reader.  Books 
were  scarce,  and,  for  reading,  pupils  brought  any  book  they 
could  obtain.  Some  schools,  in  addition  to  the  Reader  men- 
tioned, would  have  the  Bible,  a  Life  of  Marion  or  Wash- 
ington, Robinson  Crusoe  and  in  some  instances  old  news* 
papers  supplied  the  place  of  a  reader.  Ink  was  made  of 
nutgalls,  or  the  bark  of  maple  or  walnut  trees.  All  the 
pens  were  made  by  the  teacher  from  goose-quills.  In  the 
matter  of  school  architecture  there  was  a  great  similarity. 
The  houses  were  commonly  built  of  round  logs,  the  cracks 
chinked  with  sticks,  and  a  large  fire-place  witha  stick  chim- 
ney. In  some  instances  the  chimney  was  built  from  the 
upper  joists,  and  the  wood  being  laid  on  the  hearth  below, 
the  pupils  could  approach  (he  fire  from  three  sides,  instead 
of  the  front  only,  as  was  the  case  with  an  ordinary  fire-place. 
The  roof  was  always  made  of  clapboards,  and  frequently 
fastened  with  weight-poles  instead  of  nails.  The  floor  (when 
the  building  had  one),  was  made  of  puncheons,  and  the  seats 
were  either  poles  or  slabs,  supported  by  sticks  stuck  in  them. 
The  only  desk  was  a  slab  hewed  from  the  body  of  a  tree, 
and  placed  on  underpins  driven  in  the  wall.  The  windows 
were  made  by  cutting  out  a  log;  sometimes  placing  greased 
paper  over  the  opening;  at  other  times  a  single  row  of  glass 
would  be  used.  All  the  school-houses  of  that  date  were 
built  by  the  voluntary  labors  of  the  settlers.  The  schools 
were  sustained  almost  entirely  by  the  tuition  paid  by  the 
patrons.  An  article  of  agreement  was  commonly  written, 
and  each  one  signed  whatever  number  of  scholars  he  in- 
tended to  send,  the  price  per  scholar  being  stipulated  in  the 
agreement.     In  addition  to  the  tuition  paid  him,  the  teacher 


commonly  "boarded  round,"  that  is,  stayed  a  part  of  the 
time  with  each  family,  his  board  costing  him  nothing  Many 
of  the  pupils  from  sixteen  to  twenty  years  of  age  were  learn- 
ing to  read,  and  from  oue  to  four  miles  was  a  common  dis- 
tance for  them  to  walk.  It  was  a  common  thing,  when  there 
was  no  school  in  a  neighborhood,  to  send  children  to  some 
other  part  of  the  county,  and  pay  board  and  tuition  while 
attending  school.  Teachers'  wages  were  frequently  no  higher 
than  thirteen  dolhirs  per  month,  and,  in  some  instances,  as 
low  as  ten  dollars  per  month  was  paid,  or  rather  promised, 
as  the  collections  seldom  amounted  to  enough  to  pay  the 
teacher  the  stipulated  price.  It  was  a  common  occurrence 
for  the  pupils,  just  before  the  Christmas  holidays,  to  take 
possession  of  the  school-house,  and  refuse  to  allow  the 
teacher  to  enter,  unless  he  would  promise  to  "  treat  the 
school."  Failing  in  this,  they  would  resort  to  "heroic 
treatment,"  and  many  a  contest  ensued.  The  custom  was 
favored  by  public  opinion,  and  generally  the  teacher  had  to 
succumb.  As  a  good  illustration  of  this,  I  give  the  follow- 
ing statement,  written  by  a  former  resident  of  Brown  county, 
now  a  prominent  physician  in  a  neighboring  county  :  "  In  the 
winter  of  1845  and  '46,  I  was  employed  to  teach  a  school  in 
Buckhorn  township.  I  was  to  receive  forty  dollars,  and 
board  around,  for  my  services,  the  term  being  three  months. 
The  school-house  was  about  eighteen  feet  square,  built  of 
round  logs,  clapboard  roof,  held  on  by  weight-]  oles.  The 
chimney,  which  occupied  the  greater  part  of  one  side  of  the 
house,  was  built  of  sticks.  One  log  was  cut  out  for  a  window, 
in  which  I  believe  there  was  a  single  row  of  eight-by-ten 
window-glass.  The  floor,  benches,  and  writing-desk  were 
made  of  puncheons.  We  began  school  by  the  time  the  sun 
rose,  and  continued  till  sunset.  McGuffey's  Readers  and 
Webster's  Elementary  Speller  were  the  books  most  used. 
There  were  about  thirty  pupils  in  attendance,  and  among 
them  probably  half  a  dozen  boys  and  as  many  girls  were 
full-grown.  The  first  day  of  our  school,  at  noon,  the  young 
men  and  larger  girls  commenced  playing  such  plays  as  were 
common  at  social  parties,  mch  as,  Old  Sister  Phoebe,  Pleased 
or  Displeased,  Kitchen  Furniture,  &c,  which  were  usually 
wound  up  by  marrying  a  couple.  I  had  som«  doubts  about 
the  propriety  of  such  amusements  at  school,  but  not  wishing 
to  assume  any  arbitrary  authority,  I  referred  it  to  the  direct- 
ors. After  consulting,  they  said  that,  '  As  such  plays  were 
allowed  at  the  private  houses,  there  could  be  no  harm  in 
permitting  them,  at  play-time,  in  the  school  house.'  Such 
being  their  decision,  the  plays  went  on  through  the  entire 
term,  and  I  made  a  full  scholar  in  that  department.  I  could 
do  as  much  kissing  as  any  of  them,  being  about  eighteen 
years  of  age,  and  very  fond  of  such  exercises.  Many  of  the 
young  men  and  women  of  the  neighborhood,  who  did  not 
attend  school,  would  come  in  and  take  part  with  us  in  those 
plays.  It  was  customary,  at  that  time,  in  some  localities,  to 
turn  the  teacher  out,  or  even  to  take  him  to  the  creek  and 
give  him  a  cold  bath,  unless  he  would  agree  to  treat  the 
school  on  Christmas.  My  pupils  had  determined  to  duck 
me,  unless  I  would  agree  to  treat  them.  I  knew  nothing  of 
this  until  the  afternoon  of  Friday  before  Christmas.  When 
I  told  them  to  get  their  books  and  go  to  studying,  one  of  the 


200 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


young  men  stepped  up  to  me  and  said,  '  We  are  going  to  rule 
this  afternoon.'  I  at  once  suspected  what  the  trouble  was, 
and  stepping  outside  the  door,  picked  up  a  good-sized  hoop- 
pole.  I  then  went  back,  and  looking  as  fierce  as  I  could, 
told  them  I  would  thrash  the  life  out  of  all  who  did  not 
obey  me.  I  then  ordered  all  who  intended  to  behave  prop- 
erly to  march  over  on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  so  that  I 
might  see  how  many  I  would  have  to  whip.  This  order 
came  so  unexpectedly,  and  I  looked  so  fierce  and  determined, 
that  all  committed  themselves  on  my  side,  except  two  young 
men  and  one  girl.  The  young  men,  each  of  whom  was  older 
and  larger  than  myself,  then  took  hold  of  me,  the  girl  look- 
ing on  and  encouraging  them.  The  creek  was  nearly  half 
a  mile  from  the  school-house,  and  as  there  was  a  small  hill 
to  go  over,  it  was  no  easy  job  to  take  me  there.  There  was 
snow  on  the  ground,  and  we  had  a  pretty  rough  time  of  it, 
sometimes  all  down  together,  first  one  on  top  and  then  an- 
other, frequently  getting  very  mad.  and  occasionally  fight- 
ing. At  such  times  the  girls  would  cry,  and  come  and  take 
hold  of  the  boys,  and  beg  them  to  let  me  alone;  but  the 
one  girl  who  was  for  ducking  me  would  run  up  and  tell 
them  to  '  stand  back  and  let  them  duck  him.  He  ought  to 
treat ;  and  if  he  does  not  do  it,  he  ought  to  be  ducked.  Dad 
has  ducked  many  a  man  ;  and  there  is  a  law  to  make  him 
treat.'  The  boys  finally  tired  out,  and,  finding  they  could 
not  get  me  to  the  creek,  let  me  go ;  I  promising  to  treat  them 
when  I  got  ready.  I  did  treat  them,  on  Christmas-day, 
parents  and  children,  on  two  gallons  of  whiskey,  and  two 
pounds  of  sugar,  costing  me  just  one  dollar.  Apples  could 
not  be  had  at  that  time  We  had  a  jolly  time  at  the  treat, — 
spelling,  singing,  etc  , — and  the  whiskey  made  many  of  them 
feel  very  happy,  and  everything  went  off  well "  This  cus- 
tom has  long  since  become  obsolete.  The  rough  log-houses 
of  pioneer  days  have,  nearly  everywhere,  given  place  to 
neat  and  comfortable  buildings,  while  the  school-furniture 
of  the  present  day  is  almost  perfect.  The  qualifications  of 
teachers  are  much  better  than  formerly,  many  of  them  hav- 
ing received  professional  training.  Teaching  is  beginning 
to  be  recognized  as  a  profession,  and  each  year  the  quality 
of  the  work  done  by  our  teachers  is  improving.  The  teach- 
ers have  an  organization  which  holds  an  annual  meeting  of 
from  two  to  three  days,  and  intermediate  sessions  by  volun. 
tary  effort  are  quite  frequent.  I  have  obtained  from  the 
State  Superintendent  of  Public  instruction  a  copy  of  the 
oldest  report  on  file  in  his  office,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  the  progress  of  our  county,  contrast  it  with  the 
last  report : 

•1850.  1881. 

Number  of  schools  taught 30  58 

Av.  monthly  compensation  of  male  teachers  .  $17  42.46 

Av.  monthly  compensation  of  female  teachers  29.74 

Highest  rate  of  compensation  paid 20  100.00 

Lowest   rate  of  compensation  paid 10  15.00 

Amount   of   public   money   paid   for  teachers' 

wages 824.60  16,25581 

A  mount  annually  expended  for  schools  ...  995.45  24,849.56 

Number  of  school-houses 23  58 

Number  of  log  school-houses 21  4 

Number  of  frame  school-houses |  2  49 


The  first  school,  in  what  is  now  Brown  county,  was  taught, 
as  early  as  the  year  1830,  by  a  man  named  Agneal.  The 
school  was  taught  in  a  house  on  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  five  in  Cooperstown  township,  the  house  also  being 
the  teacher's  residence.  The  teacher  was  a  minister  and 
came  from  Ohio,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  any 
particulars  in  regard  to  the  school.  The  first  school-house 
in  the  county  was  built  in  the  same  township  on  the  north- 
east quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  nine,  in  the 
fall  of  1831.  It  was  a  rough  log  building,  sixteen  feet 
square,  clapboard  door  and  roof,  with  the  ordinary  furniture, 
and  was  never  completed.  In  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1832  George  W.  Lester  taught  school  there  and  A.  A.  Glenn, 
who  afterward  represented  this  district  in  the  State  senate, 
and  was  acting  Lieutenant  Governor,  was  one  of  his  pupils. 
His  school  was  composed  of  pupils  from  the  O'Neal  settle- 
ment near  Ripley,  and  the  White  settlement,  so  named  from 
Jacob  White,  the  first  settler  on  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Huffman  farm.  In  the  same  summer  Martin.  Dewitt  taught 
school  in  a  small  log  cabin  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion tweuty-four.  A  Mr.  Haggerty  taught  school  near  the 
present  town  of  Cooperstown  in  the  year  1833,  and  either  in 
the  same  or  following  year  Samuel  Briscoe  taught  there.  A 
hewed  log  school-house  was  built  on  the  White  farm,  south- 
east quarter  of  section  seventeen,  and  W.  C.  Hardin  taught 
the  first  school  there  in  1833.  He  was  followed  by  William 
Crewdson,  W.  J.  Ba-ket,  and,  in  1839,  A.  A.  Glenn  taught 
a  three  months'  school  there  for  which  he  received,  nominal- 
ly, thirteen  dollars  per  month,  about  one-third  of  which  was 
never  collected.  W.  F.  Cox  taught  near  La  Grange  in  1836 
or  '37,  the  locality  being  kuown  as  the  Orchard  settlement. 
J.  A-  Hankins  taught  school  on  Little  Creek  in  the  year 
1840,  and  in  1841  and  '42  A.  A.  Glenn  taught  in  a  house  on 
section  twenty  four.  James  D.  McPherson  was  one  of  the 
early  teachers,  beginning  about  1842  and  continuing  at  in- 
tervals for  many  years.  J.  L.  Bradbury,  a  resident  of  that 
township,  was  a  teacher  in  former  years. 

The  first  school-house  in  Mt-  Sterling  township  was  built 
jn  1832.  It  was  a  log  house  of  the  ordinary  kind,  one  of 
the  pupils  stating  that  to  the  best  of  his  recollection  there 
were  no  nails  used  in  its  construction.  It  was  situated  on 
the  north  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  twenty-one, 
being  the  land  now  owned  by  J.  H.  Hersman.  The  first 
school  in  the  township  was  taught  in  this  house  by  James 
Alexander  in  the  summer  of  1832,  and  in  the  winter  of  1832, 
'33,  Jonathan  Billings  taught  there.  A  part  of  his  school 
was  taught  in  a  cabin  near  by,  as  it  was  more  comfortable 
than  the  school-house.  George  Harper,  the  first  county 
surveyor  of  Brown  county,  taught  the  next  school,  and  in 
the  summer  of  1834  Samuel  Weir  taught  the  first  school  in 
the  town,  in  the  house  now  occupied  as  a  residence  by  John 
A.  Givens,  and  situated  near  the  northeast  corner  of  section 
seventeen.  The  room  in  which  the  school  was  taught  had 
no  floor,  the  children  sitting  upon  the  joists.  This  was  a 
silent  school,  but  the  pupils  were  permitted  to  study  aloud 
when  preparing  the  spelling  lesson.  One  of  the  ludicrous 
incidents  of  this  school  was  related  to  me  by  a  pupil.  Mr. 
Weir  made  a  bench  for  himself  and  would  sometimes  have 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


201 


pupils  sit  beside  him.  The  supports  of  the  bench  were  some 
distance  from  the  ends.  One  day  a  girl  was  reciting,  and 
seeing  a  boy  laughing  at  her,  she  kept  moving  away  from' 
the  teacher,  who,  to  relieve  her,  sat  upon  the  end  of  the 
bench.  Finally  the  girl,  suddenly  jumping  up,  the  bench 
tipped  and  threw  the  teacher  outside,  he  being  just  at  the 
door. 

The  first  school-house  built  in  the  town  was  a  hewed  log 
house  which  stood  in  the  street  east  of  the  court-house 
square.  John  Taylor  was  the  first  teacher,  and  taught  there 
as  early  as  1836.  He  taught  several  years  and  is  kindly 
remembered  by  his  former  pupils.  Several  ladies  were 
among  the  early  teachers.  Miss  Spencer,  Miss  Spring  and 
Miss  Pond  taught  soon  after  Mr.  Taylor,  and  Mr.  Scanland, 
T.  P.  W.  Magruder,  R.  C.  Dunn  and  Moses  Winslow,  all 
taught  at  an  early  date.  About  1848  the  brick  building,  now 
occupied  as  an  office  by  Doctor  A.  M.  Shields,  was  built  for  an 
academy.  It  was  the  work  of  a  joint  stock  association,  the 
shares  being  twenty -five  dollars  each,  and  the  cost  of  build- 
ing and  grounds  was  about  two  thousand  dollars  The 
school  was  successful  for  a  short  time,  but  the  stock  having 
changed  hands,  litigation  ensued  for  the  control  of  the  build- 
ing, and  the  usefulness  of  the  school  was  greatly  impaired. 
After  a  few  years  the  building  was  rented  to  the  district  and 
used  for  public  school.  _  So  far  as  can  be  learned,  this  was  the 
only  attempt  ever  made  in  the  county  to  establish  a  school 
for  higher  education.  About  1851  a  sehool-house  was  built 
by  private  parties  on  the  northwest  corner  of  South  and 
East  Cross  streets.  This,  and  the  brick  house  mentioned, 
were  the  only  school  rooms  in  the  town  for  several  years. 
About  185S  a  house  was  fitted  upon  the  north  side  of  North 
street,  and  a  short  distance  east  of  West  Cross  street,  which 
was  rented  by  the  district  until  the  fall  of  1865,  when  the 
main  building  of  the  present  school-house  was  built  by  the 
district.  It  was  enlarged  to  its  present  dimensions  in  1873, 
the  total  cost  being  about  $20,000,  and  now  contains  eight 
rooms,  each  twenty-five  by  thirty-seven  feet,  and  can  be 
easily  arranged  to  seat  five  hundred  pupils.  The  school 
was  organized  as  a  graded  school  in  the  same  year  the  build, 
ing  was  completed,  and  now  has  seven  departments,  includ- 
ing the  high  school,  which  has  a  three  years'  course  of  study. 
Nineteen  pupils  have  completed  the  course,  the  first  class 
graduating  in  1879.  I  learn  from  Professor  E.  It.  Sluader, 
who  is  now  in  charge  of  this  school,  that  during  the  past 
year  three  hundred  and  twelve  pupils  were  enrolled,  one 
hundred  and  forty  of  whom  were  males,  and  one  hundred 
and  seventy-two  females.  The  average  standing  of  this 
year's  graduates  was  87  per  cent. 

The  first  school  in  Lee  township  was  taught  iirthe  summer 
of  1832  by  Mrs.  Nancy  Howes,  wife  of  Oliver  Howes,  in 
their  cabin  which  was  situated  on  the  northeast  quarter  of 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  six.  Mrs.  Howes  stated 
that  some  of  the  children  came  five  miles  to  attend  this  school. 
The  discomforts  both  to  teacher  and  pupils  can  be  readily 
imagined  as  the  school  was  taught  in  the  same  room  occupied 
by  the  family,  the  teacher  at  the  same  time  doing  her  house- 
work. In  the  following  year  a  school-house  was  erected  in 
the  southeast  corner  of  Clayton  township,  and  a  school  was 

26 


maintained  for  several  years.  It  was  patronized  by  Lee, 
Pea  Ridge  and  the  adjoining  townships  in  Adams  county. 
The  first  school-house  in  Lee  township  was  built  on  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  eighteen,  about  the  year  1835, 
and  Thomas  Smith  taught  the  first  school  there.  Some  two 
or  three  years  later  this  house  was  moved  to  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  seventeen,  and  after  its  removal,  Daniel 
McCaskill  and  a  Mr.  Wells  were  among  the  first  teachers. 
The  first  school-houe  at  Mt.  Pleasant  was  built  about  the 
year  1840,  and  Daniel  McCaskill  also  taught  there.  The 
schools  of  this  township  were  quite  similar  to  those  of  other 
parts  of  the  county,  but  Lee  township  had  the  first  school 
in  the  county  taught  by  a  lady. 

The  fir.-t  school  to  which  the  pioneers  of  P.  a  Ridge  town- 
ship had  access  was  the  one  taught  by  Mrs.  Howes  in  Lee 
township.  The  school  in  the  southeast  corner  of  Clayton 
township  furnished  the  only  school  facilities  for  several 
years.  I  am  unable  to  state  positively  where  the  first  school 
in  the  township  was  taught,  but  think  it  probable  that  it 
was  in  an  old  cabin  on  section   fifteen,  about  the  year  1837, 


xeyxj-srssr^xr 


John  Flack  being  the  teacher.  The  old  school-house  on  the 
northwest  quarter  of  the  southeast  quarterof  section  thirty- 
two  was  one  of  the  first  built  in  the  township.  It  was  used 
as  a  place  of  meeting  by  the  township  trustees  in  July,  1839, 
and  must  have  been  built  ei.rly  in  that  year,  or  in  the  pre- 
ceding one.  In  the  month  of  May,  in  the  same  year,  the 
trustees  examined  Joseph  Peevehouse  as  to  his  qualifications 
to  teach  school,  and  granted  him  a  certificate  ;  he  taught 
one  of  the  first  schools  In  the  house  mentioned.  There  was 
a  house  built,  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  thirty-six, 
for  a  church  which  was  sometimes  used  for  school  purposes, 
but  the  time  of  its  erection  is  given  by  .some  as  1834,  while 
others  place  it  as  late  as  1842.  The  township  was  divided 
into  districts  in  1838,  and  I  think  the  record  states  that 
there  were  four  of  them,  in  the  entire  township.  The  first 
school-house  built  after  the  division  into  districts,  was 
intended  to  be  in  the  center,  but  whether  the  geographical 
center,  or  the   center   with  reference  to  population,  is  not 


202 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


stated.  In  1840  I  find  that  Joseph  Peevehouse,  Miss  Win- 
field,  Prudence  Davis,  Miss  Diarborn  and  James  M.  Stock- 
ton were  teachers  iu  the  public  schools.  At  the  meeting  of 
the  trustees  in  January,  1841,  funds  were  distributed  on  the 
schedules  of  William  Harrison  and  Daniel  McCaskill,  in 
addition  to  those  named  above,  and  in  July  of  the  same 
year,  on  the  schedules  of  Prudence  Davis,  T.  J.  Baird, 
Hugh  D.  Kiug,  William  Harrison,  Daniel  McCaskill  and 
James  W.  Singleton.  The  district  known  as  the  P.  11  school 
district  was  organized  in  1843,  and  the  house  was  built 
almost  entirely  by  voluntary  contribution  ;  and  Harrison 
Berry  taught  the  first  school  in  it.  A  house  was  built  on 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  twenty-six  at  an  early  date, 
and  a  Mr.  Boltinghouse  taught  the  first  school.  Ezekiel 
Mobley  also  taught  in  the  same  house.  The  early  school 
buildings  of  this  township  were  of  the  primitive  kind,  but 
those  of  recent  date  are  in  keeping  with  the  age. 

The  first  school  in  Missouri  township  was  taught  (in  the 
year  1833,  )  by  George  W.  Lester,  in  an  old  cabin,  on  the 
south  half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  twenty. 
James  Riley  taught  two  schools  in  the  same  house  soon 
after,  and  in  the  winter  of  1835-36  and  summer  of  1836, 
Daniel  McCaskill  taught  a  school  in  a  house  on  the  north, 
east  quarter  of  section  thirty.  The  first  school-house  built 
in  the  township  was  situated  near  the  center  of  section 
twenty-nine  and  was  probably  built  in  1837.  It  was  of  the 
primitive  style,  except  the  floor,  which  was  made  of  sawed 
lumber.  The  first  teacher  in  this  house  was  Dr.  U.  H. 
Baker,  then  came  Thomas  J.  Baird  and  James  \V.  Single- 
ton. The  old  house  near  the  center  of  section  eight  was 
built  about  the  year  1839.  Joseph  Miller  taught  the  first 
school  and  was  followed  by  a  Mr.  McDonald  and  Thomas  J. 
Baird.  The  old  Liberty  school-house  on  section  fifteen  was 
built  about  1847.  Thomas  J.  Baird  first  taught  there  and 
James  F.  Nardin  followed  him.  Mr.  X.  was  succeeded  by 
E.  M.  Spencer,  the  patriarch  of  the  profession  in  that  town- 
ship. Mr.  S.  began  in  1849  and  has  taught  almost  contin- 
uously, till  quite  recently.  With  few  exceptions  his  schools 
have  been  in  Missouri  township, and,  in  one  respect,  his  work 
is  without  a  parallel  in  this  county.  I  refer  to  the  fact  of 
his  teaching  one  school  for  fifteen  consecutive  years.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  teachers  to  leave  the  old  methods,  and  has 
made  his  mark   in   the  educational  work  of  the  township. 

The  first  school  taught  in  Ripley  was  in  the  year  1836,  the 
school-house  being  a  newly  erected  log  structure  which  did 
service  for  a  number  of  years,  but  was  finally  pulled  down 
and  used  for  fuel  in  burning  stoneware.  Miss  Osborne,  now 
the  widow  Scripps,  of  Rushville,  was  the  teacher.  J.  A. 
Hawkins  taught  soon  after  and  John  Taylor,  A.  A.  Glenn 
and  James  D.  McPherson  were  also  among  the  early  teach- 
ers. About  the  year  1860  a  new  school -house  was  erected  on 
the  north  side  of  the  town  and  used  till  the  present  house  was 
purchased,  which  was  in  1879.  The  cost  of  the  present 
building,  was  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 
There  are  commonly  two  teachers  employed,  and  the  school 
is  well  attended. 

Versailles,  the  oldest  settled  township  in  the  county,  was 
not  behind  in  devotion  to  education.     The  first  school  in  this 


township  was  taught  in  Cornelius  Vandeventer's  family  by 
John  Lister.  He  was  to  give  the  children  three  lessons  per 
day,  morning,  noon  and  night  and  the  remainder  of  his  time 
was  to  be  employed  in  farm  work.  There  are  conflicting 
statements  as  to  the  date  of  this  school,  but  the  weight  of 
evidence  is  in  favor  of  the  summer  of  1831.  The  next  school 
in  that  vicinity  was  taught  by  Miss  Hannah  Burbank  of  Bos- 
ton, Massachusetts.  I  am  not  able  to  certainly  fix  the  date, 
but  it  seems  to  have  been  in  the  winter  of  1833-1834.  Miss 
Burbank  taught  several  schools  there  and  also  taught  first 
in  the  school-house  which  was  built  in  the  fall  and  winter  of 
1835,  the  session  being  in  the  latter  part  of  the  winter.  One 
of  the  incidents  which  the  old  settlers  relate  concerning  her' 
school  is,  that  Cornelius  Vandeventer  had  domesticated 
some  wild  geese,  and  one  old  gander  took  Miss  Burbank 
under  his  care,  escorting  her  to  school,  where  he  would  sit 
on  the  steps  till  she  started  to  her  boarding  place,  when, 
with  many  demonstrations  of  satisfaction,  he  would  escort 
her  home,  vigorously  attacking  any  stray  dog  that  came 
near.  In  the  fall  of  1836  Samuel  Weir,  who  taught  the 
first  school  in  Mt.  Sterling,  began  a  three  months'  term,  but 
disagreeing  with  the  patrons,  quit  when  about  half  through. 
The  first  school-house  in  the  township  was  built  on  the 
northwest  quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  eigh- 
teen, but  in  the  preceding  year  John  Lister  taught  in  an 
old  cabin  near  the  same  place.  John  Taylor  probably 
taught  the  first  school  in  the  school-house,  and  Lyman 
Wright  followed  him.  The  first  school  in  the  town  of  Ver- 
sailles is  said  to  have  been  taught  by  Miss  Burbank  in  1837. 
In  1838  or  1839  a  log  school-house  was  built  near  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  east  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion seventeen.  Lyman  Wright  and  a  Mr.  Gibbons  were 
among  the  first  teachers,  and  in  March,  1842,  E.  P.  Bunce  be- 
gan teaching  there,  and  has  taught  almost  ever  since,  most  of 
the  time  in  Brown  county.  In  length  of  service  he  outranks 
any  other  teacher  in  the  county.  This  house  was  moved 
into  the  town  of  Versailles  about  1850  or  1851  and,  after 
doing  services  for  school  purposes  a  few  years,  it  was  con- 
verted into  a  dwelling  house.  The  first  school-house  built 
in  the  town  was  the  brick  house  in  the  east  part  of  the  town 
and  was  probably  built  in  1853.  It  was  used  as  a  school- 
house  till  the  present  house  was  erected  in  1872,  and  was 
then  sold  to  the  Catholic  church.  The  present  house  and 
grounds  cost  about  sixteen  thousand  dollars  and  is  a  credit 
to  the  town  The  school  is  now  organized  as  a  graded  school, 
of  three  departments,  and  during  the  past  year,  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  pupils  were  in  attendance.  The  school  is  in 
charge  of  O.  S.  Wiley  and  is  iu  a  flourishing  condition.   ' 

The  first  school-house  in  Elkhorn  township  was  probably 
built  iu  the  year  1838,  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
twenty-four.  Samuel  Weir  lived  in  this  township  and 
taught  school  in  the  east  part  of  it,  but  the  date  or 
locality  cannot  be  positively  ascertained.  John  Taylor 
taught  in  the  Reid  school-house  quite  early,  and  in  1838  or 
'39,  Samuel  Wiuslow  taught  a  school,  but  the  locality  is  un- 
certain. The  first  school-house  on  the  west  side  of  the  town- 
ship, was  built  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  seven,  about  the  year  1840.    John  Clough 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


203 


of  Canterbury,  New  Hampshire,  (aught  the  first  school  in  it 
and  created  some  dissatisfaction  by  adhering  to  the  six  hour 
system.  Colburn's  arithmetic  was  used  in  this  school, 
it  being  the  only  one  that  did  not  use  Pike's 
text  book  on  that  subject.  Some  years  later  Daniel  Rogers 
taught  a  school  on  section  four,  and  in  1850  Thomas  Scan- 
land  taught  a  school  on  section  fifteen,  the  house  burn- 
ing down  before  the  term  had  expired  The  first  school- 
house  built  in  Buckhorn  township  was  on  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  twenty-eight.  It  was  a  log  house,  sixteen 
feet  square,  and  built  in  the  ordinary  way.  In  the  winter 
of  1839-40,  Robsrt  Rankin  taught  school  there.  He  was  an 
old  man,  and  died  in  that  vicinity,  in  18  11.  Joseph  Benson 
tuight  the  next  school  there,  and  his  father  taught  one  or 
two  schools  in  the  same  house.  It  is  said  that  another 
brother  taught  there.  In  1842  a  house  was  built  on  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  eight,  and  in  the  winter  of  1845 
and  '46,  J.  G.  Philips  taught  there.  A  house  used  for 
school  purposes  was  built  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
thirty-six,  but   the    date   cannot  bi  a«3rta  ined. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY. 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 


BY    REV.    JAMES   LEATON. 


i  HE  history  of  Methodism  in  Schuyler 
county  begins  with  the  history  of  the 
county.  Its  first  settlers  were  Metho- 
dists. Calvin  Hobart  and  his  wife  had 
united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  State  of  Vermont;  and, 
bringing  their  religion  with  them  in 
February,  1823,  established  the  first 
Christian  home  in  this  portion  of  the 
Military  Tract.  A.  few  months  after  their  arrival,  Rev 
Levin  Green,  a  local  preacher  from  Missouri,  settled  in  their 
neighborhood,  and  in  the  month  of  November,  1823,  in  the 
cabin  of  Mr.  Hobart,  delivered  the  first  sermon  ever  preached 
in  the  county. 

Mr.  Green  was,  in  many  respects,  a  remarkable  man.  A 
native  of  the  mountainous  region  of  North  Carolina,  and 
destitute  of  early  educational  advantages,  he  nevertheless 
learned  to  read  and  write,  and  though  possessed  of  only  three 
books,  the  Bible,  Hymn-book,  and  Camp-meeting  songs,  his 
diligent  study  of  these,  added  to  his  iiative  talent  and  piety, 
made  him  a  very  acceptable  and  useful  preacher.  He  had 
traveled  a  circuit  in  Missouri  as  a  supply  under  the  presiding 
elder  before  coming  to  Illinois,  and  during  the  years  of  his 
residence  here  he  was  faithful  in  preaching  the  gospel  when- 
ever opportunity  was  afforded  him  In  1832,  he  returned 
to  Missouri  He  was  a  great  oddity.  Utterly  indifferent 
about  his  personal  appearance,  he  would  frequently  appear 


bare-legged  and  shoeless,  wearing  an  old  round  crowned  felt 
hat  with  half  the  rim  worn  or  torn  off,  and  the  other  half 
slouching  down  behind,  and  a  coarse  shirt  stuck  into  the 
waistband  of  an  almost  worn-out  pair  of  deerskin  broeches, 
reaching  but  a  little  below  the  knee  But  despite  his 
uncouth  appearance,  his  sermons  were  clear,  comprehensive, 
and  appropriate,  delivered  in  good  language,  yet  mixed  with 
a  plentiful  sprinkling  of  backwoods  phrases  and  witticisms, 
giving  an  attractive  raciness  to  his  discourses,  and  rather 
adding  to,  than  detracting  from  their  merits.  He  was  purely 
original,  imitating  no  one.  To  those  who  looked  at  his 
personal  appearan  je,  his  sermons  were  the  subjects  of  admira- 
tion and  astonishment,  and  one  of  the  most  competent  judges 
of  good  preaching  who  heard  him  frequently,  John  Scripps, 
was  accustomed  to  style  him  '■  the  Lord's  pro  ligy." 

Amongst  the  settlers  who  rapidly  occupied  the  country 
were  many  who  had  been  connected  with  the  Methodist 
church  in  their  former  homes,  and  in  August,  1826,  Rev. 
Wm.  See,  who  was  then  traveling  the  Peoria  circuit,  visited 
the  neighborhood  and  organized  the  first  class  in  the  cabin 
of  Mr.  Hobart.  The  class  consisted  of  twenty  three  mem- 
bers, of  whom  Henry  Green  was  appointed  class  leader,  Wm. 
Skiles,  assistant  leader,  and  Calvin  Hobart,  steward.  In  the 
fall  of  1826,  the  territory  was  transferred  from  the  Peoria 
to  the  Atlas  circuit,  of  which  William  Medford  was  preacher 
in  charge,  and  Peter  Cartwright,  presiding  elder.  In  1827, 
Samuel  Bogart  was  appointed  to  the  eircut,  and  during  the 
following  summer  the  first  extensive  revival  of  religion  in 
the  county  occurred  under  the  labors  of  Levin  Green. 
Nearly  two  hund  ed  persons  were  converted  during  this  re- 
vival, and  a  wonderful  impulse  was  given  by  it  to  the  cause 
of  Christ  In  1828,  Asa  D.  West  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
circuit,  which  was  divided  at  the  next  session  of  conference, 
the  northern  half,  including  Schuyler  county,  being  styled 
the  Spoon  river  circuit,  to  which  Mr.  West  was  again  ap- 
pointed preacher.  During  this  conference  year  the  first 
society  was  formed  in  the  town  of  Rushville.  The  class  was 
organized  in  a  log  cabin,  owned  and  occupied  by  a  Mr. 
Black,  which  stood  near  the  present  residence  of  Dr.  Leach. 
Most  of.  the  members,  thirty-two  in  number,  had  been  pre- 
viously connected  with  a  class-meeting  at  Samuel  Lock's, 
about  a  mile  northwest  of  the  town,  and  many  of  them  were 
the  fruiti  of  the  revival  under  Levin  Green. 

In  1830,  James  Bankstou  was  appointed  to  the  circuit. 
He  traveled  it  only  about  four  months.  Whilst  crossing  a 
stream  on  the  ice,  on  his  way  to  Mr.  Hobart's,  his  horse  fell 
with  him,  and  inflicted  on  him  an  injury  from  which  he  did 
not  recover.  He  was  a  native  of  Georgia,  and  the  son  of 
pious  parents  who  taught  him  to  know  the  Scriptures  from 
his  youth.  When  about  fourteen,  he  embraced  religion,  and 
it  is  said  of  him,  that  when  he  was  converted,  he  sprang  from 
the  mourner's  bench,  and  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  shouted, 
"  Whoop-pa,  hallelujah,  Jesus,  Jesus."  Though  his  educa- 
tional advantages  were  but  limited  in  boyhood,  he  yet  pos- 
sessed an  insatiable  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  from  the  time 
of  his  conversion  applied  himself  to  study  with  such  diligence 
that  he  became  a  respectable  scholar,  and  before  his  death 
acquired  a  good  knowledge  of  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew 


204 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


language.-,  besides  making  considerable  progress  in  tbe 
sciences.  It  is  related  by  one  who  was  present  when  he 
made  his  first  attempt  to  preach,  that  soon  after  taking  his 
text,  his  embarrassment  quite  overcame  him.  He  stopped 
short,  sat  down  in  the  pulpit,  and  crossing  his  legs,  shook  as 
if  he  had  the  ague.  There  was,  however,  that  in  him  that 
was  not  to  be  discouraged  or  broken  down,  He  became  a 
polished  arrow  in  the  gospel  quiver,  a  burning  and  shining 
light  in  the  Methodist  church,  and  when  he  died  he  had  few 
equals  as  a  preacher  in  the  Illinois  conference. 

After  the  accident  to  Mr.  Bankston  which  resulted  in  his 
death,  the  presiding  elder  employed  Barton  Randle,  then  a 
young  man,  and  just  commencing  his  itinerant  career,  to 
travel  the  circuit  for  the  remainder  of  the  year.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  year,  the  place  of  preaching  in  Rushville 
had  been  removed  from  the  cabin  of  Mr.  Black  to  that  of 
Mr.  Bryant,  near  the  southwest  oorner-of- the  square,  and 
during  the  summer  of  1831  the  church  was  greatly  strength- 
ened by  the  accession  of  Rev.  John  Scripps  and  family,  who 
removed  from  Cape  Girardeau  county,  Missouri.  Mr.  Scripps 
had  been  for  many  years  a  traveling  preacher  in  connection 
with  the  Tennessee  and  Missouri  conferences,  and  had  been 
one  of  the  gospel  pioneers  in  a  large  portion  of  Southern  In- 
diana, Illinois,  and  Missouri.  But  his  health  having  failed 
he  had  taken  a  superannuated  relation  to  the  conference, 
and  embarked  in  the  mercantile  business.  Unwilling,  how- 
ever, to  bring  up  his  children  under  the  influence  of  slavery, 
he  sought  a  home  in  a  free  State,  and  finally  settled  at  Rush- 
ville. He  was  a  man  of  vigorous  and  well  cultivated  intel- 
lect, and  was  possessed  of  a  wide  and  varied  knowledge  of 
men  and  books.  As  Dr.  Stevenson  has  truly  said,  "  To  no 
one  person  was  society  in  all  its  departments  in  the  early 
days  of  Rushville  more  indebted  than  to  him.  In  fact,  the 
influence  of  his  vigorous  intellect,  and  his  strong,  manly,  and 
harmoniously  developed  Christian  character  may  be  seen  till 
this  day.  The  coming  of  such  a  man  and  Christian  minister 
into  the  young  society  at  Rushville  was  hailed  as  a  provi- 
dence ;  God's  hand  was  seen  and  recognized  in  it.  His  long 
experience  in  the  itinerancy,  his  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  workings  of  Methodism,  his  personal  acquaintance  with 
the  ministry,  and  his  influence  with  the  bishops,  pre-eminently 
fitted  him  for  a  counselor  and  leader  in  the  young  society. 
How  much  he  loved,  how  wisely  he  planned,  and  how  well 
he  built  is  attested  by  the  permanent  and  efficient  character 
of  the  church  to-day." 

In  1831,  David  B.  Carter  was  appointed  to  the  charge. 
The  year  was  a  very  successful  one,  and  the  church  under 
his  faithful  labors  grew  rapidly  in  numbers,  wealth,  and  in- 
fluence. The  membership  increased  this  year  from  two 
hundred  and  ninety-six  to  four  hundred  and  one.  In  the 
spring  of  1832  the  first  Sabbath-school  in  Rushville  was 
organized,  being  the  second  established  in  the  county,  the 
first  having  been  started  in  the  Sparks  neighborhood,  with 
David  Manlove  as  superintendent.  This  was  held  in  a  frame 
building,  then  standing  near  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
square  in  Rushville.  P.  P.  Ne-vcomb  was  its  first  superin- 
tendent during  the  summer.  The  place  for  public  worship 
was  again  removed  from  the  cabin  of  Mr.  Bryant  to  this 


room,  which,  though  it  had  no  pulpit,  but  a  chair,  and  no 
seats  except  some  loose  puncheons  laid  upon  blocks,  was  yet 
an  advance  on  the  places  previously  occupied  both  in  com- 
fort and  capacity.  Here  the  society  continued  to  worship 
until  the  close  of  the  conference  year,  1832,  then  the  room 
having  become  too  small  to  accommodate  the  congregation, 
Mr.  Scripps  invited  the  society  to  worship  in  his  own  private 
residence,  offering  at  his  own  expense  to  furnish  good  seats 
for  the  congregation.  These  were  the  first  seats  with  backs 
used  by  any  denomination  in  Rushville.  Services  were  held 
there  regularly  three  times  a  week,  preaching,  class- meet- 
ing, and  prayer-meeting.  When  there  was  not  preaching 
by  the  regular  pastor,  Mr.  Scripps  himself  would  occupy 
the  pulpit.  During  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Carter,  there  were 
added  to  the  church  by  letter  several  persons  who  greatly 
strengthened  the  society.  Amongst  them  were  George  Baker, 
and  wife  from  Jackson,  Missouri,  and*  Josiah  Parrott,  and 
wife  from  Kentucky. 

At  the  session  of  conference  in  1832,  the  Spoon  river  cir- 
cuit was  divided  into  the  Canton  and  Rushville  circuits — 
Schuyler  county  being  included  in  the  latter.  The  preacher 
was  Henry  Summers,  who  reported  at  the  close  of  the  year 
a  membership  of  316.  The  next  year,  1833,  two  preachers 
were  sent  to  the  charge,  Thomas  N.  Ralston  and  Peter  Borein. 
They  were  both  men  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  and  both 
became  eminently  useful  in  the  church.  An  arrangement 
was  entered  into  by  which  Mr.  Ralston  should  preach  most 
of  the  time  in  town,  and  Mr.  Borein  on  the  circuit.  Early 
in  February,  1834,  some  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
church,  with  the  preachers,  determined  to  hold  a  two  weeks' 
meeting,  and  invited  Rev.  W.  C.  Stribling,  a  located  mem- 
ber of  the  Kentucky  conference,  and  a  man  of  wonderful 
pulpit  power,  and  equally  noted  conversational  eccentricities, 
to  come  over  from  Jacksonville  and  assist  in  the  meeting. 
But  before  this  the  residence  of  Mr.  Scripps  having  become 
too  small  to  accommodate  the  congregations,  the  public  ser- 
vices were  removed  to  what  had  been  a  wareroom  near  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  square,  but  which  had  been  fitted  up 
as  a  school-room.  But  this  was  soon  found  to  be  too  small, 
and  permission  was  obtained  of  the  sheriff  to  occupy  the 
court-house  as  a  place  of  worship.  The  house  itself  being 
not  yet  completed,  there  being  only  the  walls,  floor  and  roof, 
the  memters  of  the  church  fitted  it  up  at  an  expense  of  one 
hundred  dollars,  and  immediately  commenced  a  protracted 
meeting.  But  as  soon  as  this  began,  some  of  the  other  de- 
nominations claimed  the  right  to  an  equal  occupancy  of  the 
house  as  a  public  building,  so  that  the  Methodists  were  again 
compelled  to  remove.  Mr.  Scripps  tendered  them  the  use  of 
a  large  upper  room  over  a  new  storehouse  which  he  had 
built  on  the  east  side  of  the  square.  His  offer  was  accepted, 
the  fixtures  from  the  court-house  were  transferred  to  the  new 
building,  the  protracted  meeting  was  resumed,  and  continued 
for  over  two  months,  resulting  in  a  powerful  revival  of  re- 
ligion in  which  nearly  a  hundred  souls  were  converted.  One 
of  the  first  converts  was  Dr.  Duulap,  who  is  still  living  in 
the  neighborhood.  Among  the  incidents  of  the  revival  was 
the  following :  There  was  living  in  Rushville  at  the  time  a 
Dr.  Cossett,  an  eminent  physician,  past  middle  age,  who, 


HISTORY    OF  SCdUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


205 


though  an  avowed  skeptic  as  to  Christianity,  was  yet  a  reg- 
ular attendant  at  church.  He  had  been  in  the  habit  for 
many  years  of  indulging  in  his  daily  dreams,  though  he  never 
drank  so  as  to  disqualify  him  for  his  professional  duties.  His 
little  daughter,  perhaps  eight  or  nine  years  old,  professed 
conversion.  She  instantly  rose  from  her  seat — her  counte 
nance  shining  as  did  that  of  Stephen — and  rushed  to  the 
bosom  of  her  father.  When  the  invitation  for  members  was 
given  she  came  forward  among  others  to  join  the  church. 
As  soon  as  the  singing  ceased,  the  doctor  arose  and  spoke  sub- 
stantially as  follows:  "I  have  been  a  skeptic  all  my  life  till 
now.  I  know  but  little  about  the  Bible.  My  little  daughter, 
since  she  has  been  attending  your  Sunday-school,  has  taught 
me  more  about  it  than  I  ever  knew  before  I  am  now  con- 
vinced that  your  religion  is  a  reality.  I  know  that  my 
daughter  is  no  hypocrite.  I  am  resolved  to  change  my  life. 
I  know  not  how  to  pray  as  these  good  brethren  can  pray.  I  ask 
you  all  to  pray  for  me,  and  if  you  can  receive  such  an  old, 
wretched  sinner,  I  wish  to  join  the  church  with  my  little 
daughter."  The  audience  was  electrified.  Saint  and  sinner 
alike  wept.  He  was  admitted  and  welcomed  with  universal 
acclamation.  In  about  a  month  afterwards  he  was  taken 
severely  ill.  His  physician  advised  him  to  take  some  wine, 
brandy  or  other  stimulant,  but  he  replied. "  No  ;  I  promised 
God  when  I  joined  the  church  never  to  touch  or  taste  it 
again.  I  am  ready  to  die,  but  not  to  break  my  promise." 
A  few  days  afterwards  he  died  in  peaceful  triumph.  The 
revival  spread  over  the  circuit,  and  the  membership  was  so 
largely  increased  that  544  members  were  reported  to  con- 
ference. 

At  the  session  of  1834  the  town  of  Rushville  was  separated 
from  the  circuit  and  made  a  station.  Mr.  Ralston  was  its 
first  stationed  preacher.  But  in  the  early  summer  the  chol- 
era broke  out,  some  twenty  dying  in  ten  days,  and  Mr.  Ral- 
ston, whose  health  was  poor,  thought  it  not  best  to  remain, 
and  removed  to  Kentucky,  to  which  conference  he  was  af- 
terwards transferred.  The  presiding  elder  employed  Richard 
Haney  for  the  remainder  of  the  year.  A  camp-meeting  was 
held  during  the  summer  at  which  some  fifty  souls  were  con- 
verted, and  the  preacher  reported  at  the  close  of  the  year  a 
membership  of  150. 

His  successor  was  W.  D.  R.  Trotter,  a  son-in-law  of  Peter 
Cartwright,  and  a  man  of  fine  natural  ability  and  superior 
education.  He  had  been  educated  for  a  lawyer,  but  had 
exchanged  the  law  for  the  Gospel.  During  this  year  the 
new  church  was  completed  so  that  the  upper  room  could  be 
used  for  worship,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  the  Illinois 
conference  held  its  annual  session  in  it,  the  only  time  it  has 
ever  been  held  in  Rushville.  The  session,  owing  to  several 
trials  and  appeals,  was  unusually  protracted,  continuing  from 
Wednesday,  October  5th,  to  Friday,  the  14th.  Forty-four 
new  preachers  were  received  into  the  conference  by  transfer, 
rea  Imission  and  on  trial.  Amongst  the  latter  there  were 
from  Schuyler  county  the  brothers  Chauncey  and  Norris 
Hobart,  the  former  of  whom  has  long  occupied  some  of  the 
most  prominent  positions  in  the  church,  and  who  has  the 
honor  of  being  regarded  as  the  father  of  Methodism  in  Min- 
nesota.    Warner  Oliver,  now  a  lawyer  in  -California ;  Chris- 


topher J.  Houts,  who  died  recently  in  the  Southern  Illinois 
Conference ;  John  P.  Richmond,  some  time  missionary  to 
Oregon,  and  afterwards  a  member  of  the  State  Senate ;  and 
William  H.  Taylor,  who  c>rae  to  the  county  with  the  fam- 
ily of  Mr.  Hobart,  and  who  was  the  first  person  licensed  to 
preach  in  Schuyler  county,  and  who,  after  a  long  life  of 
honor  and  usefulness,  died  at  Mt.  Vernon  in  1872. 

Mr.  Trotter  was  succeeded  by  Wm.  H.  Windsor,  who  re" 
mained  two  years.  Under  his  pastorate  the  membership 
increased  to  173.  His  successor  was  John  Van  Cleve,  who 
also  remained  two  years,  and  during  whose  administration 
the  society  suffered  heavy  loss  from  emigration.  He  reported 
only  105  members.  Under  the  labors  of  Norris  Hobart,  who 
was  appointed  pastor  in  1840,  the  church  was  largely  in- 
creased in  membership,  there  being  a  gain  of  90  in  a  si ngle  year. 
Many  of  them,  however,  were  seekers  of  religion,  a  number 
of  whom  were  converted  the  next  year  under  the  labors  of 
Chauncey  Hobart,  the  twin  brother  and  successor  of  Norris 
in  the  pastorate;  yet  many  of  them  were  discontinued  and 
saveral  of  the  msoibers  rercnved  by  letter,  so  that  there  was 
on  the  whole  during  the  year  a  slight  decrease  in  numbers. 

In  1842,  George  Rutledge  was  appointed  pastor.  He  was 
a  good  preacher,  a  faithful  pastor,  and  a  devout  Christian. 
For  the  two  following  years,  N.  P.  Cunningham  was  in 
charge  It  detracts  nothing  from  the  merit  of  others  to  say 
that  Mr.  Cunningham  was  one  of  the  best  preachers  ever 
stationed  at  Rushville.  He  died  at  Paris  in  1847.  The  next 
year  the  pulpit  was  filled  by  Wm.  Cliffe,  an  Englishman — a 
good  preacher  and  a  superior  pastor.  In  1846  Geo.  Rutledge 
was  again  appointed  pastor  ;  but,  his  health  failing,  he  re- 
mained only  ab  tut  nine  months,  the  remainder  of  the  year 
the  pulpit  being  supplied  by  John  Scripps. 

The  next  pastor  was  Robert  E.  Guthrie,  who  remained 
only  one  year.  From  the  Conference  of  1848  Wm.  S.  Crissey 
was  appointed  to  the  charge;  but  as  his  circumstances  were 
such  that  he  could  not  leave  Decatur,  where  he  resided, 
John  Scripps,  who  was  always  ready  to  fill  every  gap,  was 
again  appointed  as  the  supply,  and  during  the  whole  year 
served  the  church  with  great  acceptability. 

In  1849  Wm.  W.  Mitchell  became  the  pastor.  He  was  a 
man  of  fine  personal  appearance,  of  genial  disposition,  very 
conscientious,  yet  of  such  decision  of  mini  and  character, 
that  in  the  administration  of  discipline  he  sometimes  seemed 
to  be  tyrannical.  From  the  close  of  the  conference  year  of 
1841  there  had  been  a  steady  decrease  in  the  membership, 
so  that  at  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Mitchell's  term  there  were 
only  113  members  and  probationers.  But  about  this  time 
the  tide  seemed  to  turn  ;  and  though  during  his  pastorate 
several  of  the  leading  members  withdrew  from  the  church, 
he  reported  an  increase  of  twenty-three  ;  and  from  this  time 
until  the  present  there  has  been  a  steady  growth  in  numbers, 
and  in  all  the  elements  of  power 

.la  Mir-  N.  Dickens  was  pastor  in  1850.  He  is  now  on  the 
superannuated  list,  but  when  in  his  prime  he  was  one  of  the 
most  successful  defenders  of  the  faith  in  the  conference.  His 
year  in  Rushville  was  a  year  of  trial,  of  controversy,  but  of 
success.  The  next  year  the  charge  was  left  to  be  supplied, 
and  the  presiding  elder  employed  A.  C-  McDonald,  then  a 


206 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


young  man,  but  who  afterwards  rose  to  prominence  in  the 
church,  having  become  President  of  Shaw  University  in 
Mississippi.  He  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  Montgomery,  who 
had  just  been  transferred  from  the  Pittsburg  conference;  and 
he  in  1853  by  Daniel  H.  Hatton. 

The  next  year  James  I.  Davidson  was  appointed  pastor. 
He  served  two  years.  He  was  an  Englishman  by  birth — a 
man  of  fine  personal  appearance,  with  brilliant  imagination, 
and  a  wonderful  command  of  language,  attracting  great 
crowds  to  his  ministry.  He  died  in  Decatur  in  1870.  Dur- 
ing his  pastorate  there  were  many  important  additions  to  the 
church,  the  membership  increasing  to  227.  There  had  come 
to  Rushville  some  years  before  a  number  of  families  who 
had  in  the  east  been  members  of  the  Methodist  Protest- 
ant Church.  Among  them  were  the  Wilsons,  Clarkes, 
Greers,  Beatties,  Goodwins,  Johnsons,  Hoskinsous,  and 
others.  These  had  formed  a  society,  built  a  neat  church, 
and  had  been  supplied  with  pastors  by  that  church.  But 
chiefly  through  the  influence  of  Rev.  John  Clark,  who  had 
for  many  years  been  a  leading  minister  amongst  them,  and 
had  been  president  of  one  of  their  conferences, — who  saw 
that  the  town  was  too  small  to  support  two  churches  so 
nearly  alike  in  doctrine  and  discipline,  they  abandoned  j 
their  own  organization  and  united  with  the  Methodist  Epis-  I 
copal  Church,  of  which  many  of  them  continue  to  this  day 
among  its  most  excellent  and  useful  members. 

Mr.  Davidson  was  succeeded  in  the  pastorate  by  Vincent 
Ridgely,  who  served  the  church  two  years,  and  afterward* 
withdrew  from  the  ministry  and  the  church.  His  successor 
was  W.  N.  N.  Moore,  who  remained  but  one  year.  In  1859 
W.  D.  Lemon  was  appointed  pastor.  He  remained  two 
years,  during  which  there  was  an  increase  of  eighty  in  the 
membership.  Emmor  Elliott  was  his  successor,  a  good 
preacher  and  a  devout  Christian.  He  remained  but  one 
year,  and  was  killed  in  1866  whilst  presiding  elder  of  the 
Griggsville  district,  by  being  thrown  from  his  buggy. 

The  subsequent  preachers  have  been  James  Shaw,  who 
remained  two  years ;  G  R.  S.  McElfresh,  who  served  the 
church  three  years,  and  under  whose  administration  the 
parsonage  was  built,  and  the  present  commodious  and  beau- 
tiful church  erected  ;  A.  S.  McCoy,  two  years ;  W.  J.  Rut- 
ledge,  two  years ;  J.  C.  Rucker,  H.  O.  Hoffman,  one  year 
each  ;  T.  A.  Parker,  two  years ;  J.  B.  Wolfe,  three  years  ; 
Wm.  Stevenson,  two  years,  in  whose  pastorate  the  semi-cen- 
tennial of  Methodism  in  Schuyler  county  wa3  celebrated 
with  appropriate  and  interesting  exercises ;  Dr.  G.  W. 
Gray,  who  served  one  year,  and  under  whose  labors  an  ex- 
tensive revival  of  religion  occurred  and  many  young  people 
were  brought  into  the  church;  and  the  present  pastor,' 
James  Leaton,  who  received  his  appointment  at  the  confer- 
ence of  1881.  The  membership  now  is  279  ;  and  it  is  safe 
to  say  of  them,  that  for  intelligence,  fidelity  in  attendance 
on  the  means  of  grace,  liberality,  and  genuine  Methodism, 
they  are  equaled  by  few  churches  in  the  conference  and  sur- 
passed by  fewer  still. 

An  important  adjunct  of  the  church  is  the  Sunday-school. 
During  the  fifty  years  of  its  existence,  John  Scripps  was 
superintendent  seventeen  years ;   and   G.  W.  Scripps,  his 


nephew,  thirty-two  years— a  fact  almost  unparalleled  in  Sun- 
day-school history.  Its  present  efficient  superintendent  is 
Owen  Jackson,  and  the  average  attendance  of  teachers  and 
scholars  over  two  hundred. 

Rushville  Circuit. — At  the  time  the  town  was  set  off  as  a 
station,  the  Rushville  circuit  mbraced  all  of  Schuyler  and 
Brown  counties,  the  south  p  t  of  Fulton,  and  a  corner  of 
Hancock.  But  in  1835  the  appointments  in  Hancock  and 
Brown  counties  were  cut  off  nd  formed  into  Pulaski  circuit. 
In  1841  the  north  part  cf  the  circuit  was  cut  off  and  at- 
tached to  the  Marietta  charge.  In  1853  the  circuit  itself 
was  abolished,  the  appointments  being  divided  between  Lit- 
tleton, Astoria,  and  Ripley  ;  but  in  1858  the  Rushville  cir- 
cuit again  appears,  but  with  greatly  diminished  territory, 
being  confined  mostly  to  the  south-eastern  portion  of  the 
county,  which,  with  slight  changes,  has  composed  the  circuit 
to  the  present  time.  Its  appointments  now  are : — Ebenezer, 
Parrott's  S.  H.,  Oakland,  Sugar  Grove,  Pleasant  View,  Fred- 
eric, and  Lung's  S.  H.  The  parsonage  is  in  Rushville. 
There  are  four  churches,  and  a  membership  of  235.  The 
present  pastor  is  Rev.  D.  P.  Lyon. 

I/ittleton  Circuit. — This  circuit  was  formed  in  1853,  and 
has  continued  to  the  pres°nt  time.  It  embraces  the  north- 
west portion  of  the  county,  with  five  appointments,  three 
churches  and  234  members  and  probationers.  The  head  of 
the  circuit  is  Littleton,  where  there  is  a  fair  parsonage,  and 
a  respectable  brick  church,  being  the  second  built  by  the 
society.  In  1852  a  brick  church  was  erected  at  a  cost  of 
$1250,  and  dedicated  by  Rev.  W.  C.  Stribling.  Three  years 
afterwards  it  was  entirely  destroyed  by  a  tornado.  But  the 
next  year  (1857),  the  society  erected  a  better  one,  at  a  cost 
of  $2500,  in  which  they  still  worship,  and  where  many  souls 
have  been  brought  to  the  Saviour.  Rev.  W.  F.  Lowe  is  the 
present  preacher  in  charge. 

Camden  Circuit. — This  charge  covers  the  southwest  cor- 
ner of  the  county,  including  the  towns  of  Camden,  Hunts- 
ville  and  Brooklyn,  and  some  country  appointments.  The 
circuit  was  constituted  in  1869,  with  Greenbury  Garner  as 
preacher.  Like  Littleton,  it  has  suffered  from  the  effects  of 
a  tornado.  In  the  fall  of  1881  the  church  in  Camden  was 
entirely  destroyed  and  the  parsonage  greatly  injured.  But 
by  the  energy  of  the  society  and  the  help  of  the  rest  of  the 
county,  the  church  has  been  rebuilt,  and  was  dedicated  by 
the  pastor,  Rev.  N.  H.  Kane,  in  June,  1882.  There  are  in 
this  circuit  four  churches  and  261  members. 

Astoria  Circuit. — The  village  of  Ray  and  some  appoint- 
ments in  the  northeast  part  of  the  county  are  connected 
with  the  Astoria  circuit,  the  most  of  which  is  in  Fulton 
county. 

The  present  (1882)  statistics  of  Methodism  in  Schuyler 

county  are  as  follows:     1050  members  and  probationers,  8 

local  preachers,  13  churches,  the  estimated  value  of  which 

is  $30,300 ;    4  parsonages,  worth  $3700,  with  about  1050 

1   scholars  in  the  Sunday-schools. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


207 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  SOUTH. 

BY  JOHN    S     STUTSMAN. 

This  Church  organization  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  Christian 
Union  Church  In  giving  a  history  of  this  church  it  is  very 
necessary,  to  relate  some  of  the  causes  that  gave  rise  or  led 
to  its  organization  in  Schuyler  County.  Especially  is  this 
Decessary,  as  there  are  some  persons  that  seem  to  be  at  a  losr- 
to  know  why  there  are  two  Methodist  Churches  in  the  coun- 
ty. For  some  years  before  and  during  the  war,  many  minis- 
ters and  Churches  assumed  a  political  attitude,  and  took 
sides  in  political  partisanship.  Public  exercises  professedly 
religious,  were  frequently  interspersed  with,  what  many  be- 
lieved to  be  an  unscriptural  agitation  of  political  questions 
Professed  ministers  of  the  gospel  often  taught  lessons  that 
did  not  accord  with  the  gospel  of  peace,  as  understood  by 
many  good  men.  The  declarations  and  sayings  of  many 
church  members,  and  some  ministers,  concerning  those  whose 
political  opinions  and  ideas  of  loyalty  did  not  accord  with 
their  own,  was  characterized  by  such  language  of  intolerant 
malice  as  made  the  ordinary  mind  yet  retaining  self-control 
grow  sick,  showing  plainly  a  want  of  that  Christian  spirit 
and  charity  that  should  control  the  feelings  and  actions  ot 
all  professed  Christians,  ignoring  the  fact  that  honest  differ- 
ences of  opinions  may  exist  between  loyal  and  patriotic  men 
as  to  the  policies  and  measures  to  be  pursued  by  the  govern- 
ment in  any  emergency.  Just  before  and  during  the  war, 
some  ministers  professing  to  be  called  to  preach  the  gospel 
of  peace,  so  far  forgot  or  ignored  their  high  calling,  as  to 
step  aside  into  the  cesspool  of  political  agitation  and  deliver 
political  harangues  from  the  stump,  and  not  unfrequently 
from  the  sacred  desk  was  heard  things  pertaining  to  state 
affairs,  thus  making  their  time  and  talents  to  subserve  the  \ 
interests  of  their  political  party,  to  the  shameful  neglect  of  : 
the  interests  of  immortal  souls.  Those  things  became 
grievous  to  those  that  believed  the  doctrine  of  the  cross 
should  be  held  inviolate  and  should  never-  be  mixed  with 
worldly  politics.  Under  these  circumstances  many  truly 
pious  persons,  and  a  few  ministers,  in  the  State  of  Ulnois, 
persons  who  believed  with  Mr.  Burk  that  no  sound  ought  to 
be  heard  in  the  church  but  the  voice  of  healing  charity, 
left  off  attending  church,  where  they  were  constantly  ex-  ' 
posed  to  the  chances  of  having  their  honest  convictions  de-  , 
nounced,  their  motives  impugned,  and  their  blood  stirred  by 
insulting  insinuations.  They  felt  sorely  grieved,  and  were 
deeply  distressed,  being  compelled  to  live  without  the  means 
of  grace.  They  hung  their  harps  as  it  were  upon  the  wil- 
lows, and  longed  for  the  privileges  of  God's  house  without 
being  disturbed  by  any  of  the  behests  of  political  parties 
and  for  the  Gospel  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  unmixed 
with  political  fanaticism.  A  number  of  these  dissatisfied 
Christians  in  different  parts  of  the  state  organized  under  the 
name  of  Christian  Union  Church  some  as  early  as  the  year 
186  f,  the  Methodist  element  largely  predominating.  In  the 
year  1866  some  of  the  citizens  of  Schuyler  county  and  men 
too  whose  loyalty  and  patriotism  could  not  be  questioned  by 
any  one,  took  the  necessary  steps  to  organize  the   Christian 


Union  Church  in  Schuyler  county.  The  first  society  was 
organized  at  Kinderhook  School-house,  in  Rushville  Town- 
ship, January  the  1st,  a.  d.  1867,  or  near  that  time  by  Rev. 
Rumsey  Smithson,  with  ten  members.  The  next  society 
was  organized  January  the  17th,  a.  d.  1867,  at  Sugar  Grove 
in  Woodstock  township,  by  Rev.  D.  T.  Sherman  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Springfield  district  of  the  Christian  Union 
Church,  with  four  members.  On  April  the  '20th,  a.  d.  1867, 
the  Rushville  circuit  of  the  Christian  Union  Church  was 
organized,  and  the  first  quarterly  council  was  held  at  Kin- 
derhook school  house.  At  a  council  of  the  Christian  lYioh 
Churches  of  Illinois  held  at  the  city  of  Clinton  in  June  A. 
d.  1867,  it  was  resolved  to  change  tho  style  and  title  of  said 
church,  to  that  of  Episcopal  Methodist  Church,  Illinois 
conference,  and  to  embrace  with  its  boundary  the  State  of 
Illinois,  and  said  council  further  resolved  to  receive  and 
adopt  the  doctrines  and  discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  South,  as  the  doctrines  of  said  Episcopal  Metho- 
dist Church.  Bishops  Marvin  and  Doggett  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  South,  according  to  previous  request 
visited  this  council,  after  the  above  resolutions  wr re  adopted, 
and  received  said  Church  into  the  communion  and  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South. 
In  August  a.  d.  1868  a  society  was  organized  at  Rush- 
ville with  five  or  six  members,  by  Rev.  William  R.  Howard, 
Presiding  Elder  of  the  Springfield  District.  In  February 
a.  d.  1869  Rev.  Rumsey  Smithson  assisted  by  Rev.  D.  J. 
Snow  who  supplied  Rushville  circuit  f>r  a  short  time  as 
preacher  in  charge,  held  a  series  of  meetings  in  Rushville 
which  resulted  in  a  gracious  revival  of  religion.  Quite  a 
number  were  converted  and  fifty-five  names  added  to  the 
church.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  a.  d.  1869  Rev.  W. 
B.  Johnsey  organized  a  Society  at  Hale's  Ridge  School 
House,  with  seven  members.  He  also  organized  a  society 
about  the  same  time  at  the  Davis'  School  House,  with  eight 
members  During  the  two  years  that  Rev.  W.  B.  Johnsey 
served  as  preacher  in  charge,  Rushville  circuit  was  blessed 
with  a  good  degree  of  prosperity.  In  January  A.  d.  1871 
Rev.  W.  B.  Johnsey  organized  a  society  at  Ward's  School 
House  with  twenty-six  members  ;  this  society  has  been  very 
prosperous  and  have  built  a  good  church  house  and  changed 
the  name  of  the  place  to  Mount  Carmel.  Some  time  about 
the  years  1871  or  1872  Rev.  R.  P.  Holt  organized  a  society 
at  Bethel  School  House,  which  seemed  to  prosper  for  a  while, 
until  the  members  by  removal,  emigration  and  otherwise  be- 
came scattered,  and  the  appointment  was  discontinued  for 
two  or  three  years,  but  recently  has  been  revived  and  at 
present  is  one  of  the  appointments  of  the  circuit.  In  the 
year  A.  d.  1874  Rev.  W.  B-  Beagle  organized  a  society  at 
the  McGowen  School  House  with  seven  or  eight  members, 
which  has  increased  till  at  present  it  numbers  some 
twenty  members,  and  is  still  one  of  the  appointments 
of  the  circuit.  The  Illinois  Annual  Conference  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  was  held  at  Rushville,  September 
the  4th,  a.  d.  1872,  Bishop  Enoch  M.  Marvin  presiding 
who  expressed  great  satisfaction  with  the  status  and  growth 
of  the  conference,  it  being  only  about  five  years  since  he  was 
present  and  assisted  in  receiving  it  into  the    jurisdiction  of 


208 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


the  M.  E.  Church  South.  The  present  conference  year  1881 
and  1882,  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Joseph  Metcalf  and 
Rev.  S.  A.  Cecil,  has  been  one  of  markid  success  and  pros- 
perity for  Rushville  Circuit.  Nearly  all  of  the  appointments 
have  been  blessed  with  gracious  revivals  of  religion,  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty-five  members  have  been  added  to  the 
church  during  the  year  The  most  noted  of  the  revivals  was 
at  Sugar  Grove,  wherethrough  the  untiring  efforts  and  labors 
of  S.  A.  Cecil,  the  membership  was  increased  from  eight  to 
eighty-five  members  Two  new  church  houses  have  been 
built  during  the  year,  one  at  Davis'  School  House  named 
Union  Chapel,  and  one  at  Bethel.  Rushville  circuit  has 
grown  till  at  present  it  requires  two  preachers  to  give  every 
two  weeks  preaching  at  all  of  the  appointments.  There  is 
at  present  about  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  or  three  hun- 
dred members  on  the  circuit  with  eight  regular  preaching 
appointments.  The  society  has  four  good  church  houses, 
and  four  good  Sunday  Schools  in  a  prosperous  condition, 
with  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  scholars  attending.  Du- 
ring the  first  years  of  this  church  organization  in  Schuyler 
County  it  received  some  very  strong  opposition,  especially 
from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  but  since  the  Cape 
May  Conference  where  the  two  churches  were  represented, 
and  where  they  agreed  upon  an  amicable  settlement  of  their 
church  difficulties,  there  has  been  a  more  fraternal  feeling 
between  the  two  churches.  The  members  seem  disposed  to 
treat  each  other  as  Christian  brethren,  which  is  truly  grati- 
fying to  all  lovers  of  Christianity,  and  we  trust  is  another 
grand  step  in  the  great  work  of  spreading  scriptural  holi- 
ness over  the  land,  and  the  upbuilding  of  Christ's  Kingdom^ 
We  append  a  list  of  the  Presiding  Elders  and  Circuit 
Preachers  that  have  served  Rushville  Circuit  each  year  from 
the  first  Organization,  up  to  the  present   time  a.  d.   1882. 

Year  Fresiding  E  dert. 


1867  D.  T.  Sherman. 

1868  W.  R.  Howard. 

1869  R.  Smithson. 

1870  R.  Smithson. 

1871  S.  J.  Catlin. 

1872  M.  R.  Jones. 

1873  J.  H.  Harris. 

1874  T.  F.  Rogers. 

1875  T.  B.  Harben. 

1876  T.  B.  Harben. 

1877  R.  F.  Hays. 

1878  S.  J.  Catlin. 

1879  G.  W.  Gillmore. 

1880  C.  C.  Mayhew. 
188J  C.  C.  Mavhew. 


Circuit  Prtachers 

George  M.  Effinger. 
W.  D.  Cox. 
D.  J.  Snow,  supply. 
W.  B.  Johnsey. 
W.  B.  Johnsey. 
John  A.  Beagle. 
Enoch  Harper. 
W.  B.  Beagle. 
T.  M.  Prickett. 
J.  A.  Greening. 
J.  A.  Greening. 
A.  Merrill. 
N.  A.  Auld. 

(N.A.Auld&W.  A. Cross.) 
( Jos.  Metcalf  &  S.  A.  Cecil.) 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

BY  SAMUEL  C.  PALMER. 

There  are  at  the  date  of  this  writing  (July  1882)  six 
Presbyterian  churches  in  Schuyler  county,  with  an  aggre- 
gate membership  of  420  souls.  They  are  located  as  follows  : 
Rushville,  220  members  ;  Huntsville,  45  members;  Brooklyn 
65  members ;  Doddsville,  60  members ;  Oak  Valley,  21  mem- 
bers ;  Birmingham,  10  members. 


The  first  Presbyterian  church  of  Rushville,  was  organized 
Jan  31,  1830,  in  a  store  room,  owned  by  Mr.  Thomas  W. 
Scott  on  the  north  side  of  the  public  square.  The  clergymen 
who  were  active  in  securing  this  organization  were  Rev. 
Cyrus  L.  Watson,  and  Rev.  J.  M.  Ellis.  Its  original  mem- 
bers were,  Wm.  Blair,  Thomas  Blair,  Margaret  Blair, 
Sarah  Blair,  Hugh  McCreery,  Sarah  McCreery,  Matthew 
McCreery,  Jane  McCreery,  Margaret  McCreery,  Sarah  Mc- 
Creery, Wm.  Moore  and  Jane  Moore.  Of  this  number 
Thomas  Blair  and  William  Moore  were  ch<  sen  ruling 
elders.  Rev.  C.  L.  Watson  ministered  to  the  church  as  a 
stated  supply  until  Sept.  1835,  at  which  time  there  were 
sixty  members  enrolled,  and  the  session  increased  to  five 
members,  viz:  Daniel  Watson,  John  Young,  David  S.  Tay- 
lor, William  Blair  and  Robert  A.  Russell. 

Mr.  John  Young,  one  of  these  early  elders,  organized  and 
superintended  the  first  Sabbath-school  of  Rushville,  and 
probably  the  first  in  the  county,  in  the  log  court-house, 
which  stood  upon  the  ground  where  the  present  Elder  R.  H 
Griffith  is  erecting  his  new  hardware  store.  During 
this  early  period  (1830  1837)  the  congregation  met  for 
worship  in  school-houses,  private  houses,  vacant  rooms  at 
the  court-house,  and  sometimes  in  the  bar  room  of  the  hotel. 
One  of  these  early  pioneers,  Mrs.  Sarah  Young,  relates  that 
she  distinctly  remembers  meeting  in  the  bar  room  of  the  tav. 
ern, — then  s  anding  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  square — 
where  the  Sacrament  oj  the  Lord's  Supper  was  solemnly  cel- 
ebrated, which  the  little  company  of  faithful  believers 
greatly  enjoyed — "  Where  t  *o  or  three  are  gathered  together 
in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  tin  midst  of  them.  "  In  May 
1836,  Rev.  Samuel  Wilson  was  engaged  to  serve  the  church 
as  stated  supply.  In  Aprilof  1837  a'i  effort  was  made  to  ex- 
tend to  him  a  call  to  become  the  settled  pastor  of  the  church. 
The  first  ballot  showed  only  a  majority  of  one,  and  the  last 
ballot  only  a  majority  of  five  in  favor  of  the  pastoral  rela- 
tion being  consummated.  Mr.  Wilson  consequently  declined 
the  call,  but  upon  the  united  invitation  to  continue  as  stated 
supply,  he  remained  until  1838.  In  1837  the  Presbyterian 
church  in  the  United  States  divided  into  the  two  branches 
known  as  Old  and  New  School,  which  unfortunately  di- 
vided many  local  churches.  Mr.  Wilson  took  his  stand 
with  the  old  school  party,  taking  with  him  a  minority  of  the 
Rushville  congregation.  The  attempt  to  maintain  two  sep- 
arate Presbyterian  organizations,  did  not  prove  to  be  a  suc- 
cess, and  so  in  a  few  years  we  find  the  family  happily  re-uni- 
ted and  worshipping  under  one  roof.  Between  1840-1850, 
which  embraces  all  the  years  of  the  old  and  new  school  so  far 
as  Rushville  is  concerned,  there  labored  in  one  or  the 
other  branch  of  the  church,  the  following  named  ministers: 
Rev.  Breese,  Rev.  Alfred  Carrington,  Rev.  J.  T.  Tucker, 
Rev.  Henry  Bergen,  Rev.  J.  Haswell,  and  Rev.  L.  P.  Kim- 
all.  Ofthesebrethren,  Revs.  Carrington,  Haswell  and  Kim- 
ball died  during  the  ten  years,  and  their  graves  are  in  the 
Rushville  Cemetery. 

The  first  Settled  Pastor  of  this  church  was  Rev.  Alex.  B. 
Campbell  who  came  in  Sept.  1850,  and  after  serving  one  year 
as  a  supply  was  installed  in  Oct.  1851,  with  the  munificent 
salary 'of  $400  pledged  for  his  support.   He  continued  to 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


209 


sustain  this  relation  until  April  1835,  when  he  removed  to 
Mendon,  III.  Mr.  Campbell's  pastorate  was  a  prosperous 
one,  quite  a  large  number  being  added  to  the  church  mem- 
bership. In  the  year  1856  the  pulpit  was  supplied  by  Rev. 
J.  Fowler,  son-in-law  of  Rev.  A.  P.  Brown  a  resident  Pres- 
byterian minister,  in  ill  health,  and  whose  widow  at  her 
death  showed  her  love  for  the  church  by  leaving  a  legacy 
for  the  Sabbath-school.  In  January  1857,  Rev.  S.  E.  Wis- 
hard  was  invited  to  supply  the  pulpit,  which  invitation  he 
accepted,  and  in  the  following  November,  by  a  rising  and 
unanimous  vote  he  was  called  to  become  its  second  pastor, 
being  installed  in  December.  This  pastorate  continued  for 
about  three  years,  and  was  marked  by  earnest  work  and 
great  prosperity,  the  membership  being  increased  from 
eighty-two  to  one  hundred  and  sixiy-six.  Following  the 
prosperous  pastorate  of  Mr.  Wishard,  the  church  was  sup- 
plied one  year  by  Itev.  J.  L.  Jones,  and  two  years  by  Rev. 
J.  L.  Whittemore.  The  times  were  troublous,  and  each 
served  but  a  little  while.  In  October  1864,  Rev.  T.  S. 
Reeve  was  invited  to  supply  the  pulpit,  which  invitation  he 
promptly  accepted.  The  winter  following  was  one  of  marked 
interest  in  the  church,  over  thirty  persons  being  added  to  its 
roll.  He  declined  an  invitation  to  serve  the  second  year 
and  so  in  1865  the  pulpit  was  again  vacant.  In  the  same 
year  the  church  sustained  a  severe  loss  in  the  death  of  two 
ruling  elders,  -J.  L.  Anderson  and  Samuel  Hindman,  the 
latter  having  served  the  church  as  elder  for  twenty-nine  years. 
The  church  was  occasionally  supplied  with  preaching,  by 
Rev.  Ira  M.  Weed  until  1866,  when  Rev.  R.  C.  Swinton 
became  the  regular  supply.  In  1869  he  became  disabled  by 
ill  health,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  W.  C.  Burchard.  The 
three  succeeding  years  of  Mr.  B's  ministry  were  marked  by 
internal  harmony  and  great  success.  But  on  account  of 
the  ill  health  of  Mrs.  B.,  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his 
charge  in  1872.  In  Jan.  1873,  Rev.  J.  A.  Pinze  was  called 
to  the  pastorate  of  the  church,  and  was  installed  in  the  fol- 
lowing May,  being  the  third  pastor  over  this  much  served 
flock.  He  continued  in  this  capacity  until  the  fall  of  1880, 
making  the  longest  pastorate  ever  enjoyed  by  this  church. 
This  too  was  a  period  of  harmony,  growth  and  prosperity. 
It  was  during  his  ministry  that  the  congregation  erected 
the  present  beautiful  and  commodious  house  of  worship, 
in  many  respects  a  model  for  convenience  and  utility.  The 
corner-stone  of  the  house  (which  is  of  brick)  was  laid  with 
appropriate,  ceremonies  on  Monday,  August  23,  1875,  and 
although  the  times  was  marked  by  financial  stringency 
all  over  the  country,  the  house  were  pushed  to  its  present 
state  of  completion  as  rapidly  as  possible,  at  a  cost  of  $15, 
000-  The  first  religious  services  were  held  in  the  Sabbath- 
school  and  lecture  room  in  March  1877.  It  is  no  dispar- 
agement to  the  others  who  aided  in  this  worthy  enterprise  to 
record  the  fact  that  not  a  little  of  this  success  was  due  to 
the  indefatigable  labors  of  elder  L.  R.  Caldwell,  who  has 
so  recently  entered  into  his  rest  and  reward.  In  Jan.  1881, 
Rev.  Daniel  W.  Evans  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the 
church,  but  was  never  installed,  as  the  Master  whom  he 
loved  and  served,  called  him  into  the  church  triumphant 
in  December  of  the  same  year-  In  May  1882,  Rev  Samuel 
27 


C.  Palmer  came  to  this  church  in  answer  to  a  hearty  and 
unanimous  call  which  had  been  extended  to  him  in  March 
preceding.  The  names  of  the  Elders  who  have  served  the 
church  since  its  organization  are  as  follows ;  viz :  Thomas 
Blair,  William  Moore,  David  Watson,  John  Young,  David 
S.  Taylor,  William  Blair,  Robert  A.  Russell,  Samuel  Hind- 
man,  James  L.  Anderson,  David  V.  Dawely  O.  M.  Hoag- 
land,  William  E.    Withrow,   William   Perkins,   John  Mc- 

Creery,  Peter  H.  Holm King,   William  K.    Young, 

R.  H.  Griffith,  William  Speed,  Thomas  H.  Matthews, 
Augustus  Warren,  George  G.  Clark,  A.  J.  Byrns,  J.  M. 
Coyner,  John  Putnam,  Louis  R.  Caldwell,  Louis  D.  Er*in 
and  Hershal  B  Roach.  The  session  as  constituted  at  present 
is  composed  of  the  following  brethren:  R.  H  Griffith,  Wm. 
Speed,  Augustus  Warren,  A.  J.  Byrns,  H.  B.  Roach*  and 
L.  D.  Irwin.  The  history  of  Presbyterianisra  in  Schuyler 
county  should  include  also  that  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian church,  being  another  branch  of  the  same  family. 
Their  only  organization  in  the  county  was  effected  in 
Rushville  in  1834,  four  years  later  than  the  other  church, 
whose  history  is  briefly  outlined  above,  in  a  brick  school- 
house  on  the  lot  where  the  Christian  church  now  stands.  Its 
original  members  were  Micaiah  Warren,  Mary  Warren, 
David  S.  Taylor,  Sarah  Taylor,.  Renseller  Wells,  Esther 
Wells,  Abraham  Tolles,  Harriet  Tolles,  John  B.  Moffitt, 
Polly  Ann  Moffitt,  Willis  M.  Chapman,  Elizabeth  Chapman, 
Sarah  Durant,  Francis  Heminway  and  Willis  Carson.  Of 
these  David  Taylor  and  Micaiah  Warren  were  elected  Ru- 
ling Elders.  Rev.  J.  C.  Jewel  became  their  pastor  in  the 
same  year,  and  they  proceeded  at  once  to  build  a  house  of 
worship.  The  year  1834  is  memorable  as  the  cholera  year, 
and  Itev.  Mr.  Jewel  became  one  of  its  victims  and  died,  but 
not  until  the  new  building  was  enclosed,  so  that  his  funeral 
sermon  was  preached  in  it  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Berry.  Losing 
severely  by  deaths  and  removals,  they  became  too  weak  to 
support  a  minister,  and  soon  suspended  this  separate  service. 
At  length  they  sold  their  building,  and,  like  the  old  school 
Presbyterian*,  identified  themselves  with  the  First  Presby. 
terian  Church  of  Rushville,  contributing  to  it  some  of  its 
most  esteemed  and  useful  members. 

The  Presbyterian  organization  at  Doddsville  is  the  next 
in  chronological  order.  The  village  of  Doddsville  is  divided 
by  the  county  line  of  Schuyler  and  McDonough  and  the 
church  was  organized  and  the  gospel  preached  for  thirty- 
three  years  on  the  Schuyler  side  of  the  line.  In  1876  a  new 
meeting  house  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $3200,  which  stands 
upon  the  McDonough  side  of  the  line.  The  church  was 
organized  July  29,  1843,  at  the  house  of  Andrew  Walker, 
by  a  commission  sent  by  Presbyterians  for  that  purpose — 
consisting  of  Rev.  Wm.  K.  Stewart,  Rev.  James  M.  Chase 
and  Elder  Brisco.  The  names  of  the  original  members  of 
this  organization  are  as  follows  ;  viz:  Andrew  Walker,  Ann 
Walker,  Charles  W.  Walker,  Rachel  Walker,  John  M. 
Clark,  Mariah  Clark,  M  irgaret  Hoge,  Rebecca  Clugsten, 
Jane  Clugsten, 'Hetty  McCoy,  Isabella  Scott  Clugsten,  John 
Scott,  Rachel  Scott,  Sarah  Black,  Mariah  Black,  Thomas 
Shannon,  and  Elizabeth  Shannon,  seventeen  in  all.  Of  this 
number  Andrew  Walker  was   ruling   elder,  and  the  Sacra- 


210 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


ment  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered  upon  the  nest 
day  which  was  the  Sabbath.  Of  these  original  members, 
eleveD  were  from  near  Gettysburg,  Pa  ;  four  from  near  Ur- 
bana,  Ohio,  and  two  from  Virginia ;  all  but  five  of  them 
have  already  joined  the  ranks  of  the  church  triumphant. 
The  names  of  those  still  living  (July  1882)  are  :  Chas.  VV. 
Walker,  Margaret  Hoge,  Jane  Clugsten,  Isabella  Clugst^n, 
and  Mariah  (Black)  Beaver.  The  first  four  being  still 
members  of  the  Doddville  church.  Mrs.  Beaver  being  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Plymouth  111.  On 
the  17th  of  September,  1843,  about  seven  weeks  after  the 
organization  of  this  church,  Elder  Andrew  Walker  was 
called  to  his  eternal  rest  and  reward.  During  the  thirty- 
nine  years  of  this  organization,  the  church  has  been  served 
by  the  following  named  ministers,  all  but  one  in  the  relation 
of  stated  supply:  Revs.  John  Hoge,  James  M.  Chase,  John 
Marshall,  Cyrus  B.  Bristow,  Joseph  H.  Marshall,  James  T. 
Bliss,  George  A.  Hutchison,  Henry  C  Mullen,  Preston  W. 
Thomson  and  Rev.  D.  T.  McAuley,  the  present  incumbent, 
one  half  his  time,  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Marshall  was  the  only 
regularly  installed  pastor.  Of  these  ministers  all  are  yet 
living  except  the  Rev.  James  Chase  and  Rev.  John  Marshall. 
The  following  brethren  have  served  as  elders  in  this  church 
Andrtw  Walker,  John  M.  Clark,  John  G.  McGaughey, 
David  R.  Hindman,  James  McDavid,  Elijah  Uindman, 
John  McMillen,  Hugh  McOaughey,  Thomas  Conner,  Thos. 
McCoy,  Henry  Black,  Wm.  Pollock,  John  Colleasure  and 
Samuel  Hoge,  fourteen  in  all — six  of  this  number— printed 
in  italics  have  departed  thi-  life.  James  Colleasure  was 
elected  to  this  office  b  it  died  before  ordination. 

The  church  has  also  been  served  by  the  following  named 
Deacons,  George  Bair,  Wm.  A.  Black,  Samuel  Hoge,  John 
H.  McGrath  and  James  Colleasure,-&\\  living  but   the  last- 

The  present  board  of  Trustees  are,  George  Bair,  Samuel 
C.  Hoge,  John  McGrath  and  William  McLain. 

The  old  church  luildirg,  so  recently  \acattd,  was  begun 
in  1851,  and  completed  in  1855.  It  was  never  formally 
dedicated  as  a  house  of  worship ;  its  original  cost  was  about 
89  JO.  The  first  revival  of  any  note  was  in  February  and 
March,  1858,  under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev  John  Marshall, 
when  twenty-eight  new  members  were  added  to  the  church. 
The  second  revival  was  under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Jas. 
T.  Bliss,  in  Jan.  1867,  when  eleven  members  were  received 
In  December  of  the  same  year  eleven  more  ■Were  enrolled, 
under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  George  A.  Hutchison.  The 
most  notable  out  pouring  of  the  Spirit  of  God  was  in  Octo- 
ber 1874,  in  a  meeting  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Neil 
Johnson,  an  evangelist,  when  thirty-five  new  names  were 
added  to  the  roll  of  the  church,  the  membership  of  the 
church  at  this  time  being  eighty,  the  largest  number  it  has 
ever  reached  at  one  time.  About  two  hundred  names  have 
been  connected  with  the  church  since  its  organization. 

Next  in  chronological  order  is  the  organization  at  Brook- 
lyn ;  the  writer  has  been  unable  to  get, any  detailed  history 
of  this  church.  A  few  facts  have  been  furnished.  The 
church  was  organized  September  23,  1854,  by  the  Rev. 
James  Ballard,  with  six  members  ;  viz ;  Dan.  L.  Nutting 
and  wife,  (congregationalists)  William   H.  Hite   and  wife 


(Lutheran)  J.  B.  Compton  and  wife,  (Cumberland  Presb.) 
Of  this  number  brothers  Compton  and  Hite  were  elected 
ruling  elders.  Eleven  members  were  added  during  the 
next  year.  Owing  to  many  removals  during  the  next  six 
months,  the  church  seemed  to  die,  no  record  being  kept 
from  October  14th,  1855,  to  December  17th,  1858, 
since  which  time  the  church  has  been  served  with 
regular  pastoral  ministration,  by  men  who  have  given  to  this 
field  one-half  their  time,  the  Rev.  D.  T.  McAuley,  the  pre- 
sent incumbent,  dividing  his  labours  between  Brooklyn  and 
Doddsville.  A  comfortable  meeting-house  was  built  in 
1867,  at  a  cost  of  $3500,  without  incurring  any  debt,  and  a 
new  parsonage  has  just  been  erected  at  a  cost  of  81200,  also 
free  of  debt.  The  church  has  a  flourishing  Sabbath-school 
of  about  100  members,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  future  will 
reveal  still  better  things  in  regard  to  this  organization. 

The  church  at  Huntsville  seems  to  have  had  a  double 
organization.  First,  in  1836,  an  old  school  branch  of  the 
church  was  organized  by  Revs.  Chase  and  Wilson,  with  a 
few  members,  of  whom  John  J.  Gash  and  Col.  George  H. 
Brisco  were  chosen  ruling  elders.  Rev.  Milton  Kimball,  of 
Augusta,  was  the  first  minister,  after  whom  there  were  a 
number  of  others.  The  present  church  was  organized  in 
1866  by  Rev.  Isaac  T.  Whittemore,  with  twelve  members, 
of  whom  Isaac  Pettijohn.  Lagmore  Ridenour,  and  Lewis  R. 
King  were  elected  ruling  elders.  The  following  named 
ministers  have  served  this  church,  viz.  : — Rev.  E.  L  Hard, 
Rev.  Aaron  Thomson,  Rev.  Albam  Powell,  Rev.  W.  S. 
Knight,  Rev.  Dr.  Ashley,  Rev.  A.  H.  Park,  Rev.  Pryse, 
and  two  theological  students  of  the  northwest,  Messrs. 
McBride  and  McAfee.  Until  1870  they  worshipped  in  the 
old  school  church  building,  when  the  present  house  of  wor- 
ship was  erected. 

The  organization  of  the  Oak  Valley  Presbyterian  Church 
was  not  consummated  until  April  3rd,  1872,  although  steps 
looking  to  that  end  had  been  taken  two  years  previous.  The 
Gospel  had  been  faithfully  preached  by  the  Rev.  Burchard 
and  Pinger,  of  Rushville,  and  assisted  in  their  labor  by 
brethren  of  the  session  of  the  Rushville  Church.  The  people 
heard  the  Gospel  gladly,  and  during  these  preparatory  two 
years,  26  professed  conversion,  so  that  w  hen  the  church  was 
organized  it  had  26  members  and  three  ruling  elders,  viz : — 
Archibald  Woods,  Robert  Alen,  and  George  Simpson.  With 
so  fair  a  beginning  it  was  hoped  that  a  steady  growth 
would  follow  and  the  organization  would  soon  be  regularly 
served  with  the  preached  Word,  but  circumstances  have 
seemed  to  be  against  them,  and  to-day  they  have  only  a 
name  to  live. 

Concerning  the  Birmingham  organization,  no  data  has  been 
furnished  the  writer  from  which  to  present  any  historic  facts. 
The  church  is  very  weak. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Presbyterianism  ha3  never  taken 
any  strong  root  in  Schuyler  County.  It  is  not  in  the  pro- 
vince of  the  historian  to  search  for  causes,  nor  to.  speculate 
as  to  reasons.  His  work  is  simply  to  record  the  facts,  and 
leave  to  the  philosopher  the  task  of  assigning  causes.  The 
writer,  however,  may  venture,  perhaps,  the  suggestion  that 
the   Presbyterianism   which   found  so  easy  a  home  in  the 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


211 


county  seat,  aad  has  grown  from  so  small  beginnings  to  its 
present  prosperous  condition,  has  had  no  small  influence  in 
shaping  the  moral  tone  and  character  of  the  whole  county- 
Certain  it  is,  that  if  we  were  to  obliterate  all  the  churches 
and  all  the  religious  influences  which  centre  about  the 
church  and  the  Sabbath-school,  the  county  would  afford  far 
less  attractions  than  are  found  to-day.  It  is  possible  toOj 
that  some  future  compilers  of  Presbyterian  history  in  this 
county  will  find  a  far  greater  growth,  as  the  county  increases 
in  population,  and  the  villages  of  to-day  grow  into  populous 
towns. 


THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

BY   JOHN   KNOWLES. 

An  examination  of  the  records  shows  that  the  origin  of 
what  afterwards  became  the  Rushville  Baptist  Church  was 
on  this  wise : — 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Spoon  River  Association,  held  with 
Salem  Church,  in  Fulton  county,  Illinois,  a  resolution  was 
adopted  declaring  non-fellowship  with  all  Baptists  who 
were  engaged  in  mission,  Bible,  tract,  Sunday-school,  or 
temperance  effort. 

A  number  of  members  present  deeming  this  action  a 
violation  not  only  of  their  rights  as  individuals,  but  also  as 
being  in  direct  conflict  with  Baptist  teaching  and  usage 
and  as  tending  to  destroy  if  carried  into  effect,  the  individ- 
ual independence  of  the  churches — a  right  believed  to  be 
taught  and  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures,  and  for  which  Baptists 
in  all  ages  have  earnestly  contended  that  each  church  is 
competent  to  manage,  direct  and  control  its  own  affairs — 
believing  also,  that  the  resolution  in  question,  was  opposed 
to  the  spirit  and  teachings  of  the  gospel,  and  would  retard  its 
progress,  they  withdrew  from  the  association  and  on  October 
20, 1832,  organized  a  Baptist  Church  of  Christ  called  Con. 
cord.  The  Baptist  Church  to-day  has  articles  of  faith 
which  are  recognized  and  subscribed  to  by  all  the  churches 
in  the  denomination,  but  when  the  Concord  Church  was 
organized  such  articles  seem  not  to  have  been  available^ 
And  the  church  adopted  such  as  in  their  judgment  were, 
best  calculated  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  organization. 
It  is  interesting  to  note,  that  not  only  did  they  plant  them- 
selves squarely  upon  a  platform  which  recognized  and  en- 
dorsed all  the  benevolent  operations  of  the  day,  but  added  to 
their  constitution  these  words  :  '•  We  wish  it  well  understood 
that  we  consider  it  disorderly  for  any  member  of  this  church 
to  distil  ardent  spirits  for  gain,  as  the  same  is  calculated  to 
demoralize  society,  or  to  resort  to  taverns  or  groceries  for 
the  purpose  of  buying  ardent  spirits,  but  we  would  recom- 
mend to  our  brethren  entire  abstinence  except  in  cases  of 
sickness,  when  it  is  recommended  by  a  physician." 

Thirty-three  brethren  and  sisters  signed  the  constitution, 
and  articles  of  faith,  and  the  organization  was  completed  by 
the  unanimous  call  of  elder  John  Logan  to  the  pastorate  of 
the  church  and  the  election  of  Elijah  M.  Wilson  and  George 
Swan  deacons,  and  David  Lenox  church  clerk.  The  records 
of  the  church  were  well  and  clearly  -kept  by  brother  Lenox 


during  his  whole  term  of  service.  They  show  that  monthly 
meetings  were  held  by  the  church,  at  first  in  private  houses, 
but  very  soon  a  house  was  built  and  set  apart  for  worship. 
Meetings  invariably  commenced  on  the  Saturday  before  the 
Lord's  day ;  a  business  meeting  followed  each  Saturday 
service ;  always  the  doors  of  the  church  were  opened  for  the 
admission  of  members,  but  few  meetings  are  recorded  when 
there  were  not  accessions  to  the  membership  of  the  church. 
For  years  these  accessions  were  constant  and  steady :  much 
good  was  done  and  many  souls  brought  into  the  kingdom 
through  its  efforts  and  influence. 

Elder  Logan  served  the  church  as  its  pastor  for  four  years, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1836,  was  succeeded  by  Elder  Newell.  In 
1837  the  church  bought  a  lot  and  erected  a  meeting-house 
in  Rushville,  but  after  a  short  occupancy,  voted  to  sell  the 
property  and  return  again  to  the  county.  Accordingly  a  log 
church  was  built  on  the  Macomb  road  four  and  a  half  miles 
north  of  Rushville,  and  in  this  log  church  under  the  pasto- 
rate of  Elder  H.  Davis  the  church  seems  to  have  enjoyed 
the  most  prosperous  years  of  its  existence.  Elder  Davis 
succeeded  to  the  pastorate  in  1840;  the  church  had  been  for 
some  time  without  preaching,  but  seemed  to  take  on  new 
life  with  its  new  minister.  Meetings  were  held,  many  were 
converted,  and  the  church  became  a  power  for  good  in  the 
community.  Early  in  the  year  1844  a  meeting  was  held 
by  Elder  Davis  in  the  village  of  Brooklyn  ;  the  result  was  a 
church  organized  which  flourished  for  some  time  but 
eventually  died  out.  Elder  Davis  continued  to  serve  the 
church  as  pastor  until  the  fall  of  1847.  Perhaps  to  copy  a 
resolution  from  the  record  about  the  reluctant  acceptance  of 
his  resignation,  owing  to  removal  to  too  great  a  distance  from 
the  church,  will  furnish  the  best  idea  of  the  man :  "  Resolved, 
that  as  a  church  we  feel  sincerely  grateful  to  Elder  Davis 
for  his  unwearied  labors  in  serving  the  church  and  traveling 
the  distance  of  twenty-five  miles  once  every  month  ;  besides 
a  number  of  intereresting  and  profitable  meetings  held,  and 
for  the  space  of  seven  years  and  five  months,  he  never  failed 
in  one  appointment."  The  writer  well  remembers  hearing 
Deacon  William  Owen  tell  how  on  one  cold,  inclement 
Saturday,  Brother  Swan  and  himself  started  on  foot  to  open 
and  warm  the  church  for  worship.  After  waiting  till  nearly 
the  usual  time  for  closing  and  no  one  had  come,  they  con- 
cluded to  lock  up  aud  go  home.  As  they  started,  they  saw 
coming  toward  them,  a  solitary  horseman  plowing  with 
difficulty  his  way  through  the  deep  snow.  As  he  neared 
them  they  saw  it  was  Elder  Davis ;  he  had  kept  his  appoint- 
ment and  insisted  on  their  all  going  back  to  the  church  and 
having  meeting ;  and  said  the  deacon,  in  conclusion,  we  had 
a  very  good  meeting.  One  or  two  other  ministers  succeeded 
Elder  Davis,  in  short  pastorates.  The  next  notable  event 
in  the  history  of  the  church  occurred  in  1849  The  village 
as  of  Littleton  was  located  about  nine  miles  from  Rushville  ; 
a  number  of  the  members  of  the  Rushville  Baptist  Church 
lived  in  the  neighborhood,  it  was  thought  desirable  to  plant 
a  Baptist  Church  in  the  village.  Seventeen  members  were 
granted  letters  from  the  Rushville  Church,  and  Littleton 
Baptist  Church  became  a  fixed  fact;  has  remained  such 
ever  since,  and  is  to-day  a  flourishing  church  of  some  one 


212 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


hundred  and  fifty  or  one  hundred  and  sixty  members',  and 
a  large  and  interesting  Sabbath-school. 

In  the  winter  of  1850  and  1851  the  church  decided  to 
again  build  a  meeting-house  in  Rushville.  A  comfortable 
house  was  built  and  opened  for  regular  services  in  the  fall 
of  1851.  Elder  N.  Hayes  was  called  to  the  pastorate,  and 
served  the  church  in  that  capacity  for  nearly  two  years, 
being  then  succeeded  by  Elder  Gibbs.  The  church  has  never 
been  as  successful  in  town  as  while  it  was  located  in  the 
country  ;  and  while  under  several  different  pastors  it  has  been 
blest  with  occasional  revivals  resulting  in  additions  to  its 
membership,  the  last  few  years  of  its  existence  have  been  so 
uneventful  as  to  furnish  but  little  to  point  a  moral  or  adorn 
the  tale  of  its  history.  The  town  itself  has  remaini  d 
practically  at  a  standstill.  For  many  years,  removals  and 
inevitable  death,  made  sad  inroads  up  >n  the  membership 
of  the  church,  rendering  it  too  feeble  to  support  preaching 
or  keep  up  its  meetings.  In  addition  to  the  churches  formed 
from  its  membership  at  Brooklyn  and  Littleton,  of  which 
mention  has  been  made,  two  other  churches,  one  six  miles 
northeast  of  town,  the  other  at  Pleasant  View,  were  each 
organized  from  the  membership  of  the  old  Rushville  Church. 

During  the  nearly  fifty  years  of  its  existence  the  church 
has  received  into  its  fellowship  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  members.  Of  these  the  records  show  that  some  fell  by  the 
wayside;  others,  and  the  much  larger  number,  moved  away 
and  were  furnished  letters  to  other  churches ;  still  others,  a 
goodly  and  precious  and  ever  increasing  company,  have  cross- 
ed the  flood,  and  are  safe  in  the  everlasting  Arms  While 
the  Baptist  denomination  is,  perhaps,  as  much  alive  to  the 
importance  of  an  educated  ministry  as  is  any  other  body  of 
Christians,  it  yet  remains  true  that  the  Rushville  Church 
has  not  been  much  indebted  for  whatever  of  good  it  has 
accomplished  in  the  education  of  its  ministers.  They  were 
for  the  most  part,  plain,  unlettered  men  ;  many  of  them 
probably  never  heard  of  Murray,  and  were  not  very  familiar 
with  Webster,  but  for  devoted,  earnest  piety,  for  faithfulness 
in  discharge  of  duty,  for  intense  burning  love  for  the  souls 
of  their  hearers,  and  for  true  pulpit  power,  the  ministers  of 
later  days  have  never  excelled  them.  The  laymen  of  the 
church  furnish  a  bright  and  shining  part  of  her  history.  So 
numerous  were  they  that  it  may  seem  invidious  to  mention 
names,  yet  a  long  and  profitable  acquaintance  with  Deacons 
Wilson  and  Harrington,  and  later  with  Deacon  William 
Owen, has  convinced  the  writer  that  good  laymen  contribute 
much  to  the  strength,  stability  and  efficiency  of  a  church. 
The  brethren  mentioned  have  each  in  •  urn,  and  in  ripe  old 
age,  been  called  from  the  labor  they  loved  so  well  to  glorious 
fulness  of  reward.  What  in  the  good  providence  of  our 
God  may  be  the  future  of  our  church  we  are  of  course 
unable  to  say,  but,  looking  back  over  the  years  of  its 
history,  seeing  always  in  that  history  its  unflinching,  un. 
wearying  fidelity  to  truth,  the  wholesome  and  faithful 
disipline  which  it  has  always  exercised  over  its  members 
the  number  and  character  of  its  converts,  the  hold  it  still 
has,  even  in  its  enforced  weakness,  on  the  best  feelings 
of  the  community,  the  difficulties  it  has  encountered  and 
conquered  along  its  vay,  the  general  good  it  has  accomplished 


the  members  from  its  rank*  who  have  passed  from  the 
church  militant  to  the  church  triumphant,  all  unite  to  lead 
us  to  thank  God  for  the  organization  of  the  Rushville  Bap- 
tist Church  in  Schuyler  county. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

BY  WILLIAM  FOWLER. 

Rushville  Church. — From  the  best  information  to  be  gained 
from  the  oldest  persons  connected  with  this  organization  it 
is  as  follows  : 

Elder  James  Hughs,  of  Ohio,  on  a  preaching  tour  through 
Indiana  and  Illinois,  on  his  way  to  Missouri,  aecoirpanied 
by  Henry  Johnston,  passed  through  here  and  stopped  with 
Mr.  Benjamin  Chadsey,  the  son-in-law  of  Henry  Johnston, 
where  they  remained  a  few  days.  Elder  J.  Hewes  preached 
a  few  discourses  in  Mr.  Benjamin  Chadsey's  log  cabin,  2i 
miles  northeast  of  the  town  of  Rushville,  in  the  year  1829, 
which  was  the  first  preaching  in  the  county  by  this  denomi- 
nation. He  was  a  very  zealous  speaker  and  a  good  expoun- 
der of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  His  audience  was  composed  of 
a  few  pioneer  settlers,  who  listened  with  great  interest  to  the 
venerable  man  as  the  doctrine  was  promulgated  by  him. 
The  next  week  Elder  Hughs  set  out  on  his  way  to  Missouri. 

Mr.  Henry  Johnston  remained  here  and  bought  a  farm 
4  miles  north  of  Rushville,  where  he  improved  and  built 
a  bouse,  and  in  the  fall  of  1830  Barton  W.  Stone,  of 
Kentucky,  came  here  and  held  a  meeting  in  the  log  court- 
house with  a  great  interest.  Robert  Chadsey  and  wife  were 
the  first  to  be  immersed  in  the  county  that  were  added  to 
the  church.  In  the  spring  of  1831  Elder  James  W.  Davis 
and  James  Urbank  came  from  Kentucky  to  this  place, 
where  Elder  J.  W.  Davis  preached  every  Lord's  day,  and 
getting  up  an  interest,  they  began  making  preparations  to 
build  a  house  of  worship.  Meanwhile  they  commenced  a 
meeting  in  the  log  court  house,  conducted  by  Elders  Hewett 
and  Boker,  where  they  organized  a  congregation  in  the  fall 
of  1832,  consisting  of  ten  or  fifteen  members,  who  set  apart 
Thomas  Paydon  as  an  elder,  and  Thomas  P.  Garrett  as  dea- 
con of  the  first  congregation  in  the  county. 

This  meeting  was  in  the  fall  of  1832,  and  continued  until 
the  weather  became  so  cold  that  they  moved  the  meeting  to 
the  house  of  Alexander  Campbell,  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  public  square,  where  the  City  Hotel  now  stands.  In 
the  spring  of  1833  the  meeting  was  moved  to  a  small  school, 
house  near  where  the  church  now  stands.  In  the  fall  of 
1833  the  first  church  was  finished,  and  they  held  a  meeting 
in  it  with  many  additions.  This  meeting  was  conducted  by 
Barton  W.  Stone  on  his  second  visit  to  this  place.  They 
now  reorganized  permanently  on  the  29th  day  of  December, 
A.  d.  1833.  This  organization  was  composed  of  persons, 
with  testimonials  of  a  good  moral  and  Christian  char- 
acter, who,  in  coming  together  as  a  congregation,  had 
been  immersed  upon  a  profession  of  their  faith  in  the  Mes- 
siah as  the  only  begotten  of  God ;  and  declared  it  to  be 
their  full  purpose  and  determination   to   acknowledge   no 


HISTORY  OF   SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


213 


leader  but  Jesus  Christ ;  no  infallible  teacher  but  the  holy 
apostles  and  prophets ;  no  articles  of  faith  and  practice  but 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  to  regard  the  latter  as 
containing  their  faith  and  rule  of  behavior  as  Christians. 
Thus  giving  themselves  to  the  Lord  and  to  one  another,  ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  God,  they  have  agreed  to  walk  to- 
gether as  one  common  family,  under  the  government  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  to  whom  be  glory,  honor  everlasting, 
Amen. 

Thus  this  congregation  began  to  build  up,  holding  their 
regular  meeting  on  every  Lord's  day,  having  preaching  when 
some  good  brother  would  come  to  their  help,  and  at  other 
times  social  meetings,  conducted  by  tin  elders.  The  preach- 
ers were  generally  employed  by  the  month  on  accouut  of 
not  being  able  to  do  otherwise  at  the  time.  Thus  this  con- 
gregation continued  worship,  and  increased  in  numbers  about 
100  or  180  members,  and  in  1846  or  '47,  they  remodeled  the 
house  inside  by  changing  the  pulpit  in  front  between  the 
two  doors,  and  raising  the  seats  or  elevating  the  floor  in  the 
back  part  of  the  audience  room.  This  was  done  at  some 
considerable  expense,  to  which  some  took  offense  and  caused 
the  others  to  leave  the  church  with  them,  and  so  the  con- 
gregation was  weakened. 

But  there  was  a  majority  of  the  congregation  determined 
not  to  give  up  to  the  stubbornness  of  Satan  and  his  coadju- 
tors, and  went  on  having  preaching  as  usual.  The  congre- 
gation was  again  increased  by  the  labors  of  Billy  Brown, 
who  held  a  month's  meeting,  and  added  25  or  30  to  the  con- 
gregation. In  1850  a  Sunday  School  was  organized  and  put 
in  working  order,  and  has  been  continued  ever  since,  with 
encouragements  and  discouragements,  with  the  natural  ebbs 
and  flows  which  such  institutions  are  subject  to,  numbering, 
at  times,  from  20  to  125  members. 

From  1850  to  1862  there  was,  most  of  the  time,  pastoral 
preaching ;  some  intervals,  however,  between  ;  William  Brown 
one-quarter  of  his  time  that  year,  and  in  1863  McGinnis 
gave  all  his  time  to  the  church.  In  1865  the  congregation 
employed  A.  H  Rice,  who  preached  for  a  year  and  a  half, 
and,  at  the  expiration  of  his  term,  employed  J.  B.  Corwin 
in  1867,  and  then  the  congregation  was  without  preaching 
for  five  years,  and  when  there  was  no  preaching  they  con- 
tinued their  social  meetings.  In  1872  they  employed  John 
Lagrange,  who  preached  one  year,  and  afterward  they  em- 
ployed David  Sharpies,  who  ministered  part  of  three  years. 
In  1876  they  employed  Henry  Puett.  The  next  preacher 
was  William  M.  Londy — 1880  and  1881.  At  present  we 
have  no  preacher. 

In  1874  this  congregation  put  under  contract  the  build- 
ing of  a  new  house  of  worship,  which  was  finished  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1875,  and  furnished  complete,  and  was  dedicated  by 
President  Thompson  of  Abington  College,  March  1st,  a. 
x>.  1875,  at  a  cost  of  $5,600.  Its  dimensions  are  40x60  feet, 
24  ft.  ceiling,  with  a  capacity  of  seating  400  persons  com- 
fortably. 

The  charter  members  of  this  congregation  in  1832  were  as 
follows  :  Robert  Chadsey  and  wife,  Rachel  Chadsey,  Henry 
Johnston  and  wife,  Alexander  Campbell,  wife  and  daughter, 
William -Beverly  and  wife,  Mary   Uelapp,  Ira  Bridge  and 


wife,  Thomas  J.  Garratt  and  wife.  Preachers:  James 
Hewes,  B.  W.  Stone,  Hewa  &  Baker,  James  W.  Davis,  O. 
S.  Osborn,  William  Brown,  Pardee  Butler,  William  Malery 
O'Cane,  D.  P.  Henderson,  Sylvauous  Bagby,  William  Lam- 
bert, Alexander  Campbell,  president  of  Bethany  College,  W 
Va-,  Apison  Moughau,  Zibey  Brown,  Thos.  Butler,  Dawson 
McGinnis,  A.  H.  Rice,  John  M.  Sweeney,  J.  B.  Corwin, 
Donan  Roberts,  Walling  Lucass,  Allen  Johnston,  Lagrange 

D.  Sharpies,  M.  D.  Sharpies,  S.  M.  Connor,  Tricket  Puett, 
W.  M.  Londy,  and  others. 

BADER   CHURCH. 

This  place  was  first  visited  by  Beverly  Curry,  in  1836  or 
'37,  the  first  Christian  preacher,  who  preached  at  Joseph 
Dennis'  house.  He  preached  occasionally  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, either  in  the  school-house  or  in  the  dwelling-houses, 
first  one  and  then  another — Phillip  Mulkey,  Foster,  and 
others — up  to  the  time  they  organized  a  congregation,  which 
was  done  in  1840,  by  Beverly  Curry,  with  a  membership  of 
31,  who,  with  testimonials  of  a  good  moral  and  Christian 
character,  on  a  profession  of  their  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as 
the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  pledged  themselves  to  God 
and  to  one  another,  according  to  the  will  of  God  under  the 
government  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  to  whom  be  glory  and 
honor  everlasting,  Amen. 

It  was  then  called  No.  1  congregation  ;  now  it  is  called 
Bader,  since  the  railroad  came  here.  Elder  G.  P.  Wilson 
was  the  first  pastor  employed  at  a  salary  in  1873.  Henry 
Clay  Littleton  was  the  next  in  1878  and  '79,  in  all  two  and 
a  half  years.  We  have  had  other  preaching  brethren  inter- 
spersed along  for  a  year  or  more  at  a  time,   but  not  on  a 

stipulated   salary— Elder   Benjamin    Walton,   Elder   

CrofFord,  Joseph  B.  Royal,  Wm.  Grissom,  President  J.  C. 
Reynolds,  Henry  Smither,  J.  Morgan,  J.  Carroll  Stork,  N. 

E.  Cory,  James  M.  Tennyson.  M.  D.  Sharpies  is  our  pre- 
sent pastor  in  1882.  We  have  a  membership  of  87;  church 
in  a  flourishing  condition.  The  church  building  was  erected 
in  1876  at  a  cost  of  $1000;  will  seat  200  persons,  and  is 
insured  for  $000. 

BETHANY   CONGREGATION, 

seven  miles  north  of  Rushville,  was  organized  in  1839  or  '40, 
preaching  by  Elder  King,  and  afterward  by  Elder  Patton, 
then  Wm.  Ross,  in  a  school-house  known  as  the  Garrison 
school-house,  where  they  had  preaching  at  intervals,  as  they 
could  secure  the  services  of  some  worthy  brother,  and  the 
cause  flourished  for  a  while.  Then  there  arose  a  dissatis- 
laction  between  some  of  the  members,  and  the  congregation 
went  down,  and  they  had  no  meeting  for  a  long  time. 

In  1870  A.  Brown,  in  company  with  A.  S.  Robinson,  came 
into  the  neighborhood  and  held  a  meeting  in  the  Garrison 
school-house  again  and  got  up  a  good  interest,  and  had  some 
new  additions,  and  some  of  the  old  parties  had  passed  away. 
They  reorganized  in  the  Garrison  school-house,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1871  they  built  a  house  of  worship  about  one 
mile  south  of  the  school-house,  which  will  comfortably  seat 
200  persons,  at  a  cost  of  about  $1,400  in  all.  The  first 
regular  pastor  was  A.  S.  Robinson,  followed  by  Joseph  Mor- 


214 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


gan,  M.  D.  Sharpies  and  G.  F.  Adams,  after  which  A.  Brown 
preached  for  them  three  years.  Aj,  the  present  time  M.  D. 
Sharpies  is  employed  again  for  one  year  ;  his  term  has  not 
yet  expired.    So  ends  this  history. 

CAMDEN. 

The  first  preaching  that  was  done  by  the  ministers  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  was  in  1840,  or  near  that  time,  by  James 
McHatton,  and  the  next  by  D.  P.  Henderson.  In  1859 
Thomas  Butler  held  a  meeting  and  organized  a  congregation 
of  14  members.  Not  being  able  to  support  a  minister  they 
held  social  or  Lord's  Day  meetings.  B.  Pwatt  was  the  first 
added  to  this  small  group  of  disciples. 

In  the  fall  of  1866  Elder  Henry  Smither  of  Rushville, 
held  a  meeting  that  lasted  for  two  or  three  weeks,  assisted 
by  A.  H.  Rice,  the  result  of  which  was  25  good,  substantial 
members  (mostly  heads  of  families),  making  iu  all  thirty- 
five  members,  which  enabled  them  to  employ  a  regular  pas- 
tor. The  first  pastor  was  Thos.  Butler,  and  the  next  em. 
ployed  was  Dr.  David  Ross,  then  living  in  Plymouth,  who 
served  one  year.  In  1872  Dr.  Thomas  Dunkiser  of  Mt. 
Sterling,  became  pastor,  and  afterward  David  Sharpies,  of 
Fairberry,  and  the  next  year  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
M.  D.  Sharpies,  who  was  associated  with  the  church  at 
Camden.  In  1875  Henry  Puett  preached  one  year,  and  his 
labors  were  attended  with  great  success  in  adding  to  the 
church  of  Christ  many  souls.  Then  A.  Brown,  of  Macomb, 
preached  part  of  his  time ;  then  J.  Morgan,  and  the  next 
and  pr.  sent  pastor,  M.  D.  Sharpies,  in  1882.  The  congre- 
gation consists  of  one  hundred  members. 

The  church  was  built  in  the  summer  of  1868.  The  audi- 
ence room  is  30x40  feet,  with  a  16  ft.  ceiling.  It  cost 
$1,800,  and  has  a  seating  capacity  for  200  persons. 

On  the  24th  day  of  September,  A.  D.  1881,  a  terrible 
tornado  swept  through  the  town  of  Camden,  completely  de- 
molishing the  church,  leaving  nothing  but  the  foundation 
and  floor.  They  went  to  work  in  the  fall  of  1881  and  spring 
of  '82,  and  rebuilt  the  house  at  a  cost  of  $1,000,  using  all 
the  old  material  tbey  could  in  the  building,  which  is  com- 
pleted, a  meeting  having  been  held,  conducted  by  M.  D. 
Sharpies,  June  5th,  A.  D.  1882. 

PLEASANT    VIEW. 

• 

A.  H.  Rice  was  the  first  to  preach  in  our  place  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Christian  church,  in  the  years  1865  and  '66,  in 
the  M.  E.  Church,  where  he  added  quite  a  number  to  the 
membership.  In  1867  J.  B.  Corwin  preached  part  of  his 
time  in  the  same  church,  also  making  some  additions.  Hav- 
ing moved  into  the  school  house,  John  Lagrange,  in  1870, 
commenced  a  meeting  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  with  some  as- 
sistance and  they  organized  a  congregation,  and  in  1871  and 
'72,  they  built  a  house  of  worship,  with  a  seating  capacity 
for  about  180  persons,  at  a  cost  of  about  $800.  They  have 
had  preaching,  more  or  less,  since  that  time,  and  kept  up  a 
congregation  ever  since.  The  regular  pastors,  since  they 
have  had  a  house  of  their  own,  have  been  as  follows  :  David 
Sharpies,  Joseph  Royal,  P.   D.  Vermillion,  Elder  Black, 


and  at  present  M.  D.  Sharpies.     The  congregation  is  in  a 
flourishing  condition,  but  few  in  number. 

This  is  a  very  short  sketch  of  the  history  of  this  congre- 
gation. 


BROWN  COUNTY. 
METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

BY  WM.  W.  BOWER, 'm.  D.,  PH.  D. 

The  territory  now  included  in  Brown  county,  Illinois,  was 
formerly  not  only  included  in  Schuyler  county,  but  was  also 
with  Schuyler  county,  included  by  the  Illinois  Annual  Con- 
ference of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Peoria  circuit 
before  there  were  any  settlements  in  this  territory ;  after- 
wards Atlas  circuit,  and  next  Spooner  river  circuit,  which 
circuits  included  all  of  the  territory  between  the  Illinois  and 
Mississippi  rivers,  from  their  junction  as  far  north  as  to 
Spoon  river,  in  Fulton  county,  and  previously  to  include 
Peoria.  And  although  some  of  the  preachers  appointed  to 
this  circuit  by  the  Illinos  Conference,  in  all  probability, 
traveled  through  part  of  this  territory,  there  were  no  hearers 
for  them  to  preach  to. 

In  settling  up  this  territory,  it  seems  that  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  had  its  representatives  on  the  "sod"  very 
nearly  if  not  quite  as  soon  as  any  other  denomination  of 
Christians. 

A  few  Methodist  families  settled  here  as  early,  probably, 
as  1827  or  28,  and  some  more  in  1829-30  to  1835.  Levin 
Green  and  family,  Granville  Bond  and  family,  Sacketts', 
Berry  Orr's,  Vandeventer's,  Reid's,  Brown's,  Hamilton's, 
Peevehouse's,  McGaskill's,  Jonathan  Miller's,  Hervy  Bates', 
Isaac  Lee's,  John  Sex's  and  George  Sadler's,  etc. 

Methodist  preaching  occurred  but  seldom  during  these  times 
and  was  dispensed  mostly,  by  those  who  cleared  and  farmed 
their  own  land,  built  their  own  houses,  raised  their  own 
corn  and  potatoes,  bacon  and  beans,  etc.,  during  the  week, 
and  preached  the  '■'  everlasting  Gospel  of  the  Son  op  God  " 
on  the  Sabbath  day.  While  all  were  poorly  clad,  some 
were  at  times  scarcely  able  to  clothe  thomselves  sufficiently 
respectable,  to  appear  before  the  people  in  those  times,  with- 
out the  assistance  of  their  good  neighbors,  when  the  best  of 
them  were  clothed  almost  exclusively  in  their  home-spun 
and  home-made,  furnished  by  their  good,  self-denying  and 
industrious  housewives,  mothers,  sisters  and  daughters. 
While  an  occasional  traveling  preacher,  going  from  his  one 
distant  appointment  to  another,  would  stop  to  rest  and 
recuperate,  probably  only  for  the  night  at  one  of  the  hospi- 
table "  cabins,"  when  in  the  greatest  of  haste  the  children 
would  be  dispatched  to  the  neighbors,  and  from  one  to  the 
other  word  would  be  passed,  and  the  people  would  as- 
semble in  due  time  to  hear  what  the  preacher  would  have  to 
say  to  them  about  the  salvation  of  their  souls. 

In  1832  another  slice  was  taken  off  of  the  northern  part 
of  this  vast  field  of  labor,  and  Rushville  circuit  was  formed, 
which  still  included  the  territory  of  Brown  county,  and 
being  again  somewhat  reduced  in  size,  gave  the  circuit 
preachers  more  time  to  devote  to  the  development  of 
Methodism  in  this  territory  ;  and  from  this  time  on  there 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


215 


were  still  other  Method'st  families  who  came  to  settle  in 
different  parts  of  the  territory,  and  some  of  the  neighbors 
of  those  already  here  were  converted  and  joined  the  church, 
and  the  demand  became  still  greater  and  more  preaching 
was  required.  But  there  were  probably  no  regular  ap- 
pointments for  preaching  made  by  the  circuit  preachers 
until  about  1833  to  1836,  when  a  regular  four  weeks'  cir- 
cuit was  established,  embracing  parts  of  Adams,  Hancock, 
McDonough,  Fulton  and  Pike  counties,  which  included  all 
of  the  territory  of  Brown ;  and  Dr»  John  P.  Richmond 
writes  me,  that  when  he  was  appointed  to  the  circuit  in 
1836,  there  were  twenty-six  regular  appointments  scattered 
over  all  this  territory,  and  preaching  at  each  place  every 
four  weeks.  He  then  adds :  "  We  traveled  on  horseback 
with  the  old-time  saddle-bags  under  us ;  we  took  the  shortest 
routes,  swam  the  creeks  when  necessary,  (there  were  no 
bridges  then) ;  we  always  had  kind  neighbors  and  hospi- 
table entertainment  wherever  we  stopped ;  the  fare  was 
frugal  but  healthy, — the  traditional  'yellow-legged  chicken  ' 
did  not  often  appear,  (there  were  probably  too  many  foxes 
around  then),  but  we  received  the  best  they  had, — corn- 
bread,  bacon,  beans,  cabbage,  potatoes  and  coffee  (mostly 
rye),  etc." 

During  these  times  the  preaching  was  mostly  done  by 
H.  Summers,  Peter  Cartwright,  T  N.  Ralston,  Peter  Boring, 
W.  H.  Window,  Wilson  Pitner,  W.  T.  Williams,  D.  B. 
Carter,  Spencer  W.  Hunter,  John  P.  Richmond,  Peter 
Akers  and  John  S.  Barger,  assisted  by  a  number  of  faithful 
and  earnest  local  preachers,  among  whom  were  Levin  Green, 

W.  H.   Taylor, Smith,  Ezekiel  Mobley,  Granville 

Bond  and  others,  and  of  which  W.  H.  Taylor,  E.  Mobley 
and  G.  Bond  afterwards  became  very  faithful  and  effective 
traveling  preachers. 

The  first  sermon  preached  in  this  territory,  in  all  proba- 
bility, was  preached  by  Levin  Green,  a  local  preacher,  as 
early  as  1829  or  1830.  The  first  sermon  by  a  traveling 
preacher,  not  much  later,  probably  1830  or  1831,  by  Spencer 
W.  Hunter,  who  formed  a  class  or  society  about  1831  or 
1832  at  the  house  of  Levin  Green,  about  three  or  four 
miles  north  of  Mt  Sterling,  where  Mr.  John  Roberts  now 
resides.  It  consisted  at  first  of  L.  Green,  wife  and  daughter, 
Benj.  Grista  and  wife,  Granville  Bond  and  wife,  Mrs.  Mary 

Orr  and  Mrs. A.  Neal ;  and  during  these  times  it  cost 

something  to  be  a  Methodist,  in  the  way  of  self-denial, 
cross-bearing,  persecution,  etc ,  even  here  in  this  enlight- 
ened country  ;  but  the  little  baud  stood  firm  in  the  conflict, 
and  the  Lord  of  hosts  blessed  not  only  their  labors,  but 
themselves  also  in  their  labors.  They  increased  in  the 
strength  of  the  Lord,  and  they  "  contended  earnestly  for 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  the  Lord  con- 
tinued to  add  to  them  from  time  to  time.  Their  class 
increased  in  numbers  and  usefulness,  and  in  1837  they 
considered  it  nece  ssary  to  built  a  log  church  (and  school- 
house)  in  their  neighborhood,  on  the  farm  of  Granville 
Bond,  which  was  the  first  structure  erected  for  Methodist 
worship  in  this  territory,  in  which  the  Lord  was  worshipped 
in  great  earnestness  and  sincerity,  with  much  benefit  to 
themselves  and  their  neighborhood. 


In  1847  or  1848  they  built  the  Ebenezer  Church  (and 
school  house),  a  few  miles,  southwest  of  the  old  one,  and  the 
"  Bond  class  "  was  transferred  to  the  new  church  and  the 
old  one  abandoned.  Their  worship  was  faithfully  and  suc- 
cessfully continued  here  until  about  1875,  when  through 
the  earnest  and  zealous  labors  of  Rev.  Granville  Bond,  who 
had  retired  as  a  superannuate  of  the  Illinois  Conference 
after  many  years  of  earnest,  faithful  and  successful  labors 
in  the  ranks  of  the  itinerant  ministry  of  his  beloved  church, 
located  at  Mound  Station,  a  few  miles  still  further  south- 
west of  his  "  old  home,"  a  new  and  excellent  church  was 
built  at  a  cost  of  $2,400,  and  dedicated  to  Almighty  God, 
free  of  debt. 

And  the  "  Bond  Society  "  was  again  transferred  to  this 
place,  when  again  the  venerable  Brother  Bond,  with  his 
family  and  former  neighbors  united  to  worship  the  Lord  of 
Hosts  together  in  great  peace  and  comfort,  until  a  few  years 
later  he  was  translated  from  "  the  Church  militant  to  the 
Church  triumphant,"  where  "  they  rest  from  their  labors 
and  their  works  do  follow  them."  And  his  venerable  and 
highly  honored  widow,  a  few  of  his  children  and  grand- 
children, neighbors  aud  neighbors'  children,  who  still  sur- 
vive him,  continue  to  worship  the  God  of  their  fathers, 
none  "  daring  to  molest  or  make  them  afraid." 

Bethel  Church  was  built  about  1838,  qu'te  close  to  the 
Adams  county  line,  in  the  "  Lee  neighborhood,"  some  five 
or  six  miles  southwest  of  where  the  town  of  Mound  Station 
was  afterwards  located.  It  was  built  of  hewed  logs,  at  a 
cost  probably  of  $150,  by  the  exertion  and  for  the  benefit  of 
a  class  which  had  been  organized  in  the  neighborhood  two 
or  three  years  previously,  who  worshipped  in  it  quite  com- 
fortably until  about  1866,  when  it  was  abandoned  as  a 
preaching  place,  some  of  the  members  having  removed  to 
Mound  Station  ;  the  society  was  also  transferred  to,  and  be- 
came a  part  of  the  Mound  Station  charge. 

In  the  northwestern  part  of  our  territory  a  society  was 
also  organized  at  an  early  day,  and  probably  as  early  as 
1834  a  double  log-church  (and  school  house  was  built  at 
Hamilton,  close  to  the  line  between  Adams  county  and  the 
territory  which  afterwards  became  Pea  Ridge  township, 
Brown  county.  It  was  first  built  on  the  Adams  county 
side  of  the  line,  but  most  of  the  members  living  on  this  side 
of  the  county  line,  some  controversy  afterwards  arose  in 
regard  to  its  location,  when  in  1842  it  was  moved  across  the 
line  into  Brown  county,  and  was  used  by  the  society  for 
worship  until  the  spring  of  1848,  when  it  was  burned  down, 
And  not  rebuilt.  Most  of  the  class  had  their  membership 
transferred  to  Clayton,  in  Adams  county,  and  others  to 
Mound  Station. 

A  society  had  also  been  formed  at  an  early  day  in  the 
McCaskell  neighborhood,  in  Pea  Ridge  township,  which 
held  their  services  at  the  house  of  Daniel  McCaskell  usually, 
until  in  1851  preaching  was  discontinued  and  the  society 
was  afterwards  disbanded. 

The  first  Methodists  in  Mt.  Sterling  were  Mrs. Brazel- 

ton,  the  Kirlins,  Wilsons,  Mrs.  Brainerd  and  Mrs.  Chesel- 
dine ;  but  they  had  no  Methodist  preaching  until  1837, 
when  Dr.  J.  P.  Richmond  first  preached  at  Kirliu's  tavern, 


216 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


on  Main  street,  opposite  where  R.  S  nith's  drug  and  hard- 
ware store  now  stands.  But  only  occasional  services  were 
held  here  for  several  years,  until  through  the  energy  of  him 
who  was  "in  labors  more  abundant,"  the  untiring  Granville 
Bond,  who  was  exceedingly  anxious  that  Methodism  should 
here  also  have  a  firm  foothold  ;  and  to  him  the  Methodists 
and  other  citizens  are  mostly  indebted  for  the  good  frame 
church  that  was  erected  in  1840,  just  south  of  where  Dr.  J. 
Dearborn's  office  now  stands,  at  a  cost  of  probably  $500. 
Preaching  was  then  kept  up  more  regularly,  but  no  society 
formed  until  about  1842  or  1843,  when  one  was  organized 
by  Wm.  J.  Rutledge,  preacher  in  charge. 

In  1850  a  parsonage  was  also  built  in  Mt  Sterling  by  the 
Circuit,  as  a  residence  for  the  Preachers  of  the  Circuit,  and 
was  occupied  by  them  until  1872,  when  it  was  condemned  as 
unfit  for  such  services  ;  but  was  sometimes  used  by  them  after- 
wards, and  sometimes  rented  for  a  trifle,  to  someone  else 
until  1876,  when  through  the  untiring  business  energy  of  L. 
F.  Waldin  preacher  in  charge  a  very  good  and  nearly 
new  parsonage  was  purchased,  and  with  a  few  improve- 
ments cost  $1074,  and  payment  made  for  the  same. 

The  church  built  in  1840  became  quite  dilapidated  by 
18"8  when  a  new  one,  considerably  larger  and  more  comfor- 
table was  erected  on  Main  Cross  and  South  streets,  at  a  cost 
of  probably  $2500  or  $3000,  and  in  1879  was  repaired  and 
a  new  vestibule  and  belfry  added  thereto,  at  a  cost  of  $500 
more,  making  a  very  neat  and  comfortable  house  of  wor- 
ship. 

A  brick  church  was  built  at  Ripley  about  1852,  which 
with  some  repairs  in  later  years  still  remains  in  use,  in 
pretty  good  condition.  A  class  had  also  been  organized  here 
at  an  early  day  which  passed  through  many  vicissitudes,  and 
at  present  is  still  in  active  operation. 

A  society  had  also  been  formed  at  the  log  school  house 
south  of  Logan's  Creek  near  Thomas  Glenn's,  about  1836 
probably  by  Wilson  Pitner.  Preaching  and  class  meetings 
were  held  previously  at  Thomas  Glenn's  and  also  at  Brown's 
a  few  miles  further  west.  The  society  afterwards  was  mostly 
disbanded,  some  having  their  membership  transferred  to 
Versailles  and  some  elsewhere. 

At  "  Bluffs,"  southeast  of  Versailles,  and  at  Reeds,  south 
of  Versailles,  there  was  preaching  at  an  early  day,  and  so- 
cieties organized  in  probably  1833  or  1834,  before  Versailles 
had  an  existence.  Meetings  were  held  from  time  to  time, 
preaching,  class-meetings  &c.,  at  these  different  places  with 
great  success,  until  after  Versailles  became  a  more  central 
point  and  a  church  was  there  built,  when  the  surrounding 
classes  were  here  united  together. 

Religious  services  continued  here,  the  Lord  blessed  the 
labour  of  his  servants;  revivals  took  place  and  many  were 
added  to  the  church.  In  1867  it  was  set  apart  from  Mt. 
Sterling  circuit  by  the  Illinois  Annual  Conference,  Cham- 
bersburg  added  to  it,  and  Versailles  circuit  was  formed ; 
with  a  separate  preacher  appointed  by  Conference.  But  the 
following  year,  it  was  again  returned  to  the  Mt.  Sterling  cir- 
cuit and  so  remained  until  1872  when  it  was  again  separated 
and  continues  an  independent  circuit  to  the  present  time. 
In  1872  they   numbered  80  members  and  at  present  185. 


We  now  come  to  notice  a  few  things  about  the  south- 
western portion  of  our  county,  which  was  mostly,  and  part 
is  now  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Perry  circuit.  There  was 
a  class  formed  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Council  School 
House,  consisting  of  Coulson  Tucker  and  wife,  Geo.  Kirts, 
wife  and  daughter,  Mark  Marden  and  wife,  John  Wilson 
and  wife,  Reuben  Wilson  and  family,  Benjamin  Adams  and 
wife,  and  later  Thos.  Scanlan  and  others ;  meetings  were  held 
as  usual  at  private  houses  ;  but  were  afterwards  held  at  the 
C  uncil  School  House  where  revivals  were  held,  the  work 
advanced,  others  were  added  to  their  number,  their  class  re- 
organized and  finally  in  1873  they  built  Marden  Chapel  a 
few  miles  south  of  the  Council  School  House,  at  a  cost  of 
about  $700,  which  they  still  "  occupy  "  in  the  Master's  service. 

Still  farther  to  the  southwest,  religious  services  were  con- 
ducted at  the  house  of  Father  Walters'  and  others,  later  at 
the  Grove  School  House,  until  about  1857  when  the  Wash- 
ington School  House  was  built  at  a  more  central  location  in 
the  school  district,  which  was  also  arranged  for  preaching, 
and  the  society  held  their  services  in  it,  and  where  a  glorious 
revival  took  place  under  the  supervision  of  Curtis  Powel  and 
others ;  when  the  old  class  was  reorganized  and  many  more 
added.  Some  years  later,  to  accommodate  some  of  the  more 
influential  members,  the  society  again  returned  to  the  Grove 
School  House.  And  in  1874  they  built  "  Hebron  Church  " 
which  they  continue  to  occupy  to  the  present  time.  Still  a 
little  farther  west,  at  the  White  Oak  School  House,  and  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  town  of  Buckhorn,  a  little  farther 
north  in  Lee  township,  societies  were  organized,  preaching 
and  other  religious  services  conducted,  until  about  1860 
when  "Hedrick  Chapel"  was  built  in  the  town  and  their  ser- 
vices conducted  in  it,  until  1865  under  the  management  of  W. 
McK.  Gooding  preacher  in  charge  ;  considerable  dissatisfac- 
tion arose  between  the  society  and  preacher  in  regard  to  the 
expression  of  sentiments  concerning  the  Rebellion  :  when  he 
refused  to  preach  any  longer  for  them,  and  their  relations 
were  indefinitely  severed. 

When  they  afterwards  united  themselves  with  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  South,  as  will  more  fully  appear  in 
the  next  chapter,  the  church  property  was  sold  a  few  years 
afterwards  to  Alexander  Hedrick,- to  satisfy  a  small  mort- 
gage which  he  held  against  it,  and  which  the  official  mem- 
bers of  the  circuit  did  not  think,  worth  while  to  pay,  and 
hold  the  property  under  the  circumstances. 

The  society  at  White  Oak  school-house  being  of  the  same 
sentiment  and  in  the  same  condition  as  the  Buckhorn  society 
are  united  also  with  the  Church  South. 

In  the  northeastern  part  of  the  country  there  was  a  society 
formed  by  the  labors  and  influence  mostly  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Dunbar,  a  local  preacher,  but  was  organized  with  twenty- 
seven  members  by  S  H.  Clark,  preacher  in  charge  of  Mt. 
Sterling  circuit,  in  the  spring  of  1856,  and  they  remained  a 
part  of  Mt.  Sterling  circuit  until  Camden  circuit  was  formed, 
when  it  was  attached  thereto,  and  still  continues.  They 
have  been  holding  their  meetings  at  No.  1  school-house  up 
to  this  summer  (1882),  when  considering  it  necessary,  they 
have  just  completed  a  very  comfortable  church  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, which  they  will  occupy  in  the  future. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


217 


Quarterly  meeting  occasions  were  much  more  highly  ap- 
preciated during  the  early  days  of  Methodism.  The  mem- 
bership would  come  from  far  and  near  to  hear  the  Presiding 
Elder  and  to  enjoy  the  love  feast  services  and  were  always 
greatly  refreshed  and  encouraged,  and  the  business  of  the 
circuit  also  transacted. 

The  salaries  of  the  preachers,  on  an  average  during  the 
following  decades,  as  nearly  as  can  be  now  estimated,  were 
about  as  follows :  to  wit,  in  1841  about  $155 ;  in  1851  about 
$175;  in  1861  about  $450;  in  1871  about  $800, and  in  1881 
about  $860. 

Camp  meetings  were  also  held  in  the  early  days ;  there 
were  two  or  three  held  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ripley, 
about  the  years  1835  to  1839  ;  there  were  probably  several 
held  in  the  neighborhood  of  Versailles  a  little  later.  The 
first  was  held  at  Versailles  Springs  by  J.  B.  Seymour, 
preacher  in  charge  of  Versailles  circuit,  during  the  summer 
of  1867,  and  one  or  two  still  later. 

In  the  summer  of  1852  one  was  held  on  the  Mound  in 
Lee  township,  close  to  where  the  trestle-work  of  the  railroad 
now  is.  There  was  another  held  in  the  summer  of  1858  in 
the  neighborhood  of  White  Oak  Springs,  Buckhorn  town- 
ship, Granville  Bond  preacher  in  charge.  Another  at  the 
town  of  Buckhorn,  in  Lee  township,  in  the  summer  of  1861, 
J.  W.  Jackson,  preacher  in  charge.  The  entire  number  of 
members  in  the  county  at  the  present  time,  as  nearly  as  can 
be  estimated,  is  four  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  foregoing  would  hardly  be  complete  without  adding 
the  following  list  of  preachers  and  Presiding  Elders,  ap- 
pointed by  the  Illinois  Annual  Conference,  with  their  circuit 
and  districts  from  the  time  Mt.  Sterling  was  organized  in 
1841  to  the  present  day,  (1882) : 


Date 

Circuit. 

Preacher. 

District. 

Presiding  Elder. 

1841 

Mt.  Sterling. 

A.  F.  Rogers 

Quincy 

John  S.  Barger. 

1842 

H 

Wm.J. Rutledge 

tt 

U 

1843 

tt 

N.  Cleveland 

tt 

N".  G.  Berryman 

1844 

tt 

Wm  J. Rutledge 

u 

tt 

1845 

H 

W.  G.  Piper 

u 

A.  L.  Risley 

1846 

«< 

J.  B.  Houts 

tt 

a 

1847 

0 

J.  P.  Richmond 

a 

ii 

1848 

« 

Jesse  Cromwell 

tt 

Peter  Akers 

1849 

ll 

Vincent  Ridgley 

tt 

ti 

1850 

(I 

B.  F.  Northcott 

fit 

a 

1851 

II 

i« 

Griggsville 

W.  D.  R.  Trotter 

1852 

II 

D.  H.  Hitton 

a 

Hardin  Wallace 

1853 

II 

J.  Cromwell 

Quincy 

J.  Montgomery 

1854 

It 

W.  B.  Barton  & 
G.  R.  Clark 

tt 

R.  E.  Guthrie 

1855 

ll 

e 

tt 

it 

1856 

ll 

S.  II.  Clark 

Griggsville 

R.  W.Travis 

1857 

II 

a 

n 

ll 

1858 

II 

II.  C.  Hocken- 

sraith 
Geo.   Montgomery 
by  Conference  ana 
D.  O.  Car  mack  ap- 
pointed tn  Quiney 
Mission,  but  they 

Rushville 

W.  J.  Rutledge 

were  exehang'd  by 

the  Presiding  El- 

der, and  D.  O.  Car- 

1859 

. 

mark  came  t<>  Mt. 
Sterling,   and    was 

■     Quincy 

B.  F.  Northcott 

released      by     2d 

Qtunerly   Confer- 

ence of  the  circuit 

and  A.  T.  Stone  ap- 

pointed to  take  big 

place  to  the  end  of 

the  year. 

, 

Dale         Circuit. 


28 


1860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1867| 
1868, 
1869 

1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 

1880 

18S1 


Mt.  Storling. 


Preacher. 


Michael   Shunk 
Granville   Bond 


Thomas  Bonnell 
Geo.  M.  Crays 
R.  Chapman 
Geo.  M.  Dungan 
Wm.  C.  Lacy 
Versailles  and'D.  H.  Hatton 


Mt.  Sterling 


Mt.  Sterling 


W.  H.  Taylor 
W.  H.  Taylor 
P.  L.  Turner 

Geo.  M.  Spencer 

R.  Chapman 
.i 

L.  F.  Waldin 
ii 

J.  C.  Sargeant 
C.  A.  Obenshain 


District.         Presiding  Elder 


Ijuincy 

Griggsville 
ii 

Quincy 


Griggsville 
Quincy 

Griggsville 

ii 

u 

u 

Quincy 


A.  Bucknor  sup 
»ly  of  P.  Hiller 
y  by  Pre.  Elder 

Reuben  Gregg 


B.  F.  Northcott 

Jas.  P.  Dimmett 
Jas.  Leaton 
ii 

W.  D.  R.  Trotter 

W.  E.  Johnson 
ii 

A  .S.  McCoy 

Peter  Wallace 

A.  S.  McCoy 
J.  P.  Dimmett 

II 

A.  T.  Orr 

J.  P.  Dimmett 

G  R.S.McElfresh 


W.  R.  Goodwin 


Versailles  Circuit  was  organized  1867,  G.  W.  Dungan  preacher  ; 
Quincy  district,  W.  E.  Johnson,  Presiding  Elder;  and  was  again 
included  in  Mt.  Sterling  Circuit  until  1872. 


1872 

Versailles 

J.  G.  Bonnell 

Griggs  vile 

A.S.  McCoy 

1873 

U.  Warrington 

*< 

Jas.  P.  Dimmitt 

1874 

tt 

T.  J.  Bryant 

tt 

" 

18/5 

* 

" 

A.  T.  Orr 

1876 

ii 

J.  B.  Seymour 

Quincy 

as.  P.  Dimmitt 

18/7 

ii 

A.  M.  Davidson 

tt 

'i 

1878 

it 

A.  M.  Danely 

tt 

G.R.S.McElfre..h 

1879 

ii 

O.  H.  P.  Ash 

n 

it 

1880 

<i 

P.  L.  Turner 

tt 

M 

1881 

it 

ii 

Griggsville 

P.Wood 

RIPLEY   CIRCUIT   FORMED. 

1853 

Ripley 

J.  Cavett 

Quincy 

J.  Montgomery 

18o4 

Levi  Shelby 

R.  E.  Guthrie 

1855 

it 

D.  P.  Lvon 

u 

" 

1856 

ii 

ti 

it 

ii 

1857 

ii 

S   McCall 

it 

B.  F.  Northcott 

Was  returned  to  Mt.  Sterling  circuit  until  1876. 

1876 

Ripley 

to  besup'd  Con. 
Mr.  Glass,  P.E. 

Quincy 

J.  P.  Dimmett 

1877 

ii 

supplied  by 

ii 

G.  Moore 

And  was  again  added  to  Mt.  Sterling  circuit,  and  still  continues  in 
the  southwest  of  Brown  county. 

MT.    PLEASANT  CIRCMIT  WAS   FORMED. 


1858 
1859 
1860 


Mt.  Pleasant 


Jas.  Herd 
J.W.  Jackson 


Rushville 
Quincy 


[W.J.  Rutledge 
B.  F.  Northcott 


Was  then  returned  again  to  Mt.  Sterling  circuit  until   1863,  and 
called   Mounds  circuit. 


1863 
1864 


Mounds  Ct. 


supl'd  H.  Corey 
W.M.  K.  Good- 
ing          


Quincy 


James  Leaton 


In  conclusion,  the  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  his 
great  indebtedness  and  many  thanks  to  the  Rev.  James 
Leaton,  of  Rushville  Station,  the  efficient  conference  his- 
torian of  the  Illinois  Annual  Conference,  espacially,  as  well 
as  to  Dr.  John  P.  Richmond,  now  of  Tyndall,  Dakota 
Territory ;  formerly  one  of  our  energetic  pioneer  preachers. 
Also  to  our  venerable  Sister  Bond,  widow  of  our  long  to  be 
remembered  Brother  Granville  Bond ;  and  a  few  others,  for 
valuable  information  used  in  compiling  an,d  verifiying  th,e. 
facts,  hereinbefore  described. 


218 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  SOUTH. 

BY  WILLIAM  W.  BOWER,  M.  D.,  PH.  D* 

In  1862  and  1863  four  or  five  families  of  southern  Metho- 
dists came  from  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  and  located  at  Mt. 
St3rlin5-  They  were  the  first  that  came  into  this  coun- 
ty, and  thire  was  also  a  few  others  who  came  from  elsewhere 
shortly  afterwards. 

There  were  also  at  this  time  some  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  county  who  where  of  the 
same  sentiments  politically  and  religiously  as  they, — and 
they  very  naturally  communicated  and  sympathized  with 
each  other ;  but  there  was  no  other  organization  of  the  kind 
then  in  the  county,  and  several  of  the  first  arrivals  joined 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  Mt.  Sterling  and  con- 
tinued to  be  worthy  members  of  the  same. 

In  18G5  there  arose  considerable  dissatisfaction  between 
the  "  Buckhorn  society  "  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
and  their  preacher,  W.  MeK.  Gooding  of  the  Illinois  An- 
nual Conference,  in  regard  to  the  expression  of  sentiments 
concerning  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  when  Mr.  Gooding 
refused  to  preach  any  longer  for  them,  and  severed  their 
relations  indefinitely.  During  this  disorganized  condi- 
tion of  their  society  an  organization  was  being  made  in  the 
State  of  Illinois  adapting  the  name  of  ''  The  Christian 
Union  Church,"  preliminary  to  the  collecting  together  and 
organizing  those  persons  of  Methodistic  tendencies  through- 
out the  state,  who  were  more  fully  in  accord  with  their  pe- 
culiar feelings  and  sentiments,  preparatory  to  becoming  a 
part  of  the  "  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South." 

In  the  summer  of  1866  Mr.  Rumsey  Smithson,  super- 
intenlent  of  the  Springfield  district  of  the  Illinois  Annual 
Conference  of  the  Christian  Union  Church,  and  a  Mr.  Hal- 
sey,  came  to  Mt.  Sterling  in  this  county  and  preached  sev- 
eral sermons  in  the  school  house,  (which  were  the  first  ser- 
mons preached  in  Brown  county  by  any  of  said  denomina- 
tion,) when  Benjamin  Adams,  Alexander  Hedrick  and 
Andrew  G.  Shankland  from  the  Buckhorn  neighborhood 
came  to  Mt.  Sterling  to  hear  them,  and  being  pleased  with 
their  ministrations  invited  them  to  come  to  Buckhorn  and 
preach  for  them  also,  which  they  consented  to  do. 

Accordingly  in  the  following  October  they  came  and 
preached  for  them  at  Hedrick  chapel,  when  Benjamin 
Adams  and  wife,  Andrew  G  Shankland  and  wife,  Alexan- 
der Hedrick  and  wife,  Obed  Hedrick  and  wi'e,  Augus  New 
and  wife,  Marcus  Ne  »  aud  a  few  others  joined  their  church 
and  were  organized  into  a  society  by  Rumsey  Smithson. 

During  the  said  meeting  on  the  13th  of  October  1866, 
the  Quarterly  Council  of  Mt.  Sterling  circuit  met  in  Hedrick 
chapel  and  held  their  first  Quarterly  Session  for  1866  and 
1867,  R.  Smithson  superintendent  in  the  chair.  J.  H. 
Davidson,  who  had  formerly  been  a  local  preacher  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was  appointed  ;n  charge  of 
the  circuit  for  the  following  year.  Daniel  T.  Sherman  as 
superintendent  for  the  latter  part  of  the  year. 

•And  certified  by  Alexander  M.  Orr,  Local  Deacon  and  former  Preacher 
in  charge.     (See  list  of  Preachers.) 


In  1867  the  church  met  in  annual  council  and  changed 
their  name  from  Christian  Union  Church,  to  that  of  Episc- 
pal  Methodist  Church  and  placed  themselves  under  the  ju- 
risdiction of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South. 

Under  this  arrangf  ment  Brown  county  was  served  by 
the  following  preachers  and  presiding  elders,  viz : 


1 

Preacher  in  J 

Data. 

1 

Circuit. 

Charge.          District 

1 

Presiding  Elder. 

- 
1867  &  68 

Mt.  Sterling 

Geo.  O.Hilton  Springfield 

Wm.    R.  Howard 

1868  &  69, 

»l 

Wm.  D.  Coxe 

Rumsev  Smithson 

1869  &  70; 

" 

R.  D.  Poole              " 

«• 

1870  &  71! 

II 

H.  G.  Carden  Rushville 

S.  J.  Catlin 

1871  &  72 

<l 

R.  P.  Holt 

M.  R  Jones 

1872  &  73| 

•  1 

A.  H.  Rogers  Canton 

J.  B.  Harris. 

1873  &  74 

II 

T.  A.  Scrubbsj         " 

A.  F.  Rogers 

1874  A  78 

II 

"'          ILewiston 

T.  B.  Harben 

1875  &  76 

" 

J.  T.  Busby 

if 

1S76  &  77 

II 

ii                    it 

H 

"  At  their  Annual  Conference  of  1877  they  unanimously 
voted  to  change  their  name  from  Episcopal  Methodist 
Church  to  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South."  And  the 
following  preachers  and  presiding  elders  served  as  fol- 
lows, viz : 


Dale. 


1877  &  78 

1878  &  79 

1879  &  80 
1880&  81 
1881  &  82 


Circuit. 


Mt  Sterling 


Preacher  in  I 
Charge- 


District.     Presiding  Elder. 


Geo.Knispel    Lewistown   R.  F.  Hayes. 
N.  A.  Anld  "  S.  J.  Catlin 

Alex.  M.  Orri  G.  W.  Gilmore 

C.  C  Mayhew 
J.  T.  Loval    ' 


The  society  at  Buckhorn  continued  to  prosper,  and  in  1872 
they  purchased "  Hedrick  Chapel "  from  Mr.  Alexander 
Hedrick  for  the  sum  of  $275,  which  they  continued  to  oc- 
cupy to  the  present  time. 

The  different  preachers  in  charge,  George  O-  Hilton,  Wil- 
liam D.  Coxe,  and  H.  G-  Cardea  and  presiding  elders  Wil- 
liam R  Howard,  Rumsey  Smithson  and  S.  J.  Catlin,  con- 
tinued to  preach  occasionally  at  Mt.  Sterling,  also  during  their 
administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  circuit  And  in  1871  a 
small  society  was  organized  by  presiding  elder,  S  J.  Catlin, 
and  on  account  of  some  dissatisfaction  between  preacher  in 
charge  H.  J.  Carden,  and  some  of  the  members  of  the  so- 
ciety, presiding  elder  Catlin  made  Mt.  Sterling  society  an 
independent  station  and  appointed  William  Ward  preacher 
in  charge  of  the  same.  But  Mr.  Ward  having  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  annual  conference  to  Detroit  circuit,  and  said 
circuit  for  some  cause  refusing  to  accept  his  services,  some  of 
the  more  cautious  of  the  members  of  the  Mt  Sterling  socie- 
ty, now  station,  quite  reluctantly  accepted  them.  They 
having  hired '*  Curry's  Hall"  to  hold  their  meetings  in  he 
preached  for  them  there,  and  presiding  elder  Catlin,  occa- 
sionally also.  The  dissatisfaction  however  increasing  and 
other  discouraging  circumstances  intervening,  Mr.  Ward, 
after  two  or  three  months  serviee,  left  his  appointed  charge 
and  went  away.     Their  station  and  society  was  then  aban- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


219 


doned  for  the  time  being,  most  of  the  members  being  trans- 
ferred to  the  Buckhorn  charge. 

In  1877  the  Rev.  George  Knispel,  the  preacher  in  charge, 
organized  a  class  at  White  Oak  tchool  house,  about  eight 
miles  southeast  of  Buckhorn,  of  the  following  members,  to 
wit :  Elias  Reed,  George  Coey,  D.  Z.  Martin,  George  Six 
and  others,  and  appointed  William  W.  New,  leader.  Preach- 
ing and  other  religious  services  were  kept  up  regularly 
from  time  to  time,  and  in  1881  they  erected  a  very  good 
and  comfortable  church  at  a  cost  of  $1000  in  which  they 
continued  to  worship  the  Lord  in  great  peace  and  com. 
fort 

At  Rock  Springs,  about  six  miles  northwest  of  White 
Oak  Church  in  1881,  Rev.  J.  T.  Loyal,  preacher  in  charge, 
organized  a  class  consisting  of  James  Lewis,  wife  and  son, 
Lemuel  Lewis  and  wife,  Sarah  Tucker  and  a  few  others, 
with  Lemuel  Lewis,  leader,  which  class  also  continues  to 
prosper. 

At  the  close  of  the  conference  year,  in  1881,  the  member- 
ship in  Brown  county  numbered  about  one  hundred  and 
seven,  and  consists  of  about  the  same  number  at  the  present 
time  1882. 

In  conclusion,  the  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  his  thanks 
to  Alexander  M.  Orr,  former  pastor  of  Mt.  Sterling  circuit 
and  a  few  others,  for  valuable  information  contained  in  the 
above. 


THE  MISSIONARY  BAPTISTS. 

BY  EEV.  LEWIS  OSBORN. 

Among  the  early  settlers  in  Brown  county,  there  were  a 
number  of  Missionary  Baptists.  But  they  were  thinly  scat- 
tered over  the  county,  were  poor  in  this  world's  goods,  and 
had  therefore  poor  opportunities  for  cultivating  acquain- 
tances or  forming  churches.  Yet  they  remained  firm  in  their 
religious  convictions,  and  did  not  unite  with  other  religious 
bodies  of  a  different  faith.  But  it  was  not  long  until  minis- 
ters of  like  faith  visited  the  county  as  evangelists,  and 
preached  at  different  places.  Elder  John  Logan  was  one  of 
the  first  to  visit  the  county  in  this  way,  and  was  eminently 
useful  in  supplying  the  destitute,  establishing  churches,  and 
in  building  up  the  Missionary  Baptist  cause.  These  meet- 
ings of  the  evangelists  afforded  opportunities  to  cultivate  ac- 
quaintance, and  soon  led  to  the  formation  of  a  church.  It 
was  difficult  at  that  early  day  to  determine  where  to  locate 
a  church  ;  the  points  of  prospective  interests  and  importance 
were  not  yet  sufficiently  developed ;  but  finally  it  was 
agreed  to  establish  a  church  near  the  western  border  of  the 
county,  and  in  the  northwest  corner  of  what  is  now  called 
"  Lee  Township."  The  church  was  organized  on  the  19th 
day  of  August,  1833,  with  eight  members,  and  was  called 
the  "  Centreville  Baptist  Church."  The  ministers  present 
and  assisting  in  the  organization  were,  Elders  John  M. 
Peck,  Joel  Sweet  and  John  Clark.  After  the  organization, 
one  was  received  for  baptism  and  membership ;  and  the 
church  voted  to  send  delegates  to  a  meeting  of  delegates 
from  other  churches  of  like  faith,  to  be  held  soon,  to  form 


an  association.  This  small  and  new  body  had  now  fairly 
started  off  in  the  career  of  church  life ;  and,  humanly 
speaking,  there  was  not  much  to  encourage  such  an  effort ; 
but  they  had  faith  in  God,  and  persevered. 

They  were  visited  at  various  times  by  Eld.  Logan,  and 
additions  were  received  to  the  membership  by  baptism,  and 
by  letter,  and  they  enjoyed  peace  and  prosperity.  In  1834, 
Eld.  Jesse  M.  Chapman,  who  had  become  a  member  and 
had  preached  several  times,  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of 
the  church  for  one  year.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  policy 
of  the  church  to  call  a  pastor  annually.  In  June,  1835,  the 
church  voted  to  express,  in  their  letter  to  the  association, 
their  fellowship  for  missions  and  other  benevolent  efforts  of 
that  day.  In  December  of  this  year,  the  church  called  Eld. 
Norman  Parks  to  the  pastorate  for  one  year,  to  preach  one 
Sabbath  in  the  month.  In  November,  1838,  a  council  met 
with  the  church,  by  invitation,  to  assist  in  ordaining  Elds. 
Wm.  Hobbs  and  Henry  Davis  to  the  work  of  the  gospel 
ministry.  The  ministers  present  and  assisting  were,  Elds. 
John  Logan,  Jesse  Elledge  and  Jacob  Bower.  In  December 
of  this  year,  Etd.  Hobbs  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the 
church  for  one  year,  to  preach  two  Sabbaths  in  the  month  ; 
and,  by  invitations  repeated  annually,  he  was  continued  in 
the  pastorate  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1844,  the  church 
voted  to  form  a  Bible  Society,  auxiliary  to  the  American 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 

About  this  time,  measures  were  taken  to  build  a  meeting- 
house for  the  use  of  the  church ;  and,  in  May,  1845,  they 
met  in  their  own  house  for  worship,  for  the  first  time.  It 
was  a  frame,  and  was  small,  20  x  24,  but  the  church  was 
small  also,  and  poor,  and  it  answered  the  purpose  well  for 
the  time.  Before  this,  they  had  held  their  meetings  in 
school-houses,  and  at  private  dwellings,  and  in  the  grove, 
which  was  the  best  they  could  do ;  and  these  different  places 
of  meeting  were  often  miles  apart ;  yet  they  seem  to  have 
prospered,  receiving  additions  to  their  membership  from  time 
to  time,  and  lived  in  comparative  peace.  We  can  imagine 
how  the  little  band  felt,  after  such  an  experience,  to  be  set- 
tled in  their  own  house ;  their  varied  trials  had,  doubtless, 
bound  them  together  in  stronger  bonds  of  love  ;  and,  being 
settled,  they  felt  rich  and  happy,  and  greatly  encouraged  to 
work  for  building  up  the  cause  in  the  future.  In  April, 
1848,  the  church  agreed  to  organize  a  Sunday-school,  and  ap- 
pointed Peter  Ausmus  superintendent ;  and  about  this  time 
united  with  the  Quiucy  Association.  Eld.  Hobbs  had  been 
continued  in  the  pastorate  until  this  time,  Sep' ember,  1850. 
The  church  had  prospered  under  his  administration ;  a  house 
had  been  built,  special  meetings  had  been  held,  and  numer- 
ous additions  to  the  membership  of  the  church  had  been  re- 
ceived. But,  having  concluded  to  remove  his  membership 
from  the  church,  they  called  Eld.  J.  M.  Chapman  to  the 
pastorate  for  one  year. 

In  December,  1851,  the  church  called  Eld.  L.  Osborn, 
who  had  recently  moved  into  the  neighborhood,  from  Ohio, 
to  the  pastorate  for  one  year,  to  preach  two  Sabbaths  in  the 
month.  Eld.  Osborne  was  continued  in  the  pastorate  nearly 
seven  years.  During  that  time,  the  church  lived  in  compara- 
tive peace  and  prospered.     The  house  was  enlarged,  special 


220 


HISTORY   OF  SGIIUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


meetings  were  held,  and  the  membership  considerably  in- 
creased. In  November,  1858,  Eld.  Osborn  resigned,  and 
moved  to  Payson,  Adams  county,  having  been  called  to  the 
pastorate  of  the  Baptist  church  there.  The  church  was  next 
supplied  by  several  different  pastors,  for  a  short  time  each. 
But  frequent  changes  in  the  pastorate  are  not  conducive  to 
prosperity,  as  the  church  found  by  experience.  In  addition 
to  these  changes,  other  matters  arose,  which  also  tended  to 
retard  the  progress  of  the  church.  A  new  house  was  much 
needed ;  and  as  the  railroad  had  been  built,  and  new  points 
of  interest  developed,  the  question  of  changing  the  location 
of  the  church  was  forced  upon  their  consideration.  These 
questions  kept  them  in  a  state'  of  constant  agitation  for 
awhile,  but,  after  due  deliberation  and  prayer,  they  conclu- 
ded to  move  the  location  of  the  church  to  Clayton,  Adams 
county,  and  build  a  good  house  on  lots  there  owned  by  the 
church. 

This  resolution  was  fully  carried  out,  and  in  November, 
1869,  the  name  of  the  church  was  changed  to  the  "  Baptist 
Church  of  Christ,  at  Clayton,  111  "  Time  and  experience 
have  demonstrated  the  wisdom  of  the  change.  The  church 
has  been  strengthened,  and  now  supports  a  pastor  all  the  time, 
and  has  a  good  Sunday-school.  The  removal  of  the  church 
a  few  miles  west  of  its  former  location,  left  some  of  its  mem- 
bers inconveniently  situated  in  regard  to  attending  the  meet- 
ings, and  seemed  to  make  room  for  a  Baptist  church  at 
Mound  Station.  Accordingly,  several  members  in  and 
around  that  place  organized  a  church  there  in  the  winter  of 
1878.  The  church  being  small  in  number,  and  weak  finan- 
cially, and  having  no  house  of  their  own  in  which  to  worship, 
have  not  made  much  growth ;  a  few  have  been  added  to  the 
membership  by  baptism  however,  yet  they  still  hold  on  their 
way,  '  faint,  yet  pursuing,"  and  seem  hopeful  for  the  future. 
There  is  room  here  to  build  up  a  good  Baptist  church  in 
time,  and  the  field  ought  to  be  cultivated. 


MT.  STEELING  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

When  the  county-seat  was  located  at  Mt.  Sterling,  it  was 
felt  to  be  very  desirable  to  have  a  church  established  there 
as  soon  as  possible.  Accordingly,  a  church  of  four  members 
was  duly  organized  in  December,  1840,  and  called  the  "  Mt. 
Sterling  Baptist  Church."  It  was  a  small  beginning,  and 
to  human  appearance,  their  prospects  were  not  encouraging, 
for  they  were  few  in  numbers  and  poor  in  this  world's  goods  ; 
but  they  had  faith  in  God,  and  wrestled  manfully  for  en- 
enlargement  and  permanency,  and  the  Lord  prospered  them. 
They  were  supplied  with  preaching  occasionally  by  Elds. 
Bower  and  N.  Parks,  and  received  additions  to  their  num- 
ber by  letter  and  by  baptism.  Their  first  pastor  was  Eld. 
Calvin  Greenleaf,  who  served  them  half  the  time  for  two 
years.  Under  his  ministry,  the  church  was  edified  and  en- 
couraged. The  next  pastor  was  Eld.  Henry  Davis,  who  also 
served  them  half  the  time  for  two  years.  Under  his  minis- 
try, the  membership  was  increased  by  several  additions. 
The  third  pastor  was  Eld.  Joel  Sweet,  who  also  served  them 
half  the  time  for  two  years.     During  his  pastorate  he  held 


an  interesting  protracted  meeting,  and  many  additions  were 
received  to  the  church.  Eld.  H.  Worden  was  next  called 
to  the  pastorate,  and  served  them  half  the  time  for  one  year. 

About  this  time,  the  church  united  with  the  Quincy 
Association,  and  Eld.  C.  Harrington,  the  missionary  of  the 
Association,  supplied  them  with  preaching  occasionally  for 
one  year.  In  December,  1851,  Eld.  L.  Osborn,  who  had  re- 
cently moved  into  the  neighborhood,  was  called  to  the  pastor- 
ate for  half  the  time,  and  continued  to  serve  them  in  that 
capacity  for  several  years.  But  the  prosperity  of  the  church 
was  seriously  hindered  by  the  want  of  a  house  of  their  own 
in  which  to  worship.  Hitherto  they  had  met  in  halls,  at 
private  residences,  and  wherever  they  could  find  a  place. 
After  much  deliberation  and  prayer,  they  finally  resolved  to 
build  a  house ;  and  in  their  letter  to  the  Association,  in  1852 
said  :  "having  resolved  to  arise  and  build  a  house  for  the 
Lord,  we  earnestly  solicit  the  sympathy,  the  prayers,  and 
material  aid  of  our  sister  churches"  It  was  a  great  under- 
taking for  such  a  weak  body,  but  the  demand  was  so  urgent 
that  they  felt  impelled  to  make  the  effort.  The  house  was 
commenced  in  1854,  and  was  dedicated  in  1856.  It  was 
a  good  house,  and  cost  about  $1,200  ;  near  $300  of 
which  were  contributed  by  other  churches  of  the  Associa- 
tion. We  can  imagine  how  the  little  band  felt,  after  such 
an  experience,  to  meet  in  their  own  house ;  and  with  what 
devout  gratitude  they  could  sing :  "  Praise  God,  from  whom 
all  blessings  flow  !"  etc. 

In  1857,  the  church  held  special  meetings,  and  were  richly 
blessed  with  revival,  and  several  additions  to  the  member- 
ship ;  and  in  1858,  they  held  another  special  meeting,  with 
good  results.  In  November  of  this  year,  Eld.  Osborn  re- 
signed the  pastorate  and  moved  to  Payson,  Adams  county. 
Eld.  Wm.  Leggett  was  then  called  to  the  pastorate,  and  re- 
mained about  one  year.  Eld  Wm.  Stewart,  the  missionary 
of  the  Association,  then  supplied  the  church  occasionally  fur 
a  time;  and  late  in  the  year  1860,  Eld.  T.  S.  Lowe  was 
called  to  the  pastorate ;  and  the  church  was  blessed  with  a 
revival.  In  1862,  another  refreshing  season  was  enjoyed, 
and  large  accessions  made  to  the  membership  of  the  church 
— the  whole  number  now  was  65.  In  1863,  Eld.  Lowe  and 
several  of  the  members  went  into  the  army.  A  Sunday-school 
had  been  started  in  the  church  a  little  before  this  time,  and 
continued  with  encouraging  prospects.  Eld.  T.  Reese  was 
now  called  to  the  pastorate,  and  continued  about  two  years. 
In  1866,  Eld.  Lowe,  having  returned  /rom  the  army,  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  again  ;  and  large  accessions  were 
made  to  the  membership  of  the  church,  which  was  now  in- 
creased to  seventy.  In  1867,  Eld.  Wm.  Hawker  was  called 
to  the  pastorate  for  half  the  time,  and  continued  to  serve 
them  in  that  capacity  for  several  years.  Under  his  adminis- 
tration, the  church  prospered,  and  in  1871,  repaired  their 
house,  at  a  cost  of  $300.  From  December,  1872,  until 
the  next  March  there  was  no  preaching,  yet  the  prayer- 
meetings  were  good,  and  the  Sunday-school  flourished. 

In  1873,  the  Association  met  with  the  church,  and  in  their 
letter  to  that  body  it  was  said  :  '■  we  have  sold  our  old  house, 
and  bought  a  larger  and  better  located  house  of  the  O.  S. 
Presbyterians."    In  June,  1874,  the  records  of  the  church 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


221 


and  roll  of  the  membership  were  unfortunately  destroyed  by 
fire.  This  loss  was  deeply  felt  by  the  church,  and  it  has 
caused  much  trouble  and  doubtless  many  imperfections  in 
the  preparation  of  this  sketch.  On  account  of  this  loss,  and 
some  internal  troubles  that  arose  about  this  lime,  the  church 
was  somewhat  demoralized.  Having  no  pastor,  Eld.  Hawker 
was  called  as  a  supply,  for  the  pulpit,  and,  after  repeated 
efforts,  the  church  succeeded  in  getting  into  working  order 
again  ;  but  it  was  weakened  somewhat  by  their  severe  trials. 
There  is  wonderful  vitality  in  a  church  of  Christ ;  it  may 
have  to  sail  over  a  troubled  sea,  and  waves  of  difficulty  may 
dash  into  it,  but  if  the  Lord  is  with  them,  it  will  not  sink  ; 
He  will  toon  calm  the  troubled  elements,  and  give  it  peace 
again.  So  in  1875,  in  the  letter  to  the  Association,  the 
church  reported  Eld.  Hawker  pastor,  and  the  conditions  of 
the  church  hopeful;  and  in  February,  1876,  Eld.  J.  W. 
Coffman,  by  invitation,  visited  the  church  and  baptized  a 
number.  Bro.  F.  W.  Parsons,  a  student  from  Alton,  occu- 
pied the  pulpit  during  his  vacation,  and  his  labors  were 
well  received.  In  January,  1877,  Bro.  J.  J.  Keeler,  a  licen- 
tiate, visited  the  church  and  held  special  meetings  ;  his  la- 
bors were  blessed,  and  additions  to  the  church  were  received. 

As  Bro.  Keeler  was  only  a  licentiate,  Eld.  Coffman  visi- 
ted the  church  again,  baptized  the  candidates  and  adminis- 
tered the  supper.  Bro.  Keeler  was  now  called  to  the  pastor- 
ate, and  was  duly  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry 
May  10, 1877.  Eld.  Keeler  gave  all  his  time  to  the  church 
and  his  labors  were  highly  appreciated.  In  1879,  Bro.  F. 
W.  Parsons,  a  licentiate,  was  called  to  the  pastorate,  for  all 
his  time ;  and  on  May  1st,  of  the  same  year,  was  duly  or- 
dained to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  But  the  church  found 
itself  too  weak  to  give  him  a  full  support,  and  he  closed  his 
labors  before  the  year  expired.  Eld.  David  King,  being  on 
a  visit  for  his  health  and  to  see  his  friends  at  this  time,  sup- 
plied the  pulpit  for  a  few  months.  Being  without  preaching 
now,  the  church  thought  it  a  good  time  to  make  some  very 
much  needed  repairs  to  their  house  before  calling  another 
pastor.  They  accordingly  expended  about  400  dollars  for 
that  purpose,  and  put  the  house  in  good  condition. 

In  1882,  Eld.  J.  Cornelius,  the  present  pastor,  was  called 
for  half  the  time.  His  labors  are  well  received  and  the 
church  is  encouraged  and  looking  for  the  Divine  blessing. 
In  1876,  four  or  five  churches  in  the  county,  which  had 
formerly  belonged  to  the  "  Cooperstown  Association  of  Union 
Baptists,"  came  into  the  Quincy  Association ;  thus  identi- 
fying themselves  with  the  Missionary  Baptists.  The  whole 
county  now,  seems  to  be  an  inviting  field  for  missionary  la- 
bor,  and  the  Missionary  Baptists  ought  to  cultivate  it ;  it 
would,  doubtless,  well  repay  their  labor. 


THE  REGULAR  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

BY  JAMES  HARPER. 

Who  are  also  called  Old  school  or  Primitive  Baptist  from 
their  original  standing  as  the  Church  of  Christ.  These 
people  were  among  the  first  settlers  in  Western  Illinois,  and 
were  subject  to  all  the  privations  of  a  new  country,  and  es- 


tablished three  churches  in  what  is  now  called  Brown  coun- 
ty before  its  organization  as  a  county.  Elder  John  Foster 
as  regular  Baptist  minister  was  the  first  preacher  that  we 
have  any  account  of  preaching  in  this  county.  He  settled 
on  the  land  now  owned  by  George  Hersman  near  Hersman, 
and  about  the  year  1839  he  organized  a  Baptist  church 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  south  of  Mt  Sterling,  of  a 
few  immigrant  Baptists,  who  met  for  worship  under  the 
shade  of  a  large  elm  tree.  Soon  after  this  Elder  Wm.  Taylor 
commenced  his  labors  in  the  southeast  part  of  this  county, 
he  was  much  esteemed  and  his  labors  much  blessed.  He 
was  soon  assisted  by  Elder  Elijah  Bell  who  settled  near  La- 
Grange. 

In  the  year  1835,  Elder  Wm.  Harper  settled  in  what  is 
now  called  Harper  Settlement,  Willis  O'Neal  settled  near 
where  Ripley  now  stands  and  he  was  the  first  Baptist  settler 
in  this  county.  The  Indians  assisted  him  in  building  his 
first  house.  He  partook  of  their  venison  and  they  of  his 
pumpkins  and  squashes.  Dr.  Brisco  a  Baptist,  was  perhaps 
the  first  doctor  who  settled  here.  Old  father  Wm.  Kendrick, 
wife  and  daughter  Cusander,  were  among  the  first  settlers, 
with  John  Ausmus,  Wm.  Lanes  and  others  in  the  year  1837, 
Elder  John  Harper  son  of  Wm.  and  brother  to  the  writer, 
came  to  Mt.  Sterling,  united  with  Mt.  Pleasant  church,  he  was 
an  able  minister.  Many  of  our  early  Baptist  settlers  lived  to 
a  ripe  old  age.  Rev.  James  Bullard  died  at  the  age  of  96 
years,  Richard  Briggs,  91  years  and  7  months,  John  Briggs 
and  wife  a  little  more  than  91.  They  k^pt  house  over 
seventy  years.  Elder  Wm.  Harper  was  88  years  old  when 
he  died.  There  were  many  others  lived  to  a  great  age  and 
and  all  died  in  peace. 

MT.   PLEASANT. 

This  was  the  first  church  that  was  organized  in  what  is 
now  called  Brown  county.  Elder  John  Foster  having  com- 
menced his  labors  here  about  the  year  1828  or  29,  and  in 
the  summer  of  1829,  he  gathered  together  a  few  emigrant 
Baptist,  worshiping  in  an  elm  grove,  near  where  Mt.  Sterling 
now  stands.  These  brethren,  to  wit,  Elder  John  Foster, 
Wm.  Davis,  John  Ausmus,  Mark  Riggins,  Daniel  Shelby, 
Sister  Ivens,  with  others  whose  names  have  been  lost,  in 
Conference  assembled  mutually  agreed  to  organize  them- 
selves into  a  social  compact  to  be  known  as  the  Mt  Pleas- 
ant Church  of  Christ ;  Elder  John  Foster  being  one  of  their 
body,  approved  of  the  proceedings  and  pronounced  them  to 
be  the  Church  of  Christ  in  orders.  Elder  John  Foster  was 
chosen  their  first  Moderator.  This  church  met  at  private 
houses  and  school-houses  at  different  places  on  Six's  prairie 
till  the  year  1854,  when  they  built  a  good  church  house 
which  will  seat  about  200  persons ;  the  present  number  of 
members  is  28.  Their  present  Pastor  is  Elder  T.  B.  Aus- 
mus. Their  house  of  worship  is  situated  about  four  miles 
north  of  Mt.  Sterling,  and  in  the  past  they  have  been  prosper- 
ous. Their  first  Pastor  was  John  Foster.  Since  that  they 
have  had  the  labors  of  Elders  E.  Bell,  Wm.  Harper,  John 
Harper,  John  Harvey,  Wm.  Hogan  and  J.  W.  Singleton. 
In  the  year  1871  Elder  James  Harper  was  called  to  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  church  which  at  that  time  was  at  low 


222 


HISTORY   OF  SCEVYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


ebb.  only  numbering  13  member?.  She  soon  began  to  in- 
crease and  in  the  year  1875  she  numbered  43,  and  continued 
prosperous  for  years.  Elder  T.  B.  Ausmus  grew  up  among 
them  and  in  the  year  1881  Elder  Harper  got  a  release  from 
that  church ;  Elder  T.  B.  Ausmus  now  filling  the  pastoral 
office. 

CAMP  CREEK. 

Elders  Wm.  Taylor  and  E.  Bell  were  the  first  ministers 
who  preached  the  Gospel  iu  the  southeast  part  of  what  is 
now  Brown  county.  These  ministers  met  the  early  settlers 
at  private  houses  and  in  groves,  in  their  home  spun  and 
buckskin  clothes,  where  they  preached  to  them  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  In  Jul)'  1832  a  few  brethren  and  sisters  met  in  the 
house  of  James  Bullard,  near  where  Versailles  now  stands, 
and  mutually  agreed  to  enter  into  a  church  compact  and  on 
examination  it  was  found  that  Elder  Wm.  Taylor,  Rebecca 
Perry,  Elder  Elijah  Bell,  Sarah  Bridges,  James  Bullard, 
Nancy  Brown,  Nathan  Perry,  Annis  Bell,  Elizabeth  Perry 
and  Susannah  Briggs,  all  had  legal  letters  of  recommenda- 
tion from  Baptist  churches  in  good  standing.  They  then 
by  mutual  agreement  sent  to  Mt.  Pleasant  and  Mt.  Zion 
churches  for  their  ordained  help  to  constitute  them  into  a 
church  of  Christ.  The  churches  sent  Jesse  Sutton  and  J. 
Foster,  who  associated  with  them  Elders  Taylor  and  Bell, 
who  formed  themselves  into  a  presbytery  by  choosing  Elder 
Sutton  moderator,  and  Elder  Wm.  Taylor  clerk,  who  on  exam- 
ination ascertained  the  above  named  brethren  and  sisters  to  be 
in  good  standing  and  orthodox,  they  were  by  said  presbytery 
pronunced  to  be  the  Church  of  Christ- — Sep.  25th,  1832. 

Elder  Wm.  Taylor,  Clerk. 

Elder  Jesse  Sutton,  Moderator. 

The  above  named  brethren  and  sisters  proceeded  to  busi- 
ness by  first  choosing  Elder  Wm.   Taylor  Moderator   and 

Clark  second,  named  their   church  North  Fork  of 

McKees  creek.  In  the  year  1837,  they  built  a  house  to 
worship  in,  on  the  waters  of  Camp  creek,  and  changed  the 
name  of  the  church  to  Camp  creek  ;  this  church  was  very 
prosperous  and  had  the  labors  of  Elders  Taylor  and  Bell, 
Wm.  Harper,  Martin  Daty,  Wm.  Hogau  and  others  to 
preach  to  them.  In  the  year  1875  they  built  a  house  north- 
west of  Versailles  about  two  miles.  Their  house  will  seat 
about  175  persons.  This  church  has  been  on  the  decline, 
and  only  has  seventeen  members.  Elder  James  Harper  has 
taken  the  pastoral  charge,,  he  reports  them  in  peace  and 
fellowship. 

Jesse  W.  Hill,  Clerk. 

Elder  James  Harper,  Moderator. 

NEW   SALEM    CHURCH. 

The  original  records  of  this  church  have  been  misplaced. 
It  is  supposed  to  have  been  constituted  by  Elder  John  Harvey 
and  others  in  the  year  1832,  of  legal  members  in  good  stand- 
ing, who  choose  Elder  John  Harvey  their  first  pastor.  In 
the  year  1844  they  erected  a  log  house  to  worship  in.  Hav- 
ing at  that  time  Elder  Wm.  Hogan  as  their  pastor,  whose 
labors  was  abundantly  blessed  ;  in  the  year  1869  they  erect- 
ed a  large  frame  building  which  will  seat  about  300  persons. 


they  also  had  the  labors  of  Elder  Peter  Ausmus  and  Elder 
B  R.  Warren,  Cattrell  and  others,  and  was  at  one  time 
numbered  as  one  of  our  largest  churches.  For  some  years 
they  have  been  destitute  of  a  minister  in  their  body,  and  their 
number  has  diminished,  many  having  sold  oat  and  taken 
letters,  so  that  their  present  number  is  26.  They  are  in  a 
prosperous  condition,  having  the  labors  of  Elder  J.  Harper 
as  pastor  for  the  present  year. 
Arthur  Preece,  Clerk. 

James  Harper,  Moderator. 

N.  B.  the  above  church  is  situated  two-and-a-half  miles 
southeast  of  Mounds  station  in  Brown  county. 

MT.    GILEAD    CHURCH. 

This  church  was  organized  July  16th,  1842,  by  Elders 
Wm.  Harper  and  Elijah  Bell  at  a  school  house  in  the  Har- 
per settlement,  it  was  made  up  mostly  of  members  who  had 
letters  of  dismission  from  Camp  creek,  there  were  nine  in  the 
constitution.  Elder  Wm.  Harper  was  their  first  pastor  who 
served  them  till  age  caused  him  to  resign  ;  in  1850  Elder 
Martin  Daty  was  chosen  pastor,  for  a  year  or  two  the  church 
increased  very  fast ;  since  his  removal  Elder  Hogan  served 
the  church  to  their  satisfaction.  In  the  year  1865,  Elder  John 
Fanshier  came  among  us  and  served  the  church  as  pastor 
till  1871,  James  Harper  was  ordained  an  elder  at  which  time 
the  church  consisted  of  22  msmbars  ;  from  then  till  now  the 
writer  has  served  the  church  to  the  best  of  his  abilities  as 
pastor.  In  the  fall  of  1878  Elder  D.  W.  Oiven  came  among 
us  and  was  associated  with  Elder  Harper.  This  church 
is  prosperous ;  has  64  members  at  the  present  time,  and  a 
good  house  that  will  seat  200  persons. 

The  Mt.  Gilead  association  of  regular  Baptists  was  organ- 
ized at  this  church  in  the  fall  of  1842,  consisting  of  the  four 
churches  in  this  county  with  others  combined,  which  asso- 
ciation meets  annually  for  the  purpose  of  religious  correspon- 
dence and  to  report  the  statistics  of  the  different  churches 
in  the  association. 

Elder  Wm.  Roberts  of  Adams  county  was  the  first  mod- 
erator of  the  Mt.  GileadJAssociation,  and  Willis  O'Neal  clerk. 
At  the  present  time  Elder  James  Harper  is  moderator 
and  Laris  Pulman  clerk.  Brother  Pulman  has  served  the 
Mt.  Gilead  Association  as  clerk  for  nearly  forty  years. 

We  have  given  you  a  brief  sketch  of  the  above  church 
and  association. 

John  A.  McCay,  Clerk. 

James  Harper,  Moderator. 


THE   UNION   BAPTIST  CHURCH. 

B\'  REV.  THOS.  E.  ROOT. 
Prefatory  Note. — After  an  extended  and  diligenfseareh  for  data  from 
which  to  write  a  history  of  the  Union  Baptists  of  Brown  county,  the 
writer  lias  been  compelled  to  rely  chiefly  on  his  memory  for  dates  and 
facts.  While  the  latter  are  correct  in  substance,  the  former  may  lack 
that  accuracy  so  desirable  even  in  a  brief  sketch  like  this.  Hoping  due 
allowance  will  be  made  by  the  reader,  and  that  proper  bounds  and 
limits  have  not  been  transcended,  and  that  sufficient  interest  may  be 
elicited  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  to  add  something  to  the  attrac- 
tiveness of  the  book,  it  is  submitted  to  the  publisher. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


223 


Rev.  James  W-  Baldwin,  the  founder  of  the  Uuion  Bap- 
tists of  Illinois,  was  born  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  August  7, 
1806.  He  made  choice  of  the  medical  profession,  and  prac- 
ticed as  a  Botanic  physician  at  various  places  in  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  from  1826  until  1833.  He  was  married  first  to 
Miss  Lydia  Wiseman,  August  30,  1830;  second  to  Miss 
Mary  Ann  Martin,  June  23,  1845.  He  professed  religion 
June,  1833-  This  event  caused  a  radical  change  in  his 
course  of  life.  He  joined  the  M.  E  Church,  and  was  at 
once  chosen  class  leader.  Before  the  expiration  of  his  term 
of  probation— six  months — he  moved  to  McLean  county,  111., 
where  he  remained  connected  with  the  Methodists  about  two 
years,  then  joined  the  Missionary  Baptist  Church  at  Ran- 
dolph Grove.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by  that  church  in 
1838.  He  moved  to  Mason  county,  111.,  in  1840,  and  joined 
the  United  Baptists  at  Mt.  Zion  Church.  In  1841  he  was 
regularly  ordained  to  the  Gospel  ministry ;  elders  Abraham 
Bales,  John  L.  Turner  and  Elijah  Veatch  officiating  in  his 
ordination.  He  moved  to  Schuyler  county  in  1849,  where 
he  remained  preaching  and  practicing  medicine  until  1871, 
when  he  moved  to  Brown  county,  locating  on  the  old  Lang- 
don  farm  in  Versailles  township,  where  he  still  resides. 
Father  Baldwin — as  he  is  familiarly  called — is  a  man  of 
strong  and  purely  honest  convictions,  eminently  devout  and 
spiritually  minded,  and  possessing  no  considerable  degree  of 
education,  and  being  endowed  with  no  wonderful  force  of 
intellect,  it  has  ever  been  the  wonder  of  those  who  have 
heard  his  preaching,  what  power  he  has  over  men.  Thou- 
sands have  been  converted  under  his  preaching,  and  some 
of  his  converts  made  eminent  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  The 
Union  Baptists  agree  with  all  oithodox  Christian  denomi- 
nations with  the  following  exceptions,  viz,:  They  are  anti- 
Trinitarian,  extremely  Arminian,  and  they  deny  the  natural 
depravity  of  the  human  heart.  They  differ  from  the  regular 
Baptists  in  the  term  of  communion  at  the  Lord's  table,  ex- 
tending the  invitation  to  all  Christians.  They  also  hold  to 
washing  of  feet  as  a  church  ordinance.  All  Union  Baptist 
churches,  organized  prior  to  1865,  were  identified  or  associ- 
ated together  for  purposes  of  Gospel  work,  in  what  is  known 
as  the  "  Illinois  Conference  of  Union  Baptists."  In  March 
of  that  year  the  Cooperstown'  Association  was  formed,  and 
was  joined  by  nearly  all  the  churches  in  Brown  county.  No 
changes  worthy  of  note  were  made  in  the  articles  of  faith. 
Owing  to  the  death  and  the  removal  of  several  of  the  min- 
isters in  the  association,  it  was  disbanded  in  1875.  The 
churches  of  which  it  was  composed  afterward  became  iden- 
tified with  other  associations. 

LITTLE   CREEK   CHURCH. 

This  church  was  organized  by  two  United  Baptist  minis- 
ters, named  Kinman  and  Despain,  probably  as  early  as  1850. 
It  maintained  a  feeble  existence  until  1856,  when  it  was  vis- 
ited by  Elders  A.  H.  Scott  and  A.  Hodges,  who  induced  the 
church  to  join  the  conference  of  Union  Baptists,  since  which 
time  it  has  been  kept  up  with  various  degrees  of  prosperity 
and  adversity.  They  have  a  frame  house  of  worship,  24x30 
feet,  built  in  1870.  It  is  situated  in  the  northeast  part  of 
Versailles  township. 


walker's  neck   church. 

In  December,  1857,  Elders  A.  H.  Scott  and.H.  H.  Lasiter 
came  to  the  village  of  Buckhorn,  in  Lee  township,  and  com- 
menced preaching  in  a  log  school-house.  After  a  few  days, 
several  conversions  occurred  and  a  church  was  organized. 
A  house  of  worship  was  built  in  i860.  It  is  a  frame,  30x40, 
and  cost  at  that  time  §400.  This  church  left  the  conference 
to  join  the  association  in  1865.  After  the  latter  disbanded  in 
1875,  it  resumed  its  connection  with  the  conference. 

CAMP   CREEK   CHURCH. 

Early  in  1857  Father  Baldwin  held  meetings  in  the  Van- 
deventer  school-house  (District  No  3),  in  Versailles  town- 
ship. Several  professed  faith  in  Christ  and  were  baptized, 
and  a  church  was  organized.  It  continued  with  preaching 
regularly  and  at  intervals  for  several  years,  and  finally  dis- 
banded in  1866.  They  were  never  able  to  build  a  house  of 
worship. 

LOGAN   CREEK    CHURCH.. 

This  church  was  organized  by  elders  David  Collins  and 
S.  J.  Thacker  in  1858.  It  flourished  for  several  years,  built 
a  neat  frame  house  of  worship  26  x  36.  The  house  is  still 
there,  but  no  regular  meetings  are  held.  This  church 
belonged  to  the  Cooperstown  association.  It  is  situated  four 
and  one  half  miles  east  of  Mt.  Sterling. 

UNION   CHURCH. 

This  church  was  built  up  by  the  labors  of  elders  A.  Hodges 
and  Jas.  Kelly.  Under  the  faithful  and  persistent  labors  of 
elder  J.  M.  Thomas  a  neat  house  of  worship  was  built  in 
1866.  It  is  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff,  two  miles  above 
La  Grange  landing,  and  two  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Coopers- 
town. 

M'KEE'S  CREEK    CHURCH. 

Within  one  mile  of  the  southwest  corner  of  Brown  county, 
in  a  beautiful  valley,  this  little  church  is  situated.  It  was 
organized  by  Rev.  B.  F.  Cleaveland  in  1860.  It  went  into 
the  Cooperstown  association,  and  when  that  body  dissolved 
in  1875,  it  adopted  the  articles  of  faith  set  forth  by  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  and  united  with  the 
Quincy  association.  Their  house  of  worship  is  a  hewed  log 
structure  twenty-four  feet  square. 

PROVIDENCE  CHURCH. 

This  church  was  organized  by  Rev.  James  Hummer  in 
1863.  It  is  situated  in  Cooperstown.  A  neat,  frame  house 
of  worship  was  built  in  1864,  32x40  feet.  The  Cooperstown 
Association  was  organized  at  that  place,  and  this 'church 
joined  it.  When  that  body  broke  up,  Providence  Church 
changed  its  name  to  "Cooperstown  Church,"  and  joined  the 
Quincy  Association.  It  has  no  regular  preaching  at  present 
(1882;  and  exists  only  in  name. 

CROSS    ROADS   CHURCH. 

This  church  came  into  existence  in  1867,  under  the  labors 
of  Rev.  W.  B.  Williamson.  It  was  for  several  years  quite  a 
strong  church,  but  deaths  and  removals  have  greatly  reduced 


224 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


it  so  that  it  is  now'quite  a  feeble  body.  It  joined  the  Cooper- 
town  Association,  and  upon  its  dissolution  it  joined  the  Sandy 
Creek  Association.  It  has  had  regular  monthly  preaching 
with  very  few  exceptions  ever  since  its  foundation. 

VERSAILLES  CHURCH. 

This  was  organized  by  elders  W.  B.  and  C.  S.  Williamson 
in  1868.  The  membership  being  few  and  very  limited  in 
means,  its  existence  was  of  short  duration.  It  sent  dele- 
gates to  one  session  of  the  association. 

The  Law  school-house,  four  miles  west  of  Versailles,  was 
once  a  regular  point  for  preaching,  and  for  a  short  time  a 
feeble  organization  existed  (1860),  but  was  of  very  short 
duration. 

UNITED  BAPTISTS. 

About  the  year  1859,  a  regular  missionary  Baptist  min- 
ister, named  T.  S.  Lowe,  held  meetings  at  the  Council  school- 
house  in  Elkhorn  township.  Several  persons  were  converted, 
and  attached  to  an  arm  of  the  Mt.  Sterling  Church.  This 
afterward  proved  the  neucleus  for  a  church.  Subsequently 
elders  James  Allen  and  J.  B.  Bobbins  preached  there,  and 
organized  a  church.  It  belongs  to  the  Sandy  creek  associa- 
tions. Its  name  is  "  Union."  It  maintains  regular  monthly 
preaching. 

MOUNT   ZION   CHURCH. 

In  1866  Mr.  Dennis  Smith,  a  layman,  held  prayer  and 
exhortation  meetings  at  the  Hall  school-house,  two  miles 
south  of  Versailles.  Several  persons  professed  conversion, 
and  afterward  Bev.  James  Allen  labored  among  the  people 
and  organized  a  church.  It  has  at  present  a  feeble  existence, 
holding  meetings  in  a  log  house  known  as  theFrisby  Chapel. 
The  Union  Baptists  have  at  present  two  ordained  ministers 
residing  in  Brown  county,  viz.:  James  W.  Baldwin  and 
John  Tucker.  The  United  Baptists  have  three,  Geo.  W. 
Lear,  Henry  Stuller,  and  William  H.  Boss. 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

BY  REV.  J.  G.  LOWRIE. 

There  are  at  present  four  Presbyterian  churches  in  Brown 
county,  viz :  the  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Mt.  Sterling, 
the  Olive,  the  Hersman  and  the  Lee  churches. 

The  First  church  is  the  parent  society  from  which  all 
other  Presbyterian  organizations  in  the  county  have  sprung. 
A  brief  sketch  of  each  of  these  churches,  in  the  order  above 
given,  is  all  that  we  propose  in  this  article. 

THE   FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH   OF   MT.  STERLING 

Was  organized,  in  a  grove,  by  the  Rev.  Cyrus  L.  Watson, 
July  12th,  1835,  two  years  after  the  organization  of  the 
town.  The  original  members  were  John  Means,  Patsey  B. 
Means,  Alexander  Curry,  Elizabeth  Curry,  John  Rankin, 
Mary  Rankin,  Obed  Griffith,  Mary  Curry,  Henry  Hersman, 
Elizabeth  Hersman,  Mary  Hersman,  George  Hersman, 
Susan    Hersman,  Jacob   Hersman,  Sarah   Hersman,  Jane 


Brazleton,  Samuel  R.  Ware,  Joseph  Cox,  and  Cyntha  Cox 
— nineteen  persons.  Of  this  little  band  none  now  remain 
connected  with  this  church.  At  the  time  of  division  in  1837 
this  organization  adhered  to  the  new  school. 

A   FEW   FIRST  THINGS. 

The  first  infants  baptized  were  James  H.  Hersman  and 
Susan  A.  Means,  June  4th,  1836,  by  Rev.  L.  W.  Dunlap. 
The  first  convert  was  Sarah  Hamilton,  Aug.  25th,  1836. 
The  first  death  was  that  of  Sarah  Griffith,  Dec  25th,  1836, 
Aged  23. 

PASTORS. 

The  first  regular  minister  of  the  church  was  Rev.  L.  W. 
Dunlap,  who  was  choosen  as  stated  supply  July  3d.  1836, 
and  continued  from  year  to  year  until  1844.  Mr.  Dunlap 
at  that  time  accepting  a  call  to  Columbus,  the  church  was 
vacant  until  Dec.  28th,  1845,  when  Rev.  B.  Y.  Messenger 
was  choosen  as  supply  for  one  year.  Mr.  Dunlap  was  re- 
called May  7th,  1848,  and  continued  to  serve  the  church 
until  April  1863.  Rev.  Alexander  Duncan  was  called  to 
the  pastorate  Oct.  1863,  and  after  serving  one  year  was  duly 
installed,  the  relation  continuing  until  July  1876.  Rev.  J. 
G.  Lowrie  was  called  to  the  pastorate  Sept.  24th,  1876, 
began  his  labors  Dec.  1st,  1876,  and  was  installed  Oct.  27th 
1878. 

ELDERS* 

The  original  elders  of  the  church  were  John  Means, 
Henry  Hersman,  Obed  Griffith  and  Alexander  Curry.  The 
following  elders  were  subsequently  elected :  R.  H.  Hurlbert 
and  John  H.  Curry  Aug.  13th  1837,  Robt.  N.  Curry  July 
20th  1838,  Joseph  M.Phillips  and  A.  J.  F.  Prevost,  Oct. 
26th  1839,  Daniel  Kendrick  and  Jacob  Hersman  Aug  18th 
1844,  Dr.  J.  N.  Allen  and  E.  F.  Crane  Jan.  18th  1851,  J. 
R.  Curry  Sept.  19th  1858,  Dr.  C.  N.  Irwin,  Jas.  H.  Hers- 
man and  F.  D.  Crane  April  10th  1870. 

COLONIES. 

Eight  members  were  dismissed  Dec.  18th  1841,  to.be  or- 
ganized into  a  Presbyterian  church  at  Versailles,  III.  This 
enterprise  was  not  permanently  successful,  and  on  Aug.  18th 
1844,  five  of  the  original  colonists,  together  with  three  new 
members,  eight  in  all,  returned  to  the  parent  church.  Seven 
members  were  dismissed  Jan.  31st,  1851,  to  be  organized  into 
a  Presbyterian  church  at  Walker's  Neck,  being  subsequently 
known  as  the  Mt.  Pleasant  Presbyterian  church.  Twenty- 
seven  members  were  dismissed  Oct  15th,  1875,  to  be  or- 
ganized into  a  Presbyterian  church  at  Hersman,  III. 

BUILDINGS. 

The  first  church  edifice  was  erected  in  1837.  In  1853  the 
first  building  was  sold  and  the  house  now  occupied  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  83,900.  The  chapel  begun  in  1868,  was 
occupied  for  the  first  time  Jan.  1869.  The  parsonage  begun 
in  1863,  was  first  occupied  June  1864.  It  cost  $1,900.  In 
1877  and  '78  the  church  was  partially  refurnished,  both 
church  and  parsonage  were  repainted  and  a  new  fence  was 
built  around  the  entire  church  and  parsonage  grounds. 

In  1881  the  chapel  was  enlarged  and  a  new  Infant  Class 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,  ILLINOIS. 


225 


Room  built,  at  a  cost  of  $1000.  Besides  this  expenditure, 
the  church  contributed,  in  1881,  $2000  toward  benevolence 
and  self-support.  The  present  membership  is  164.  The  Sab- 
bath-school numbers  200.  Mr.  E.  F  Crane  has  been,  for 
thirty  years,  the  faithful  and  efficient  superintendent  of  this 
school. 

THE   OLIVE   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 

This  church  owes  its  origin  to  the  division  into  old  and 
new  school,  which  took  place  in  the  Presbyterian  church  of 
the  United  States  in  1837.  Nine  members  at  the  dis- 
ruption adhered  to  the  Old  School,  but  continued  to  worship 
wiih  their  New  School  Inthren  until  18E3  when  they  with- 
drew and  built  a  separate  house  of  worship  being  known  as 
the  Second  Presbyterian  church  of  Mt.  Sterling.  The  re- 
cords of  this  church  are  losf.  It  was  supplied  with  preach- 
ing with  more  or  less  regularity  by  Rev.  L.  W.  Dunlap, 
Rev.  Mr.  McGruder,  .Rev.  J.  H  Marshall,  Rev.  G.  W.  Ash 
and  others  until  1875,  when  the  building  in  town  was  sold 
to  the  Baptists,  and  a  new  house  erected  in  the  country,  the 
organization  being  thenceforth  known  as  the  Olive  church. 
The  Rev.  A.  W.  Tauner  supplied  the  church  from  Oct. 
1875  until  Oct.  1877,  and  the  Rev.  R.  T.  Pressley  from  Oct. 
1877  until  Oct.  1881.  The  property  of  this  church  is  valued 
at  $1000.  The  elders  are  Thomas  Vale  and  Benjamin 
Riggs.  The  present  membership  is  35.  The  church  is  now 
supplied  by  the  pastor  of  the  First  Church. 

THE   HERSMAN   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 

As  related  above,  this  church  was  organized  by  a  colony 
from  the  First  Church,  Oct.  1875.  The  Rev.  A.  W.  Tau- 
ner supplied  the  congregation  from  this  time  until  Oct. 
1877,  when  the  Rev.  R.  T.  Pressley  was  called  as  stated 
supply,  which  position  he  still  holds.  The  church  property 
is  valued  at  $1200.  The  elders  are :  Henry  Hersman,  Geo. 
W.  Means,  James  H.  Hersman,  Abraham  Hersman  and 
Jefferson  Fry.  The  church  membership  is  69.  The  Sab- 
bath School  membership  is  100. 

THE   LEE  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH. 

The  Lee  Church  occupies  the  site  of  the  old  Mt.  Pleasant 
Church,  which  was  organized  in  1851  by  a  colony  from  the 
First  Church.  The  Mt.  Pleasant  Church,  first  supplied  by 
Rev.  L.  W.  Dunlap,  became  in  a  few  years  quite  flourishing. 
Aid  being  secured  from  the  Board  of  Church  Erection,  a 
comfortable  house  ot  worship  was  built  and  a  large  congre- 
gation was  gathered  under  the  ministration  of  Rev.  Geo.  F. 
Davis  who  supplied  the  church  for  seventeen  years.  Disturb- 
ing elements,  however,  began  to  appear  some  time  before  Mr. 
Davis  resigned  the  charge,  and  the  church  gradually  dwin- 
dled away  until  it  was  dissolved  by  order  of  the  Presbytery 
in  1872.  The  first  successful  effort  to  revive  the  cause  of 
Presbyterianism  at  Mt.  Pleasant  was  that  of  the  founders  of 
the  Lee  Church.  This  church,  though  comprising  some  of 
the  elements  of  the  old  organization,  was  organized  de  novo, 
The  Rev.  A.  W.  Tauner,  who  had  been  devoting  part  of  his 
time  to  this  congregation  for  a  year  previous.to  this,  continued 
to  supply  them  until  fall.  In  Dec.  1877  the  Rev.  R.  T.  Press- 
ley  began  his  labors  here.  Owing  largely  to  his  personal 
29 


exertions,  funds  were  secured  to  build  a  new  house,  which 
was  completed  at  acost  of  $1700,  and  dedicated  April  30th, 
1882.  The  elders  are  Stephen  Miller  and  W.  O.  Whipple. 
The  present  membership  is  23.  The  present  condi- 
tion of  all  these  Presbyterian  Churches  is  favorable.  The 
utmost  harmony  and  good  will  prevails  between  them,  and 
the  outlook  lor  the  future  is  full  of  hope. 


CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 


BY  A.   P.    STEWART. 


Preachers  of  the  Christian  Church  came  into  the  vicinity 
of  Mt.  Sterling  as  early  as  the  year  1836,  pleading  for  the 
formation  of  congregations  on  the  basis  of  the  Bible  alone, 
as  the  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  They  came  as  plain  men, 
among  a  plain  people,  insisting  that  the  Divinity  of  Christ 
was  the  central  idea  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  believe  from  the 
whole  heart  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  the  son  of  the  Living 
God,  was  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  and  that  a  deep  and  pro- 
found sorrow  for  past  sins,  and  sincere  turning  from  sin  and 
Satan,  to  Christ,  and  to  a  life  of  righteousness,  was  Gospel 
repentance ;  and  that  the  immersion  in  water  into  the  name 
of  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  each  penitent 
believer  was  Gospel  Baptism. 

And  that  the  names  given  to  the  people  of  God  in  the 
New  Testament  are  the  only  authorized  names  for  the 
children  of  God,  and  that  all  sectarian  names,  such  as  are 
worn  by  the  denominations  of  Christendom,  tend  only  to 
divide  God's  people,  and  build  up  parties  and  sects,  instead 
of  the  one  Church  of  God,  and  that  the  New  Testament 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  was  the  only  creed  that 
could  be  adopted  for  the  instruction  and  government  of 
Christians  without  disloyalty  to  Christ,  the  Head  of  the 
Church,  and  that  the  followers  of  Christ,  by  making  and 
using  a  creed  of  their  own  devising,  made  void  the  Word  of 
God  and  authority  of  Christ  to  the  exact  extent  to  which 
their  own  was  used  in  matters  pertaining  to  their  faith,  prac. 
tice,  and  government. 

In  this  plain  way  was  faith  in,  and  obedience  to  Christ, 
love  to  God  and  to  mankind  urged  upon  the  people  in  the 
name  and  by  the  authority  of  God,  as  opportunity  presented, 
through  the  years  intervening  from  '36  to  '43,  by  preachers 
of  various  talents  and  attainments,  from  the  most  humble  to 
the  most  exalted. 

John  Price,  Esq.,  living  two  miles  east  of  Mt.  Sterling,  one 
of  the  most  intelligent,  zealous,  and  active  members  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  and  well-to-do  farmers  of  his  day,  opened 
his  house  to  the  preachers,  brethern,  and  neighbors  for  the 
public  worship  of  God.  And  for  several  years  most  of  the 
preaching,  prayers,  and  social  nreetings  were  field  at  the 
hospitable  home  of  this  man  of  sainted  memory.  His  son, 
J.  W.  Price,  who  had  a  musical  voice  and  a  talent  for  sing- 
ing, starting  the  hymns  to  good  old  Kentucky  tunes.  And 
such  was  the  consequent  growth  of  the  cause  that  in  1843  a 
congregation  was  organized  in  Mt.  Sterling,  beginning  soon 
thereafter  the  erecti  m  of  a  meeting-house,  which  to  them,  at 


226 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


that  time,  required  a  great  effort  and  financial  sacrifice.  Thus 
a  plain  and  humble  house,  which  stands  to  this  day  on  Main 
Street,  was  opened  to  the  public  worship  of  God. 

From  this  time  forward  the  meetings  were  mostly  discon- 
tinued at  the  houses  of  the  different  members  in  the  country 
and  a  united  effort  made  to  build  up  the  church  in  Mt.  Ster- 
ling.    The  preaching  had  been  done  in  the  first  place  by 
itinerant  preachers  who  chanced  to  come  along,  among  whom 
were  the  following  elders  and  evangelists  :  John  B.   Curl, 
Alexander  Reynolds,  Thomas  Brockman,  Barton  W.  Stone, 
Elder  Knox,   John   Bigdon,   Jacob   Creath,   James   Ross, 
Walter  Bowles,   with   occasional    sermons  by    Alexander 
Campbell,  D.  P.  Henderson,  Robt.  Foster,  and  by  Elder  John 
S.  Sweeney,  then  a  young  man  of  extraordinary  gifts,  both 
as  a  teacher  and  orator,  in  a  protracted  meeting  of  marvel- 
ous power  and  success.     But  to  the  long  and  faithful  labors 
of  a  resident  minister, »'.  e.,  John  Taylor,  a  man  of  modest  mien, 
humble  attainments,  but  good  natural  abilities,  and  a  spotless 
name,  was  due  more  than  to  any  other  minister  the  per- 
manent growth  and  spread  of  the  cause  in  this  region  of  coun- 
try.    William  M.  Brown,  of  Springfield,  made  frequent  visits 
to  the  county.     He  was  a  man  of  great  power  and  success  in 
the  pulpit,  who  by  his  matchless  logic  and  eloquence  attracted 
large  audiences  wherever  he  spoke,  and  made  many  converts 
to  the  cause,  especially  among  the  thinking  and  reasoning 
portion  of  the  community.     In  later  years  the  Church  in  Mt. 
Sterling  had  the  services  of  the  following  ministers  to  hold 
meetings,  or  as  regular  preachers  :    Peter  Donan,  D.  R 
Lucas.  P.  D.  Vermillion,  S.  M.  Conor,  J.  T.  Smith,  and  A. 
P.  Stewart,  who  is  the  present  pastor.   The  cause  was  sustain- 
ed  largely  by  preachers  and  evangelists  and  by   the    fol" 
lowing   members  of  the  Church,  from  time  to  time,  through 
all    its    struggles    for    life    and     growth  :     Nathan    Ken- 
drick,  John  B.  Price,  B.  D.  Stout,  Clark  Dennis,  Thomas 
S.  Brockman,  William  H.  Bates,  John  M'Millen,  Robert 
M  Millen,  John  R.  Brockman,  A.  A.  Glenn,  Levi  Lusk, 
W.  L.  Vaudeventer,  James  Ritchey,  and  George  H.  Lebo. 
The   congregation  now   numbers   about  one  hundred   and 
seventy-four,  about  three-fourths  of  whom  are  females  ;  is 
free  from  debt,  in  a  good  and  prosperous  condition,  and  exert, 
ing  a  wholesome  influence  for  good  in  the  community. 

HAZEL   DELL. 

This  congregation  was  organized  in  the  year  1870,  and 
proceeded  at  once  (without  begging  over  the  country)  to 
build  a  meeting-house,  all  the  people  of  the  community, 
with  but  few  exceptions,  entering  into  the  enterprise  with 
heart  and  hand,  and  in  a  short  time  a  well-finished  and  com. 
fortable  meeling-house,  situated  two  miles  east  of  Mt.  Ster- 
ling, on  the  Ripley  Road,  was  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God. 
The  first  preaching  in  the  neighborhood  which  resulted  in 
the  organization  of  this  congregation  was  done  by  Elder 
Robinson  in  the  year  1869.  There  had  lived  for  some  time 
in  the  vicinity  several  members,  who  served  as  a  nucleus  for 
the  establishment  of  a  Church.  After  their  house  was  com- 
pleted they  made  arrangements  for  regular  preaching,  and 
have  continued  ever  since  their  regular  appointments,  and  in 


addition  have  endeavored  to  hold  a  protracted  meeting  each 
year.  Successful  serial  meetings,  each  adding  a  considerable 
number  of  members  to  the  Church,  have  been  held  by 
Elders  Robinson,  Grissem,  Smith,  Cottingham,  Stewart, 
Patterson  and  Stanley.  As  regular  pastors,  they  have  had 
the  services  of  Robinson,  Smith,  Stewart,  and  Patterson, 
the  last  named  being  the  pastor  of  the  church  at  this  time. 
About  the  year  1865  a  Sunday  School  was  organized  in  the 
school-house,  near  the  present  site  of  the  church,  by  the 
Presbyterians  of  Mt.  Sterling,  and  they  had  occasional 
preaching  by  the  pastor  of  their  church  ;  but  no  progress 
was  made  towards  the  development  and  establishment  of 
Presbyterianism  in  the  community.  The  officers  of  the  con- 
gregation are  George  Kendrick,  Lemuel  Coppage,  John 
Dennis,  and  Lewis  Cass  Perry,  to  whose  long  and  faithful 
labors  as  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath  School,  leader  of 
the  congregation,  and  unbounded  liberality,  the  present 
prosperous  condition  of  the  Church  is  largely  due. 

MOU>*D  STATION. 

Previous  to  the  year  1868  there  lived  in  the  vicinity  of 
Mound,  a  few  worthy  disciples,  who  interested  themselves  to 
secure  preaching,  and  build  up  a  congregation  at  that  place. 
Elder  P.  D.  Vermillion,  and  several  other  ministers,  were 
induced  to  come  occasionally  and  preach  a  few  days  at  a 
time ;  and  with  the  co-operation  of  such  men  as  Laughlin, 
the  Coopers,  Webb,  Oliver,  and  Ausmus,  other  good  men  of 
the  community  were  enlisted  in  the  cause,  and  a  good  meet- 
ing-house was  built,  in  which  the  congregation  has  since  re- 
gularly met.  This  congregation  has  suffered  greatly  by 
emigration  to  the  West,  losing  in  this  way  as  high  as  fifteen 
members  in  a  single  season,  so  that  when  they  were  organized 
by  P.  D.  Vermillion  tbey  were  almost  as  strong  in  numbers 
as  they  are  now.  They  have  had  the  services  for  protracted 
meetings  and  regular  pastoral  work  of  the  following  men  : 
P.  D.  Vermillion,  Elders  Grissem,  McPherson,  D-  R-  Lucas, 
T.  W.  CottiDgham,  A.  P.  Stewart,  T.  M.  Weaver,  and  E.  J. 
Lampton.  There  have  been  two  religious  discussions  held 
at  this  place,  the  first  in  March,  1878,  which  lasted  six  days, 
.conducted  on  the  part  of  the  church  by  A.  P.Stewart,  of 
Mt.  Sterling,  his  opponent  being  Elder  Yates,  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Baptist  Church,  who  resided  at  that  time  at  Payson, 
in  Adams  Co.,  111.  A  good  and  kind  Christian  feeling  was 
maintained  throughout  on  both  sides,  and  the  community 
had  an  opportunity  to  learn  the  differences  there  were  in  the 
views  and  teaching  of  the  two  Churches.  The  other  discus- 
sion was  held  in  the  spring  of  1879,  and  continued  four  days, 
of  four  hours  each,  conducted  by  D.  R.  Lucas,  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  and  Elder  Thompson,  of  the  Regular  Baptist. 
Both  disputants  acted  throughout  as  Christian  gentlemen, 
and  the  community  enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  hearing  what 
could  be  brought  to  the  support  of  unconditional  election  on 
the  one  hand,  and  free  will  on  the  other.  The  Church  has 
at  present  among  its  membership  some  of  the  first  men  of 
the  village  and  surrounding  country.  The  officers  of  the 
church  are  :  Professor  John  Moore,  Allen  Webb,  Robert 
Long,  John  Amriu,  and  George  Ausmus- 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER  AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


227 


VERSAILLES. 

This  congregation  was  organized  about  the  year  1869. 
W.  S.  Henry  was  the  elected  elder,  and  A.  G.  Lucas 
preached  for  them  part  of  the  time.  The  membership  in- 
creased slowly  until  1874,  when  they  resolved  to  build  a  meet- 
ing-house. After  the  frame  was  raised,  and  before  it  was 
enclosed,  a  storm  blew  it  down,  causing  the  members  to  be- 
come somewhat  discouraged,  but  they  went  to  work  with  a 
will,  and  soon  after  had  a  meeting-house  finished  and  de- 
dicated. Elder  Robinson  held  a  good  meeting,  after  which 
Elder  G.  F.  Adams  conducted  a  successful  serial,  adding 
some  thirty  members  to  their  number.  A  meeting  was  held 
by  Elder  A  P.  Stewart  (who  was  preaching  for  the  Church 
once  a  month),  at  which  about  twenty-five  were  added.  The 
church  now  numbered  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  embrac- 
ing some  of  the  leading  farmers  in  the  vicinity  of  the  village.' 
Elder  Walling  was  the  next  pastor.  His  successor  was  T. 
W.  Weaver,  who  in  time  was  followed  by  Elder  C.  H.  Pat- 
terson, who  is  the  present  pastor.  The  following  are  some 
of  the  men  who  have  sustained  the  church  from  the  begin- 
ning :  W.  S.  Henry,  George  Patton,  Wait  Willey,  the 
M'Daniel  family,  Swihart,  and  J.  S.  Chenoweth.  Many  years 
ago  there  had  been  a  small  organization  at  this  place,  sus- 
tained by  Mr.  Casteen  and  a  Mr.  Hume,  two  of  the  early 
settlers  in  the  community  ;  but  at  their  death  the  organiza- 
tion went  down.  The  present  congregation  have  a  comfort- 
able house  to  worship  in,  with  about  two  thousand  dollars, 
and  plenty  of  means  among  the  members  to  sustain  a  good 
work.  The  officers  of  the  church  at  present  are  :  J.  S 
Chenoweth,  Ashford  M'Daniel,  and  W.  S.  Henry. 

RIPLEY. 

The  Church  here  was  organized  in  the  year  1842  by  John 
Taylor,  a  man  who  had  done  an  immense  amount  of  preach- 
ing in  the  county.  Being  a  plain  and  good  man,  and  zealous 
in  his  work,  he  had  abundaut  success.  This  Church  also 
had  for  many  years  the  constant  labors  of  Elder  Alpheus 
Brown,  a  plain,  old-fashioned,  forcible  preacher  of  the 
Gospel,  who  had  the  confidence  of  the  entire  community,  and 
who  consequently  added  many  members  to  the  church,  until 
she,  at  one  time,  numbered  three  hundred  members,  and  was 
also  strong  financially,  but  she  was  afterward  divided  by  the 
Seventh  Day  Advents,  and  has  never  since  reached  her 
former  power  and  influence.  She  has  had  preaching  by  a 
great  many  ministers  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  although 
Taylor  and  Brown  did  more  than  all  others  as  ministers  to- 
wards building  up  the  Church.  The  congregation  have  had 
the  labors  of  the  following  preachers  from  time  to  time :  J.  S. 
Sweeney,  Elder  Price,  J.  T.  Smith,  Patterson,  Stewart,  and 
Stanley.  The  following  persons  have  been  faithful  members 
for  many  years,  and  have  contributed  largely  to  the  succecs 
of  the  church:  P.  A.  H>ws,  Mirion  Stout,  N.iuc/ Tebo, 
W.  A.  Clark,  John  Adams,  L.  D.  Stoffer,  S.  Glenn,  Mrs- 
Haukins,  and  Mrs.  Hardin.  The  'church  is  sustained  now 
mostly  by  Marion  Stout,  the  Staffers,  Irwin  Bassett,  Burns, 
the  Clarks,  and  J.  N.  Stout.  Tliey  have  a  house  worth 
twelve  hundred  dollars,  and  there  is  nothing  in  the  way  to 
hinder  them  from  building  up  a  strong  church  again. 


BELL  SCHOOL-HOUSE. 

Four  miles  north  of  Mt.  Sterling,  at  what  is  known  as 
Bell  School- House,  there  is  a  congregation  of  about  50  mem- 
bers, representing  quite  a  number  of  excellent  families,  who 
meet  regularly  on  the  first  day  of  the  week.  They  were  or- 
ganized by  Elder  J.  T.  Smith,  pastor  at  that  time  of  the 
church  in  Mt.  Sterling,  about  the  year  1875,  he  having  pre- 
viously preached  for  a  number  of  disciples  living  in  that 
neighborhood.  By  a  successful  meeting  he  held,  and  by 
preaching  from  time  to  time  as  he  had  the  opportunity,  h? 
succeeded  in  thus  establishing  this  little  church  in  the  school- 
house  of  the  neighborhood.  The  congregation  have  among 
their  number  several  families  of  considerable  means,  and  it  is 
their  purpose  in  the  early  future  to  erect  in  the  neighbor- 
hood a  meeting-house,  and  thus  lay  the  foundation  for  the 
permanent  success  of  the  cause  among  them.  Of  the 
preachers  who  have  labored  for  them,  more  or  less,  we  name 
the  following  :— J.  T.  Smith,  Elder  Houke,  A.  P.  Stewart 
and  Elders  Ebey  and  Fuller.  The  officers  of  the  congrega- 
tion at  present  are,  Elders  J.  V.  Cox,  and  Ira  Bell  and  Pey- 
ton Keith. 

COOPERTOWN. 

There  is  a  church  of  45  members  at  this  place,  organized 
by  Elder  T.  W.  Cottiugham,  of  Chambersburg,  in  December, 
1881.  The  first  preaching  was  by  A.  P.  Stewart,  in  the 
fall  of  1878,  when  about  twenty  were  enrolled,  most  of 
whom  had  been  members  at  other  places.  Late  in  the  year 
1879  Elder  Cottingham  held  a  meeting,  adding  several  to 
the  list ;  and,  during  the  summer  of  1881,  Elders  Patterson 
and  Stanley  held  a  meeting,  in  which  eight  more  were 
added.  This  was  followed  by  a  meeting  by  Cottingham, 
which  resulted  in  the  organization  of  a  church  out  of  the 
numbers  that  still  remained  in  the  community.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  way  here  to  hinder  a  large  and  flourishing 
church,  as  the  material  already  comprises  some  of  the  best 
men  in  the  community.  The  officers  of  the  congregation  are 
Wm.  Greenwell,  Hop  Greenwell,  and  Poll  Cox,  all  of  whom 
are  excellent  men. 


THE  ADVENT  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH. 

BY  MRS.  E.  S.    MANSFIELD. 

The  question  of  the  near,  personal  coming  of  Christ,  which 
was  quite  extensively  agitated  in  America,  and  in  many 
parts  of  Europe  and  Asia,  between  the  years  A.  c,  1820 
and  1842,  was  first  introduced  among  the  people  of  Mt. 
Sterling  in  the  winter  of  1812,  by  the  Rev..  H  A.  Chitten- 
don  of  New  York,  in  a  course  of  able  lectures  on  the 
Prophetic  Scriptures,  which  doubtless  laid  the  foundation 
for  more  successful  future  work  on  the  part  of  others. 

In  1850  Rev.  Samuel  K.  Chapman  of  Hartford,  Conn  , 
came  to  this  State  and  preached  more  or  less  in  different 
parts  of  the  county  for  two  or  three  years,  when  a  number 
of  adherents  to  the  faith  were  gained,  and  worshiping  as- 
semblies were  established  in  various  localities. 

In  1854  Rev.  A.  S.  Calkins  from  the  State  of  Connecticut 


228 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


located  in  Illinois,  and  continued  to  preach  here  occasion- 
ally for  a  term  of  years. 

In  1855  Rev-  J.  C.  By  water  of  New  York  preached  at 
Buckhorn,  the  first  sermon  on  the  subject,  known  as  the 
Life  and  Death  Question,  asserting  that  mankind  are 
mortal;  and  that  immortality  is  a  thing  to  be  sought  for, 
"  by  a  patient  continuance  in  well  doing ;"  and  only  ob- 
tained through  faith  and  obedience  to  Christ,  the  Life- Giver, 
who  will,  by  a  resurrection  at  the  last  day,  give  eternal  life 
and  immortality  to  His  people  who  serve  Him ;  and  that 
the  dead  are  silent  in  their  grave  until  called  forth  to  judg- 
ment at  the  second  coming  of  Christ  to  judge  the  world  and 
reward  his  people. 

This  view  so  consistently  blended  with  the  doctrine  of 
Christ's  return  to  earth,  already  received  by  them,  and  in 
fact  made  that  event  a  reasonable  necessity,  that,  notwith- 
standing opposition  on  the  part  of  many  others,  the  view 
was  generally  received  by  those  having  faith  iu  the  nearness 
of  the  event. 

During  the  same  year,  Rev.  Walter  Pratt  removed  from 
Boston,  Mass.,  to  Moline,  111.,  and  the  year  following, 
traveled  and  preached  all  through  the  county.  About  the 
same  time  Rev.  Moses  Chandler  came  to  this  county  as  a 
Gospel  laborer. 

In  1855  Rev.  D.  R  Mansfield  and  his  talented  wife,  who 
together  held  pastoral  charge  at  Buchanan,  Mich.-,  were  in- 
vited to  come  and  hold  tent  meetings  in  different  parts  of 
the  county.  Buildings  were  also  opened  for  their  use ;  much 
interest  was  manifested  and  many  were  added  to  their  num- 
ber. 

In  1859  a  church  was  formally  organized  at  Mt. 
Pleasant,  numbering  at  one  time  forty  members.  Churches 
were  also  organized  at  Ripley  and  at  Buckhorn.  Elder 
Larkin  Scott,  an  esteemed  citizen  of  Hancock  county,  con- 
tinued to  preach  in  those  churches  from  1855,  more  or  less, 
for  several  years,  encouraging  and  strengthening  the  be- 
lievers, and  by  his  earnest  and  faithful  labor,  endeared 
himself  to  the  people  generally;  and  has  long  been  regarded 
as  truly  a  Father  in  Israel. 

Notwithstanding  the  loss  of  many  by  death,  and  removal 
to  other  parts,  and  amid  all  the  "  ups  and  downs"  of  this 
changeable  life,  a  goodly  number  of  highly  esteemed  citizens 
have  stood  the  test  of  yeare,  and,  although  at  times  they 
have  failed  to  maintain  regular  church  services,  yet  they 
still  remain  firm  in  faith,  and  the  different  churches  have 
been  combined  in  one,  and  their  present  condition  is  quite 
hopeful. 

They  are  now  reorganized  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Advent  Christian  Church  of  Lee  Township,"  and  have 
been  admitted  into  the  Central  Illinois  Advent  Christian 
Conference,  which  convened  in  quarterly  session  at  Mound 
Station,  May  3d,  1882,  by  invitation  of  this  church. 

During  this  session  they  were  reorganized,  as  above  stated, 
on  the  6th  of  May,  1882. 

The  denominational  name,  Adventist,  however,  embraces 
several  distinct  branches  ;  each  having  separate  church  rela- 
tions, conferences,  musion  societies,  publishing  and  financial 
interests. 


The  Church  of  Lee  Township  adheres  to  the  branch 
represented  by  the  "  World's  Crisis,"  the  denominational 
organ,  published  weekly  at  Boston,  Mass.,  by  the  "  Ameri- 
can Advent  Christian  Publication  Society."  This  is  by  far 
the  largest  and  leading  division. 

As  a  people  they  are  quite  generally  averse  to  any  speci- 
fied creed  or  articles  of  faith ;  leaving  the  way  open  for  a 
difference  of  opinion  upon  minor  points  of  doctrine.  There 
are,  however,  leading  essential  points,  which  give  them  their 
identity  as  a  distinct  people,  upon  which  they  are  nearly  all 
agreed. 

A  brief  summary  of  the  leading  doctrines  believed  and 
taught  is  herein  set  forth. 

They  believe  in  the  one,  true  and  living  God,  as  the 
creator  of  all  things  in  Heaven  and  earth.  That  mankind 
•was  created  upright  and  endowed  with  the  power  of  choice. 
That  to  our  first  parents,  Adam  and  Eve,  was  given  domin- 
ion over  all  the  earth,  with  only  one  limitation,  which  was 
to  test  their  fidelity  to  God.  That  they  were  on  probation 
for  eternal  life,  with  death  as  a  warning  and  penalty  for 
disobedience.  That  by  transgression  they  lost  their  domin- 
ion, forfeited  the  only  life  they  possessed,  incurred  the 
penalty,  and  thus  brought  death  upon  the  entire  race  ;  were 
driven  from  the  garden  and  shut  out  from  the  tree  of  life 
That  God  still  loved  and  pitied  iu  their  helplessness,  and 
gave  them  a  chance  to  recover  from  this  sad  condition  by  a 
promise  couched  in  the  words,  "  The  setd  of  the  woman 
shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head."  That  this  promised  seed 
was  Christ,  and  that,  in  due  time,  as  the  only  begotten  Son 
of  God,  he  was  born  of  woman,  and  subjected  to  all  of  the 
temptations  of  humanity  ;  yet  without  sin.  That  he  offered 
as  a  sacrifice  for  a  fallen  world,  a  sinless,  spotless  life  ;  by 
which  act  he  purchased  the  right  to  redeem  from  a  state  of 
death  all  who  were  made  subject  to  it  by  the  transgression 
of  the  first  man,  Adam.  That  on  the  third  day  after  the 
crucifixion,  God  raised  this  same  Jesus  from  the  dead  ;  who 
ascended  up  into  Heaven,  and  now  sits  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  Father  as  Mediator  between  God  and  man.  That  we 
have  redemption  from  the  effects  of  the  original  sin,  through 
his  atoning  sacrificial  offering,  and  that  we  have  pardon  and 
justification  from  our  individual  sins  only  as  we  accept  Him 
by  faith  as  our  Saviour,  and  confess  and  forsake  sin,  and 
yield  obedience  to  the  pure  principle  of  his  life.  That  in 
the  end  of  the  Gsspel  age,  which  they  believe  to  be  near;  the 
Son'  of  God  shall  leave  the  mediatorial  throne  and  come  as 
he  went  away — "  in  the  clouds  of  Heaven."  That  there 
will  then  be  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,  both  of  the  just  and 
the  unjust,  and  at  that  time  and  not  before,  shall  he 
''  reward  every  man  as  his  work  shall  be." — That  evil-doers 
shall  be  cut  off,  and  forever  destroyed.  That  the  righteous 
living  shall  be  changed,  and  together  with  those  who  have 
slept  in  Jesus,  be  clothed  upon  with  immortality  and  eternal 
life  to  die  no  more.  That  the  curse  shall  be  taken  off  from 
the  whole  earth,  and  the  lost  .dominion  restored,  and  the  tree 
of  life  brought  back,  and  the  loyal  subjects  of  Christ,  the 
second  Adam,  reinstated  iu  a  purified  earth,  with  Christ  as 
their  King  and  ruler  ;  and  thus  the  prayer  of  our  Lord  be 
fulfilled  as  taught  us,  "Thy  kingdom  come,  and  thy  will  be 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


229 


done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  Heaven;"  and  the  long-promised 
blessing  to  the  meek,  of  an  inheritance  in  the  earth,  be 
given.  That  as  the  capital  and  great  metropolis  of  the 
renewed  earth,  the  New  Jerusalem  shall  be  brought,  with 
its  golden  streets  and  pearly  gates,  open  ever  to  the 
redeemed  host  out  of  every  nation,  kindred,  tongue  and 
people,  and  the  Lamb  shall  lead  them  by  fountains  of  living 
waters ;  they  shall  hunger  no  more ;  they  shall  thirst  no 
more ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  pain  ;  and  the  fountain  of 
tears  shall  be  dried  ;  and  the  cause  of  weeping  be  forever 
removed. 


HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

It  is  to  us  a  source  of  regret  that  we  have  not  been  able 
to  give  a  more  complete  history  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Its  great  antiquity,  its  wonderful  vitality,  and  its  power  in 
the  past  and  in  the  preseut,  as  a  civilizing  agent,  demand 
for  it  a  page  wherever  church  history  has  a  place.  But  it 
has  been  our  misfortune  that  the  clergy,  to  whom  it  would 
seem  proper  to  go  for  information  concerning  the  church, 
have  been  residents  of  their  parishes  for  only  a  comp;ra- 
tively  short  period  of  time.  Tradition  seem3  to  have  sealed 
her  lips  to  much  she  commonly  relates,  and  we  must  content 
ourselves  with  a  comparatively  meager  history.  There  are 
in  Brown  County  at  present  three  Catholic  churches,  two  at 
Mount  Sterling,  and  one  at  Versailles. 

8T.  MARY'S  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

The  first  Catholics  in  Brown  County  were  James  Foley 
and  Mary,  his  wife,  of  Mount  Sterling.  Devoted  to  their 
faith,  they  became  the  nucleus  around  which  gathered  the 
strength  and  growth  of  the  Catholic  church  in  Brown 
County.  For  a  number  of  years  prior  to  the  establishment 
of  any  church  Mount  Sterling  had  been  visited  by  Bishop 
Porter  and  Archbishop  Keudrick,  and  mass  had  been  said 
by  them  at  private  houses.  Their  efforts  were  fruitful  in 
spreading  the  Catholic  faith,  and  there  naturally  grew  up 
the  felt  need  of  a  church.  Hugh  Cullivan,  Thomas  O'Ha  a, 
and  five  others  applied  for  a  pastor,  and  Rev.  Father  Gal- 
lagher became  the  first  resident  priest  of  St.  Mary's,  which 
was  organized  in  the  year  1848;  with  about  six  or  eight 
families,  numbering  in  all  about  forty  souls.  It  was  in  that 
year  that  the  first  church  edifice  was  built.  This  was  a 
small,  though  for  that  comparatively  early  day,  a  respect, 
able  and  seemly  brick  building,  erected  at  a  cost  of  $400, 
and  with  a  seating  capacity  of  about  300.  It  stood  on  a 
piece  of  ground  now  owned  by  Mr.  Davis,  not  far  from  the 
present  Court  House,  on  a  narrow  street  parallel  to  North 
street.  This  continued  to  be  the  house  of  worship  for  the 
church  of  St.  Mary's  till  the  erection  of  the  present  fine  and 
commodious  brick  edifice  oh  Norlh  street.  This  building 
was  begun  in  the  year  1862,  and  completed  at  a  cost  of 
about  $10,000.  It  has  at  present  a  membership  of  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  families,  numbering  about  tight  hun- 
dred people.  It  has  a  capacity  for  accommodating  about 
one  thousand  worjhippers,  aud  s  the  largest  and  mo.-t  sub- 


stantial church  edifice  in  the  county.  The  trustees  consist 
at  present  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  the  vicar-general, 
the  pastor,  Rev.  Father  Clifford,  and  two  laymen.  Among 
the  resident  priesta'of  St.  Mary's  may  be  mentioned,  besides 
Father  Gallagher,  the  names  of  Fathers  Dampsey,  McCabe, 
Prindergast,  Cogan,  and  the  present  incumbent,  Clifford. 
The  appurtenances  of  the  church  are  a  fine  brick  parson- 
age, completed  in  1880,  and  a  brick  school-house,  built  in 
1874.  The  school  is  in  a  flourishing  condition,  having  an 
attendance  of  eighty  pupils,  and  it  is  taught  by  sisters. 
The  total  value  of  the  church  property  is  $20,000. 

ST.  Joseph's  catholic  church. 

This  church  was  organized  from  St.  Mary's  in  the  year 
1869,  for  the  German  Catholics,  with  a  membership  of 
about  thirty-five  families.  The  first  lay  trustees  were 
Everitt  Schoner  and  Frank  Hense.  The  church  edifice, 
which  stands  on  South  street,  Mt.  Sterling,  is  an  unpre- 
tentious frame  building.  It  was  built  in  the  year  1869,  at 
a  cost  of  about  $200(1,  and  is  capable  of  accommodating 
three  hundred  and  fifty  worshippers.  The  membership  at 
present  numbers  seventy-five  families.  The  present  trustees 
are  the  bishop,  the  vicar-general,  the  pastor,  Rev.  Father 
Locher,  and  Laymen  Andrew  Hoffmann  and  John  Schoon- 
hover.  The  first  pastor  of  St.  Joseph's  was  Father 
Cornelius  Hoffman,  who  resided  with  the  church  about  one 
and  a-half  years.  Fa;  her  Claus  remained  but  a  month  or 
two.  Affer  his  retirement  the  congregation  received  attend- 
ance by  a  father  from  Quincy  till  the  arrival  of  Father 
Paulinus  Weiss,  who  remained  with  the  church  for  about 
one  year.  Father  Mark,  the  next  pastor,  after  a  short  resi- 
dence, was  succeeded  in  1 874  by  the  present  pastor,  Father 
Locher.  There  are,  appurtenant  to  the  church,  the  parson- 
age, an  elegant  frame  building,  erected  on  the  west  side  of 
South  street,  at  a  cost  of  $2,400,  aud  a  school  building,  situ- 
ated on  the  same  street,  in  which  is  taught  the  parochial 
school,  with  an  attendance  of  from  sixty  to  seventy  pupils. 
The  total  church  property  at  present  does  not  iu  value  far 
exceed  $-3,000.  The  present  church  building  is  soon  to  be 
superseded  by  a  more  pretentious  structure  of  brick,  and  it 
will  then  be  made  to  do  duty  as  a  school  building. 

Thire  is  at  Versailles  a  small  Catholic  society,  consisting 
of  about  twelve  families,  who  worship  in  a  neat  little 
church,  formerly  a  public  school  building,  purchased  by  the 
society  at  a  cost  of  $500.  This  society  is  under  the  pastoral 
charge  of  Rev.  Father  Clifford,  who  holds  services  with 
them  once  a  month. 


THE  UNITED  BRETHREN  IN  CHRIST. 

BY   B.    A.    MeCOY. 

About  the  year  1848,  Rev.  Willis  was  sent  to  Brown 
county  as  Home  Missionary,  and  preached  at  several  points 
without  much  success,  except  three  and  a  half  miles  north- 
east of  Versailles,  in  the  Toll  Settlement,  where  several 
persons  united  with  the  church.  Rev.  Willis  was  followed 
on  the  mission  by  Rev.  Baker,  who  had  some  degree  of 


230 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


success.  About  this  time,  Rev.  J.  Dunham,  of  his  own 
accord,  volunteered  his  services,  and  preached  at  several 
different  points  all  over  the  county  with  a  great  deal  of 
energy  and  much  ability.  About  this  time,  1854  or  '55,  the 
log  cabin  was  built  in  the  Toll  Settlement ;  there  was  also  a 
society  formed  three  and  a  half  miles  west  of  Buckhorn,  in 
the  west  end  of  the  county ;  also,  a  small  society  at  Pleasant 
Hill  school-house,  south  of  Hersman,  in  center  of  the 
county.  After  this  time,  the  societies  at  all  the  different 
points  grew  weak,  without  much  being  done,  except  local 
preaching  by  Rev.  Toll,  (who  was  an  earnest  worker),  and 
an  occasional  sermon  by  Rev.  Dunham,  and  others  who 
might  happen  to  pass  through  the  county.  In  the  year 
1859  the  conference  sent  Rev.  J.  J.  Wyatc  to  look  after  the 
different  societies  in  Brown  county  ;  he  took  hold  of  the  work 
with  a  will,  and  preached  to  large  and  attentive  congrega- 
tions, who  felt  the  effect  of  his  discourses  The  church  in 
Toll  Settlement  was  revived  with  about  65  additions 
to  the  church;  the  class  at  Pleasant  Hill  having  15 
additions.  The  society  in  the  north  part  of  the  county  received 
quite  a  number  of  additions,  and  the  United  Brethren  church 
stood  very  prominent  in  the  county.  Rev.  J.  J.  Wyatt 
preached  for  almost  three  years  doing  a  great  work  for  God 
in  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  the  building  up  of  the  United 
Brethren  Church  in  Brown  county.  Rev.  Wyatt  was  fol- 
lowed by  Rev.  D.  Martin,  who  was  a  fluent  talker,  good 
worker,  and  kept  the  work  up  during  the  larger  portion  of 
his  stay.  Rev.  Martin  was  followed  by  Rev.  Deardorff, 
who  was  a  good  preacher,  and  labored  hard,  but  the  tide  of 
the  church  had  turned,  and  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts,  went 
down  to  some  extent  during  his  administration.  Notwith- 
standing all  this,  he  did  a  good  work  at  some  points,  with 
several  additions  to  the  church.  Rev.  Deardorff.  preached 
for  two  years,  and  was  followed  by  Rev.  Warmen,  a  man 
of  good  talent  and  a  good  worker,  yet,  for  all,  the  church 
seemed  to  be  gradually  losing  ground.  Rev.  Warmen  was 
followed  by  Rev.  North,  who  did  all  in  his  power  to  keep 
the  church  from  drooping,  but  with  little  effort.  Rev.  North 
was  followed  by  Rev.  Mowry,  assisted  by  Rev.  Waggle,  who 
worked  hard  for  the  church,  and  succeeded  in  building  a 
very  nice  church  at' Versailles,  at  a  cost  of  between  $2,000 
and  $3,000,  held  some  protracted  efforts  in  the  new  church, 


with  some  of  the  best  talent  of  the  church  to  assist,  such  as 
Rev.  Wimset  Bear,  Calahan  Martin,  Walker,  and  others, 
with  some  effect,  but  not  of  long  duration.  During  hi?  stay 
on  the  work  two  persons  were  licensed  to  preach,  namely, 
G.  W.  Leitner  and  B.  A.  McCoy.  Rev.  Mowry  was  fol- 
lowed by  Rev.  Calahan,  who  did  good  work  for  the  church, 
young,  energetic,  labored  hard,  yet  it  became  necessary  to 
abandon  the  log  church  appointment,  and  also  the  Pleasant 
Hill  appointment.  Rev.  Calahan  was  followed  by  Rev.  D. 
Martin,  but  still  the  church  lost  ground,  and  he  was  followed 
by  Rev.  Foley,  who  tried  to  regain  what  the  church  had 
lost,  but  to  no  effect.  He  preached  faithfully,  but  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  the  work  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  for  want 
of  support,  and  the  church  at  Versailles  was  abandoned  in 
the  year  1876.  The  class  organized  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  county  has  a  few  members  still  existing.  There  is  a 
class  at  Shank  School  House,  organized  about  the  year  1859 
or  '60,  of  a  goodly  number  of  members  still  holding  on  and 
in  fair  condition. 


THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH.* 

St.  Mark's  mission  was  organized  in  April,  1879,  by  Rt. 
Rev.  Alexander  Burgess,  Bishop  of  the  Quincy  diocese.  An 
effort  was  made  by  General  J.  W.  Singleton  and  family,  and 
one  of  the  English  families  to  organize  a  parish  about  1844, 
and  Bishop  Chase,  of  the  Illinois  diocese,  visited  the  then 
village  of  Mt.  Pleasant  with  that  object  in  view,  when  Gen- 
eral Singleton  and  family  removed  to  Quincy,  and  the  pro- 
ject was  abandoned.  St.  Mark's  mission  was  supplied  by 
Rev.  E.  A.  Larabee  for  a  short  time,  followed  by  Rev  Rob- 
ert Richie,  both  at  that  time  connected  with  the  cathedral 
of  St.  John,  Quincy.  For  the  last  year  or  two  no  regular 
services  have  been  held.  Robert  S.  Feun  and  H.  K.  Davis 
were  appointed  by  the  Bishop  wardens  of  the  mission.  Con- 
nected with  the  mission  are  nine  families  and  thirty-eight 
souls.  While  no  regular  services  are  held  the  Bishop 
officiates  several  times  during  the  year. 

*,We  are  under  obligations  to  H.  K.  Davis  for  the  data  furnished  for 
this  church. 


RUSHVILLE    TOWNSHIP. 


->»^-0-8jE=!- 


tO  rescue  from  oblivion  the  incidents  of 
the  past,  and  to  preserve  the  names  of 
the  hardy  few,  who  in  fact  were  the 
real  instruments  of  paving  the  way  and 
making  the  wild  forests  habitable,  is 
the  object  of  the  historian.  In  a  little 
time  the  gray  hairs  of  pioneers,  who 
still  live  as  tottering  monuments  of  the 
good  old  times,  will  be  gathered  to  their 
fathers ;  their  children,  engrossed  by  the  busy  transactions 
of  life,  will  neglect  to  treasure  up  the  doings  and  recollec- 
tions of  the  past,  and  posterity  will  search  in  vain  for  land- 
marks and  memorials  thereof.  How  necessary,  then,  that 
no  time  should  be  lost  in  gathering  together  the  fragments 
of  our  infant  history  which  still  exist,  and  thus  rescue  it 
from  entire  forgetfulness. 

A  little  more  than  half  a  century  ago,  this  beautiful  coun- 
try was  in  a  state  of  nature,  and  the  only  inhabitants  were 
the  uncivilized  Indians,  and  the  wild  game  of  the  forest. 
The  white  man  came,  and  lo,  the  transition !  Beautiful 
fields  of  grain  wave  in  the  gentle  breeze,  and  neat  villages 
and  farm-houses  dot  the  landscape.  The  results  of  the 
labors  and  hardships  of  the  pioneers  are  written  not  only 
in  our  histories,  but  more  unmistakably  engraven  upon 
every  highway  in  the  land.  Let  the  reader  stop  for  a 
moment  and  reflect,  if  he  would  do  justice  to  those  who 
have  so  bravely  done  their  part.  Do  not  chide  them  for 
their  odd,  old-fashioned  ways,  but  keep  in  mind  that  it  is 
due  to  them  that  we,  "Young  America,"  have  the  sur- 
rounding comforts  of  to-day.  But  a  few  years,  when  we 
have  grown  gray  and  feeble,  and  we  shall  be  pointed  out  by 
the  busy,  bustling  throng  of  a  more  advanced  age,  as  "  old 
fogies,"  ai.d  as  these  vho  have  passed  their  days  of  use- 
fulness. 

Schuyler  county  was  organized  in  1825,  and  the  territory 
of  Rushville  was  the  first  that  echoed  to  the  sound  of  the 
improvements  of  the  white  settler.  This  was  in  1823,  two 
years  prior  to  its  organization,  it  then  being  a  part  of  Pike 
county.  Its  situation  is  nearly  central,  and  it  is  the  capital 
of  the  county.  The  township  of  Oakland  bounds  it  on  the 
north,  and  it  is  bound  ed  on  the  east  by  Browning  and  Fred- 
erick, on  the  south  by  Bainbridge,  and  west  by  Buena  Vista- 
It  is  a  full  Congressional  township,  and  contains  thirty-six 
sections,  being  about  equally  divided  between  prairie  and 


timber  land.  The  west  and  center  are  mainly  of  the  former, 
while  the  latter  embraces  the  rolling,  and  in  places  the  broken 
surface  peculiar  to  the  timber  belts,  situated  along  the  mar- 
gins and  contiguous  to  the  various  water-courses.  McKee's 
creek  rises  in  section  eighteen,  flows  northeast,  and  passes 
out  in  section  three.  Crane  creek  meanders  through  the 
southwest,  taking  mainly  a  southerly  direction,  and  finally 
discharges  its  waters  into  the  Illinois  river.  The  eastern 
part  of  the  township  is  drained  by  the  tributaries  of  Sugar 
creek.  Corn  and  wheat  are  the  principal  productions,  though 
grass,  oats,  etc,  are  cultivated  with  excellent  success.  A 
branch  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad 
extends  through  a  portion  of  the  precinct,  entering  in  sec- 
tion three,  and  terminating  at  Rushville.  A  few  more  years, 
and  the  transportation  facilities  will  undoubtedly  compare 
favorably  with  other  towns  of  the  state. 

FIRST    SETTLEMENTS. 

The  first  settlements  were  made  in  section  16  as  early  as 
1823,  two  years  prior  to  the  organization  of  the  ounty. 
The  honor  belongs  to  Calvin  Hobart  and  Orris  McCartney, 
both  making  their  advent  about  the  same  time,  February, 
1823.  The  former  was  a  native  of  Grafton  county,  New 
Hampshire.  Seeking  a  more  congenial  climate,  and  im- 
pelled by  a  spirit  of  enterprise,  coupled  with  a  fondness  for 
adventure,  he  turned  his  face  westward  and  made  his  home 
in  the  wilds  of  Illinois.  He  made  the  entire  passage  from 
the  East  in  a  two-horse  wagon.  His  family  then  consisted 
of  his  wife,  Sallie,  and  four  children,  Chancy,  Norris, 
Elizabeth,  and  Truman.  W.  H.  Taylor,  a  single  man,  also 
accompanied  Mr.  Hobart.  A  small  log  house  was  erected 
on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  16,  and  the  life  of  the 
pioneer  commenced.  Mr.  Hobart  was  an  exemplary  man, 
and  had  the  full  confidence  of  all  who  knew  him.  He  died 
at  his  pioneer  home  in  1831.  His  widow  afterwards  married 
again,  and  about  1835,  they  all  moved  to  the  state  of 
Minnesota.  Mr.  McCartney  came  from  New  York  state, 
and  located  near  Mr.  Hobart,  on  the  place  now  owned  by 
Jesse  Danner.  He  was  then  a  single  man,  but  put  up  a 
cabin  and  commenced  the  improvement  of  his  place.  A 
young  man,  by  the  name  of  Samuel  Gooch,  accompanied 
him  here,  and  aided  him  in  his  work.  The  latter  and  Ruth 
Powers  were  the  first  married  couple  in  the  settlement.  This 
was  in  February,  1824.  Levin  Green,  a  local  methodist 
231 


232 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


minister,  performed  the  marriage  ceremony.  McCartney 
was  elected  the  first  sheriff*  of  the  county.  He  moved  to 
Wisconsin  about  1829.  Levin  Green  located  here  in 
1823  or  '24.  He  was  here  as  early  as  the  fall  of  1823,  and 
preached  the  first  sermon  within  the  entire  military  tract, 
but  according  to  the  best  information  did  not  permanently 
locate  until  the  spring  of  1824.  He  was  born  iu  North 
Carolina,  but  emigrated  from  the  state  of  Missouri  here.  In 
1829,  he  moved  into  what  is  now  Missouri  township,  Brown 
county,  in  the  history  of  which  will  be  found  a  more  ex- 
tended account  relating  to  his  life.  George  Stuart,  a 
brother-in-law  of  Green,  came  at  the  same  time,  and  they 
both  lived  in  a  cabin  in  section  16.  Stuart  also  moved  into 
Missouri  township,  and  subsequently  emigrated  to  the  state 
of  Arkansas  with  his  brother-in  law,  Green.  Another  settler 
of  1824,  was  Nathan  Eels.  He  came  from  the  East  and  had 
quite  a  large  family.  He  squatted  in  section  15,  but  re- 
mained only  a  few  years  when  he  moved  to  Beardstown,  and 
thence  to  the  r  ortbern  part  of  the  state.  In  1825,  there  was 
quite  an  accession  of  settlers  to  the  little  colony,  among 
whom  was  Benjamin  Chadsey.  He  was  born  in  Vermont, 
and  when  a  mere  child  his  parents  moved  to  the  state  of 
New  York.  They  afterwards  emigrated  to  Ohio,  and  thence 
to  Indiana.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  Mr.  Chadsey  enlisted 
as  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  For  his  service  he  drew  a 
quarter  section  of  land  in  section  17,  Schuyler  county.  After 
the  war  he  stopped  in  Illinois,  and  soon  afterward  married 
Rachel  Johnson.  In  the  fall  of  1824,  he  came  to  the  county 
to  see  the  land  he  had  entered.  Being  pleased  with  the 
country,  the  following  spring  he  moved  here  with  his  family 
and  located  on  his  land.  The  family  then  consisted  of  his 
wife  and  two  children,  Jerusha  and  Henry  C.  Six  children 
have  since  been  born  to  the  family,  Benjamin  F.,  John  L., 
Calvin,  George  W.,  James,  and  William.  At  this  writing 
they  are  almost  an  unbroken  family,  only  one  of  them  being 
dead,  Benjamin  F.  Even  the  father  and  mother  are  yet 
living,  and  reside  at  the  old  homestead,  surrounded  with  all 
the  comforts  that  heart  could  wish  in  their  old  age.  Mr. 
Chadsey  is  86  years  of  age  and  his  wife  is  in  her  8 1st  year. 
The  old  court-house  standing  in  the  square  was  built  by  Mr. 
Chadsey.  He  commenced  the  first  work  upon  it  in  1829. 
Two  other  prominent  settlers  of  1825,  were  Samuel  Horney 
and  Jonathan  Manlove.  The  latter  was  a  single  man,  and 
came  with  the  former's  family.  Mr.  Horney  came  from 
North  Carolina  in  1818,  and  first  settled  in  St.  Clair  county, 
and  in  the  spriug  of  1825  moved  to  Schuyler,  and  settled 
not  far  from  Rushville  in  the  edge  of  what  is  now  Buena 
Vista  township.  He  had  a  wife  and  one  son,  Leonidas,  who 
was  afterward?  elected  county  surveyor.  Mr.  Horney  was 
an  active  man  in  his  time.  He  served  in  the  war  of  1812, 
also  the  Black-hawk  war,  and  was  one  who  figured  largely 
in  the  organization  of  Schuyler  county,  and  subsequently 
represented  his  constituency  in  the  state  legislature.  He 
died  several  years  ago  in  Littleton  township,  where  his  widow 
yet  reside?,  and  who  is  said  to  be  the  oldest  early  settler  in 
the  county.  Jonathan  Manlove  soon  after  his  coming,  mar- 
ried Sophrona  Chadsey,  and  from  their  union  several  children 


were  born,  only  one  of  whom  is  a  resident  of  the  county, 
Mrs.  Henry  Taylor  of  Brooklyn.  Mr.  Manlove  was  a 
representative  citizeu,  being  the  first  surveyor  of  the  county, 
besides  filling  other  offices  of  trust  at  the  hands  of  the  people. 
He  moved  to  Fort  Scott,  Kansas,  in  about  1867,  where  he 
yet  resides.  William  Manlove,  a  brother  of  the  above, 
came  one  year  later,  and  first  engaged  in  teaching  school. 
He  was  elected  the  secDnd  surveyor  of  the  county,  and  was 
a  leading  man  of  the  times.  He  married  here  and  reared 
quite  a  family  of  children.  His  death  occurred  many  years 
ago.  The  family  afterwards  moved  from  the  county.  Man- 
love Horney,  a  brother  of  Samuel  above  mentioned,  came 
direct  from  North  Carolina  and  located  near  his  brother. 
This  was  in  1826.  He  was  at  the  head  of  a  family.  Several 
of  his  representatives  are  residents  of  the  county.  His  death 
occurred  some  years  ago. 

John  B.  Terry  was  an  immigrant  of  1825,  and  came  from 
the  state  of  New  York.  He  located  in  section  16,  near 
Hobart  and  McCartney.  After  the  county  was  organized 
he  moved  to  what  is  now  Rushville,  and  had  the  honor  of 
filling  the  office  of  first  county  clerk  of  Schuyler  county. 
His  log  residence  was  the  first  house  built  in  Rushville.  He 
moved  to  Wisconsin  about  1828,  where  he  afterward  died. 
One  who  figured  most  prominently  in  the  politics  of  the 
county  was  Hart  Fellows.  He  was  born  in  Cincinnati,  O. 
His  parents  moved  to  the  state  of  Indiana  in  an  early  day, 
and  it  was  here  that  Mr.  Fellows  was  educated,  and  grew  to 
manhood.  He  came  to  Illinois  a  single  man,  and  located 
in  Green  county,  where  he  married  Miss  Foss.  Early  in 
1825  he  moved  to  near  Rushville.  and  went  to  keeping  house 
in  a  vacated  cabin  situated  iu  section  27,  where  he  remained 
until  he  could  erect  a  convenient  house  of  his  own.  At  this 
time  he  had  but  one  child,  William  Henry.  Quite  a  large 
family  of  children  were  born  to  them  while  residents  of  the 
county.  Their  first  born, William  H,  lived  but  a  short  time, 
and  was  the  first  interment  made  in  the  village  cemetery. 
Mr.  Fellows  was  elected  the  first  circuit  clerk,  and  was  the 
first  postmaster  in  the  county.  Indeed,  in  subsequent  years, 
lie  filled  nearly  every  county  office,"  and  was  one  of  the  most 
popular  men  of  the  times.  In  1850  he  was  appointed  by  the 
general  government  as  collector  of  revenues  in  the  city  of 
San  Francisco.  He  died  only  two  or  three  years  ago.  His 
widow  is  now  residing  in  Frederick,  Schuyler  county,  with 
her  elder  daughter,  Mrs.  Ann  Fatwell.  Mrs.  Farwell  is  said 
to  be  the  first  child  born  in  Rushville.  James  Vance  and 
David  Wallace  also  came  as  early  as  1825.  William  Me- 
Kee  came  from  Indiana,  April  16,  1826,  and  located  in 
section  18.  He  had  a  large  family,  mostly  daughters. 
Both  he  and  his  wife  died  here  many  years  ago.  Several  of 
their  children  are  residents  of  the  county.  William,  jr,  is 
residing  at  the  old  homestead  in  section  18.  Mr.  Vance 
migrated  from  the  south.  He  was  a  mere  squatter,  and  re- 
mained but  a  short  tini2  when  he  moved  to  McDjnough 
county,  and  became  one  of  its  first  settlers.  David  Wallace 
was  also  from  the  south,  and  located  in  section  21.  He  sold 
his  improvement  right  in  a  few  years  and  moved  to  parts 
unknown.  Among  others  of  1325,  '26  were  David  and 
Thomas  Blair,  William  Pennington,  David  and  Cyrus  Wat- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


233 


son,  Peter  Perkins,  Philip  Spohnamore,  Ephraim  Eggleston, 
James  H.  Smith,  and  others. 

A  prominent  settler  of  1829  was  Thomas  W.  Scott,  a  na- 
tive of  Maryland.  His  parents  moved  to  Kentucky  when 
he  was  a  mere  boy.  He  remained  here  until  he  was  twenty 
years  of  age,  when  he  left  his  Kentucky  home  and  on  horse- 
back came  through  this  state,  and  finally  landed  in  Rush- 
ville  in  1829.  In  December  of  the  same  year  he  went  to 
St.  Louis  and  purchased  a  stock  of  goods.  At  this  time 
Rushville  wa<  one  among  the  few  towns  in  the  state.  People 
came  to  this  town  to  trade  for  many  miles  around.  Mr.  S. 
says  that  some  of  his  customers  came  from  Astoria,  at  least 
eighty  miles  north  of  Rushville.  In  1832,  Mr.  Scott  moved 
back  to  Kentucky,  and  the  same  year  he  married  Adeline 
Johnson,  from  which  marriage  one  son  was  born,  R  .bert  J  , 
who  is  now  in  the  state  of  Missouri.  His  wife  died  in  1836, 
and  in  1840  Mr.  S.  again  married.  Of  this  union  twelve 
children  have  been  born,  six  sons  aud  six  daughters.  After 
remaining  in  Kentucky  for  several  years  Mr.  Scott  came 
back  to  Rushville,  where  he  has  resided  since.  He  has 
amassed  a  good  competency,  and  has  retired  from  active  life. 
Hugh  McCreery,  another  pioneer,  was  born  in  Ireland  in 
1793,  and  came  to  the  states  in  1827,  landing  at  Philadel- 
phia. In  the  fall  of  1828,  he  moved  to  Illinois  and  located 
at  Rushville.  His  first  residence  was  the  old  log  court-house. 
He  remained  here  over  winter,  when  he  bought  some  land, 
now  a  part  of  the  corporation  of  the  village.^  His  family 
then  consisted  of  his  wife,  Sarah,  and  six  children,  William, 
Mathew,  John,  James  G.,  Margaret  and  Sarah.  Mr.  Mc- 
Creery.his  wifeandoneson,William,all  died  with  the  cholera, 
which  prevailed  with  such  havoc  in  1834.  William  was 
then  a  member  of  the  Sta:e  Senate.  Only  two  of  the  family 
are  now  living.  James  G.  is  a  prominent  citizen  of  Rush- 
ville, and  Sarah,  widow  of  John  Young,  resides  in  Buena 
Vista  township.  Samuel  Jackson  was  an  early  settler  of  the 
county.  He  was  born  in  North  Carolina  and  migrated  to 
Indiana  when  a  young  man,  where  he  married  Esther  Close. 
In  the  fall  of  1828  he  moved  to  Schuyler,  and  settled  in  sec- 
tion 14,  Biiubridge  township.  Hj  died  here  in  1838  or  '39. 
Mrs.  Jackson  died  in  1874.  But  one  of  the  family  resides 
in  the  county,  Ezra,  who  is  the  present  landlord  of  the  City 
Hotel  at  Rushville.  Other  settlers  of  about  the  same  date 
were  John  Scripp3  and  Cornelius  B.  Putman.  The  former 
was  quite  a  noted  Methodist  minister ;  his  circuit  extended 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  frontier.  He  died  several  years 
ago.  Oiie  son,  John  G.,  resides  in  section  7.  Those  of  a 
later  date  were  Hon.  W.  A.  Richardson,  Judge  T.  Lyle 
Dickey ,  H  in.  William  A.  Minshall,  Judge  Pinkney,  H. 
Walker,  Hon.  Ribert  Blackwell,  Hon.  Jno.  C.  Bagby, 
Hon. William  H.  Ray,  Hon.  Louis  D.  Erwin,  George  Little, 
Thomas  Wilson,  G  W.  Metz,  and  others.  Probably  no  town 
in  the  state  of  its  size  <an  biast  of  furnishing  more  promi- 
nent men  than  Rushville,  as  the  above  array  of  names  will 
verify.  They  were  among  the  early  settlers,  but  most  of 
them  have  either  died  or  moved  away. 

The  cholera  in  July,  1834,  swooped  down  with  its  pinions 
of  death  and  proved  a  besom  of  destruction  to  many  in  the 
Rushville  settlement.     The  town  then   contained   seven   or 
30 


eight  hundred  inhabitants,  and  so  virulent  was  the  disease 
.that  most  of  them  fled  to  other  parts  of  the  country.  Only 
about  three  hundred  were  left  to  take  care  of  the  sick  and 
dying.  Over  a  hundred  were  afflicted,  andj  nearly  one 
half  proved  fatal.  The  first  to  succumb  to  the  disease  was 
William  McCreery  aud  Cornelius  B.  Putman  ;  they  died 
about  the  same  time.  After  the  scourge  had  passed,  most 
of  those  who  had  left  the  town,  returned,  and  business  pro- 
ceeded as  usual.  It  is  supposed  that  the  disease  originated 
from  a  family  from  Maryland,  who  while  afflicted  with  it 
came  up  the  river  and  stopped  at  Rushville.  It  was  a  time 
long  to  be  remembered  by  the  old  settlers,  as  many  of  their 
homes  were  made  desolate. 

Land  entries. — October  6, 1817,  Justus  Waterman  entered 
theS.  E.  i  of  section  4.  October  28,  1817,  Dennis  Thompson 
entered  the  N.  E.  i  of  section  1.  November  29,  1817,  James 
H.  Smith  entered  the  S  W.  i  of  section  4.  November  12, 
1817,  John  S.  Kuightentered  the  S.  E.  I  of  section  12.  De- 
cember 8,  1817,  Wm.  Clayton  entered  the  N.  E.  k  Sec.  8. 
December  8,  1817,  Leonard  Trask  entered  the  N.  E.  i  of 
section  7. 

The  first  couple  married  in  the  settlement  were  Samuel 
Gooch  and  Ruth  Powers,  as  has  been  already  stated.  The 
first  marriage  ceremony  performed  after  the  county  was  or- 
ganized, made  husband  and  wife  of  W.  H.  Taylor  and 
Elizabeth  Spohnamore,  in  1825.  Levin  Green  was  the  offi- 
ciating minister  at  the  nuptials.  The  first  born  was  a  child 
of  Ephraim  Eggleston,  in  the  summer  of  1824.  The  first 
school  was  taught  in  the  summer  of  1826,  by  Sophrona  Chad- 
sey,  in  a  vacated  cabin  in  section  16.  Jonathan  D.  Manlove 
taught  the  same  year  at  his  own  cabin  on  what  is  known  as 
the  Little  place.  These  pedagogues  afterwards  became  hus- 
band and  wife.  The  first  school-house  site  was  located  in 
1825,  ou  section  20,  now  Benjamin  Chadsey's  pasture.  The 
people  met  and  decided  to  build,  with  the  following  agree- 
ment ;  that  each  head  of  a  household  should  furnish  two 
logs,  and  aid  in  raising  the  house  when  ready,  etc.  A  few 
logs  were  hauled,  but  as  there  was  no  head  to  the  association 
the  project  was  abandoned  for  the  time.  The  first  school 
district  in  the  county  was  created  the  22d.  of  July,  1825, 
and  embraced  twenty-fjur  square  miles.  The  second  at- 
tempt to  erect  a  school-house  was  in  1830.  This  proved  a 
success.  It  was  a  small  brick  building,  situated  in  the  north 
part  of  the  village  of  Rushville,  on  the  lot  where  the  Chris- 
tian church  now  stands.  The  first  church  house  erected 
was  in  about  1832.  It  was  a  fair -sized  brick  building,  and 
situated  near  the  northeast-corner  of  the  square.  It  is  yet 
standing,  aud  used  as  a  sales-room  by  Crandall  &  Son. 

The  first  justices  of  the  peace  were  Levin  Green,  Benja- 
min Chadsey,  Hart  Fellows,  and  Jesse  Bartlett.  The  first 
practitioners  of  medicine  were  Benjamin  Tee],  Adams  Dun- 
lap,  George  Rogers,  aud  Drs.  Hall  and  Smith.  None  of 
them  are  living  except  Dr.  Dunlap,  who  resides  in  Buena 
Vista  township.  The  first  post-office  was  established  in 
1828,  and  situated  at  Rushville.  Hart  Fellows  was  the 
post-master,  and  the  office  was  situated  on  the  east  side  of 
the  square,  where  the  marble  yard  now  is.  Abraham  Low- 
derback  did  the  first  blacksmithing  for  the  people.     His 


234 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


shop  was  situated  on  Lafayette  street,  about  three  blocks 
east  of  the  square.  The  first  carpenter  and  wheelwright  wa% 
Benjamin  Chadsey.  The  first  mill  built  in  the  county  was 
erected  by  him  for  Calviu  T.  Hobart  in  J  826;  it  was  what 
was  then  known  as  a  horse-mill,  and  was  situated  in  section 
17  ;  its  capacity  was  about  80  bushels  of  meal  daily,  aud  re- 
quired two  horses  and  a  yoke  of  oxen  to  give  it  power.  It 
continued  to  run  for  a  few  year.',  until  water  mills  were 
established  on  Sugar  creek,  when  it  was  abandoned.  Jona- 
than D.  Manlove  imported  the  first  blooded  stock  in  1838 ; 
it  was  the  Durham  breed,  and  was  brought  from  the  State 
of  Ohio.  The  first  Berkshire  swine  was  imported  by  Ben- 
jamin Chadsey  and  William  Young  in  1839.  The  first  hogs 
brought  to  the  county  were  by  McCartney  &  Beard,  in  the 
latter  part  of  1823— they  were  quite  a  large  drove  of  what 
were  called  "  pointers  "  or  "  hazel  splitters  " — many  of  them 
strayed  into  the  timber  and  subsisted  on  the  mast,  thus  be- 
coming independent  of  their  owners.  In  two  or  three  years 
the  timber  was  overrun  with  wild  hogs ;  the  Indian  dogs 
chased  them  as  other  wild  game,  and  any  person  killing 
them  was  allowed  one-half  for  so  doing.  As  this  kind  of 
stock  was  then  somewhat  scarce  in  the  country,  thise  wild 
hogs  were  of  considerable  benefit  to  the  settlers.  But  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  Indians  aud  the  depredations  of  their 
dogs  became  universal,  and  in  the  spring  of  1826  nineteen  of 
the  settlers  proceeded  to  call  on  them  at  a  trading  point  on 
the  Illinois  river,  just  below  the  mouth  of  Crooked  creek. 
They  killod  some  of  their  dogs,  and  notified  the  Indians  to 
leave  within  ten  days.  The  traders  were  also  given  the 
option  to  vacate  or  have  their  effects  dumped  into  the  river. 
The  result  was  that  there  was  no  more  trouble  with  the 
traders  or  the  Indians.  The  first  orchard  was  planted  by 
Benjamin  Chadsey  and  Mr.  Blair,  in  the  spring  of  1828, 
and  was  in  section  nineteen.  Some  of  the  trees  are  yet 
standing. 

The  following  named  persons  are  those  who  have  repre- 
sented the  township  in  the  county  board  since  township 
organization  :  Charles  Neill  was  elected  in  1854  and  served 
one  term;  J.  D.  Manlove,  elected  in  1855,  served  one  term; 
Peter  C.  Vance,  elected  in  1856,  served  three  terms;  John 
C  Scripps,  elected  in  1859,  served  two  terms ;  James  L. 
Anderson,  elected  in  1861;  James  A.  Teel,  elected  in  1862, 
served  two  terms;  George  M.  Greer,  elected  in  1864;  George 
W.  Metz,  elected  in  1865,  was  chairman  of  the  board ;  Lud- 
well  H.  Deraaree,  elected  in  1866,  served  three  terms,  and 
was  chairman  of  the  board  for  the  years  1866-'7  ;  Jonathan 
R.  Neill,  elected  in  1869 ;  John  C.  Scripp',  re-elected  in 
1870;  Robert  G.  Welker,  elected  in  1871 ;  John  H.  Irwin, 
elected  in  1872,  served  two  terms;  Robert  McMaster,  elected 
in  1874;  EJgar  Anderson. elected  in  1875, served  five  terras; 
Edwin  M.  Anderson,  elected  in  1880,  served  two  terms; 
George  W.  Bellomy,  elected  in  1882,  is  the  present  incum- 
bent. 

TOWN    OF   RUSHVILLE. 

This  being  the  capital  of  the  county  and  one  of  the  first 
points  settled  therein,  it  necessarily  follows  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  this  chapter  must  consist  of  its  history.  It  was  lo- 
cated as  the  seat  of  justice,  March  6th,  1826,  by  the  com- 


missioners appointed  for  that  purpose.  It  is  situated  in  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  thirty,  township  two  north,  and 
range  one  west.  It  was  first  named  Rushton,  in  honor  of 
Dr.  Rush,  an  eminent  physician  of  the  city  of  Philade'phia. 
But  for  some  cause,  on  the  21th  of  April,  1826,  an  order  was 
made  to  change  the  name  to  Rushville.  The  commissioners 
appointed  David  Blair  to  proceed  to  Springfield  and  obtain 
a  patent  of  the  aforesaid  quarter  Mction  of  lm:d,  for 
which  service  the  records  show  that  for  compensation  he  was 
allowed  82  50  After  having  procured  the  patent,  the  com- 
missioners sold  the  east  half  of  the  quarter  for  the  sum  of 
$150,  which  half  is  now  that  part  of  the  town  lying  about 
eighty  feet  east  of  the  public  square,  and  within  certain  pre- 
scribed limits  north  and  south. 

The  first  house  built  in  the  town  was  constructed  by  John 
B.  Terry  for  a  dwelling.  It  was  a  small  log  house,  situa- 
ted just  across  the  street,  south  of  the  school-house  grounds. 
Hart  Fellows  built  a  log  dwelling  about  the  same  time  as 
the  above.  It  was  situated  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
square,  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  firm  of  Delap  &  Dace. 
This  was  early  in  1826.  The  first  town  lots  were  sold  July 
4th,  of  the  same  year.  The  first  merchandise  sold  ill  the 
town  was  in  1828  or  1829,  by  a  party  from  Jacksonville. 
His  stock  consisted  of  a  few  groceries,  dry-goods,  and  no- 
tions. They  were  kept  at  the  house  of  Hart  Fellows,  and 
there  retailed.  This  was  only  temporary.  The  next  to  en- 
gage in  the  business  was  Benjamin  Chadsey.  He  purchased 
his  goods  in  St.  Louis,  aud  shipped  them  up  the  river  in 
keel  boals,  and  thence  from  the  Illinois  river  to  Rushville. 
His  goods  were  kept  in  the  house  of  Hart  Fellows,  who 
acted  as  his  clerk  one  year,  and  then  became  a  partner, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Chadsey  and  Fellows.  In  the 
meantime,  Mr.  Fellows  had  erected  a  little  frame  store- 
house near  his  dwelling,  in  which  the  business  was  then 
conducted. 

The  first  tavern  license  was  granted  to  Orris  McCartney, 
Nov.  3,  1825,  upon  paying  the  sum  of  three  dollars  into 
the  treasury,  and  one  dollar  to  the  clerk.  The  following  is 
the  table  of  rates  he  was  allowed  to  receive : 

For  diet,  per  meal 18} 

For  horsekeeping  over  night 25 

For  horse  feed 12} 

For  lodging 6} 

Whiskey,  per  half-pint 12} 

Foreign  spirits,  per  half-pint 25 

Whiskey,  per  gill '. 6} 

Foreign  spirits,  per  gill 12} 

Cider,  metheglin,  and  beer,  per  quart 12} 

The  first  brick  house  built  was  the  court  house,  finished 
in  1830.  The  school-house  was  the  second  brick  building, 
and  the  third  was  the  old  Methodist  church.  The  first 
frame  house  was  built  by  Hart  Fellows,  and  was  situated  on 
the  lot  where  his  log  dwelling  stood. 

This  chapter  would* be  incomplete  without  recording  some 
of  ihe  first  efforts  towards  making  Rushville  a  point  of 
some  manufacturing  importance.  The  firm  of  Hodge  & 
Hunter  established  a  wool  carding  factory  in  1831.  It  was 
situated  on  Congress  street,  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  J. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


235 


Foote  &  Son's  knitting  factory.  It  existed  for  several  years. 
In  the  same  year,  Geer  Brothers  established  a  shop  for  the 
manufacture  of  horn  combs.  It  %as  located  on  the  lot 
where  the  blacksmith  shop  of  Peter  Pox  is  now  situated. 
It  was  a  non-paying  investment,  and  the  factory  soon  re- 
lapsed into  silence.  James  Blackburn  erected  a  tannery  as 
early  as  1830,  on  Lafayette  street,  not  far  from  the  present 
residence  of  John  C.  Bagby.  In  a  few  years  he  sold  out  to 
George  Baker,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine. 

A  ludicrous  scene,  common  in  those  days,  is  described  by 
Thomas  W.  Scott,  who  was  then  in  the  mercantile  business. 
Most  of  the  pioneers  were  dressed  with  a  hunting  shirt  and 
buckskin  breeches.  In  the  winter  season  their  pantaloons 
would  become  saturated  with  water  by  wading  through  the 
snow  and  slush.  On  coming  into  the  store  their  unmention- 
ables would  be  stretched  out  of  all  proportions,  and  the 
bottoms  would  be  dragging  under  their  heels.  After  sitting 
by  the  fire  awhile  to  warm,  the  buckskin  would  dry  and 
shrink,  so  by  the  time  they  were  ready  to  leave,  their  pants 
had  crept  up  to  near  their  knees,  and  in  this  manner  would 
they  file  out,  each  with  a  small  purchase  under  his  arm. 
Another  incident  is  related  of  the  peculiar  manner  adopted 
to  make  it  unpleasant  for  the  worshipers  of  the  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  congregation,  during  the  services  one 
Sabbath  of  those  early  days.  The  church  building  was  a 
frame,  and  one  of  the  first  in  the  town.  Some  one  becoming 
offended  at  the  society,  or  some  one  belonging  to  it,  con- 
ceived the  idea  that,  with  the  numerous  stock  running  at 
large,  if  the  lower  part  of  the  building  were  washed  with 
brine,  there  would  be  as  large  a  congregation  outside  as  in- 
side. Late  Saturday  night,  or  early  Sunday  morning,  the 
thing  was  accomplished.  The  congregation  had  hardly 
assembled,  before  all  the  cows  in  town  had  scented  the 
delicate  morsel.  The  preacher  commenced  the  services  and 
the  cattle  on  the  outside  commenced  the  disagreeable  rasp, 
rasp,  rasp,  with  their  barbed  tongues.  The  reader  can  pro- 
bably imagine  the  result ;  the  sermon  was  spoiled,  and  the 
congregation  went  home  disgusted. 

Ctmetery. — The  first  interment  was  made  here,  as  before 
stated.  From  this  has  grown  the  present  beautiful  ceme- 
tery, that  now  is  one  of  the  best-kept  grounds  in  the  State. 
Many  a  costly  monument  adorns  this  city  of  the  dead.  It 
is  situated  in  the  southeast  part  of  the  town,  on  lots  thirty 
and  thirty-one,  and  contains  about  fifteen  acres.  The  early 
history  of  its  existence  is,  that  in  1859,  the  county  court 
passed  an  order  that  John  Ritchey  be  authorized  to  purchase 
of  Abram  Louderback,  one  or  two  acres  of  land,  suitable 
and  convenient  for  cemetery  purposes.  He  selected  two 
acres  of  ground  where  the  old  sand  headstones  now  stand. 
We  have  visited  many  a  town  cemetery,  but  the  Rushville 
place  of  the  dead  stands  equal  to  any  that  it  has  been  our 
privilege  to  inspect.  A  few  of  the  first  interments  are  marked 
by  small  slabs  of  sand-stone,  two  of  which  were  nestling 
among  the  roots  of  quite  large  trees,  evidences  of  the  thought- 
ful care  of  the  dead,  when  these  forest  trees  were  but  mere 
shrubs,  or  perhaps  had  not  even  generated  from  the  acorn 
that  produced  them. 

Incorporation. — Under  this  heal  we  desire  to  recapitulate, 


in  order  to  make  the  organization  of  the  town  more  com- 
plete. As  already  stated,  the  site  was  chosen  in  the  spring 
of  1826,  but  it  was  not  until  December  5th  of  the  same 
year  that  it  was  surveyed  and  platted,  Jonathan  D.  Man- 
love  being  the  surveyor.  In  June,  1829,  a  petition  was  laid 
before  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  to  have  the  town  re- 
surveyed,  and  the  streets  reduced  from  one  hundred  feet 
in  width  to  eighty  feet,  which  was  accordingly  done.  On 
the  23J  of  April,  1831,  a  notice  was  posted,  calling  upon 
the  citizens  to  meet  at  the  clerk's  office  on  the  10th  of  May 
following,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  steps  toward  incorpo- 
rating the  town  under  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly, 
approved  February  12th,  1831,  entitled  "An  Act  to  Incor- 
porate the  Inhabitants  of  Towns,"  etc  In  pursuance  of  said 
call,  the  people  met  at  the  time  and  place  mentioned.  John 
C.  Scripps  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  John  Mitchell  was 
elected  clerk.  The  following  are  the  names  of  those  voting, 
all  in  favor  of  incorporating :  John  C.  Scripps,  Hart  Fel- 
lows, William  C.  Ralls,  I.  J.  C.  Smith,  Richard  Redfield, 
Andrew  Ross,  William  Layton,  N.  E.  Quinby,  Samuel 
Brazzleton,  Samuel  Beattie,  William  Putman,  Proctor  P. 
Newcomb,  Thomas  W.  Scott,  E.  Grist,  Joel  Decamp,  John 
M.  Jones,  John  Mitcheltree,  B.  V.  Teel,  James  A.  Chadsey, 
and  Luke  Seely.  May  25th,  a  meeting  was  called  for  the 
election  of  officers,  with  the  following  result :  Trustees,  John 
Mitcheltree,  B.  V.  Teel,  John  Scripps,  William  McCreery, 
and  I.  J.  C.  Smith.  B.  V.  Teel  was  chosen  chairman  of  the 
board.  John  B.  Watson  was  appointed  Clerk ;  I.  J.  C- 
Smith,  Treasurer;  and  Thomas  Haydon,  Constable.  In 
1839,  another  charter  was  obtained,  and  again  in  1869, 
granting  further  privileges  as  an  incorporated  town.  The 
present  officers  are :  Trustees,  R.  L.  Greer,  John  A.  Har- 
vey, Augustus  Nell,  John  S.  Bagby,  Charles  H.  Wells, 
Augustus  Peter,  and  George  W.  Smither ;  the  former  is  the 
President  of  the  board,  and  the  latter  the  clerk.  The  other 
officers  are :  Attorney,  David  H.  Glass ;  Street  Commission- 
er, George  C.  Yoe ;  Marshal,  L.  W.  Sloat ;  Town  Surveyor, 
John  S.  Bagby ;  Police  Magistrate,  William  Speed.  Since 
the  organization  of  the  town,  it  has  been  of  a  slow,  but 
healthy  growth,  having  at  this  time  a  population  of  nearly 
2000  inhabitants. 

BUSINESS   OP   THE   TOWN. 

The  Rushville  Woolen  Mills,  as  an  industry,  stand  pre- 
eminently ahead  of  any  other  manufactory  in  the  town. 
They  are  situated  on  Madison  street,  between  Congress  and 
Monroe  streets,  and  were  built  by  a  stock  company,  in  1867, 
at  a  cost  of  about  $50,000.  The  building  is  of  brick,  eighty 
by  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  on  the  ground,  and  three 
stories  high.  The  lower  flbor  is  occupied  by  the  looms,  dyeing 
apartment,  finishing,  etc.  The  second  floor  contains  the 
several  jacks,  cards,  and  pickers.  This  industry  is  now 
leased  by  the  firm  of  Slack  &  Gavit,  who  have  in  their  era- 
ploynvnt  about  fifty  hands.  The  factory  is  what  is  known 
as  a  four-set  mill,  containing  twelve  broad  looms,  six  jacks, 
four  sets  of  cards,  and  furnishing  complete  for  the  same. 
The  principal  manufactured  articles  are  flannels  and  blank- 
ets, the  number  of  yards  manufactured  in  one  year  being 


236 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


about  3  1,000.  The  annual  product  is  valued  at  $100,000 
The  firm  pays  for  labor,  every  month,  about  81,200,  and  for 
stock  $6,000.  The  works  are  driven  by  an  eighty-horse- 
power engine,  having  three  four-foot  boilers  twenty  feet  in 
length.    The  whole  building  is  heated  by  steam. 

Rushville  Knitting  Factory,  J.  Foote  and  Sons,  proprie- 
tors. This  industry  was  established  by  the  present  proprie- 
tors in  the  spring  of  1876,  and  is  situated  on  Congress  street, 
between  Madison  and  Clinton  streets.  The  building  is  a 
frame,  two  stories  in  height,  and  20x68  feet  on  the  ground. 
The  capital  invested  is  $5,000.  Twelve  machines  are 
employed,  and  the  whole  works  require  16  hands,  11  of 
whom  are  females:  The  business  is  confined  to  hosiery,  of 
which  about  5,200  dozen  pairs  are  manufactured  annually. 
The  stock  finds  a  market  in  Chicago,  Peoria,  and  other 
points  of  the  west-  Upwards  of  $300  is  paid  out  by  this  in- 
stitution every  month  for  labor. 

Rushville  City  Flouring  Mill*. — These  mills  are  situated 
on  Congress  street,  three  blocks  north  of  the  court-house. 
The  business  was  established  by  the  firm  of  Little  &  Ray,  in 
1847,  since  which  time  it  has  more  than  once  changed 
hands.  In  1874,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  present 
firm,  Ramsey  &  Co..  The  building  is  a  frame  36x60  feet  in 
size,  and  three  stories  high.  It  has  three  run  of  stone,  and 
a  double  set  of  rolls,  with  a  capacity  of  manufacturing  75 
barrels  of  flour  daily.  Six  men  are  employed.  The 
machinery  is  driven  by  a  fifty-horse  power  engine. 

Elevator  of  Little  and  Ray  is  situated  on  the  switch  of  the 
C.  B.  &  Q.  railway.  It  was  built  by  this  firm  in  1868,  at  a 
cost  of  $3,000.  The  structure  is  of  the  regular  elevator  style, 
and  is  about  28x36  feet  on  the  ground,  56  feet  in  height.  It 
has  a  capacity  of  elevating  2,500  bushels  of  grain  daily,  and 
can  store  15,000  bushels.  It  is  operated  by  horse  power 
arranged  in  the  basement. 

Rushville  Brick  and  Tile  Works  are  located  in  the  south 
part  of  town,  abaut  three  blocks  from  the  public  square. 
The  proprietors  are  McCabe  &  Sons.  The  brick  yard  was 
established  in  1866,  ami  the  tile  factory  was  added  about 
ten  years  later.  The  capital  invested  is  $5,000.  The  num- 
ber of  bricks  manufactured  annually  is  about  1,000,000,  and 
the  number  of  feet  of  tile  is  300,000.  The  entire  shedding 
covers  nearly  10,000  square  feet  of  ground.  Twenty-five 
men  receive  employment,  and  the  annual  manufactured 
product  is  estimated  at  $15,000.  Between  six  and  seven 
hundred  dollars  are  paid  out  every  month  for  labor. 

Rushville  Marble  Yard,  owned  and  operated  by  Crosier  & 
Hutton,  and  situated  on  Liberty  street,  east  side  of  the  pub- 
lic square.  This  industry  was  commenced  in  the  town  by 
Mr.  Crosier,  in  February,  1859,  being  the  first  to  establish 
the  business  in  the  village.  In  the  spring  of  1877,  Mr.  Hut- 
ton  became  a  member  of  the  firm.  The  good  work  per- 
formed by  this  company  has  given  the  business  a  con-tant 
and  healthy  growth,  so  that  at  this  time  they  employ  five 
men,  and  manufacture  $8,000  of  product  annually. 

Can  luge  aud  Wiigon+Factory  of  J.  &  J.  Knowles.  This 
is  one  of  the  oldest  manufacturing  establishments  in  this  part 
of  the  State,  having  been  established  as  early  as  1849.  It  is 
situated  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and  Morgan  streets, 


in  block  19.  The  works  occupy  the  whole  block.  The 
buildings  are  frame  structures,  containing  machine  shop, 
wood-work  department,  blacksmith  shop,  depository,  sheds 
for  material,  etc.  The  capital  invested  is  about  $12,000, 
and  the  annual  value  of  manufactured  product  is  estimated 
at  $15,000.  Ten  men  are  employed  by  this  industry.  All 
the  work  is  manufactured  by  machinery  driven  by  a  four- 
teen-horse  power  engine. 

Schuyler  Flouring  Mills  are  situated  on  the  Macomb 
highway  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  corporate  limits,  west 
of  the  railroad.  This  mill  was  built  in  the  fall  of  1867,  by 
George  Moench,  the  present  proprietor.  It  is  a  frame  build- 
ing, 30  x  40  feet  in  size  and  three  stories  high.  The  engine 
room  attached  is  18  x  30  feet.  The  mill  has  three  runs  of 
stone,  and  a  capacity  of  manufacturing  50  barrels  of  flour 
in  twenty-four  hours.  It  is  both  a  merchant  and  custom 
mill,  and  gives  employment  to  three  men.  The  engine  is 
thirty-horse  power 

Wagon  and  Carriage  Factory,  Hocking  and  Parker,  pro- 
prietors. This  industry  was  established  in  1878,  and  is  sit. 
uated  on  Monroe  street,  near  Washington  street.  The  house 
is  a  frame  building,  three  stories  high,  and  40  x  50  feet  on 
the  ground.  It  was  formerly  the  old  Presbyterian  church 
building.  Eight  men  receive  employment,  and  the  estima- 
ted value  of  manufactured  product  and  repair  work  is  $7,000 
annually.    All  the  work  is  hand-made. 

Rushville  Tannery  was  established  in  1862,  by  August 
Peter,  and  is  situated  north  of  the  school-house  grounds. 
The  building  is  a  framp,  two  stories  high,  and  24x48  feet 
in  size.  Nine  vats  are  arranged  in  the  building,  and  it  has 
other  conveniences  for  the  business.  Mr.  Peter  is  also  en- 
gaged in  the  traffic  of  hides. 

The  Rushville  Library  Association  was  established  the  5th 
of  April,  1878,  with  fifteen  charter  members,  the  officer 
being  as  follows :  President,  L.  R.  Caldwell ;  Secretary  and 
Librarian,  John  Beatty ;  Treasurer,  Dr.  M.  Ayers.  It  was 
started  by  the  subscription  of  the  members,  there  being  441 
volumes  at  the  outset  The  number  has  increased  at  this 
writing  to  1384  volumes.  The  literature  consists  of  histories, 
biographies  of  eminent  men  travels,  fiction,  etc.,  etc-  To 
become  a  member,  it  is  requisite  to  pay  a  fee  of  three  dollars 
and  fifty  cents  as  quarterly  dues.  At  this  time  the  member 
ship  consists  of  about  120  members.  The  library  is  situated 
on  Washington  street,  near  the  post  office,  and  is  open 
Wednesday  and  Saturday  evenings. 

The  School  House  is  one  of  the  institutions  of  the  town 
of  which  the  people  may  well  feel  proud.  It  was  built  at  a 
cost  of  about  $55,000  and  is  situated  two  blocks  northwest 
of  the  court  house  square.  The  grounds  occupy  two  and  a 
fourth  acres,  and  are  well  kept,  with  shade  trees  adjoining 
the  play  ground  and  the  street  surrounding  the  building. 
The  district  is  two  miles  square,  and  the  institution  is  opera- 
ted under  a  special  charter,  entitled  The  Rushville  Union 
School.  The  building  is  a  fine  biick  structure,  three  stories 
high,  with  basement,  and  about  70  feet  square.  Its  archi- 
tecture is  of  the  modern  style,  and  it  is  warmed  by  steam. 
All  the  belongings  are  of  the  best,  and  the  conveniences  are 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


237 


modem.  Nine  teachers  are  employed  besides  the  principal, 
and  the  attendance  is  upwards  of  500  pupils. 

First  National  Bank  of  Rushville  was  established  in  1865, 
it  being  a  joint  enterprise  conducted  by  several  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens,  among  whom  were  the  firm  of  Little  &  Ray, 
W.  W.  Wells,  Warren  Brothers,  E.  M.  Anderson,  E.  C, 
and  B.  Ray.  The  capital  stock  was  $65,000,  but  was  sub- 
sequently increased  to  8100,000,  and  afterwards  reduced  to 
875,000.  It  has  a  surplus,  at  this  writing,  of  $20,000.  The 
vault  is  fire  proof,  and  the  safe  is  provided  with  a  time  lock. 
President,  George  Little ;  Cashier,  Augustus  Warren. 

Coal  Banks. — There  are  two  shafts  situated  in  sections  19 
and  20.  The  vein  lies  about  forty  feet  from  the  surface, 
and  will  average  5}  feet  in  thickness.  The  quality  of  coal 
is  unsurpassed  by  any  in  the  State.  The  only  wonder  is, 
that  capitalists  have  not  taken  the  matter  in  hand  and  de- 
veloped the  industry  in  this  part  of  the  State.  As  the  mines 
are  now  worked  they  only  supply  the  local  demand.  Two 
tramways  are  built  from  the  shaft  to  the  town. 

Besides  the  foregoing  the  town  contains  two  newspapers > 
Times  and  Citizen  ;  six  Churches,  two  Methodist,  Presbyte- 
rian, Baptist,  Christian,  and  Catholic,  a  full  history  of  which 
will  be  found  in  their  appropriate  chapters.  There  are  also 
two  hotels,  the  City  Hotel,  Ezra  Jackson,  proprietor ;  and 
the  Fry  House  kept  by  Mrs.  Fry.  A  new  court-house  is 
nearly  completed,  and  will  be  one  of  the  finest  buildings  of 
the  town. 

PRESENT  BUSINESS. 

General  Store-?— Wilson  &  Graff,  G.  W.  Metz  &  Son,  J. 
H.  Parrott,  Nelson  Brothers,  Little,  Ray  &  Co.,  Warren 
Brothers 

Dry  Goods  Boots  and  Shoes,  etc. — Jackson  Brothers,  E.  D. 
Leach,  J.  L.  Parrott,  J.  N.  Roach  &  Co. 

Hardware  and  Agricultural  Implements. —  Augustus  Nell, 
R.  H.  Griffith  &  Co.,  George  E.  Hall. 

Drugs,  Books,  etc  — E.  M.  Anderson,  A.  M.  McCreery,  M. 
M    Prentiss. 

Furniture  and  Undertaking. — A.  H.  Seeley,  William 
Speed. 

Clothing,  Hats,  Caps,  etc. — Wells  Brothers. 

Harness  and  Saddlery. — Martin  Ryan,  August  Peter. 

Groceries,  Queenswire,  etc. — R.  L.  Greer,  D.  W.  C.  Good- 
win, William  Fowler,  Robert  McCreery,  W.  S.  Irwin,  De- 
lapp  &  Dace,  Ford  &  Tutt,  H.   Clarke,  Z.   L.    Underwood. 

Cigars. — J.  B.  Thomas. 

Broom  Makers.-C.  P.  Neill,  W.  B.  G-  Putman. 

Watches,  Clocke  and  Jewelry. — George  Hanna,  J.  H. 
Knowles. 

I'lii/.<icians. — N.  G.  Slack,  Thomas  Monroe,  Mortimer 
Ayers,  J.  N  Speed,  R.  N.  Worthington,  L.  W.  Clark,  A. 
B.  Clark,  E.  Clark,  M.  M.  Prentiss,  L.  C.  Seeley,  J.  H. 
E»ing,  John  A.  Harney. 

Dentist. — T.  H.  Downing. 

Livery  and  Feed  Stables. — George  Branstool,  R.  B.  Greer. 

Feed  and  Sale  Stables.—  Crandall  &  Son,  James  Mon- 
tooth. 

Photographers- — E.  W.  Bags,  J.  W.  Baird. 

Merchant  Tailors. — Samuel  Heitz,  A.  J.  Goodwin. 


Contractors  and  Builders. — Amos  Sylvester,  J.  W.  Morris, 
Thomas  Keegan,  C.  T.  Thomas. 

Masons  and  Bricklayers. — Stout  &  Rippetoe,  John  Laugh- 
lin,  John  A.  Leezer. 

Painters  and  Glaziers. — James  Seeley,  J.  Seeley,  Samuel 
Leezer,  J.F.  Bowen,  D.  G.  Prentiss,  A.  W.  Davis. 

Grain  Dealer. — Thomas  Wilson. 

Stock  Dealers  and  Shippers. — J.  L.  Danner,  Worthington 
&  Putman,  Wells  &  Boyce. 

Lumber  Yards. — Caldwell  &  Ray,  Fry,  Graff,  &  Monroe. 

Blacksmiths. — Peter  Fox,  James  Beatty,  Skiles  &  Becker- 
dite. 

Shoemakei-s. — Gilbert  Ingraham,  M.  L.  Demoss,  Christian 
Moorck,  Anderson  Goodwin,  Jr. 

Meat  Markets. — William  Thompson,  Hoskinson  &  Yates. 

Restaurants  and  Confectionery. — Daniel  Webster,  Mrs.  A. 
Lee,  Mrs.  E.  Lee. 

Millinery  and  Dressmaking. — Anna  Ryan,  Betty  Stover, 
Mrs.  William  Fowler,  Kitty  Goodwin,' Mrs.  J.  Washabaugh, 
Libbie  E.  Erwin,  Mrs.  L.  Roberts. 

Sewing  Machine  Agents. — Charles  Putman, Tellis. 

Barbers. — Henry  Neiman,  Henry  Riefling.  Allen  T.  Hill. 

Postmaster — Jacob  Hammond. 

SOCIETIES.* 

Rushville  Lodge,  No.  9,  A.  F.  and  A.  M.  This  Lodge  was 
chartered  October  3, 1842,  beingoneofthe  oldest  lodges  in  the 
state,  and  it  has  had  the  honor  of  furnishing  two  Grand 
Masters,  Levi  Lusk  and  James  L.  Anderson.  The  fire  fiend 
has  also  been  a  visitant  of  this  lodge  three  times  since  its 
organization,  and  yet  it  is  in  fair  financial  standing.  The 
original  number  of  charter  members  was  20.  The  present 
membership  is  82.  The  Lodge  meets  in  Masonic  Hall  the 
Tuesday  evening  on  or  before  the  full  of  the  moon  in  each 
month. 

Rushville  Chapter,  No.  184,  R.  A.  M  ,  was  organized 
August  11th,  1881,  with  sixteen  charter  members.  The 
present  membership  is  forty-five.  The  condition  of  the 
society,  financially,  is  good.  The  regalia  and  equipments 
of  the  chapter  are  among  the  best  of  the  order,  outside  of 
the  large  cities.  High  Priest,  William  H.  H.  Rader ;  Sec- 
retary, John  C.  Scripps. 

Rushville  Commandery,  U-  D.,  K.  T.,  was  organized  Feb- 
ruary 13th,  1882,  with  eleven  swords.  At  this  writing,  the 
number  has  increased  to  thirty.  It  meets  in  Masonic  Hall, 
the  second  Monday  night  in  each  month.  It  is  well  fitted 
for  duly,  and  is  now  preparing  to  build  a  hall,  in  every  way 
suitable  for  commandery  work.  Eminent  Commander, 
William  H.  H.  Rader  ;  Recorder,  John  C.  Scripps. 

Friendship  Lodge,  No.  24,  I.  O  O.  F.  This  is  one  of  the 
oldest  Lodges  of  the  State,  being  organized  February  24th, 
1847,  and  chartered  the  15th  of  July  following.  The  charter 
members  were,  John  Todhunter,  Charles  M.  Ray,  Samuel 
Lambrot,  Simon  Doyle,  and  James  L.  Anderson.  The  pres- 
ent membership  is  eighty.     The  first  charity  was  dispensed 

•For  these  data  we  are  indebted  to  the  secretaries  of  the  various  so- 
cieties 


238 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


March  24th,  1847,  being  four  barrels  of  flour  to  the  relief 
of  the  distressed  Irish,  since  which  time  the  order  have  con- 
tributed thousands  of  dollars  for  charity.  It  is  in  excellent 
condition  financially,  owning  its  own  hall,  and  has  about 
$1,000  in  the  treasury.  Rep.  to  Grand  Lodge,  John  B. 
Metz;  Secretary,  Augustus  Fuller. 

Willard  Encampment,  No.  64,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  was  instituted 
April  2d,  1866  aud  chartered  October  9th,  1866.  It  ha*  a 
membership  of  eighteen,  and  meets  semi-monthly.  The 
present  officers  are,  J.  D.  Skiles,  C.  P. ;  John  Heit,  S.  W. ; 
Samuel  J.  Leezer,  H.  P.  ;  J.  B.  Metz,  Scribe ;  Henry 
Koostian,  Treasurer ;  R.  E.  Hocking,  J.  W. ;  A.  K- 
Smither,  O.  S.  S. ;  H.  A.  Niemann,  I.  S.  S. ;  Rep.  to  Grand 
Encampment,  J.  B.  Metz. 

Security  Lodge,  No.  18,  I.  O.  M.  A.  This  Lodge  was  or- 
ganized November  12th,  1878,  and  chartered  December 
10th  following.  There  were  twenty-six  charter  members. 
The  whole  number  enrolled  is  thirty-seven  Present  mem- 
bership, fifteen.  The  society  meets  in  Odd  Fellows'  Hall 
the  first  Monday  in  each  month.  This  order  is  purely  a 
charitable  institution,  its  object  being  to  aid  the  poor  and 
destitute  in  case  of  sickness,  etc. 

Band  of  Hope.  This  is  a  children's  society,  organized 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  cause  of  temperance,  and 
morals  of  the  young.  It  meets  every  Friday  evening  at  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Its  organization  took  place 
about  one  year  ago. 

PLEASANT   VIEW. 

This  is  a  little  town  situated  in  the  extreme  southeast 
part  of  the  township.  It  was  laid  out  by  Ebenezer  Dim- 
mick,  July  21st,  1843,  and  situated  in  section  thirty-six. 
The  first  business  was  transacted  by  E.  Dimmick,  who  was 
both  merchant  and  postmaster.  The  present  business  is  as 
follows : 

Om-ral  Stores. — E   Dimmick,  Warren  Mallory. 

Basket  Factory. — Charles  Edwards. 

Wagon  Maker. — G.  W.  Scott. 

Blacksmiths. — George  F.  Rebman,  Henry  Landon. 

Postmaster. — E.  Dimmick. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  years,  Mr.  Dimmick  has 
been  postmaster  since  the  commencement  of  the  town. 

Schuyler  County  Agricultural  Society. — The  first  organiza- 
tion of  this  society  was  effected  March  17th,  1855.  At  the 
preliminary  meeting,  Benjamin  Chadsey  was  chosen  chair- 
man. The  first  officers  elected  were,  President,  Benjamin 
Chadsey ;  Vice-Presidents,  John  Brown,  and  E.  M.  Wilson  ; 
Corresponding  Secretary,  J.  D.  Manlove ;  Recording  Sec- 
retary, D  W.  C.  Johnston  ;  Treasurer,  Willis  Casson.     The 


Executive  Committee  were  chosen  from  the  several  town- 
ships, as  follows:  Rushville,  Jonathan  Patterson  and  Levi 
Lusk ;  Buena  Vista,  Jacob  Snyder  and  John  McCreery  ; 
Frederick,  Jesse  Darnell  and  Thomas  Bellomy  ;  Browning, 
Thomas  J.  Kinney  and  Samuel  Burtiss ;  Hickory,  Henry 
Klepper  and  William  K.  Jones ;  Bainbridge,  Abraham 
Lamaster  and  George  Strong  ;  Littleton,  James  De  Witt 
and  John  Sellars;  Birmingham,  Dr.  Cyrus  Cowdry  and 
James  G.  King;  Brooklyn,  Charles  D.  King  and  James 
Worthington.  The  first  fair  was  held  in  the  fall  of  1855, 
on  the  present  school  house  grounds.  It  was  subsequently 
held  in  Parrott's  pasture,  east  of  town.  In  1859,  the  asso- 
ciation leased  ten  acres  of  ground  from  the  county  for 
ninety-nine  years,  it  being  the  northeast  quarter  of  south- 
east quarter  of  section  twenty-six,  in  Buena  Vista  township, 
and  about  a  mile  west  of  town.  Since  that  time  the  grounds 
have  been  increased  to  about  twenty  five  acres,  making  very 
convenient  aud  commodious  arrangements  for  fair  purposes. 
It  contains  an  excellent  half-mile  track,  and  a  large  am- 
phitheatre, sufficient  to  accommodate  at  least  1500  people. 
There  are  two  hundred  stalls  for  stock,  besides  several  box 
stalls.  It  contains  a  floral  hall,  and  three  other  buildings 
for  exhibition  purposes.  The  ground  is  well  shaded  and 
watered,  so  that  those  in  attendance  are  well  supplied  with 
comforts.  The  present  officers  are,  President,  Robert  B 
McMaster;  Vice-President,  John  Potts;  Corresponding  and 
Recording  Secretary,  John  S.  Bagby ;  Treasurer,  A.  H. 
Clark ;  Executive  Committee,  Martin  W.  Greer,  Charles 
W.  Worthington,  Alrick  M.  Foster,  Thomas  Coupland,  and 
John  M.  Johnson.  The  society  is  in  good  condition  finan- 
cially, havinj:  paid  premiums  in  full,  with  a  balance  still  in  the 
treasury.  During  two  years  of  the  late  war  the  fair  sus- 
pended operations.  *  The  first  premiums  were  paid  wholly 
with  silver-ware.  The  leading  stock  men  of  the  county,  at 
this  writing,  are,  A.  H.  Clark,  R.  B.  McMaster,  James 
Teel,  John  A.  Young,  F.  E.  and  M.  E.  Cady,  Wilber  F. 
Whitson  &  Son,  Martin  W.  Greer  &  Co.,  Charles  Wor- 
thington, Thomas  Coupland,  A.  M.  Foster,  W.  W.  Potts, 
Fred  and  Charles  Rodewald.  Jacob  Pruett,  Simon  Doyle  & 
Sons,  Henry  G.  Teel,  and  George  Garrison. 

We  have1  thus  summed  up  the  history  of  Rushville  town 
and  township.  Much  pains  have  been  taken  to  have  the 
early  points  of  history  revised  aud  corrected  by  living  par- 
ties ;  and  although  there  is  some  discrepancy  between  this 
and  other  writers  upon  some  of  the  pioneer  history,  it  is 
believed  the  version  here  given  is  as  nearly  correct  as  the 
lapse  of  time  will  traditionally  furnish.  We  here  drop  the 
pen,  leaving  it  for  the  future  historian  to  take  up  the  thread 
of  events  where  we  have  left  off,  and  record  the  same  for  the 
benefit  of  coming  generations. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES 


«— « o n- 


fthfi* 


ZiOl. 


Among  the  old  and  prominent  citizens  of  Schuyler  was 
the  subject  of  the  following  sketch : — During  his  life,  he  filled 
many  places  of  honor  and  trust,  and  was  for  many  years  the 
leading  and  representative  business  man  of  Rushville. 
William  H.  Ray  was  born  in  Dutchess  county,  New  York, 
December  14th,  1812.  His  father,  Simeon  Ray,  was  also  a 
native  of  the  same  county,  and  was  born  September  10, 1781 , 
and  died  in  Dutchess  county  February  16, 1831.  His  mother, 
Amelia  Simmons  Ray,  was  born  March  18,  1790,  and  died 
in  Utica,  New  York,  May  28,  1867.  William  H.  grew  to 
manhood  in  his  native  state  and  in  his  youth  received  a 
limited  education,  which  in  after  years  was  much  improved 
by  extensive  reading  and  close  observation  of  men  and 
things.  He  remained  in  New  York  until  he  attained  his 
majority,  then  commenced  to  seek  his  fortune,  as  was  the 
custom  of  the  adventurous  youth  of  his  day.  In  1834  he 
came  to  Rushville,  and  here,  in  connection  with  Hart  Fel- 
lows, embarked  in  mercantile  business.  The  partnership 
continued  until  1840,  then  Fellows  retired,  and  Mr.  Ray 
conducted  the  business  alone  until  1844,  when  the  firm  of 
Little  &.  Ray  was  formed,  and  continued  until  the  death 


of  the  latter,  which  occurred  January  25,  1881.  He  mar- 
ried Mary  Jane  Cunningham,  of  New  York,  by  which  union 
there  were  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  living.  Their 
names  are  Charles  E.  and  George  C.  Ray.  The  former  lives 
in  New  York  and  married  Miss  Irene  Miller,  by  whom  he 
has  two  children,  named  Jane  and  August  Ray.  George  C. 
was  born  in  Rushville  March  17,  1844.  He  married  Lydia. 
Parrot,  daughter  of  Josiah  Parrot.  Four  children,  named 
William  Henry,  Anna  P.,  George  C,  and  Mary  Catherine 
Ray.  He  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Little,  Ray  &  Co. 
After  the  death  of  his  first  wife  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Ray  married 
Miss  Mabel  B.  Tolles,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee,  April  16, 
1831.  She  died  February  14,  1880.  There  was  bom  to 
William  H.  and  Mabel  Ray  nine  children,  six  of  whom  have 
survived  the  parents,  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  Their 
names  in  the  order  of  their  birth  are  Dwight  E  ,  who  was 
born  in  Rushville,  July  11,  1855.  He  married  Miss  Jennie 
L.  Dyson,  February  22,  1882.  William  B.,  Benjamin  F., 
Lizzie  B.,  Harriet  A.,  and  James  T.  Ray.  William  B. 
married  Miss  Mary  L.  Caldwell,  a  native  of  Farmington. 
Illinois. 

239 


240 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


In  politics,  Mr.  Ray  was  originally  an  old  line  whig. 
When  that  party  was  disbanded  he  joined  the  Republican 
organization,  and  was  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  principles 
of  that  political  organization  until  his  death.  He  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  the  leaders  of  the  party,  and  was  an  in- 
timate friend  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  In  1872  he  represented 
his  district  in  Congress,  and  served  with  distinction  in  that 
body.  On  the  27th  of  May,  1865,  the  first  national  bank 
of  Rushville  was  started,  and  he  was  chosen  its  first  president, 
and  held  that  position  until  death.  It  was  mainly  through 
his  efforts  that  the  bank  was  organized.  Mr.  Riy  belonged 
to  the  positive  order  of  men,  and  was  a  natural  leader.  He 
was  possessed  of  wonderful  perceptive  faculties  and  his  de 
cision  of  character  was  remarkable.  He  rarely  hesitated, 
but  formed  his  opinion  at  once.  This  was  particularly  true 
in  all  business  matters.  His  sound  judgmeut  led  him  un 
erringly  to  choose  the  best,  and  a  proposition  was  no  sooner 
made  than  accepted  or  rejected.  He  was  a  man  of  no  strong 
religious  convictions,  though  he  favored  the  Presbyterian 
faith.  In  his  home  he  was  a  kind  and  indulgent  father,  and 
an  affectionate  husband,  though  never  demonstrative.  Th< 
current  of  his  feelings  ran  deep,  and  his  warm  sympathetic 
nature  only  came  to  the  surface  under  strong  provocation 
and  from  unusally  exciting  causes.  As  a  business  man"  he 
was  known  for  his  probity  of  character  and  strict  business- 
principles. 


DR.  JOSHUA  N.  SPEED 

Is  a  native  of  Danville,  Kentucky.     The  date  of  his  birth 
was  February  1st,  1834.     The  family  is  of  English  and 
Scotch  ancestry.     They  were  early  settlers  in  Virginia,  and 
emigrated  to  Kentucky  soon  after  the  latter  state  was  admit- 
ted into  the  Union.     Members  of  the  Speed  family  became 
prominent   in  the  councils  of  their  state,  and  also  in  the 
nation.     William  Speed,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  is  a  native  of  Carey  county,  Kentucky.     In  early 
life  he  followed  the  trade  of  cabinet  maker,  subsequently 
held  the  office  of  police  judge  of  Danville,  Kentucky.     He 
came  to  Illinois  in  1854,  and  settled  in  the  town  of  Rush- 
ville, where  he  still  resides,  and  where  he  is  one  of  the  jus- 
tices of  the  peace     He  married  Elizabeth  Nichols,  a  native 
of  Providence,  Rhode  Island.     The  marriage  took  place  in 
Kentucky,  where  she  was  taken  while  yet  in  her  infancy. 
By  that  union  there  were  four  children,  three  of  whom  are 
living.    Dr.  Speed  is  the  eldest  of  the  offspring.    His  youth 
was  spent  in  the  private  schools  of  his  native  town,  wherein 
he  was  fitted  for  entrance  to  college.    At  the  age  of  eighteen 
he  entered  Center  College  at  Danville,  and  graduated  from 
that  institution  in  the  class  of  1853.     In  I860,  the  same 
institution  conferred  on  him  the  honorary  degree  of  A.  m. 
In  the  winter  of  1855-'6,  he  was  elected  to,  and  filled  the 
Chair  of  Mathematics  in  McDonough  College  at  Macomb, 
Illinois     Mr.  Speed  had  in  early  life  determined  to  adopt 
the  profession  of  medicine,  as  the  business  of  his  life,  and, 
with  that  idea  in  view,  paid  particular  attention  and  studied 


with  care  those  branches  that  would  aid  him  in  his  profes- 
sion. After  the  family  came  to  Illinois  he  entered  the  office 
of  Dr.  Sweeney,  of  Rushville,  and  commenced  the  study. 
He  read  the  standard  text-books  and  pursued  his  studies 
diligently  until  the  fall  of  1858,  when  he  entered  the  medi- 
cal department  of  the  University  of  Iowa,  at  Keokuk,  and 
there  took  two  regular  courses  and  graduated  from  the  uni- 
versity in  the  spring  of  1860  with  the  degree  of  M.  D.  Sub- 
sequently he  attended  a  course  for  practitioners  in  Rush 
Medical  College,  Chicago,  Ills.  During  the  vacation  in 
1859  he  commenced  the  practice  in  Rushville  After  his 
graduation,  he  went  to  Ripley,  in  Brown  county,  and  prac- 
ticed until  the  fall  of  1861,  when  he  came  to  Rushville,  and 
here  he  has  continued  to  the  present.  During  the  war  he 
was  assistant-surgeon  in  the  provost  marshal's  department  of 
the  Ninth  Congressional  District,  and  remained  in  that  posi- 
tion until  the  close  of  the  war.  Dr.  Speed  is  a  believer  in 
and  practices  the  regular  school  of  medicine.  He  is  pro- 
gressive, and  keeps  fully  posted  in  all  the  discoveries  that 
are  constantly  being  made  in  the  science  of  medicine.  In  his 
practice  he  has  been  more  than  ordinarily  successful,  and  it 
has  been  reasonably  remunerative. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  1861,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Virginia  Ellen,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Scripps.  She 
was  born  in  Schuyler  county.  Her  family  were  among  the 
old  settlers  of  this  section  of  the  country.  They  were  natives 
of  England.  The  doctor's  marriage  has  been  blessed  with 
five  children,  two  of  whom  are  living,  whose  names  are — 
William  Henry,  and  Elizabeth  Speed.  Both  the  doctor 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Order  of  A.  F.  and  A.  M.  Politically,  he 
comes  from  old  line  whig  stock,  most  of  whom  were  devoted 
to  the  theory  of  emancipation  as  advocated  by  Henry  Clay. 
When  the  republican  party  was  formed,  the  doctor  became 
a  member  of  that  political  organization  and  cast  his  first 
presidential  vote  for  John  C.  Fremont  in  1856.  In  his 
habits  he  is  temperate,  and  is  an  advocate  of  prohibition. 
Dr.  Speed  is  a  man  of  pleasant  and  agreeable  manners,  and 
a  companionable  gentleman. 


JACOB  HAMMOND 

Was  born  in  Knox  county,  Ohio,  Nov.  28,  1835,  and  came 
to  Illinois  in  April,  1863,  and  settled  in  Woodstock  town- 
ship, Schuyler  county ;  subsequently  removed  to  Bainbridge 
township;  in  the  fall  of  1872  came  to  Rushville,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  In  1861  Mr.  Hammond  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany A,  of  the  65th  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry 
and  subsequently  became  first  lieutenant.  In  March,  1882. 
he  was  appointed  post  master  of  Rushville.  On  the  20th  of 
June,  1865,  he  married  Sarah  M.  Lawler,  a  native  of 
Schuyler  county,  by  which  marriage  there  are  two  children 
named  Charles  H.,  and  Harald  J.  Hammond.  Politically 
he  has,  since  casting  his  first  vote,  been  a  staunch  and  active 
Republican. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


241 


V 


The  present  county  clerk,  of  Schuyler  county,  is  a  native 
of  Browning  township.  His  father,  John  Bogue,  was  born 
of  Quaker  parentage  in  Harrison  county,  Ohio,  on  the  21st 
of  January,  1819.  In  1830,  when  eleven  years  old,  he  came 
with  his  father's  family  to  Fulton  county  in  this  state,  where 
he  grew  to  manhood.  He  embarked  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness at  Ipava,  which  he  carried  on  till  1849,  when  he  sold 
his  stock  of  goods,  and  coming  to  Schuyler  county  purchased 
a  saw  and  grist  mill  in  Browning  township.  This  mill 
shortly  afterward  burned  down.  He  then  erected  a  saw  mill 
and  afterward  a  grist  mill,  which  he  carried  on  till  his  death, 
which  occurred  in  the  year  1866.  He  represented  Brown- 
ing township  one  term  on  the  board  of  supervisors,  but  took 

no  active  part  in  politics  or  public  affairs.     He  was  married 
31 


on  the  4th  of  July,  1849,  to  Margaret  M.  Marshall,  a  native 
of  Ohio,  who  is  still  living.  Mark  Bogue  was  the  second  of 
five  children,  of  whom  three  are  living,  and  was  born  on  the 
1st  of  January,  1852.  He  was  raised  in  Browning  township, 
and  his  education  was  principally  obtained  in  the  schools  of 
that  part  of  the  county.  After  holding  several  public  posi- 
tions in  Browning  township  in  1877,  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  supervisors.  The  same  year  he  received 
the  Democratic  nomination  as  candidate  for  county  clerk, 
and  was  elected  in  November,  1877.  In  August,  1882,  he 
was  renominated  for  this  office,  without  opposition,  by  the 
Democrats  of  the  county.  In  his  politics  he  has  always  been 
a  member  of  the  Democratic  party. 


2  42 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


_-■"  ■  ■    ■  -■■'   ."■'-■".'■  ■     ■■    ■  ■ 


'fiUtrv**'  cp,y^yri<' 


Is  the  son  of  James  and  Hannah  (Wilson)  Dyson,  who  were    | 
natives  of  Rochdale,  Lancashire,  England.     They  emigrated    i 
to  America  }u  1841,  came  direct  to  Rushville,  111.,  where  Mr. 
Dyson   died  in  August  of  the  same  year.     His   wife,  the 
mother  of  Edwin,  still  survives  him,  and  is  a  resident  of 
Rushville.     There  were  three  sons  and  one  daughter  born  to   j 
James  and  Hannah  Dyson  ;  two  sons  are  yet  living  Edwin    ' 
is  the  youngest,  he  was  born  in  Rochdale,  Lancashire,  July 
28th,  1838,  and  was  in  his  third  year  when  the  family  came 
to  America.      Here    he   grew    to  manhood,  attended    the 
schools  of  Rushville,  and   he    received  a  fair    education. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  entered  the  office  of  the  Schuyler 
Democrat,  and  commenced  to  learn  the  printers'  trade ;  he 
spent  three  years  of  an  apprenticeship,  and  then  commenced 
work  in  the  office  of  the   Citizen,  where  he  remained  eight 
years,  and  for  several  years   was  foreman.     He  then   left 
Rushville  and  went  to  St.  Louis,  and  worked  at  the  case  for 
four  years  in  the  office  of  the  Missouri  Republican.     In  the 
summer  of  1868  he  returned  to  Rushville,  and  on  the  1st 


of  July  of  that  year  took  possession  of  the  Time*  office,  and 
has  remained  editor  and  proprietor  of  that  journal  from 
that  time  to  the  present.  Mr.  Dyson  is  a  practical  printer. 
In  fact,  nearly  all  of  his  life  has  been  spent  in  the  printing 
office,  either  at  the  case  or  in  the  sanctum.  The  Times, 
under  his  skilful  management,  has  grown  to  be  one  of  the 
influential  journals  of  the  Military  Tract,  and  is,  and  has 
been  for  a  number  of  years,  the  recognized  organ  of 
the  Democratic  party  of  Schuyler  county.  In  the  matter 
of  politics,  Mr.  Dyson  has  always  been  a  Democrat.  In 
1877,  he  was  nominated  by  his  party  for  the  office  of  County 
Treasurer,  and  was  elected  ;  in  1882  he  was  again  nominated 
and  we  have  no  doubt  will  be  elected.  He  is  a  member  of 
both  the  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  and  I.  O.  O.  F.  societies.  On  the 
2d  of  April  1860  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Mary  F. 
daughter  of  William  H.  Irvin.  She  is  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky. By  that  union  there  were  three  children,  their 
name?,  in  the  order  of  their  birth,  are,  Jenny,  who  is  the 
wife  of  Dwight  E.  Ray,  Orion  E.,  and  Howard  F.  Dyson. 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


243 


JAMES  G.  McCREERY 
Was  born  in  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  July  15th,  1815. 
He  is  of  Scotch-Iriih  parentage.  His  parents,  Hugh 
and  Sarah  (Guy)  McCreery,  came  to  America  in  1827, 
Ian  ling  at  Philadelphia,  and  from  thence  to  Pittsburg, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1828  came  down  the  river  on  the  sec- 
ond steamboat  that  ran  on  western  waters.  They  came  to 
Rushville  and  here  lived  until  1834,  when  both  parents  fell 
victims  to  the  cholera.  There  were  eight  childreu,  two  of 
whom  are  living,  viz.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  Sarah, 
who  is  the  wife  of  John  Young.  James  G  is  the  youngest 
of  the  family.  He  was  yet  in  his  boyhood  when  the  family 
came  to  America.  His  education  was  mainly  obtained  here. 
In  1831  he  went  to  Jacksonville,  III.,  to  learn  the  drug 
business,  and  remained  there  three  years,  then  returned  to 
Rushville,  and  soon  after  engaged  in  the  drug  trade,  in 
which  he  has  continued,  with  slight  intermission,  to  the 
present-  We  venture  the  assertion  that  he  is  among  the  old 
est,  if  not  the  oldest  druggist  in  the  state.  In  July  1836  he 
was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Anna  Maria  Putman.  She 
was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  New  York.  By  that 
marriage  there  have  been  twelve  children  ;  three  sons  and 
three  daughters  are  still  living.  Politically  he  was  origin- 
ally, Whig,  subsequently  joined  the  Republican  party,  and 
was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Republican  Convention  in 
Chicago  in  1S60,  that  nominated  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the 
presidency.  In  1872  he  voted  for  Horace  Greeley.  He 
was  for  a  number  of  years  Internal  Revenue  Assessor  for 
the  Ninth  District.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.  O.  0. 
F.  order.  Mr.  McCreery  belongs  to  the  enterprising  citi- 
zens of  Schuyler  county-  He  has  always  been  active  in 
promoting  and  aiding  enterprises  of  a  public  character,  that 
had  for  their  object  the  increase  of  the  material  wealth  of 
the  town  or  county.  He  took  active  part  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Rock  Island  and  St.  Louis  railroad,  and  was  one 
of  the  first  directors  of  the  road,  and  subsequently  became 
its  treasurer  Mr.  McCreery  is  a  very  pleasant  and  quiet 
gentleman,  of  plain,  unobtrusive  manners,  and  dignified 
bearing.  In  the  community  he  where  has  long  resided,  and 
where  he  is  now  one  of  the  oldest  settlers,  he  has  always 
been  regarded  as  an  honorable  man,  upright  and  conscien- 
tious in  all  his  dealings  with  mankind. 


WILLIAM  H.  H.  RADER, 

The   present  efficient  circuit  clerk  of  Schuyler  county,  is  of 
German  extraction.     His  father,  Peter  Rader,  was  a  native 
of  East  Tennessee.     At  an  early  age  he  emigrated  to  Rush 
county,  Indiana,  where  he  followed  the  trade  of  stone  and 
brick  mason.     He  remained  in  Indiana  until  1870,  then  came 
to  Schuyler  county,  and  here  died  in  1880.     He  married 
Margaret  Lintz,  who  was  also  a  native  of  East  Tennessee. 
The  offspring  of  that  marriage  is  six  children.     William  H. 
H.  is  among  the  eldest.     He  was  born  in  Rush  county,  In-   ' 
diana,  April  14, 1838.     In  his  boyhood  years  he  attended    ' 
the  schools  of  Rushville,  Ind.,  and  therein  received  a  fair 


common  school  education.     He  learned  the  trade  of  brick 
mason  with  his  father  and  followed  that  trade  as  a  means  of 
livelihood,  until  the  fall  of  1867,  when  he  came  to  Illinois. 
In  the  fall  of  1861,  soon  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war 
he  enlisted  for  three  years  in  Co.  G,  of  the  46th  Regt.  Ind.Vol. 
Infantry,     His  regiment  became  a  part  of  the  13th  Army 
Corps  in  the  army  of  the  Mississippi.     He  participated  with 
the  command  in  the  battles  and  skirmishes  at  New  Madrid, 
St.  pharles  in  Arkansas,  Arkansas  Port,  Raymond,  Grand 
Gulf,  Champion  Hills,  Black  River  Bridge,  and  the  siege  and 
capture  of  Vicksburg;   he  was  promoted  to    the  rank  of 
orderly  sergeant  and  subsequently  to  the  second  lieutenancy 
of  his  company.     Soon  after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  he  was 
compelled  to  resign  on  account  of  sickness  and  death  in  his 
family;  he  returned  home  and  re-engaged  in  his  trade,  which 
he  followed  until  he  came  to  Illinois.     He  settled  in  Hunts- 
ville  township  in  this  county  and  engaged  in  farming,  which 
occupation  he  pursued  until  in  1880,  when  he  was  nominated 
by  the  Democratic  party  in  convention  assembled  for  the 
office  of  circuit  clerk.    In  the  ensuing  election  in  November 
following  was  elected  by  a  handsome  majority,  and  at  the 
present  fills  the  office  in  a  manner  that  is  acceptable  to  his 
party,  and  many  friends  who  honored     him  with   iheirsuff- 
ages.    He  is  a  pains-taking,  careful  and  accommodating  offi- 
cial, and  has  made  many  new  friends  by  his  pleasant  and 
agreeable  manners.     In  1859  he  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  Malinda  Rader ;  she  died  in  1868,  leaving  one  child, 
named  Elizabeth  Rader.     Two  other  children  by  that  union 
died  in  infancy.     On  the  10th  of  May,  1871,  he  married  his 
present  wife,  who  was  Clarissa,  daughter  of  William  and 
Elizabeth  Rader.    She  was  born  in  Rush  county,  Ind.     By 
the  latter  marriage  there  are  four  children  named  Ira.  Ida, 
Clara  and  Laura  Rader.     Both  he  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  he  is  an  honored  member 
of  the  ancient  and  honorable  order  of  A.  T.  of  A.  M.,  and 
belongs  to  the  several  orders  of  Blue  Royal  Arch,  Cryptic 
and  Templar  Masonry.  At  present  he  is  H.  P.  of  Rushville 
Chapter  No.  84,    and  Eminent    Commander  of  Rushville 
Commandery  U.  D.     Politically  he  has,  since  attaiuiug  his 
majority,  been  a  staunch  Democrat :  his  first  vote  was  cast 
for  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  president  in  1860,  and  from  that 
time  to  the  present  has  not  wavered  in  his  support  to  the 
party  of  his  first  choice. 


AUGUSTUS  NELL. 

The  subject  of  the  following  sketch  is  a  native  of  Nassau, 
Germany,  and  was  born  May  21st,  1835.  He  is  the  son  of 
John  and  Caroline  (Fey)  Nell.  His  father  was  a  trader  in 
live  stock,  and  possessed  sufficient  of  this  world's  goods  to 
live  comfortably.  Augustus  received  a  good  education  in 
the  schools  of  his  native  country.  He  remained  at  home 
until  the  spring  of  1853,  then  came  to  America,  landing  in 
New  York  June  11th,  of  the  same  year.  He  immediately 
set  out  for  Rushville,  111 ,  where  he  had  friends.  There  he 
found  work  in  a  hotel,  doing  all  kinds  of  labor  that  fell  to 
his  hands.  The  pay  was  small,  but  young  Augustus  was 
bound  to  succeed.     He  remained  at  the  hotel  for  some  time 


244 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


then  went  to  the  country  and  tried  breaking  prairie,  but  a 
few  months  later  returned  to  Rushville,  and  apprenticed 
himself  to  R.  H.  Griffith  to  learn  the  tinsmith  trade,  with 
whom  he  remained  four  years,  then  in  connection  with  Tho- 
mas Wilson  went  into  business  for  himself.  The  partnership 
of  Nell  &  Wilson,  tinners,  continued  one  and  a  half  years, 
then  Wilson  retired,  and  the  firm  was  changed  to  Nell  & 
Leazer,  which  was  continued  two  years ;  then  Nell  &  War- 
ren :  one  year  later,  Robert  S.  Grier  became  a  partner  of 
Mr.  Nell,  which  partnership  continued  five  years,  then  Hall 
purchased  Grier's  interest.  The  firm  of  Nell  &  Hall  con- 
tinued until  Aug.  1st,  1881,  since  which  time  Mr.  Nell  has 
conducted  the  business  alone.  He  commenced  in  a  small 
way,  but  the  business  has  constantly  grown,  and  now  it  is 
regarded  as  the  leading  hardware  and  agricultural  imple- 
ment house  in  the  Military  tract.  Much  of  the  success  of 
the  business  is  attributable  to  the  energy  and  enterprise  of 
Mr.  Nell.  He  was  the  first  to  introduce  the  sale  of  thresh- 
ing machines  in  the  county  as  well  as  other  new  improved 
kinds  of  farm  machinery.  It  may  be  here  added  that  he 
was  the  first  to  build  an  iron  front  and  lay  the  large  flag 
pavement,  now  generally  adopted  in  the  city  of  Rushville. 
In  short,  he  has  been  the  means  of  infusing  new  life,  and 
imparting  energy  to  others,  which  has  done  much  to  keep 
business  from  premature  decay. 

On  the  29th  of  December,  1857,  he  was  united  in  mar- 


riage to  Miss  Mary  E-,  daughter  of  James  Beard.  She  was 
born  at  Sugar  Grove,  in  Schuyler  county.  There  were 
seven  children  by  that  union,  five  of  whom  are  still  living  ; 
their  names,  in  the  order  of  their  birth,  are :  Walter  B., 
Clarence,  Lillie,  Bertie,  and  Harvey  Nell.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Nell  are  members  of  the  M.  E  church.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  I  O.  O.  F.,  and  belongs  to  Rushville  Lodge,  No. 
24.  '  Politically  he  has  always  acted  and  voted  the  Repub- 
lican ticket.  In  1877  he  was  nominated  for  the  office  of 
County  Treasurer,  but  was  defeated  by  a  small  majority  ;  in 
1879  he  again  made  a  race  for  the  same  office,  and  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  votes, 
which  was  largely  in  excess  of  his  party's  vote.  This  was 
a  great  victory,  as  the  county  is  largely  Democratic,  and  it 
also  shows  Mr.  Nell's  popularity,  and  the  people's  estimate 
of  him  as  a  man  and  citizen.  He  has  at  various  times  held 
offices  in  the  city  government,  and  at  present  is  a  member 
of  the  City  Council.  This,  in  short,  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
life  of  Mr.  Nell.  He  came  to  Rushville  poor,  in  fact,  had 
to  borrow  a  small  sum  to  get  there;  he  immediately  went  to 
work  and  accepted  the  first  job  offered  him,  saved  his  money, 
learned  a  trade,  got  into  business,  and  by  the  exercise  of 
energy  and  industry  has  built  that  business  up  until  it  has 
brought  him  a  competency-  In  his  official  capacity  as 
County  Treasurer,  he  has  made  hosts  of  friends  who  would 
again  take  pleasure  in  honoring  him  with  their  suffrages. 


LADY     FULTON    &   C.C. 


"  SYLVA  N     FA  R  M    "    THE    R  ES  I  DEN  C  £   A  N  D  (Fl  N  E  STOC  k)    FARM    OF    J  AM  E 


A.  TEAL,  SEC.  Z,T.  2,  Ft.  IJ   (fiUSHVILLE     T  P.)   SCHUYLER    CO.  ILLINOIS. 


MT.    STERLING   TOWNSHIP. 


(BROWN    COUNTY. 


-«— *-*Wl£o<gzw\r*-~»— 


I  HIS  township's  history  commences  at  a 
time  antedating  a  half  century.  Fifty- 
five  years  ago  it  was  but  a  lonely  ex- 
panse, inhabited  only  by  the  Aborigines, 
and  the  wild  game  of  the  forest.  The 
white  man  came,  and  with  him  the  thrift 
and  civilization  that  soon  transformed  a 
wild  waste  into  a  habitable  abode  of 
man.  The  sturdy  pioneers  were  few, 
but  composed  of  that  material  which  was  able  to  endure 
every  hardship,  and  to  overcome  the  many  obstacles  that 
fell  across  their  comparatively  lonely  path.  It  was  no 
enviable  task  to  clear  the  timbers  of  the  sturdy  forest,  or  to 
undergo  the  labor,  inconveniences,  and  even  dangers  of  the 
lot  of  the  pioneer,  and  yet  these  hardy  few  never  flinched  or 
became  discouraged  in  the  part  they  had  to  perform.  In* 
deed,  to  talk  with  the  few  remnants  of  them  to-day  of  ye 
olden  time,  the  listener  will  naturally  conclude  that  those  were 
the  happiest  days  of  their  lives.  Many  a  time  has  the  writer» 
in  his  interviews  with  them,  been  urgently  pressed  to  remain 
longer,  as  the  recollections  of  the  past  had  been  so  vividly 
brought  to  their  minds  again  by  talking  of  the  times  of  Auld 
Lang  Syne,  that  it  was  with  seeming  reluctance  that  the  in- 
terview had  to  close ;  blessings  on  their  worthy  gray  hairs  ; 
in  the  unknown  beyond  they  will  certainly  reap  a  fitting  re- 
ward for  the  services  they  have  rendered  to  their  race. 

Township  organization  took  effect  in  the  spring  of  1854 
and  the  territory  included  within  the  boundaries  of  township 
one  south,  and  range  three  west,  was  named  Mt.  Sterling, 
in  honor  of  the  village  of  the  same  name,  which  was  laid  out 
in  section  17,  as  early  as  1833.  It  is  centrally  situated,  and 
contains  a  full  congressional  township,  thirty-six  sections.  It 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Missouri  township,  on  the  east 
by  Cooperstown,  south  by  Elkhorn,  and  west  by  Lee.  The 
surface  is  undulating,  and  originally  was  covered  mainly 
with  good  timber.  Six's  Prairie  extends  partly  through  the 
township,  being  nearly  centrally  located,  and  widening  like 
a  wedge  as  it  passes  westward.  A  tributary  of  Crooked 
creek  drains  the  north  and  east  part  of  the  township,  while 
a  branch  of  McKee's  creek  in  the  southwest  affords  equal 
facilities  for  that  part  of  the  territory.  The  land  is  all 
susceptible  of  cultivation,  and  is  specially  adapted  to  the 


culture  of  wheat,  though  corn  is  raised  to  some  extent  and 
with  excellent  success.  Other  cereals  are  cultivated  and 
marketed,  but  wheat  and  corn  constitute  the  chief  product. 
The  facilities  for  transportation  of  the  various  products  are 
excellent  The  Wabash,  St.  Louis,  and  Pacific  railroad 
enters  the  township  from  the  northwest  in  section  seven,  ex- 
tends in  a  southeasterly  direction  and  passes  out  in  section 
thirty-five.  Two  shipping  points  are  on  the  line,  Mt.  Ster- 
ling and  Hersmau,  the  former  being  the  capital  of  the  county. 

FIRST   SETTLEMENTS. 

The  honor  of  making  the  first  settlement  within  the  present 
boundaries  of  Mt.  Sterling  township  belongs  to  the  pioneer, 
John  Six,  more  familiarly  known  in  his  day  as  "  Jack"  Six. 
He  was  born  in  Tennessee,  but  when  a  mere  boy  he  moved 
with  his  parents  to  Kentucky.  Here  he  grew  to  manhood, 
and'married  Jane  Harsher.  In  1823,  there  was  great  ex- 
citement in  some  of  the  southwestern  States,  especially  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee,  relating  to  the  beautiful  country  of 
Illinois.  It  was  during  this  excitement  that  Mr.  Six,  in 
company  with  his  brother  David,  and  several  others,  iu  the 
summer  of  1823,  packed  up  what  little  they  possessed,  and 
started  for  the  new  Eldorado.  Mr.  Six  first  located  in  San- 
gamon county,  where  he  remained  for  some  time.  In  the 
fall  of  1828,  he  came  to  what  is  now  Brown  county,  and 
settled  in  section  20,  a  little  southwest  of  the  present  city  of 
Mt,  Sterling.  His  family  then  consisted  of  his  wife  and  one 
son,  John,  Jr.  He  threw  up  a  rude  cabin  and  commenced 
the  life  of  a  pioneer.  What  is  remarkable,  and  is  an  excep- 
tion to  all  early  settlements  is,  that  he  should  choose  the 
prairie  in  preference  to  the  timber,  as  it  was  the  general 
conclusion  of  the  first  settlers  that  soil  which  would  not  pro- 
duce timber  was  of  but  little  value,  and  therefore  it  was 
avoided.  This  prairie  belt  was  of  considerable  extent,  cov- 
ering many  thousand  acres,  and  received  the  name  it  bears, 
Six's  Prairie,  from  the  pioneer,  "Jack"  Six.  In  1841,  he 
concluded  to  move  further  west,  and  went  to  the  State  of 
Missouri ;  not  liking  the  country,  he  returned  to  the  county 
in  1850,  and  again  settled  in  Mt.  Sterling  township,  but  sub- 
sequently moved  to  Missouri  township,  where  he  died  in 
1854.  Mrs.  S.  died  quite  early,  and  Mr.  Six  afterwards 
married  the  second  time.     His  widow  and  one  son  now  re- 

245 


246 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


side  on  the  homestead  in  Missouri  township.  Mr.  Six  was 
in  every  sense  a  pioneer,  and  could  adapt  himself  to  all  the 
circumstances  that  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  early  settler.  He 
was  an  expert  marksman,  and  could  handle  the  rifle  as  well 
as  the  plow.  His  exploits  while  upon  the  hunt  are  yet  re- 
lated with  much  fervor  by  the  few  remaining  settlers  of  that 
early  time.  Then  the  wild  deer  were  plenty  in  the  forest. 
Wolves,  bears,  panthers,  wild  turkeys,  and  other  game 
abounded,  and  the  experienced  marksman  became  a  hero  in 
the  eyes  of  his  neighbors.  Robert  N  Curry,  one  of  the  old- 
est citizens  of  Mt.  Sterling,  informed  the  writer  that  a  black 
bear  skin  which  he  purchased  of  Mr.  Six,  constituted  his 
saddle,  when  he  returned  to  Kentucky  in  1831,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  wedding  his  wife.  Wild  honey  was  then  as  common 
as  the  flowers  of  the  prairie,  and  it  formed  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal dishes  of  the  table.  Beeswax  was  about  the  only  article 
that  brought  ready  cash.  With  the  expert  bee  hunters,  it 
was  not  uncommon  to  have  a  barrel  or  two  of  strained  honey 
at  their  disposal. 

One  to  settle  here  about  the  same  time  as  Mr.  Six,  was 
William  McDaniel,  and  the  first  in  fact  to  locate  within  the 
present  boundaries  of  the  city  of  Mt.  Sterling.  He  came 
from  Tennessee  with  his  family,  accompanied  by  his  son-in- 
law,  Perkins.     Both  built  cabins  within  the  present  city 

limits.  They  remained  but  a  short  time,  selling  their  claim 
to  Alexander  Curry,  when  they  moved  to  Pike  county,  and, 
subsequently  to  the  State  of  Missouri.  William  Wilson,  an 
emigrant  from  Kentucky,  came  the  same  fall,  and  located 
in  section  20,  not  far  from  Jack  Six.  He  had  a  large  family 
— a  peculiarity  of  the  pioneers — and  came  to  the  new  coun- 
try with  high  hopes  of  making  them  a  comfortable  home. 
Not  being  well  satisfied  with  the  prairies,  about  the  year 
1830,  he  moved  to  the  banks  of  Crooked  creek,  in  township 
one  south,  range  two  west,  now  Cooperstown.  He  estabr 
lished  the  first  ferry  across  the  creek  at  this  point,  and  re- 
mained here  until  1846,  when  he  migrated  with  his  family 
to  the  State  of  Oregon.  Another  pioneer  of  1828,  was  Dr. 
Bristow,  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  came  to  Illinois  in  an 
early  day,  and  first  settled  in  the  American  Bottom.  Late 
in  the  fall  of  the  above  year,  he  moved  to  the  county,  and 
located  in  Six's  prairie,  section  19.  He  had  a  family  con- 
sisting of  a  wife  and  six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters. One  of  the  latter  was  then  the  wife  of  Mark  Riggin, 
who  came  with  the  rest  of  the  family  and  settled  near  them. 
Dr.  Bristow  was  popular  with  his  neighbors,  and  was  their 
first  physician.  His  house,  and  that  of  his  son-in-law,  Rig- 
gin,  was  situated  a  little  south  of  the  Eagle  Mills.  They 
both  sold  out  about  1834,  and  moved  from  the  county. 
Mark  Riggin  was  the  first  blacksmith  in  the  township,  and 
shod  the  horses,  and  manufactured  the  linch-pins  for  the 
pioneers.  His  shop  was  a  pole  cabin,  situated  near  his 
house,  and  his  outfit  for  tools  was  in  keeping  with  the  times. 
But  one  of  the  family  is  a  resident  of  the  county,  Mrs.  G. 
Tucker,  who  lives  in  Mt.  Sterling.  Obediah  Nix  came  about 
the  same  time  as  Dr.  Bristow,  and  located  near  him,  south- 
west of  the  city.  He  also  came  from  the  South,  and  had  a 
small  family.  His  infant  child  was  the  first  born,  and  her 
death  the  first,  that  occurred  in  Mt.  Sterling  township.    Mr. 


Nix  was  of  a  restless  disposition,  and  after  shifting  about 
from  place  to  place  in  different  parts  of  the  county,  he 
packed  his  possessions  and  moved  further  west. 

The  foregoing  are  all  the  heads  of  families  who  made  set" 
tlements  in  1828.  In  1829,  there  were  several  accessions  to 
the  new  settlement.  The  first  in  this  year  to  malce  a  perma- 
nent settlement  was  Abel  Larkins,  who  was  then  a  single 
man.  Mr.  L.  was  born  in  Rutland,  Vermont,  in  the  year 
1801.  When  he  was  but  three  years  old,  his  parents  moved 
to  Ohio,  where  he  lived  until  he  became  a  young  man.  His 
aspirations  induced  him  to  come  westward,  and  in  1828,  he 
reached  the  state  of  Illinois,  where  he  spent  nearly  a  year 
in  looking  over  the  country.  In  the  spring  of  1829,  he 
came  to  the  county  and  made  an  informal  claim  in  section 
21,  now  Mt.  Sterling  town  hip.  This  he  could  not  enter 
until  1830,  as  it  did  not  come  into  market  until  that  date. 
In  order  to  hold  the  claim,  he  commenced  a  small  improve- 
ment upon. the  same  the  yeir  prior,  1829.  He  erected  a 
cabin,  split  rails,  and  broke  a  small  patch  of  ground.  When 
the  time  came  for  sale,  he  went  to  Edwardsville  and  pur- 
chased his  land,  paying  81.25  an  acre.  In  1832,  he  erected 
a  hewed  lng  house,  working  his  land  and  "  baching"  itduring 
most  of  the  time  until  1835,  when  he  married  Adeline  Had- 
ley,  of  Hancock  county.  From  this  marriage,  eleveu  children 
were  born  :  Sawyer,  Manvill,  Sarah  S.,  John  T.,  Isabella  M., 
Charles  E.,  Zimrhada  Lr,  Mary  A.,  Frederick  S.,  and  two 
who  died  in  infancy.  Only  four  of  the  above  are  now  liv- 
ing ;  two  of  them  reside  in  the  county,  Isabella  and  Zimrha- 
da. Mrs.  Larkins  died  only  a  year  ago,  being  at  her  death 
upwards  of  69  years  of  age.  Mr.  Larkins  is  81  years  of 
age,  and  yet  living  at.  the  old  home  in  section  21.  He  is  the 
oldest  surviving  pioneer  in  the  township.  The  log  house  he 
erected  in  1832,  still  stands  as  a  monument  to  remind  him 
of  his  early  hopes  and  struggles.  Near  it  is  his  old  orchard, 
one  of  the  first  planted  in  the  county,  some  of  the  trees  of 
which  are  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter.  He  informed  us  that 
when  he  came  to  the  county,  several  Indian  wigwams  stood 
where  the  orchard  now  is.  David  Six,  a  brother  of  Jack 
Six,  came  to  Illinois,  as  already  stated,  in  1823 ;  stopped  in 
Sangamon  county,  and  in  the  fall  of  1829,  followed  his 
brother  to  this  part  of  the  state,  and  located  near  him,  in 
section  20.  Two  years  later,  he  purchased  land  and  made  a 
permanent  settlement  in  section  22.  This  chapter  would  be 
incomplete  without  giving  a  brief  description  of  his  advent 
to  the  State  in  1823.  His  possessions  consisted  of  his  little 
family,  two  horses,  and  twenty-five  cents  in  money.  They 
had  ridden  on  their  horses  from  the  Kentucky  home,  carry- 
ing their  children  in  their  arms  through  this  long  and  ardu- 
ous journey.  We  record  this  fact,  that  the  present  genera- 
tion may  have  a  knowledge  of  the  many  trials  and  hard- 
ships of  their  pioneer  ancestors.  When  they  came  to  the 
county,  five  children  were  already  born  to  them  :  Nancy, 
Martha  J.,  Daniel,  Abraham  and  Alexander.  Seven  others 
were  added  to  the  family  :  Mary  A.,  Isabella,  William  H., 
Cynthia,  Elizabeth,  Oliver  P.  and  James  P.  All  of  the 
children  are  living  except  two  ;  six  of  them  are  residents  of 
the  county.  Mr.  Six  cultivated  his  farm,  and  at  intervals' 
manufactured  hats,  as  that  was  his  trade.     The  material  and 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


247 


trimmings  he  purchased  with  beeswax,  that  being  a  cash 
article  in  the  market.  He  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  leaving 
a  fair  competency  for  his  family  at  his  death,  which  occurred 
in  the  fall  of  1857.  Mrs.  Six  is  yet  living  at  the  old  home, 
and  is  now  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  her  age.  She  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  her  maiden  name  being  Elizabeth 
Cox.  A  part  of  her  residence  comprises  the  hewed  log 
house  that  was  the  home  of  these  pioneers  in  1831.  It  is 
now  weather-boarded,  and  to  the  passer-by,  would  not  be 
taken  as  one  of  the  relics  of  early  times.  Benjamin  Haley 
also  came  from  Kentucky  in  1829,  and  settled  in  section  15. 
He  afterwards  moved  to  Missouri  township,  where  he  died 
but  a  few  years  ago.  Michael  Killion,  and  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Ball,  came  in  the  same  year.  They  came  from  In- 
diana. The  former  located  in  section  15,  and  the  latter  in 
section  28.  The  following  named  persons  also  came  in  1829, 
and  were  emigrants  from  Tennessee  or  Kentucky:  Brit 
Provost,  Mr.  Steele,  Leak  Birnes,  Pierce,  and  Wyatt. 
The  latter  died  a  few  months  after  his  coming,  his  being  the 
second  death  in  the  township.  Several  of  the  above  parties 
bscame  disgusted  with  the  winter  of  the  deep  snow — 1830 
and  1831 — and  soon  afterward  removed  to  warmer  latitudes. 

Another  prominent  settler  was  Alexander  Curry,  who 
was  born  in  Maryland  in  1770.  When  he  was  ten  years  of 
age  his  parents  moved  to  Kentucky,  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood. In  1799,  he  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Nutter  of  the 
state  of  Delaware.  He  remained  in  Kentucky  until  1829, 
when  he  became  possessed  of  the  "  Illinois  fever,"  and  in 
company  with  his  second  son,  Robert  N,  made  a  p-ospect- 
ing  tour  of  the  state.  Being  well  pleased  with  the  looks  of 
the  country,  the  following  spring  he  moved  his  family  to 
the  state,  and  located  in  section  17,  now  city  of  Mt.  Sterling. 
The  first  night  here  they  stayed  with  William  McDaniel, 
and  subsequently  bought  out  his  claim.  The  family  of 
Mr.  C.  then  consisted  of  his  wife,  three  sons  and  six  daugh- 
ters, Daniel,  Robert  N.,  John  R.,  Olivia,  Sally,  Nancy, 
Leah,  Mary  and  Harriet,  three  of  whom  were  then  married, 
John  R.,  Olivia  and  Nancy.  Five  only  of  this  large  family 
are  now  living,  Robert  N.,  John  R.,  Leah,  widow  of  Jacob 
Vandeventer,  Mary,  wife  of  George  R.  Givens,  and  Harriet, 
wife  of  William  Taylor.  All  are  now  residents  of  this 
township.  Mr.  Curry  formed  an  important  factor  in  the 
time  in  which  he  lived,  holding  several  offices  of  trust  and 
honor,  leaving  at  his  death  a  good  competency  for  his 
family.  He  died  in  1842,  and  his  wife  survived  him  but  a 
few  years.  • 

Robert  N.,  now  living  in  Mt.  Sterling,  was  one  of  the 
first  justices  of  the  peace,  and  has  been  clerk  of  both  circuit 
and  county  courts. 

Mrs.  Rachel  Vandeventer,  and  her  two  sons,  Jacob  and 
Isaac,  came  from  Virginia  in  an  early  day  and  first  located 
in  Versailles  town-hip,  section  15.  •  In  1830,  Jacob  aud  his 
mother  removed  to  what  is  now  Mt.  Sterling  in  section  17. 
Isaac  remained  in  Versailles  where  he  died  with  the  cholera 
in  1851.  Mrs.  V.  died  in  Mt.  Sterling  in  the  fall  of  1865. 
Jacob  married  Leah  Curry  in  1832,  from  which  union  five 
children  were  born,  all  of  whom  are  now  living.  This  was 
his  second  marriage;  his  first  wife  died  in  Versailles.     He 


died  in  Mt.  Sterling  in  1869.  His  widow  survives  him,  and 
is  now  70  years  of  age.  W.  L,  sin  of  the  second  marriage, 
is  one  of  the  leading  attorneys  of  this  judicial  district,  and 
resides  in  Mt.  Sterling.  Jacob  filled  several  offices  of  trust 
and  profit  in  the  county,  was  in  the  legislature  several  terms, 
probate  judge,  etc,  of  Brown  county. 

Philip  A.  Howe  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  came 
to  the  county  a  single  man  in  1830.  He  was  a  carpenter 
by  trade,  and  plied  his  vocation  as  his  services  were  de- 
manded. When  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  he  married  Jane 
McCormick,  daughter  of  Wm.  McCormick,  one  of  the 
early  settlers.  Four  children  were  born  of  this  union,  three 
of  whom  are  living.  Mrs.  Howe  died  some  years  a^o. 
The  old  gentleman  is  now  residing  in  section  12.  Another 
settler  of  1830,  was  Thomas  C.  Tinnen,  who  was  born  in 
North  Carolina,  migrated  to  Kentucky  when  a  young  man, 
where  he  married  Nancy  Clark.  In  the  fall  of  the  year 
above  mentioned,  he  moved  with  his  family  to  this  township, 
and  settled  in  section  21,  on  the  land  now  owned  by  Hugh 
Cullinan.  At  that  time  there  was  a  little  log  cabin  on  the 
premises,  and  here  he  wintered  with  his  family.  Besides 
his  own  household  to  obtain  quarters  in  this  cabin,  was  his 
brother  Robert  and  his  wife,  one  single  brother  and  two 
sisters.  The  children  of  Mr.  Tinnen  were,  Julia  A., 
Christy,  Hugh  and  Abner.  The  following  spring  he  moved 
to  section  15,  where  he  resided  until  his  death,  which  oc- 
curred about,  1840.  Mrs.  T.  live!  until  1867.  Three  of 
the  children  reside  in  the  county  at  this  writing.  James 
Alexander  came  from  Tennessee,  and  was  one  of  the  immi- 
grants of  1830.  He  settled  in  section  19.  Had  a  wife  and 
six  children.  He  was  endowed  with  good  abilities,  and  had 
obtained  a  fair  education  for  the  times,  and  was  the  first  to 
teach  the  three  "  R's  "  to  the  pioneer  children  of  the  town- 
ship. His  death  occurred  a  few  years  after  his  arrival. 
Several  of  his  grand-children  are  residents  of  the  county. 
In  the  same  year  Daniel  Kendrick  moved  from  Kentucky, 
and  located  in  section  20.  He  had  a  wife  and  two  children, 
Mary  K.,  and  William.  The  latter  was  a  world-renowned 
foot-racer  in  an  early  day.  His  exploits  as  such  were  well 
know  throughout  the  United  States  and  Europe.  Mr.  Ken- 
drick moved  to  Iowa  about  1854,  where  he  died.  Ben- 
jamin a  brother  of  Daniel,  came  in  the  fall  of  the  following 
year,  and  located  in  section  17.  Four  of  the  children  are 
residents  of  Mt.  Sterling.  Mr.  Kendrick  died  here  but  a 
few  years  ago.      His   wife   preceded    him   several    years. 

Alexander  Cox  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  but  after- 
wards went  to  Kentucky,  and  in  1832,  moved  with  his 
family  to  this  township,  and  settled  in  section  20.  His 
family  consisted  of  a  wife  and  two  children,  Mary  J.,  and 
Elijah.  In  1835,  Mr.  Cox  moved  out  of  the  county,  and 
afterwards  migrated  to  Missouri.  Not  liking  the  country 
he  came  back  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  Pike  county,  where 
he  died.  John  Taylor  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  went  to 
Kentucky  when  he  was  four  years  of  age.  Here  he  grew  to 
manhood,  and  married  Elizabeth  Sheley.  Moved  with  his 
family  to  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1831,  and  stopped  at  Jack- 
sonville. In  1832,  came  to  this  county  and  located  in  sec- 
tion 31.     The  family  then  consisted  of  his  wife  and  seven 


243 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


children,  John  Jr.,  William,  Benjamin  F.,  Eliza  A.,  George 
W.,  Andrew  J.,  Mary  J.,  Nancy  and  Patsy.  Mr.  Taylor 
was  twice  married.  Other  children  were  born  to  the  family 
while  here.  He  died  in  1846,  at  the  old  home  in  section  31. 
Only  three  of  the  children  are  now  residents  of  the  county. 
Capt.  William  Taylor,  a  son,  lives  in  section  20,  a  good 
farmer  and  a  respected  citizen.  William  Patterson,  William 
McCormick,  and  probably  a  few  others  came  in  the  same 
year,  1832.  Mr.  McCormick  established  the  first  tan-yard 
in  the  township.  It  was  situated  a  little  east  of  the  city 
limits.  George  R.  Givens  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and  came 
to  the  state  of  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1832.  He  was  then  a 
single  man,  and  made  his  first  stop  in  Pike  county.  He  re- 
mained here  about  two  years,  when  he  came  to  Brown 
county,  and  located  at  Mt.  Sterling.  In  the  fall  of  183-1, 
he  married  Mary  Curry,  from  which  union  seven  children 
were  born.  Only  four  of  them  are  living,  three  being  resi- 
dents of  the  county.  One  son,  John  A.,  lives  in  the  city  of 
Mt  Sterling,  and  is  one  of  the  leading  merchants.  Mr. 
Givens  was  the  second  business  man  of  the  town,  He  and 
his  wife  are  yet  living,  and  are  among  the  oldest  citizens  of 
Mt.  Sterling.  Another  of  the  early  settlers  is  the  Rev.  N. 
W.  Dunlap.  He  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  and  left  there 
barefooted,  and  on  foot  for  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  when  a  mere 
lad.  Here  he  indentured  himself  to  a  mau  who  was  a  car- 
penter, and  remained  with  his  foster  parent  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  afterwards  went  to  Louisiana, 
back  to  Tennessee,  and  thence  to  Kentucky.  Here  he  mar- 
ried Rebecca  M.  Ball.  In  1834,  went  to  Illinois  on  a  pros- 
pecting tour,  and  while  in  the  state  bought  a  small  piece  of 
land  in  Mt.  Sterling.  Returned  to  Kentucky,  and  in  1837, 
moved  with  his  family  to  his  new  found  home.  At  this  time 
his  family  consisted  of  his  wife  and  two  children,  Isabella, 
and  Charles  M.  Mrs.  Dunkp  died  in  1854.  Mr  D.  i3  yet 
living  at  Mt.  Sterling  at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  He  was 
the  first  Presbyterian  minister  of  the  county,  and  has  preach- 
ed to  the  people  of  this  vicinity,  more  or  less,  for  nearly  a 
half  century.  He  informs  us  that  it  is  a  peculiar  fact,  that 
not  a  single  preacher  of  the  Gospel  ever  died  in  Mt.  Sterling. 
Henry  Hersman  located  in  section  17,  in  the  fall  of  1834. 
He  was  born  in  Virginia,  but  moved  to  Kentucky  where  he 
married  Elizabeth  Fry.  When  he  came  to  Brown  county 
there  were  seven  children,  Mary,  Jacob,  George,  Susan, 
Michael,  Abraham  and  Elizabeth.  Mrs.  H.  died  in  1856,  and 
Mr.  Hersman  in  1873.  Jacob,  the  second  born  of  the  family 
was  married  when  his  father  came,  having  a  wife  and  one 
daughter.  He  located  in  section  27,  near  the  little  town  of  Hers- 
man, where  he  yet  resides,  and  from  whom  the  town  receives 
its  name.  George  is  a  prominent  farmer,  residing  in  the 
same  section.  Michael  and  Abraham  are  also  residents  of 
the  county.  Among  other  early  settlers,  or  those  native 
born  are,  F.  M.  Curry,  Joseph  Marrett,  Joseph  F.  Vande- 
venter,  James  Harper,  George  A.  Taylor,  G.  W.  Fry,  Jas. 
M.  Curry,  J.  H.  Alexander,  Stout  Kendrick,  W.  T.  Adams, 
Geo  W.  Wilson,  Edward  A.  Gordley,  Mrs.  M.  A.  Wheat, 
now  residing  in  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  Dr.  Geo.  H.  Tebo, 
John  Harper,  present  sheriff  of  Brown  county,  John  R. 
Means,  and  several  others. 


Believing  that  the  first  land  entries  in  this  township 
will  prove  of  interest  to  the  readers  of  the  history,  we  here 
append  a  few  of  the  same.  The  first  placed  on  record  was 
made  by  Abel  Larkin,  September  25,  1830,  being  the 
east  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  21.  Septem- 
ber 29,  18  50,  John  Foster  entered  the  east  half  of  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  27.  James  Orchard  entered 
the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  19,  Oct. 
7,  1830.  Mark  Riggin  entered  the  west  half  of  the  south- 
west quarter  of  section  21,  November  4,  1830.  The  15th 
of  November  of  the  same  year,  Alexander  Steel  entered 
the  west  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  the  above  section. 
Alexander  Wilson  entered  the  west  half  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  27,  November  22,  1830.  It  will  be  seen 
from  the  above  that  for  some  peculiar  cause,  not  one  mil- 
itary claim  was  drawn  within  the  limits  of  Mt.  Sterling 
township,  as  per  showing  of  the  records. 

The  marriage  of  the  first  couple  in  this  township  is  attended 
with  a  bit  of  romance.  The  contracting  parties  were  Henry 
Massa  and  Nancy  Curry,  and  the  marriage  occurred  Dec. 
12th,  1831.  Alexander  Curry,  father  of  the  bride,  was  op- 
posed to  the  union,  and  the  young  couple  were  obliged  to 
unite  in  the  matrimonial  bonds  without  the  parental  sanction. 
They  accordingly  mounted  on  horseback,  and  rode  to  Rush- 
ville,  where  the  ceremony  was  performed  by  John  Scripps, 
a  local  preacher.  It  is  said  that  it  was  an  exception  to  the 
usual  run-away  matches,  Mr.  Massa  proving  to  be  an  hon- 
ourable young  man,  and  in  after  years  reared  a  respectable 
family.  The  first  born  was  a  child  of  Obediah  Nix,  in  the 
spring  of  1829.  This  child  was  also  the  first  to  die  in  the 
township.  It  lived  but  a  few  months,  and  was  interred  near 
the  cabin  of  Mr.  Nix,  which  was  situate  a  little  south  of 
where  the  Eagle  Flouring  Mills  now  stand-  Nothing  marks 
the  spot  of  the  little  one,  to  show  to  the  passers-by,  that  here 
rests  the  firstborn,  and  the  first  dead  of  Mt.  Sterling  town- 
ship. A  cultivated  field  is  only  to  be  seen,  and  the  plowman 
unconsciously  breaks  the  soil  over  the  silent  grave.  The 
first  burial-ground  is  situated  in  section  28,  on  the  premises  of 
H.  Tinnen,  and  the  first  interment,  made  in  September, 
1829,  was  the  burial  of  a  man  named  Wyatt,  an  immigrant 
from  Tennessee.  He  had  been  here  but  a  few  months,  when 
he  was  stricken  with  malarial  fever,  then  so  prevalent  in  the 
country.  This  cemetery  is  yet  used  by  the  neighborhoods 
and  is  enclosed  by  a  good  fence,  and  well  kept  by  the  friend , 
of  those  who  are  buried  there.  James  Alexander  taught 
the  first  school  in  the  summer  of  1832.  The  school-house 
was  a  log  building,  with  the  ground  for  a  floor,  and  was  con- 
structed for  teaching  purposes  in  the  spring  of  the  same 
year,  and  situated  in  section  21,  on  the  lands  of  Benjamin 
Kendrick,  now  owned  by  J.  H.  Hersman.  It  was  after- 
wards taken  down  and  moved  to  the  premises  of  William 
Kendrick,  and  utilized  for  a  still  house.  The  second  teacher 
was  Jonathan  Billings,  who  also  taught  in  the  same  house. 
The  first  preaching  was  by  Rev.  John  Foster,  a  Missionary 
Baptist,  in  1829  or  '30.  He  resided  in  Morgan  County,  and 
came,  occasionally,  through  here  to  preach  to  the  pioneers 
of  what  was  then  Schuyler  County.  The  services  were  held 
in  the  cabins  of  the  settlers.   Among  other  pioneer  preachers 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


249 


were,  Calvin  Hobart,  Granville  Bond,  Reuben  McCoy,  N. 
W.  Dunlap,  and  the  Reverends  Oliver  aud  Bell.  Mr.  Dun- 
lap  is  the  only  one  now  living,  and  resides  in  the  suburbs  of 
Mt.  Sterling.  The  first  church  house  erected  was  built  by 
the  Presbyterian  Society  in  1836.  It  was  a  frame  building, 
and  situated  on  the  north  side  of  North  Street,  just  east  of 
the  court-house,  and  on  the  lot  where  the  new  Presbyterian 
building  now  stands.  It  yet  exists,  and  is  occupied  by  Louis 
Herbster  for  a  carpenter  shop  The  first  justices  of  the 
peace  were,  Alexander  Curry,  R.  N.  Curry,  and  Harvey 
Luster. 

In  1834,  a  new  era,  as  it  were,  dawned  upon  the  settlers 
of  Mt.  Sterling.  A  post  office  was  established  in  their  midst, 
so  that  they  could  get  their  mail  without  going  about  four- 
teen miles  for  the  same,  as  they  had  been  accustomed  to  do- 
Alexander  Curry  was  appointed  postmaster,  and  the  post 
office  named  Mt.  Sterling-  His  office  was  kept  at  his  pri- 
vate residence  on  Main  Street.  Prior  to  this  the  nearest 
point  for  the  mail  was  at  Vandeventer  Post  Office,  situated 
at  the  bluffs  in  what  is  now  Versailles  township.  The  first 
grist  mill  was  built  by  Alexander  Curry,  in  1831,  and  situ- 
ated in  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  17,  now  within  the 
city  limits,  and  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and  East  Cross 
Streets.  The  power  was  the  old-time,  inclined,  tread- 
wheel  principle  of  action.  The  capacity  of  the  mill  was  in- 
sufficient to  accommodate  the  few  customers  in  the  neigh- 
borhood without  vexatious  delays.  It  was  afterwards  taken 
down,  and  moved  to  the  premises  of  the  purchaser,  Alex- 
ander Wilson,  in  section  22.  The  first  saw-mill  was  con- 
structed by  Joseph  Walker,  in  1843,  and  situated  on  Dry 
Fork,  in  section  31,  on  the  premises  now  owned  by  Mrs. 
Nokes.  It  was  a  water  mill,  having  an  over-shot  wheel. 
Nothing  of  it  now  remains,  not  even  the  earthworks  of  the 
dam,  to  show  that  here  once  might  have  been  heard  the  busy 
clatter  of  machinery.  Fine  stock  was  imported  into  the 
township  as  early  as  1845.  The  first  was  brought  from  Ohio 
by  Aaron  Pauley,  consisting  of  the  Berkshire  swine.  The 
first  blooded  cattle  was  the  Durham  stock,  and  brought  from 
Indiana  by  James  N.  Rea.  Mr.  Rea  is  yet  engaged  in 
handling  fine  stock. 

The  improvements  of  Mt.  Sterling  township  are  among 
the  best  in  the  county.  Fine  farms,  and  farm  residences 
greet  the  eye  on  every  hand.  The  roads  and  bridges  are 
kept  in  good  condition,  and  thrift  and  prosperity  are  every, 
where  to  be  seen.  Besides,  many  natural  advantages  pre- 
vail. Good  sand-stone  quarries  exist  in  certain  portions  of 
the  township ;  and  lime-stone  is  also  found  cropping  out 
near  the  surface  at  some  points,  leaving  the  geologist  to  con- 
clude that  valuable  quarries  underlie  the  farms  of  some  of 
the  citizens.  Coal  has  been  found  in  small  quantities,  and 
it  is  believed  with  proper  capital  and  exertion,  that  the  min- 
ing of  coal  might  prove  to  be  the  leading  industry  of  this 
part  of  the  county. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  parties  who  have  rep- 
resented the  township  a5  members  of  the  county  board  since 
township  organizations;  Jacob  Hersman  was  elected  in 
1854,  and  served  for  eight  successive  terms,  and  in  the 
years   1856   and    1860,  had  the  honor    of  being   selected 


Chairman  of  the  Board.  H.  P.  Grover  elected  in  1862, 
served  until  1865.  Archibald  A.  Glenn  elected  in  the 
spring  of  1865,  served  one  term.  Daniel  Six  elected  in  1 866, 
served  two  terms.  George  W.  McCoy,  elected  in  1868, 
served  one  term.  Thomas  H.  Lynch,  elected  in  1869, 
served  one  term.  Thomas  Jones  elected  in  1870,  served 
two  terms.  Henry  P.  Grover,  re-elected  in  1872,  served 
one  term.  Robert  A.  Cox,  elected  in  1873,  served  one 
term,  and  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  board.  W.  C.  Craw- 
ford elected  in  1874.  Geo.  W.  McCoy  re-elected  in  1875, 
served  one  term.  W.C.Crawford,  re-elected  in  1876.  Geo 
W.  McCoy,  again  elected  in  1877,  served  three  successive 
terms,  and  was  elected  chairman  for  1878.  Fred.  W. 
Rottger,  elected  in  1880.  John  J.  Teefey,  elected  in  1881> 
reelected  In  1882,  is  the  present  incumbent,  and  chairman 
of  the  board. 

CITY  OF   MT.   STERLING* 

The  capital  of  the  county  is  situated  in  the  17th  section, 
and  the  site  it  occupies  was  named  by  Robert  N.  Curry  in 
1830,  three  years  before  it  became  a  town.  Its  origin  may 
be  briefly  told  as  follows  :  In  the  fall  of  the  above  year,  Mr. 
Casteen  and  Mr.  Curry  were  on  their  way  to  Edvvards- 
ville  to  enter  land,  the  former  in  Versailles,  and  the  lat. 
ter  for  his  father  in  section  17,  now  Mt.  Sterling.  Mr. 
Casteen  remarked  that  he  proposed  to  name  his  place 
Woodford,  as  it  so  nearly  resembled  the  county  he  came 
from  in  Kentucky,  his  early  home  being  Woodford  county  ; 
and  he  asked  Mr.  Curry  what  he  should  name  the  place 
he  was  about  to  enter  for  his  father.  Mr.  C.  studied  a 
moment,  and  said  that  he  should  name  it  Mt.  Sterling, 
Mt.  or  mound,  it  being  a  rise  of  ground,  and  Sterling 
meaning  value  or  valuable,  hence  Mt.  Sterling.  Nearly  in 
the  geographical  center  of  the  original  plat,  was  situated 
what  is  believed  to  be  an  Indian  mound,  a  relic  of  a  pre- 
historic race.  It  yet  has  the  semblance  of  made  ground, 
and  is  the  highest  point  in  this  part  of  the  county.  It  was 
upon  this  mmnd  that  Alexander  Curry  constructed  his  first 
hewed  log  house.  It  was  built  in  the  spring  of  1831,  and 
was  situated  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street,  and  four  lots 
east  of  Main  Cross  street.  Nothing  but  a  vacant  lot  now 
marks  the  spot,  yet  the  artificial  mound  is  plainly  visible 
to  the  pedestrian.  It  would  be  proper  to  state  here  that 
Mr.  Curry's  house  on  the  mound  was  utilized  at  various 
times,  for  a  dwelling,  post  office,  office  of  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  hotel,  and  church.  It  is  f  aid  that  the  rain  drops 
falling  upon  the  northern  roof  flowed  to  Crooked  creek, 
while  those  from  the  south  mingled  with  the  waters  of  Mc- 
Kee's  creek. 

The  first  house  built  within  the  boundaries  of  the  now 
city  of  Mt.  Sterling,  was  by  William  McDaniel,  late  in 
1828,   and  was  situated  between  Main   and  North  streets, 

*The  6rst  town  laid  out  in  the  county  was  named  Pennville.  It 
was  situated  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  20,  township  1  south, 
range  3  west  of  the  4th  principal  meridian,  being  a  little  southwest 
of  Mt.  Sterling.  It  was  placed  on  record,  the  3d  of  May,  1833,  by 
''  Jack  "  Six  and  Alexander  D.  Cox.  It  existed  only  upon  paper, 
and  is  now  but  a  cultivated  field. 


250 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


on  the  lot  where  Anthony  Rice's  blacksmith  shop  now 
stands.  The  well  was  dug  in  the  alley  south  of  the  shop. 
The  house  was  a  rude  log  cabin,  with  puncheon  floor,  and 
roofed  with  rived  clapboards.  Mr.  Perkins,  a  son-in-law 
of  McDaniel,  built  a  cabin  about  the  same  time.  It  was 
situated  on  the  north  side  of  North  street,  and  on  the 
corner  of  Main  Cross  and  North  streets.  The  lot  is  now 
owned  ,by  Horace  Bates.  Alexander  Curry  bought  out 
both  McDaniel  aud  Perkins,  and  moved  the  houses  together, 
making  a  double  log  cabin.  It  was  here  that  the  first 
child  was  born  within  the  limits  of  Ml  Sterling.  The 
little  stranger  was  Jule  V,  son  of  Robert  N.  Curry.  The 
interesting  event  took  place  the  21st  of  September,  1832. 
The  first  goods  sold  was  in  the  fall  of  1830,  by  Alexander 
Curry  and  son,  R.  N.  Curry.  The  store  room  was  a  hewed 
log  house,  16x18  feet,  and  one  story  high,  and  located  on 
what  is  now  Main  street  The  lot  at  this  writing  is  occu- 
pied by  the  brick  store  of  Louis  Barry.  The  stock  con- 
sisted of  a  few  groceries,  notions,  dry  goods  and  a  barrel 
of  whiskey.  Mr.  R.  N.  Curry,  who  is  yet  living,  apolo- 
getically said  to  the  writer  that  the  whiskey  was  the 
first  and  last  of  that  commodity  that  he  ever  sold.  The 
merchandise  was  purchased  in  St.  Louis,  and  transported 
up  the  rivers  to  Naples,  aud  thence  overland  to  Mt.  Ster- 
ling. The  store  house  was  used  for  several  y.&ra  for  mer- 
cantile purposes,  and  afterwards  moved  away  and  utilized 
for  a  stable.  Only  about  two  years  since  it  became  among 
the  things  that  were.  The  first  hotel  was  built  by  Samuel 
Brazleton  in  the  fall  of  1834.  It  was  a  frame  house,  one 
story,  and  about  34x36  feet  on  the  ground,  with  a  porch  in 
front.  It  was  situated  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street 
on  the  property  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  Dr.  J.  N. 
Allen.  Mr.  Brazleton  died  in  a  few  years,  and  the  house 
was  afterwards  occupied  for  a  dwelling.  It  has  since  been 
moved  to  Hurlbert's  addition  in  the  west  part  of  town,  and 
is  yet  used  for  a  residence.  George  Byram  was  the  first 
blacksmith — this  was  in  1834.  His  shop  was  located  on  lot 
57.  The  smith  and  building  passed  away  many  years  ago. 
The  first  school-house  was  the  usual  old-time  log  affair, 
and  was  built  in  the  spring  of  1834.  It  occupied  a  part  of 
the  street  just  east  of  the  court-house.  In  1836,  when  that 
addition  was  made  to  the  town,  the  court-house  square  was 
laid  out,  and  the  streets  on  either  side  of  it  were  opened. 
It  thus  became  necessary  to  move  the  school  building  to 
some  other  point.  The  first  teacher  employed  to  conduct 
the  school  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Ware.  He,  like  the 
school-house,  has  passed  out  of  sight  Robert  N.  Curry 
built  the  first  frame  house  in  the  town,  and  it  is  said  to  be 
the  first  in  the  county.  This  was  in  the  fall  of  1833.  It 
was  situated  in  the  corporate  limits  of  the  town,  and  a  little 
north  of  the  court-house.  It  was  a  one-story  building,  and 
18x34  feet  on  the  ground,  and  was  arranged  with  two  rooms 
and  a  hall.  The  weather  boards  were  rived  and  shaved,  and 
four  feet  in  length.  In  1853,  the  building  was  raised  to  two 
stories,  and  other  additions  made  to  the  same.  It  is  yet 
standing  and  is  in  a  good  state  of  preservation.  The  first 
frame  business  house  was  erected  by  George  R  Givens  in 
1834.    It  was  a  one-story  building,  and  about  16x36  feet  in 


size.  It  was  situated  on  south  side  of  Main  street  on  lot 
number  48.  Mr.  Givens  had  a  fair  stock  of  goods  for  a 
small  country  town.  The  first  brick  building  was  construc- 
ted by  Robert  Dawson  in  about  1835,  aud  is  located  on  the 
south  side  of  Main  street,  lot  42.  It  was  built  for  a  dwell- 
ing, and  is  yet  occupied  as  such.  The  second  brick  house 
was  a  dwelling  built  by  James  Brockman,  and  situated  west 
of  the  court-house.  It  has  been  torn  down,  and  a  two-story 
brick  residence  occupies  the  ground. 

What  a  transition  from  then  to  now.  Then,  the  site  of 
the  city  of  Mt.  Sterling  was  covered  with  hazel  brush,  and 
groves  of  small  oak  timber,  and  the  wild  deer  might  have 
been  seen  dodging  through  the  thickets.  An  oak  tree,  now 
nearly  three  feet  in  diameter,  is  standing  on  lot  27,  north 
side  of  Main  street.  A  little  less  than  a  half  century  ago 
it  was  a  mere  bush.  At  that  time  Mr.  Geo.  R.  Givens  had 
several  parties  engaged  in  rolling  the  logs  for  his  dwelling. 
One  of  the  number  said,  "  Let  us  preserve  this  bush."  It 
was  accordingly  bent  over  to  save  it  from  the  rude  crushing 
of  the  logs  rolled  by  the  workmen.  To  day  it  forms  a  noble 
oak  tree,  and  is  one  of  the  ornaments  of  the  city.  The  town 
was  laid  out  by  Alexander  Curry  and  placed  on  record  June 
3d,  1833 ;  William  P.  Manlove,  surveyor.  The  original 
plat  was  located  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  17,  and 
contained  the  following  streets :  Bounded  on  the  north  by 
North  street ;  east  by  East  street ;  south  by  South  street, 
and  west  by  West  street.  Main  street  extends  through  the 
centre  from  east  to  west,  and  Main  Cross  street  bisects  it, 
extending  north  and  south.  The  first  sale  of  lots  was  held 
on  the  21st  of  June,  1833 ;  since  which  time  twelve  addi- 
tions have  been  made,  and  the  city  now  embraces'one  square 
mile.  It  is  adorned  by  many  fine  residences,  beautiful  shade 
trees,  fine  sidewalks,  and  well-kept  streets.  The  business 
houses,  and  public  buildings,  speak  in  unmistakable  lan- 
guage of  the  thrift  and  enterprise  of  the  people. 

Incorporation. — The  first  step  taken  toward  incorporating 
the  town  was  in  the  spring  of  1845.  Pursuant  to  notice  a 
meeting  was  held  at  the  court-house  on  the  29th  of  March, 
1845,  for  the  purpose  of  incorporating  the  town.  John  J. 
Smith  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  John  S.  Bailey  chosen 
clerk.  They  were  sworn  to  faithfully  perform  the  duties  of 
the  same,  by  Spencer  Lowden  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
Twenty  votes  were  cast,  all  in  favor  of  incorporating.  The 
following  are  the  names  of  those  voting  :  James  W.  Single- 
ton, G.  C.  Robinson,  Iram  Nye,  M.  A.  J.  Hunter,  Spencer 
Lowden,  Johnson  Lieper,  Geo.  R.  Givens,  John  Nye,  Geo. 
Smith,  John  S.  Bailey,  John  J.  Smith,  James  Brockman,  A. 
F.  Pope,  George  M.  Pickett,  Samuel  K.  Brierton,  Wm.  P. 
Walker,  A.  J.  Dragoo,  Clark  Dennis,  J  ames  S.  Irwin,  and 
Daniel  Curry.  An  election  was  called  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  town  officers  on  the  5th  of  April,  1845,  with  the 
following  result :  G.  C.  Robinson,  A.  L.  Hobbs,  Jno.  8. 
Bailey,  Daniel  Curry,  and  James  Irwin  were  elected  trus- 
tees. On  the  meeting  of  the  board,  Jno.  S.  Bailey  was  cho- 
sen president,  and  James  Brockman  appointed  clerk.  The 
corporate  limits  were  defined  to  commence  a  half  mile  east 
of  the  centre  of  Main  and  Main  Cross  streets,  on  the  road  to 
Rushville,  thence  north  half  a  mile,  thence  west  one  mile, 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


251 


thence  south  one  mile,  thence  east  one  mile,  thence  north 
one-half  mile  to  the  place  of  beginning.  As  will  be  seen 
the  limits  of  the  city  have  not  been  changed  since  its  first 
incorporation. 

March  13,  1875,  a  special  charter  was  obtained  for  the 
purpose  of  incorporating  under  a  city  charter.  The  first 
officers  elected  under  this  charter  were :  F.  M.  Rottger, 
Mayor ;  S.  S.  Brooks  and  James  Nolan,  Aldermen  of  First 
ward  ;  J.  M.  Rea  and  Thomas  S.  Adams,  Second  ward ; 
Ham  Wash  and  George  W.  Curry,  Third  ward.  J.  J. 
Teefey  was  elected  City  Attorney  ;  George  C.  Irvin,  Treas- 
urer ;  E.  C.  Brockman,  Clerk.  The  present  officers  are : 
John  J.  McDannold,  Mayor  ;  Aldermen,  First  ward,  White 
Washburn,  Edward  Banks ;  Second  ward,  J.  M.  Rea,  Alex. 
Bailey  ;  Third  ward,  John  Ward,  Andrew  Hoffmann  ;  City 
Clerk,  W.  F.  Taylor ;  Treasurer,  Isaiah  Price ;  City 
Attorney,  J.  J.  Teefey ;  Marshall,  Manlius  T.  Johnson ; 
Police  Magistrate,  N.  L.  Sullivan  ;  Street  Commissioner,  J. 
J.  Nicholas ;  City  Sexton,  Horace  N.  Bates. 

MT.   STERLING   INDUSTRIES,   MANUFACTURES,     ETC. 

ML  Sterling  Tile  Works  have  been  recently  completed, 
commencing  operations  the  18th  of  May,  1882.  They  are 
situated  west  of  Main  Cross  street,  and  south  of  the  Wabash 
railway.  The  building  is  a  frame,  one  story,  and  in  the 
form  of  an  L.  The  main  part  of  which  is  30x130  feet,  and 
the  ell  30x40  feet.  The  cost  of  these  works,  including 
ground,  machinery,  etc.,  is  about  610,000.  It  is  conducted 
by  a  joint  stock  company  with  ample  means  to  make  it  a 
success.  The  capacity  is  6,000  feet  of  tile  per  day,  and 
they  give  employment  to  twenty  men.  The  annual  value  of 
manufactured  product  is  estimated  at  $30,000.  A  patent 
crusher,  and  Tiffany's  patent  press  is  used  in  the  works. 
The  Argillo  Burner,  down  draft,  is  also  one  of  the  features 
of  the  business.  The  machinery  is  driven  by  a  twenty- 
horse  power  engine.  This  is  an  industry  that  has  long  been 
needed  in  this  part  of  the  county,  and  will  undoubtedly 
prove  mutually  beneficial  to  the  manufacturers  and  the 
people. 

Pork  House,  Hersman  &  Curry,  proprietors.  This  was 
established  iu  the  fall  of  1866,  by  the  firm  or  Glenn  &  Hig- 
gins,  who  conducted  the  business  about  four  years,  when  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  O.  M.  Henry  &  Co.  It  again 
changed  hands  about  1874,  when  the  firm  was  known  as 
Glenn  &  Curry.  The  firm  was  again  dissolved  in  1877, 
and  Hersman  bought  out  the  interest  of  Glenn,  and  the 
present  co-partnership  was  established.  The  packing  house 
is  situated  a  little  east  of  Main  Cross  street,  and  south  of  the 
railroad  track.  The  building  is  a  frame  structure,  two 
stories  high  and  a  basement,  tiOxlOO  feet  on  the  ground. 
It  has  the  capacity  of  packing  500  barrels  of  pork  daily 
and  when  in  active  operation  employs  forty  men.  The 
capital  invested  for  the  building,  ground,  machinery,  etc , 
is  about  $13,000.  It  contains  all  the  facilities  for  carrying 
on  a  successful  packing  house.  The  product  is  mainly 
shipped  to  the  St.  Louis  market. 

Eagle  Flouring  Mills  are  situated  in  the  west  part  of  the 
town,  and   on  the   corporation  line,    adjoining    Hurlburt's 


addition  to  the  City  of  Mt.  Sterling.  It  is  a  frame  building 
35x50  feet  in  size  and  three  stories  high,  and  was  built  at  a 
cost  of  about  $10,000,  by  George  Kleinlein,  in  the  year 
1858-59.  Its  original  capacity  was  forty  barrels  of  flour, 
and  one  hundred  bushels  of  meal  per  day.  It  has  since 
been  overhauled  and  improved,  and  one  run  of  stone  added 
to  its  former  capacity.  The  engine  room  is  15x40  feet,  and 
the  engine  is  forty-horse  power.  The  mill  does  both  mer- 
chant and  custom  work,  the  foreign  shipments  being  made 
principally  to  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia.  Mr.  F.  Keyser 
is  the  present  proprietor  of  the  industry,  he  having  leased  it 
since  1872. 

Farmers'  Mills. — This  industry  was  founded  by  R.  H. 
Ross  in  1862,  and  was  first  built  for  a  carding  mill  and 
conducted  exclusively  as  such  until  the  summer  of  1877, 
when  the  building  was  remodeled  and  enlarged,  and  a 
flouring  mill  attached.  It  is  situated  just  east  of  the  cor- 
porate limits,  and  on  the  Rushville  highway.  As  now 
rebuilt,  the  building  is  a  frame,  two  and  one  half  stories 
high,  stone  basement,  and  24x40  feet  on  the  ground.  The 
mill  contains  three  run  of  stone,  and  has  the  capacity  of 
manufacturing  fifty  barrels  of  flour  and  125  bushels 
of  meal  in  twenty-four  hours.  It  is  both  a  merchant  and 
custom  mill,  the  principal  shipping  point  being  St.  Louis. 
The  carding  mill  is  the  only  one  in  this  section  of  the 
country,  and  its  customers  are  scattered  for  many  miles 
around.  It  contains  two  sets  of  cards  and  a  picker,  and 
has  the  capacity  of  working  200  pounds  of  wool  daily.  The 
mills  are  driven  by  a  thirty-five  horse  power  engine,  and 
give  employment  to  six  men. 

Wagon  and  Buggy  Manufactory  of  A.  Rioth  is  situated 
on  the  south  side  of  North  street,  and  a  little  west  of  the 
court-house.  The  business  was  commenced  by  the  present 
proprietor  in  the  fall  of  1858.  The  institution  turns  out 
about  thirty  wagons,  and  twenty  buggies  annually,  besides 
manufacturing  plows  and  doing  general  repairing,  black- 
smithing,  etc-  From  five  to  eight  men  are  kept  in  employ- 
ment, and  the  yearly  value  of  manufactured  product  will 
approximate  $10,000. 

The  Elevator  of  F.  W.  Rottger  &  Co.  was  built  in  the  fall 
of  1879,  and  is  located  at  the  Wabash  depot  and  north  of 
the  track.  It  is  a  frame  building  twenty  feet  in  height,  and 
20x36  feet  in  size,  and  has  the  capacity  of  storing  10,000 
bushels  of  grain.  It  is  conveniently  arranged  with  drive- 
ways, etc.,  and  is  capable  of  loading  a  car  in  twenty  min- 
utes. 

Marble  Yard. — This  was  established  by  T.  M.  Wallace  in 
1868,  and  located  on  the  south  side  of  Main  street  twelve 
doors  west  of  Main  Cross  street.  This  is  the  only  industry 
of  the  kind  iu  the  city.  Three  men  are  employed,  and  an 
annual  product  of  about  $5,000  is  manufactured. 

Brick  Yard,  owned  by  Mrs.  C.  Simons,  and  situated  on 
Coal  street,  northeast  of  the  court-house.  It  was  established 
in  1865  by  George  Simons.  It  contains  one  kiln,  employs 
four  men  and  two  boys  when  iu  operation,  and  manufactures 
between  five  and  six  hundred  thousands  bricks  in  the  sea" 
son.    , 

J.  B.  Glass,  Banker. — This  bank  was  organized  in  1871, 


252 


HISTORY   OF  SCHVYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


and  in  1876  the  present  line  bank  building  was  erected, 
which  is  situated  on  the  west  side  of  Main  Cross  street,  and 
five  doors  south  of  the  court-house.  The  bank  contains  a 
fire  proof  vault,  fire  and  burglar  proof  safe,  and  time  lock. 
It  is  conducted  strictly  upon  business  principles,  and  has 
ample  means  of  doing  a  safe  banking  business. 

First  National  Bank  of  Mt.  Sterling  is  situated  on  the 
south  side  of  Main  street,  oil  lot  number  50.  It  was  char- 
tered November  30, 1878,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000,  and 
limited  to  $250,000.  The  vault  is  lined  with  boiler  iron, 
thus  making  it  perfectly  fire  proof.  The  safe  is  both  fire 
and  burglar  proof,  and  has  Herring  &  Co's.  time  lock. 
With  the  exception  of  one  year,  the  bank  has  paid  a  divi- 
dend to  the  stockholders  of  8  per  cent,  interest  on  capital 
invested,  and  in  1881,  10  per  cent,  was  declared,  which 
shows  that  bank  stock  is  a  good  and  safe  investment.  E.  F- 
Crane,  president ;  F.  D.  Crane,  cashier. 

Fruit  and  Vegetable  Gardens  of  J.  A.  Givens  are  situated 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  city,  and  contain  about  six 
acres  of  ground.  These  gardens  are  arranged  with  hot-beds 
and  other  conveniences  peculiar  to  business.  They  yield  a 
product  of  about  $1,200  every  season. 

Mt.  Sterling  Library  Association  was  organized  September 
7th,  1881,  with  the  following  named  persons  for  officers:  F. 
D.Crane,  president;  Frank  Keyser,  vice  president;  George 
Thornhill,  secretary ;  C  B.  Turner,  librarian ;  and  George 
Turner,  treasurer.  The  association  operates  upon  the  co- 
operative plan,  and  the  stock  of  literature  is  what  is  known 
as  the  "  People's  Library,"  published  by  Harper  Brothers. 
At  the  time  of  organization  there  were  fifty-four  members* 
and  several  have  joined  the  association  since.  It  launched 
out  with  one  hundred  volumes,  and  has  doubled  its  number 
within  the  time.  A  matriculation  fee  of  $2.00  is  required  to 
become  a  member.  The  library  is  open  at  given  hours  on 
Tuesday  and  Saturday  of  each  week. 

The  School  Building  is  an  ornament  to  the  town,  and  is 
situated  on  the  corner  of  Franklin  and  Main  Cross  streets. 
It  was  completed  early  in  the  fall  of  1865.  In  the  summer 
of  1873  it  was  remodeled  and  enlarged,  and  cost  entire,  in- 
cluding furniture,  etc  ,  $12,000.  It  is  a  brick  structure,  two 
stories  high,  and  25x37  feet  on  the  ground,  containing  eight 
room's,  four  on  each  floor.  The  school  is  well  graded,  and 
employs  seven  teachers  besides  a  principal.  The  maximum 
attendance  is  321  pupils,  with  an  average  daily  attendance 
of  229.  Excellent  walks  from  all  parts  of  the  city  lead  to 
the  school  house.  The  play  ground  is  ample,  and  surround- 
ed by  fine  shade  trees. 

Mt.  Sterling  Cemetery  is  owned  by  the  city,  the  ground 
having  been  purchased  by  the  trustees  of  the  town  iu  the 
spring  of  1864,  of  Daniel  Curry,  for  a  sum  of  $126.  In 
April,  1874,  about  two  and  a  half  acres  more  were  added  to 
the  ground.  It  is  situated  within  the  corporate  limits,  and 
is  a  part  of  the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec 
nine.  The  cemetery  is  well  kept,  and  many  fine  monuments 
are  to  be  seen ;  everything  attesting  that  the  friends  who 
have  gone  before  are  carefully  cared  for  by  the  living.  This 
has  been  a  place  of  burial  for  nearly  half  a  century,  the 
first  interment  being  made  in  1833.     Tradition  says  that  a 


woman  by  the  name  of  Smith  was  the  first  buried  here. 
Nothing  but  a  rough  unlettered,  sand-stone,  marks  the  spot. 
The  second  was  a  colored  woman  by  the  name  of  Vincen, 
who  was  buried  in  the  same  year  (1833). 

Fry's  Opera  Hall  deserves  mention,  as  it  is  a  better  room 
of  the  kind  than  is  usually  found  in  so  small  a  town  as  Mt. 
Sterling.  It  is  situated  in  the  second  story  of  the  brick 
building  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Main  and  Main  Cross 
streets.  The  room  is  40x75  feet  in  size,  furnished  with 
chairs,  and  will  seat  500  persons.  The  stage  is  eighteen  feet 
front  and  sixteen  in  depth,  and  is  arranged  with  a  trap  and 
four  sets  of  scenery.  The  ceiling  is  frescoed,  and  all  the 
belongings  are  of  a  style  that  speaks  well  of  the  enterprise 
of  the  builder.  The  city  also  contains  two  .hotels,  six 
churches,  and  three  newspapers.  The  Tinnen  House  is 
kept  by  Hugh  Tinnen,  and  the  Lambert  Hotel  by  Mrs.  M. 
J.  Lambert  For  the  history  of  the  churches  and  the  press 
see  chapter  specially  devoted  to  the  same. 

MERCANTILE   HOUSES   AND   TRADE. 

Dry  Goods,  Clothing,  Boots,  Shoes,  etc. — E.  F.  &  F.  D. 
Crane,  J.  R-  Curry,  Turner  &  Eckert. 

Dry  Goods. — J.  M.  Kendrick  &  Son. 

General  Grocery  Stores. — Givens  &  Cox,  Perry  McMil- 
lan, A.  Putman,  W.  R.  Graves,  Hense  &  Meyer,  J.  Craven 
and  Son. 

Drugs,  Hardware,  Tinware,  and  Farming  Implements. — 
Irwin  &  O'Neil,  R.  Smith. 

Drugs  and  Sundries. — John  W.  Bowers,  George  Thornhill, 
S.  A.  McKenney. 

Book  Store  and  Notions. — R  S.  Fenn. 

Clothing  and  Merchant  Tailor. — Hiram  Price. 

Variety  Store. — W.  Brockman. 

Clothing- — J.  Frindlich. 

Furniture  and  Undertaking. — Bailey  &  Robinson,  J.  P. 
Amonett. 

Boot  and  Shoe  Stores. — Webber  &  Byrne,  L.  T.  Barry. 

Harness  and  Saddlery, — Charles  Ritter,  M.  Connery,  R. 
Chapman. 

Lumber  Dealers. — Dunlap  &  Rottger,  L.  Herbster  &  Co. 

Physicians  — Geo.  H  Tebo,  W.  W.  Bower,  Lizzie  White, 
W.  M.  Cox  S.  H.  McClung,  A.  Winger,  J.  C  Rickey,  Wil- 
liam G.  Gray,  A.  M.  Shields,  Jonathan  Dearborn,  C.  N. 
Irwin,  W.  H.  K.  King. 

Millinery  and  Dress  making. — Mrs.  E.  Masters,  Miss  N. 
Smith,  Mrs.  A.  Rothans. 

Milliner. — Mrs.  Lucy  Robinson. 

Dress  Makers. — Mrs.  Elliott,  Ward  Sisters. 

Livery  Stables. — R.  B.  Snodgrass,  J.  M.  Rea,  W.  L. 
Taylor. 

Wagon  Makers  and  Blacksmiths. — Hagel  &  Connor. 

Meat  Markets. — McEntee  Brothers,  Wm.  Bagby. 

Flour  and  Feed  Store. — F.  Keyser. 

Merchant  Tailor. — Valentine  Young. 

Shoemakers. — Henry  Wetzell,  John  Nuttall,  Jacob 
Kunkler. 

General  Blacksmiths. — White  Washburn,  Smith  Brothers. 

Photographer. — W.  P.  Gaut. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


253 


Jeweler. — A.  Bailey. 

Dentists. — J.  M.  Ash,  Dr  Fulton. 

B'ikery  and  Restaurant — Perry  McMillan. 

Contractors  and  Builders. — E.  Schonen,  L.  Herbster  & 
Co.,  House  &  Keyser,  C.  R  Hicks. 

Restaurants. — Mrs.  L  R.  Marshall,  Mrs.  Lizzie  Cumming, 
Mrs.  Nora  Gannon. 

Stock  Dealers  and  Shippers. — J.  V.  Curry,  T.  S.  Adams, 
Wra.  Bloomfield  &  Co.,  Hamilton  Wash. 

Tailor. — Joseph  Dessert. 

Painters  and  Glaziers. — I.  N.  Barlow,  John  Silverburg, 
David  Tompkins. 

Barbers. — Elijah  Washington,  S.  H.  Lester,  David  Jen- 
nings, J.  P.  Herckest. 

Postmaster. — R.  S.  Fenn. 

At  this  writing  the  town  also  contains  four  saloons,  situ- 
ated in  various  parts  of  the  city. 

SOCIETIES* 

Hardin  Lodge,  No.  44,  A.  F.  and  A.  M.,  was  chartered  by 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  state,  October  5th,  1847,  with  Geo. 
Adams,  John  Bigler,  and  Thomas  S.  Starr,  as  charter  mem- 
bers, all  of  whom  are  now  dead.  Mr.  Bigler  moved  to  Cali- 
fornia in  1851,  and  afterwards  became  Governor  of  the 
state.  The  present  membership  of  the  lodge  is  101.  Itmeets 
at  Masonic  Hall  on  Saturday  night,  on  or  before  the  full  of 
the  moon  in  each  month.  Its  condition  financially  is  good, 
being  free  from  debt,  etc 

Mt.  Sterling  Chapter,  No.  137,  R.A.M.,  was  organized 
U.  D.  June  14th,  1869,  and  received  its  charter  October  8th, 
of  the  same  year.  There  were  thirteen  charter  members. 
The  present  membership  is  twenty-five.  The  financial  condi- 
tion of  the  society  is  good.  It  meets  at  Masonic  Hall  every 
Tuesday  eve,  on  or  before  the  fujl  of  the  moon. 

Western  Catholic  Union. — St.  Joseph's  Branch,  No.  5,  was 
chartered  July  28th,  1879,  with  eleven  members  then  con- 
stituting the  society.  It  has  now  increased  to  sixty-five 
members.  The  whole  number  enrolled  is  sixty-eight.  The 
society  meots  the  first  Saturday  and  Tuesday,  alternately,  in 
each  month, at  Herbster's  block,  on  Main  Cross  Street.  The 
object  of  the  order  is  benevolence,  and  the  obtaining  of  life 
insurance  at  a  nominal  cost.  The  society  is  in  excellent 
condition  financially. 

Unity  Lodge,  No.  310, I.O.O.F.,  was  chartered  June  21st, 
1864,  with  the  following  as  charter  members  :  J.  W.  Ad- 
gate,  J.  P.  Bordenheimer,  Jno.  C.  Hedenburg,  Conrad  Rit- 
ter,  C.  R.  Bovinger,  and* Joshua  Leeper,  only  one  of  whom 
is  now  a  resident  of  the  county,  Conrad  Ritter.  The  first 
members  admitted  were  :  A.  A.  Glenn,  and  C  A.  Wood, 
July  11th,  1864.  The  total  number  that  has  been  enrolled 
is  119  ;  deaths,  13;  sick  benefits  paid  out,  $523;  funeral 
benefits,  f  165  ;  other  expenses,  $3C58  60.  The  finances  of 
the  lodge  at  this  time  are  in  excellent  condition.  It  is  out 
of  debt,  and  has  a  surplus  in  the  treasury. 

*We  are  indebted  to  the  secretaries  of  the  various  lodges  for  infor- 
mation in  reference  to  the  same. 


HERSMAN 

Is  a  small  station  situated  on  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis,  and 
Pacific  railway,  four  miles  southeast  of  Mount  Sterling 
The  town  contains  some  business,  and  a  population  of  about 
75  persons.  It  is  an  important  shipping  point  for  railroad 
ties,  pile  timber  and  wood.  About  twelve  thousand  dollars 
are  paid  out  annually  for  this  material.  In  time  Hersman 
will  be  a  thriving  little  town,  and  will  number  her  in- 
habitants by  the  hundreds  instead  of  the  tens.  It  has  a  neat 
little  Presbyterian  church  and  a  school-house.  The  most 
extensive  business,  is  that  of  the  Lillian  flouring  mills  owned 
and  operated  by  Frank  Hense.  The  mill  is  situated  south 
of  the  railroad  track,  and  in  the  east  part  of  the  hamlet. 
It  was  constructed  in  1867,  by  George  Hersman  and  George 
Curry,  at  a  cost  of  about  $17,000;  since  which  time  im- 
provements have  been  made  to  the  extent  of  $3,000,  making 
the  total  cost  about  $20,000.  In  the  spring  of  1871,  it  came 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Hense,  the  present  proprietor.  The 
building  is  a  frame,  three  stories  and  basement,  and  46  feet 
square.  The  boiler  and  engine  room  is  20  x  35  feet.  It 
has  three  run  of  stone,  and  two  sets  of  rolls,  with  a  milling 
capacity  of  manufacturing  100  barrels  of  flour  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  It  is  both  a  merchant  and  exchange  mill,  the 
main  shipping  points  being  Quincy  and  Baltimore.  The 
machinery  is  driven  by  an  eighty-horse  power  engine.  The 
town  also  contains  a  corn  mill  and  a  corn  crusher.  The 
former  is  located  north  of  the  railroad,  and  is  owned  by  C 
M.  Fry.  The  latter  is  situated  near  the  Lillian  flouring 
mills,  and  is  the  property  of  George  Hersman. 

Other  business. — General  store,  J.  Hersman  &  Co. ;  wagon 
maker  and  blacksmith,  Frank  Smith  ;  drug  store,  W.  W. 
Baxter ;  cooper  shop,  J.  Hersman  &  Co.  ;  physicians,  W. 
W.  Baxter,  D.  W.  Owens;  postmaster,  Philip  Morris. 

BROWN   COUNTY   AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY. 

This  society  was  originally  called  "  Brown  County  Agri- 
cultural Board,"  but  in  1880,  it  merged  into  a  stock  com- 
pany, and  assumed  the  name  as  given  above.  The  first  fair 
was  held  in  the  fall  of  1857,  in  the  court-house  yard,  and 
the  following  year  in  the  grove  of  Robert  N.  Curry,  situated 
a  little  northwest  of  the  court-house.  The  first  regular 
organization  was  effected  by  a  meeting  held  at  the  court- 
house on  the  11th  of  September,  1873,  and  was  organized 
according  to  the  provisions  of  a  general  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature, approved  April  15,  1871.  Jacob  Hersman  was  called 
to  the  chair,  and  A.  K  L>wrey  was  chosen  secretary  of  the 
meeting.  A  vote  was  cast  for  officers  of  the  board  with  the 
following  result :  William  T.  Hersman,  president;  David 
K.  Wats  tn.  vice-president ;  William  L.  Taylor,  treasurer  ; 
A.  K.  Lowrey,  recording  secretary ;  and  Martin  Brooks, 
corresponding  secretary.  The  directors  chosen  were,  Henson 
Vandeventer,  John  R.  Means,  A.  A.  Parke,  James  N. 
Robison,  and  John  George.  Fifteen  acres  of  ground,  situated 
in  the  northeast  part  of  the  corporation,  had  been  selected 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  fair,  and  it  was  at  once  fitted 
up  with  the  necessary  conveniences  for  the  same,  and  con- 
tained a  one  third  mile  race  track.     The  land  cost  $75  per 


254 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


acre,  and  is  a  part  of  the  west  half  of-the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  9.  The  first  fair  held  on  these  grounds  commenced 
the  23rd  of  October,  1873,  and  continued  four  days.  In 
1878,  seven  additional  acres  of  ground  were  purchased,  and 
the  track  enlarged  to  one-half  mile.  The  ground  is  now  fitted 
up  complete  with  all  the  modern  conveniences  for  conduct- 
ing a  successful  county-fair.  It  contains  a  commodious 
amphitheatre,  floral  hall,  implement  and  grain  room,  judges' 
stand,  196  stalls  for  stock,  several  box  stalls,  and  is  amply- 
supplied  with  wells  and  shade  trees  for  the  convenience  and 
comfort  of  man  and  beast.  As  already  stated,  the  society 
merged  into  a  joint  stock  company  in  1880,  with  a  capital 
stock  of  $5,000,  consisting  of  500  shares  at  ten  dollars  per 


share.  The  society  is  in  good  financial  standing,  ami 
guarantees  all  premiums  paid  in  full.  The  present  officers 
are,  Chas.  M.  Dunlap,  president ;  S.  D.  Nokes,  treasurer  ; 
George  W.  Curry,  secretary. 

We  have  thus  summed  up  the  history  of  the  city  of  Mt. 
Sterling  and  township,  from  the  first  blow  struck  within 
their  boundaries  to  the  present  time.  It  will  not  be  difficult 
for  the  reader,  pioneer,  or  later  citizen  to  see  the  progress 
they  have  made.  The  country  has  the  soil,  the  wealth  and 
the  people  to  make  greater  developments  within  the  next 
half  century  than  it  has  in  the  past  The  official  census  of 
1880,  records  the  township,  exclusive  of  the  city,  as  contain- 
ing a  population  of  2,781  ;  city,  1,448. 


BIOGRAP.I  I'ICAL    SKETCHES. 


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Robert  N.  Curry,  one  of  the  old  and  representative 
citizens  of  Brown  county,  was  born  on  the  12th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1802.  The  family  is  of  Scotch  descent.  His  grand- 
father, Archibald  Curry,  was  born  in  Scotland  on  the  first 
day  of  January,  1728.  In  the  year  1757  he  married  Sarah 
McDonald.  On  his  emigration  to  America  he  settled  in 
Maryland,  and  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  moved  to 
Kentucky ;  he  died  in  Scott  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  26th 
of  December,  1816. 

Alexander  Curry,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  the  sixth  of  a  family  of  nine  children  ;  he  was  born  in 
Maryland  on  the  14th  of  October,  1770,  and  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter.  His  marriage 
to  Elizabeth  Nutter  (who  was  born  in  the  state  of  Dela- 
ware, near  Dover,  on  the  26th  of  August,  1776),  occurred 
on  the  1st  of  August,  1799.  In  the  year  1830  he  moved 
from  Scott  county,  Kentucky,  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in 
what  is  now  Brown,  then  Schuyler  county.  He  was  the 
original  proprietor  of  the  town  site  of  Mt.  Sterling,  having 
entered  in  October,  1830,  the  land  on  which  the  town  was 


afterward  built.  He  was  at  one  time  school  commissioner 
of  Schuyler  county  ;  for  a  number  of  years  he  filled  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace,  and  was  the  first  postmaster  of 
Mt.  Sterling.  He  had  united  with  the  Presbyterian  church 
in  Kentucky,  and  assisted  in  organizing  the  church  of  that 
denomination  at  Mt.  Sterling.  The  lot  on  which  the  Pres- 
byterian church  edifice  now  stands  was  his  gift  to  the 
society.  He  died  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  January, 
1 842.  The  death  of  his  wife  occurred  on  the  8th  of  August, 
1846.  He  was  the  father  of  nine  children  :  Daniel,  Robert 
N,  John,  Olivia,  Sally,  Nancy,  Leah,  Mary  and  Harriet. 
Daniel,  Olivia,  Sally  and  Nancy  are  dead ;  the  others  re- 
side in  Brown  county.  Of  the  three  daughters  living,  Leah 
married  "Jacob  Vandeventer,  for  many  years  county  clerk, 
and  afterwards  county  judge  of  Brown  county  ;  Mary  mar- 
ried George  R.  Givens,  and  Harriet,  William  Taylor. 

The  birth- place  of  Robert  N.  Curry  was  within  six  miles 
of  Georgetown,  in  Scott  county,  Kentucky ;  he  was  raised 
on  a  farm.  The  schools  of  the  neighborhood  in  which  he 
lived  were  as  good  as  were  usually  found  in  old  settled  com- 

255 


256 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


munities  in  the  western  states,  and  afforded  Mr.  Curry  an 
opportunity  for  obtaining  a  sound  English  education.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen  he  began  to  learn  the  trade  of  windsor- 
chair  maker  and  painter,  at  which  he  worked  mostly  in 
Georgetown,  Kentucky ;  he  also  followed  this  occupation 
for  a  time  at  Richmond,  Kentucky,  and  Indianapolis  Indi- 
ana. Convinced  of  the  advantages  of  a  settlement  in  a  new 
country  where  land  would  be  cheaper,  hi  induced  his  father 
to  leave  Kentucky.  In  the  fall  of -1829  he  and  his  father 
came  to  Illinois,  with  the  view  of  selecting  a  good  location. 
It  had  been  their  intention  to  settle  in  the  Sangamon  country, 
which  had  acquired  a  great  reputation  in  Kentucky  for  the 
advantages  of  its  location  and  the  fertility  of  its  soil ;  but 
on  reaching  that  part  of  the  state,  they  fouud  the  best  of 
the  land  had  been  taken  up  and  was  held  at  a  high  price, 
and  so  they  determined  to  look  further  westward.  After 
leaving  Sangamon  and  Morgan  counties,  they  set  out  for  the 
Bear  creek  country  in  Adams  county.  Coming  by  the  way 
of  Rushville,  they  failed  to  find  a  place  to  stop  over  night 
till  they  reached  Six's  prairie,  at  eight  or  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  Here  they  found  shelter  in  the  log  cabin  of 
William  McDaniel,  then  the  only  building  that  marked  the 
site  of  the  present  town  of  Mt.  Sterling.  A'  that  time  there 
was  no  house  between  McDaniel's  and  Ripley.  The  next 
morning  the  situation  struck  Mr.  Curry's  father  so  favor- 
ably that  he  purchased  McDaniel's  improvement  This  was 
in  October,  1829.  In  the  spring  of  1830  the  whole  family 
moved  from  Kentucky  to  Illinois.  The  next  fall  the  land 
came  into  market,  and  Mr.  Curry  and  his  father  sent  to 
Kdwardsville,  at  that  time  the  location  of  the  land  office, 
and  the  latter  entered  land  on  the  site  of  Mt.  Sterling,  to 
the  amount  of  six  or  eight  hundred  acres. 

In  the  fall  of  1831  Mr.  Curry  went  back  to  Kentucky, 
and  on  the  13th  of  October  married  Amanda  M.  Price,  who 
was  born  in  Scott  county,  Kentucky,  within  a  mile  or  two 
of  Mr.  Curry's  former  home.  Her  parents,  John  Price  and 
Elizabeth  Davis,  were  Virginians.  He  returned  to  Illinois 
with  his  wife  just  before  Christmas,  1831,  and  the  next  year 
built  the  house  which  forms  part  of  his  present  residence  in 
Mt.  Sterling.  The  land  on  which  his  house  stands  he  en- 
tered in  the  spring  of  1832. 

The  various  public  positions  he  has  filled  have  occupied 
much  of  his  time,  though  part  of  his  attention  has  been 
given  to  farming.  He  owned  a  large  part  of  the  original 
tract  on  which  Mt.  Sterling  has  been  built,  and  has  made 
four  additions  to  the  town  plat.  He  was  elected  to  the  office 
of  justice  of  the  peace  in  August,  1835,  while  Brown  county 
was  yet  a  part  of  Schuyler,  and  served  altogether  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  years  as  magistrate.  A  number  of  the  first 
marriages  after  the  organization  of  the  county  are  recorded 
as  performed  by  Mr.  Curry.  The  post-office  at  Mt-  Sterling 
was  established  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Curry's 
father,  who  had  charge  of  it  till  his  death  in  January,  1842. 
On  his  father's  death  Mr.  Curry  was  appointed  postmaster, 
and  held  the  office  until  the  advent  of  the  Democratic 
administration  of  James  K.  Polk,  in  1845  when  he  seut 
in  his  resignation.  When  the  Whigs  again  came  into 
power  at  Washington,  he  was  the  second   time  appointed   ! 


postmaster,  and  served  as  such  till  another  change  of  ad- 
ministration, when  he  again  resigned.  He  has  filled  the 
offices  of  both  county  and  circuit  clerk ;  he  was  appointed 
county  clerk  March,  1847,  to  fill  a  vacancy  caused  by  the 
removal  from  offiee  of  the  regularly  elected  officer,  and 
served  till  a  new  clerk  was  elected  by  the  people.  He 
acted  as  a  circuit  clerk  in  1853;  for  several  years  he  also 
served  as  master  in  chancery. 

He  was  one  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  en- 
listing in  the  spring  of  1831  in  a  company  raised  in  Schuy- 
ler county,  and  commanded  by  Hart  Fellows,  serving 
through  the  campaign  of  that  year.  In  1835  he  raised  a 
company  of  Independent  riflemen,  of  which  he  was  captain. 
This  company  was  on  duty  at  the  hanging  of  the  McFad- 
dens  at  Rushville,  in  July,  1835.  He  afterward  became  a 
major  in  command  of  a  battalion  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Regi- 
ment of  Illinois  Militia. 

In  his  politics  he  was  first  a  member  of  the  Whig  party, 
and  cast  his  first  vote  for  President  for  Henry  Clay,  at  the 
presidential  election  of  1824.  Mr.  Curry  was  raised  within 
a  distance  of  sixteen  miles  from  the  home  of  the  great  Ken- 
tucky statesman  and  orator,  aud  at  Georgetown  and  other 
places  heard  him  speak  frequently  previous  to  his  removal 
to  Illinois.  Since  the  war  he  has  been  a  Republican.  His 
wife  died  on  the  11th  of  February,  1857;  he  has  had  nine 
children.  Of  these  Mary  Elizabeth,  Laura  Ann,  John 
Henderson,  America  Maria  and  Amanda  Malvina  are  de- 
ceased. Of  those  living,  Julius  Varien,  George  Washington 
and  Robert  Thomas  are  citizens  of  Mt.  Sterling.  Emily 
Jane,  the  only  surviving  daughter,  is  the  wife  of  Robert  S. 
Hagens,  of  Muscatine,  Iowa. 

He  became  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  church  in 
1837,  and  since  1838  has  filled  the  position  of  elder.  For 
half  a  century  he  has  been  a  temperance  man  in  faith  and 
practice,  aud  during  that  period  has  not  tasted  intoxicating 
liquors,  except  on  a  physiciau's  advice.  After  the  organiza- 
tion of  Hardin  Lodge,  No.  44,  Ancient  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons,  he  was  one  of  the  first  persons  initiated  by  the 
new  lodge,  aud  is  now  its  oldest  surviving  member.  Few 
men  are  now  living  who  made  their  homes  in  what  is 
now  Brown  county  at  a  period  so  early  as  himself.  He 
retains  a  vigor  of  mind  and  a  command  of  his  intellectual 
faculties  remarkable  for  one  who  has  attained  the  age  of 
four-score.  He  has  been  a  man  of  liberal  and  progressive 
ideas,  and  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  advance  the  growth 
and  prosperity  of  Mt.  Sterling,  while  as  a  business  man  and 
a  citizen,  he  has  commanded  the  respect  of  the  community 
and  the  good  opinion  of  his  fellow  men. 


ELIAS  F.  CRANE, 

• 

The  oldest  merchant  now  ctrryiug  on  business  at  Mt. 
Sterling.  Elias  F.  Crane  was  born  in  New  York  city  on  the 
first  of  October,  1819.  Three  brothers  of  the  name  of  Crane, 
to  escape  religious  persecution  in  England  during  the  reign 
of  Charles  II,  came  to  America  aud  sett'ed  in  Connecticut 
One  of  these  brothers   removed  to  Elizabeth,  New   Jersey, 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


257 


where  his  descendants  have  since  lived  for  several  genera- 
tions. Andrew  Crane,  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
biography,  was  the  owner  of  a  mill  on  the  Elizabeth  river 
adjoining  the  town  of  that  name,  Drake  Crane,  his  father 
was  born  and  raised  in  Elizabeth,  and  married  Elizabeth 
Woodruff,  daughter  of  Seth  Woodruff  who  resided  on  a  farm 
between  Elizabeth  and  Newark  and  who  during  the  war  of 
the  Revolution  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  British  and  con- 
fined in  the  old  Sugar  House  prison  in  New  York  city. 
Drake  Crane,  during  the  war  of  1812-14,  was  a  member  of 
a  Isevt  York  artillery  regiment,  and  took  part  in  some  of 
the  campaigns. 

E  F.  Crane  was  the  youngest  of  five  children  of  whom 
three  grew  to  maturity.  His  early  life  was  spent  in  New 
York  city.  His  father  died  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age.  The  public  schools  gave  him  a  good  opportunity  for 
obtaining  an  education,  but  at  fourteen  he  entered  into  the 
mercantile  business  which  he  has  since  followed  without  in- 
terruption. For  seven  years  he  was  in  the  importing  house 
of  John  Rankin,  first  serving  as  a  clerk  and  afterward  as 
book-keeper.  In  1840,  when  twenty-one  (21 J  years  of  age, 
he  began  business  for  himself  as  a  retail  dealer  in  dry  goods 
in  New  York  city.  Part  of  his  capital  he  had  saved  from 
his  wages  as  clerk.  In  April,  1842,  he  married  Catharine 
B.  Priest,  daughter  of  F.  D.  Priest,  a  resident  of  Philadel- 
phia. He  continued  in  business  in  New  York  till  August 
1843.  Thinking  the  west  offered  better  opportunities  for 
business  enterprises,  he  then  removed  to  Logansport,  Indiana, 
where  he  opened  a  general  store.  Logansport  at  that  time 
was  just  beginning  a  rapid  growth  by  reason  of  the  opening 
of  the  Wabash  canal.  When  he  made  arrangments  to  go 
into  business  there  were  only  four  stores  in  the  place.  Two 
months  afterward  the  number  had  reached  twelve,  and  the 
mercantile  business  thenceforward  increased  so  rapidly  and 
competition  became  so  great,  that  in  the  spring  of  1844,  he 
changed  his  location  to  New  Albany,  taking  his  stock  of 
goods  by  canal  to  the  Wabash  and  thence  down  that  river 
and  up  the  Ohio.  New  Albany  at  that  time  was  a  thriving 
place  of  about  ten  thousand  inhabitants-  He  established  a 
store  in  that  town  and  also  one  at  Bloomfield  on  the  White 
river,  one  hundred  miles  north.  A  Mr.  Johnson  was  his 
partner.  He  spent  the  winter  of  1845-46  at  Bloomfield, 
and  there  constructed  two  flat  boats,  in  one  of  which,  in  the 
spring  of  1846  he  floated  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  to 
New  Orleans  and  there  disposed  of  a  boat  load  of  produce. 
On  his  return  his  business  connection  with  Mr.  Johnson  was 
dissolved,  and  he  assumed  entire  charge  of  the  store  at  New 
Albany,  which  he  carried  on  till  the  close  of  the  year  1846. 
One  of  the  pioneer  merchants  of  Mt.  Sterling,  R.  H. 
Hurlburt,  then  resided  at  New  Albany  though  he  still  re- 
tained an  interest  in  his  Mt.  Sterling  store.  Mr.  Crane 
made  his  acquaintance,  and  from  him  gained  some  know- 
ledge of  the  advantages  of  this  part  of  Illinois  as  a  place  for 
business.  Having  determined  to  leave  New  Albany  he  re- 
solved to  come  to  Mt.  Sterling.  At  that  time  he  knew  not 
a  single  person  in  Brown  county.  He  brought  with  him 
his  stock  of  goods,  journeying  by  steamer  down  the  Ohio  and 
up  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  rivers  to  LaGrarge.  Mt.  Ster- 


ling then  had  a  population  of  about  eight  hundred.  Mails 
were  slow  and  the  letter  in  which  he  notified  his  wife,  then 
in  New  York,  of  his  arrival,  was  a  month  in  reaching  its 
destination.  He  rented  a  vacant  building  adjoining  the 
present  Masonic  hall,  and  on  the  twenty-first  (21)  of  Decem- 
ber, 1846,  made  his  first  sale  of  goods.  He  afterward  rented 
a  frame  building  on  Main  street  in  which  for  some  years  he 
carried  on  business.  This  in  1863,  gave  place  to  the 
present  spacious  brick  structure  in  which  business  is  now  con- 
ducted by  the  firm  of  E.  F.  and  F.  D.  Crane.  The  latter, 
his  son,  for  a  time  carried  on  the  mercantile  business  on  his 
own  account,  but  the  stores  have  been  consolidated  and  the 
present  partnership  formed.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the 
other  dry  goods  stores  in  Mt.  Sterling  are  now  carried  on  by 
persons  who  served  clerkships  and  learned  the  business  in 
either  the  store  of  Mr.  Crane  or  that  of  his  son. 

He  has  also  made  mercantile  ventures  at  other  places. 
He  was  a  partner  in  the  first  store  started  at  Hersman  sta- 
tion, and  has  had  branch  stores  at  Cooperstown,  Mason  City 
and  Delavan.  In  1861  he  furnished  the  capital  with  which 
a  store,  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Q.  Burgesser,  was  opened  at 
Clayton.  He  now  has  stores  at  Versailles,  Mound  station,  and 
at  Greenview  in  Menard  county.  The  first  National  Bank 
of  Mt.  Sterling,  the  only  national  bank  that  ever  existed  in 
Brown  county,  was  established  in  1878  with  Mr.  Crane  as 
president,  and  his  son,  F.  D.  Crane,  as  cashier.  A  considera- 
ble part  of  the  capital  was  furnished  by  him  and  his  son. 
In  1872  he  made  a  six  months'  tour  of  the  countries  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  principal  places  were  vis- 
ited in  France,  Italy,  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and 
some  time  spent  in  Egypt,  Palestine  and  Turkey. 

In  his  political  views  he  was  first  a  Whig,  and  since  the 
dissolution  of  the  Whig  party  has  been  a  Republican.  His 
time  has  been  closely  devoted  to  his  business  and  he  has  never 
held  public  office.  For  many  years  he  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  church.  He  has  been  an  active  sup- 
porter of  religious  and  moral  movements  and  a  liberal  con- 
tributor to  the  erection  of  church  buildings  and  various 
charitable  and  religious  enterprises.  His  success  in  life,  and 
his  present  vigorous  health,  he  believes  he  partly  owes  to  his 
temperate  habits  and  abstinence  from  the  use  of  tobacco  and 
intoxicating  liquors.  Of  his  two  children  David,  who  for 
some  time  was  in  business  with  his  father,  died  in  1870  at 
the  age  of  twenty-six. 

GEORGE  W.  CURRY 

Was  born  at  Mt.  Sterling  on  the  23d  day  of  April,  1827. 
His  father,  Robert  N.  Curry,  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers 
on  the  site  of  Mt.  Sterling ;  his  mother,  Amanda  Price,  was 
a  native  of  Scott  county,  Kentucky ;  he  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  Mt.  Sterling.  In  1859  he  was  one  of  the 
number  who  went  to  Pike's  Peak,  Colorado,  attracted  by 
the  news  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  that  locaiity  ;  he  also 
spent  the  summer  of  1860  in  the  same  region. 

October  28,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  company  K,  Tenth  Illi- 
nois Cavalry,  for  service  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion  ;  he  was 
commissioned  as  second  lieutenant.     After  leaving  Spring- 


258 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


field  the  regiment  spent  some  time  at  Quincy  and  St.  Louis, 
and  reached  Rolla,  Missouri,  in  April,  1862,  marching  thence 
to  southwest  Missouri.  In  July,  1862,  a  battalion  of  four 
companies,  of  which  Capt.  Curry's  was  one,  joined  the  force 
commanded  by  Gen.  Samuel  Curtis,  at  Jacksonport,  Ark., 
and  shortly  afterward  the  men  had  their  first  considerable 
engagement  with  the  enemy  at  the  battle  of  Cache  river. 
August,  1862,  to  April,  1863,  he  was  stationed  at  Helena, 
Arkansas,  from  which  frequent  expeditions  were  made,  two 
of  which  extended  across  the  state  of  Mississippi,  and  all  of 
them  being  accompanied  by  considerable  fighting.  May, 
1863,  his  company  joined  the  force  under  Gen.  Grant,  be- 
sieging Vicksburg,  and  was  stationed  at  Milliken's  Bend. 
In  the  fight  at  the  latter  place  Capt.  Curry  took  part,  as  he 
did  also  in  the  two  fights  at  Richmond,  Louisiana.  After 
the  surrender  of  Vicksburg  the  regiment  was  again  reunited 
near  Helena,  Arkansas,  and  took  part  in  the  campaign  which 
resulted  in  the  capture  of  Little  Rock ;  he  had  received  a 
commission  as  first  lieutenant  in  June,  1863. 

The  following  December  he  re-enlisted  as  a  veteran,  as 
did  almost  the  entire  regiment,  and  was  given  ihirty  days 
furlough  and  returned  home;  his  regiment  again  took  the 
field  in  February,  1864,  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  but  the 
next  month  went  to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  which  was  their 
base  of  operations  till  September  of  the  same  year.  During 
this  time  they  were  constantly  engaged  in  expeditions,  and 
frequently  came  in  conflict  with  the  rebel  cavalry  forces 
under  Marraaduke  and  Shelby.  The  winter  of  1864-65 
was  spent  at  Brownsville,  Arkansas,  and  while  there  the 
regiment  was  reorganized,  and  Capt.  Curry  assumed  com- 
mand of  company  D,  mainly  composed  of  the  same  men  as  the 
former  company  K,  in  which  he  had  originally  enlisted ;  his 
commission  as  captain  dated  from  the  3d  of  June,  1864. 
March,  1865,  the  regiment  was  sent  to  New  Orleans,  and 
remained  there  until  the  following  June.  While  at  New 
Orleans  the  news  of  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln 
reached  the  city,  and  the  presence  of  the  Tenth  Illinois 
cavalry,  which  patrolled  the  streets,  quelled  the  riotous  dis- 
turbances, stopped  the  assassination  of  the  negroes,  and  in 
the  opinion  of  the  commanding  general,  saved  the  city  from 
destruction.  On  the  5th  day  of  May,  1865,  Capt.  Curry 
accomplished  the  destruction  of  the  rebel  ram  "Webb," 
which  had  come  out  of  Red  river,  run  the  blockade  at  New 
Orleans,  and  was  seeking  to  escape  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
When  the  ram  passed  the  city  Capt.  Curry  was  sent  in  pur- 
suit with  his  own  company  and  company  G.  The  ram  had 
been  blown  up,  and  the  crew  were  overtaken  in  a  swamp, 
thirty  miles  down  the  Mississippi.  They  surrendered,  and 
Capt.  Curry  had  the  honor  of  escorting  back  to  New  Orleans 
about  the  last  rebel  prisoners  taken  during  the  war.  June, 
1865,  the  regimentwas  sent  to  Shreveport,  Louisiana, thence 
to  Marshall,  Texas,  and  thence  to  San  Antonia.  At  the  last 
place  he  was  mustered  out  on  the  22d  day  of  November, 
1865.  He  was  honorably  discharged  at  Springfield,  in  this 
state,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1 866. 

He  then  returned  to  Mt.  Sterling,  and  in  partnership  with 
George  Hersman,  engaged  in  the  lumber  business.  He  and 
Mr.  Hersman,  in  1868  built  the  flouring  mill  at  Hersman. 


In  1869  he  went  to  Chetopa,  Labette  county,  Kansas,  where 
for  two  years  he  carried  on  the  mercantile  business.  Jan- 
uary 3d,  1870,  he  married  Irene  Summers  of  Louisiana, 
Missouri.  In  1871  he  returned  to  Mt.  Sterling,  of  which 
place  he  has  since  been  a  resident.  Since  the  war  he  has 
been  a  Republican.  In  1876  he  was  a  candidate  for  the 
office  of  county  clerk  in  opposition  to  the  regular  Dem- 
ocratic nominee,  and  came  within  seventeen  votes  of  being 
elected,  although  the  Democratic  presidential  ticket  was 
carried  in  the  county  at  the  same  election  by  about  six  hun- 
dred majority.     He  has  two  children,  George  S.  and  Ruby. 


THOMAS  JONES. 

Within  four  miles  of  Hereford,  the  county  town  of  Here- 
fordshire, England,  was  born  Thomas  Jones,  on  the  7th  of 
October,  1824.  He  was  the  second  of  five  children  of  John 
and  Lydia  Jones.  His  mother's  name,  before  marriage,  was 
Trull.  He  was  brought  up  near  Hereford,  doing  farm  labor 
in  his  boyhood  till  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  when  he  began 
to  learn  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  at  which  he  served  an  ap- 
prenticeship of  four  years.  He  was  employed  at  this  occu- 
pation during  the  remainder  of  his  stay  in  England.  On 
the  12th  of  March,  1850,  he.  was  united  in  marriage  to  Jane 
Preece,  and  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month  sailed  for  the 
United  States.  Landing  at  New  York,  he  went  first  to 
Lawrence  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  there  engaged  in 
work  at  his  trade  till  April,  1851,  when  he  came  to  the 
west,  and  settled  at  Mt.  Sterling.  In  1856  he  purchased 
his  present  farm,  situated  in  sections  eleven,  twelve,  thir- 
teen, and' fourteen  of  township  one  south,  range  three  west. 
He  moved  on  this  farm  on  the  1st  of  March,  1858,  and  has 
since  carried  on  farming ;  though  up  to  1871  he  was  also 
employed,  at  intervals,  at  his  trade  of  a  carpenter.  On  the 
27th  of  March,  1871,  occurred  the  death  of  his  first  wife. 
He  was  married  again  on  the  15th  of  November,  1877,  to 
Nancy  Minerva  Gillenwaters,  who  was  born  in  the  neigh- 
boring county  of  Schuyler.  He  has  eleven  children  living, 
eight  by  his  first,  and  three  by  his  second  marriage.  They 
are  as  follows :  America  Jane,  wife  of  Henry  Bartlett ; 
Elmira  Ann,  Henry  Clay,  Walter  Witty,  Thomas  Preece, 
Orville  Aaron,  Susan  Witty,  Lilly  May,  Robert  Wilkins, 
John  Phipps,  and  Margaret  Minerva.  The  last  three  are 
by  his  present  marriage. 

He  is  one  of  the  large  farmers  of  Mt.  Sterling  township, 
and  owns  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land.  His  in- 
dustry and  energy  have  brought  him  to  a  position  where  he 
is  independent  in  circumstances,  as  far  as  this  world's  goods 
are  concerned.  He  was  originally  a  Whig  in  politics,  and 
afterwards  became  a  member  of  the  Democratic  party,  to 
which  he  is  now  attached.  He  is  liberal  and  independent 
in  his  views,  and  believes  in  the  election  of  competent  and 
desirable  men  to  local  offices,  without  regard  to  politics.  In 
1870,  and  again  in  1871,  he  represented  Mt.  Sterling  town- 
ship on  the  board  of  supervisors.  The  present  court-house 
at  Mt.  Sterling  is  the  work  of  Mr.  Jones  as  a  builder.  He 
took  the  contract  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1866,  and  com- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,,  ILLINOIS. 


259 


pleted  the  structure  the  next  year,  furnishing  a  building 
which  entirely  met  the  expectations  of  the  people  of  the 
county,  and  gave  satisfaction  to  the  building  committee  which 
had  charge  of  its  construction.  He  is  well  known  as  a  citi- 
zen, and  many  buildings  throughout  the  county  stand  as 
a  monument  of  his  skill  and  industry  as  an  architect  and 
builder.  He  came  tc  this  country  eight  dollars  in  debt,  and 
his  career  affords  a  good  example  of  a  self-made  man  who 
has  succeeded  in  life  by  means  of  his  own  energy.  He  can 
look  with  satisfaction  at  what  he  has  accomplished  as  the 
result  of  his  own  labor. 


PHILIP  A.  HOWES 
Was  born  in  Ashfield,  Franklin  county,  Massachusetts,  June 
11th,  1804.  The  Howes  family  came  from  the  old  Pu- 
ritan stock.  His  grandfather,  Thomas  Howes,  was  a  fisher- 
man of  Cape  Cod.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  sev- 
enth of  a  family  of  nine  children  of  Joseph  and  Lois 
(Shurtleff)  Howes.  When  an  infant  his  father  removed 
with  the  family  to  Charlemont,  and  afterward  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  of  1812-14,  to  Blackstone,  Massachu- 
setts. At  the  latter  place  he  worked  two  years  in  a  cotton 
factory,  and  subsequently  one  year  at  Northbridge.  The 
family  then  returned  to  the  farm  at  Charlemont.  His  ser- 
vice in  the  cotton  factory  interrupted  his  attendance  at  school, 
and  he  had  only  ordinary  advantages  for  obtaining  an  edu- 
cation. In  1820  the  family  moved  to  what  was  then  Lewis, 
now  Upshur  county,  West  Virginia.  Here  Mr.  Howes 
worked  on  a  farm,  and  likewise  as  a  millwright,  and  at  other 
mechanical  occupations. 

In  the  fall  of  1830  he  came  to  Illinois  with  the  families  of 
Oliver  Howes,  William  J.  Davis,  David  Bush  and  Ezra 
Ward.  These  families  settled  in  what  is  now  Lee  township, 
Brown  county.  In  June,  1831,  he  enlisted  in  Capt.  Peter 
C  Vance's  company,  and  served  during  the  campaign  of  that 
year  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  On  his  return  he  began  work 
at  the  carpenter's  trade  at  Rushville.  August  1st,  1833,  he 
married  Jane  McCormick,  a  native  of  Fayette  county,  Penn- 
sylvania. In  the  fall  of  1835,  he  moved  to  the  farm  in  Mt. 
Sterling  township,  on  which  he  has  now  lived  forty-seven 
years.  During  the  fall  seasons  he  had  formerly  worked  at 
the  carpenter's  trade,  and  many  of  the  buildings  of  the 
neighborhood  are  the  work  of  his  hands.  His  farm  consists 
of  three  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  has  three  children  liv- 
ing, Ann,  Charles  and  Harrison.  His  youngest  son,  Francis, 
enlisted  in  the  119th  regiment,  Illinois  Volunteers,  during 
the  war  of  the  rebellion,  and  died  at  Memphis,  Tennessee, 
June,  1863. 

He  was  first  a  Whig  in  politics,  and  voted  for  the  candi- 
dates of  that  organization  up  to  the  formation  of  the  Re- 
publican party.  He  was  one  of  the  original  Republicans  of 
Brown  county,  and  presided  over  the  public  meeting  held  at 
Mt.  Sterling  at  which  a  Republican  organization  in  the 
county  was  first  effected.  In  West  Virginia  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  old  Christian  church.  He  became  connected  with 
the  Christian  church  in  this  county  and  was  made  an  elder. 
On  the  23rd  day  of  July,  1876,  occurred  the  death  of 
his  wife. 


JOHN  J.  TEEFEY. 

Newport,  Tipperary  county,  Ireland,  was  the  birthplace 
of  Mr.  Teefey,  and  he  first  saw  the  light  of  day  on  the 
11th  of  May,  1849.  In  the  spring  of  1850,  his  father, 
John  Teefey,  came  with  the  family  to  America,  and  the  fol- 
lowing October  settled  in  Brown  county.  Mr.  Teefey  was 
raised  on  a  farm  four  miles  northwest  of  Mt.  Sterling.  In 
1872,  he  began  the  study  of  law  in  Mt.  Sterling.  In  1874, 
he  pursued  a  course  of  study  in  the  law  department  of  the 
Iowa  State  University.  In  September  of  that  year,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  and 
at  once  began  practice  at  Mt.  Sterling.  He  was  married 
on  the  22d  of  May,  1877,  to  Mary  E.  Kennedy,  who 
was  born  at  Quincy,  in  Adams  county,  but  was  a  resident 
of  Brown  county  at  the  time  of  her  maruagc.  He  has  two 
children,  Bessie  and  Nellie.  In  his  political  opinions  he  is 
a  Democrat,  and  is  one  of  the  active  supporters  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  in  Brown  county.  His  personal  characteristics 
have  placed  him  on  good  terms  with  the  people,  and  he  has 
been  elected  to  several  positions  of  trust  and  honor.  From 
April,  1875,  he  has  filled  the  office  of  city  attorney  of  Mt. 
Sterling,  having  been  reelected  in  1877,  1879,  and  1881. 
He  was  elected  State's  attorney,  November,  1875,  to  fill  a 
vacancy,  and  was  re-elected  in  1876  and  1880,  and  is  the 
present  incumbent  of  that  office.  He  represented  Mt.  Ster- 
ling township  on  the  board  of  supervisors  in  1881  and  1882, 
and  the  latter  year  was  made  chairman  of  the  board. 


WILLIAM  W.  BAXTER,  M.  D. 

Dr.  William  W.  Baxter,  who  has  been  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  medicine  in  Brown  county,  since  1869,  was  born 
in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  on  the  1st  of  September,  1840.  His 
father,  William  B.  Baxter,  a  native  of  Hillsborough,  New 
Hampshire,  belonged  to  the  old  Puritan  stock  which  settled 
New  England.  His  paternal  grandfather  was  a  soldier  in 
the  war  of  the  Revolution.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Judith  Mears,  died  when  he  was  only  four  weeks  old. 
He  was  brought  up  from  this  tender  age,  by  his  grand- 
parents on  his  mother's  side,  who  were  residents  of  Danville, 
Caledonia  county,  Vermont.  There  Dr.  Baxter  spent  his 
boyhood  days.  The  academies  of  Peacham,  Derby,  St. 
Johnsbury  and  Danville,  gave  him  excellent  opportunities 
for  obtaining  an  education.  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  began 
teaching  school  in  Wheelock,  an  adjoining  town  to  Danville. 
He  taught  four  years  in  succession  in  the  same  district.  He 
taught  school  eighteen  terms,  and  during  the  last  three  years 
of  his  service  as  a  teacher,  he  was  superintendent  of  the 
schools  of  Wheelock. 

He  had  acquired  some  knowledge  of  medicine  in  Vermont, 
and  in  1867  came  west,  and  pursued  its  further  study  with 
Dr.  Moses  Wilson,  at  Griggsville,  Pike  county.  He  en- 
tered the  Bellevue  Medical  College,  of  New  York  city,  in 
the  fall  of  1868,  and  there  attended  lectures.  May,  1869, 
he  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Hersman.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1870-1871,  he  attended  lectures  at  the 


260 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  and  received  his  degree  of 
M.  D.  from  that  institution  in  the  spring  of  1871.  He  has 
since  been  occupied  with  the  duties  of  his  profession,  at 
Hersman.  January,  1872,  he  married  Ella  Hersman, 
daughter  of  Michael  Hersman,  one  of  the  early  residents  of 
Browu  county.  His  three  children  are :  Freddie  W., 
Mabel  E.  and  Bertha  J.  In  his  political  opinions,  he  has 
always  been  a  Democrat.  In  1877,  he  was  elected  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  and  is  now  serving  his  second  term  in  that 
position.  He  is  a  member  of  Hardin  Masonic  Lodge,  No. 
44,  at  Mt.  Sterling. 

FRANK  ORR. 

Frank  Orr,  the  present  circuit  clerk  of  Brown  county,  is 
a  native  of  Ohio,  fmd  was  born  in  Harrison  county  of  that 
State,  on  the  8th  of  September,  1852.  His  father  was 
named  John  Orr.  The  maiden  name  of  his  mother  was  Ary 
Moore.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  youngest  of  ten 
children.  In  1853,  when  Mr.  Orr  was  less  than  a  year  old, 
the  family  removed  from  Ohio  to  Pike  county,  in  this  State, 
and  settled  on  a  farm  in  the  northern  part  of  that  county. 
There  he  grew  up  to  manhood,  obtaining  a  good  education 
in  the  common  schools  of  that  part  of  Pike  county  in  which 
he  lived.  He  became  a  resident  of  Brown  county  in  1874, 
at  which  time  he  settled  in  Buckhorn  township.  In  his 
politics  he  had  always  been  a  Democrat,  and  in  1880  the 
Democrats  of  Brown  county  made  him  their  candidate  for 
the  office  of  circuit  clerk.  To  this  position  he  was  elected, 
and  its  duties  he  has  discharged  in  a  creditable  and  satisfac- 
tory manner.  He  was  married  in  1873  to  Sarah  Rulon,  of 
Brown  county,  who  died  in  1875.  As  a  public  official,  his 
courteous  and  agreeable  manners  and  attention  to  business 
have  given  him  a  deservedly  high  place  in  the  estimation  of 
the  people  of  the  country. 


EUGENE  C.  BROCKMAN. 

Eugene  C.  Brockman,  editor  of  the  Illtnois  Weekly 
Message,  was  born  in  Brown  county,  on  the  27th  of 
April,  1851.  His  father,  James  Brockman,  was  a  Ken- 
tuckian.  He  came  to  Brown  county,  then  a  part  of  Schuy- 
ler, in  the  spring  of  1835.  In  1836,  he  married  Sophia 
Price.  After  her  death,  he  married  as  his  second  wife,  Mary 
Burton,  a  native  of  Adair  county,  Kentucky.  The  first 
year  after  the  organization  of  Brown  county,  James  Brock- 
man was  appointed  clerk  of  the  circuit  court,  a  position 
which  he  filled  until  his  death,  in  1853.  He  was  a  fine  pen- 
man, a  man  of  superior  business  abilities,  and  filled  the  office 
of  circuit  clerk  with  great  satisfaction  to  the  people  of  the 
county.  He  had  six  children,  three  by  his  first  and  three 
by  his  second  marriage.  Of  these,  three  are  now  living : 
Washington  and  Eugene  C,  residents  of  Mt.  Sterling,  and 
James,  now  living  at  Cameron,  Missouri. 

The  youngest  of  the  children,  Eugene,  was  brought  up  at 
Mt.  Sterling.     In  May,  1863,  when  twelve  years  of  age,  he 


began  learning  the  printing  business,  in  the  office  of  the 
Record,  then  published  by  J.he  Brooks  brothers.  In  1864, 
he  became  clerk  in  the  store  of  his  uncle,  Joseph  Burton,  in 
Macomb.  In  1865,  he  returned  to  Mt.  Sterling  and  resumed 
work  at  the  printing  business.  During  a  few  months  in 
1866,  he  was  clerk  in  a  store  at  Mt.  Sterling,  and  then  went 
back  to  the  printing  business,  though  subsequently,  in  1870 
and  1871,  he  was  employed  in  a  store  at  Mt.  Sterling 
eighteen  months.  During  the  summer  of  1871,  he  was  in  a 
printing  office  at  Chetopa,  Kansas,  returning  to  Illinois  in 
the  fall  of  that  year  and  finding  employment  in  the  Herald 
office,  at  Quincy.  January,  1872,  in  company  with  Henry 
A.  Glenn,  on  small  capital,  he  established  the  Illinois 
Weekly  Message,  at  Mt.  Sterling.  For  a  few  months  the 
paper  was  printed  in  Quincy,  where  Mr.  Brockman  was  still 
employed.  A  complete  newspaper  outfit  was  purchased  in 
June,  1872,  and  the  paper  placed  on  a  firm  and  substantial 
basis.  Mr.  Glenn's  interest  was  subsequently  purchased  by 
Martin  Brooks,  but  since  January,  1876,  Mr.  Brockman  has 
been  sole  proprietor  of  the  paper.  It  has  been  published 
with  success,  and  is  edited  in  the  interests  of  the  Democratic 
party,  to  whose  principles  Mr.  Brockman  .has  always  been 
ardently  attached. 

He  was  city  clerk  of  Mt.  Sterling  in  1875, 1876, 1877  and 
1878,  and  was  the  first  to  fill  that  office  after  the  adoption 
of  a  city  charter.  In  1878,  1879  and  1880,  he  acted  as 
clerk  of  Mt.  Sterling  township.  He  served  as  mayor  of 
Mt.  Sterling  in  1879  and  1880.  He  was  married  in  October, 
1875,  to  Bertha  S.  Littlefield,  who,  like  himself,  is  a  native 
of  Mt.  Sterling.  Edna  N.,  Sada  I.  and  Leon  L.,  are  the 
names  of  his  three  children. 


GEORGE  H.  TEBO,  M.  D. 

Dr.  George  H.  Tebo  was  born  at  Greensburg,  Indiana, 
July  1st,  1838.  His  ancestors,  on  his  father's  side,  were  of 
French  descent.  His  grandfather  emigrated  from  France 
to  America,  and  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  Wheeling,  West 
Virginia.  The  family  name  was  originally  spelled  Thibo- 
daux,  and  was  thus  written  by  Dr.  Tebo's  grandfather,  but 
subsequently  in  Kentucky  it  became  corrupted  to  its  present 
form.  George  Tebo,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  at  Wheeling  in  the  year  1809.  He  went  to  Kentucky 
in  1827  or  1828,  and  there  shortly  afterward  married  Nancy 
G.  Brockman,  sister  of  James  Brockman,  who,  in  the  early 
history  of  Brown  county,  for  many  years,  filled  the  office  of 
circuit  clerk.  A  couple  of  years  after  his  marriage  he 
moved  to  Decatur  county,  Indiana,  where  he  resided  till  the 
winter  of  1838-1839,  when  he  became  a  resident  of  Bruwn 
county.  He  died  on  his  farm,  five  miles  east  of  Mt.  Ster- 
ling, in  1877. 

Dr.  Tebo  was  the  third  of  eleven  children,  of  whom  six 
are  now  living.  He  was  six  months  old  when  the  family 
moved  to  this  county.  His  boyhood  days  were  spent  on  a 
farm  five  miles  east  of  Mt.  Sterling.  The  first  school  he 
attended  was  in  a  log  cabin  with  puncheon  floor  and  split 
log  benches.    He  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  1860  with 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


261 


Dr.  James  N.  Allen,  of  Mt.  Sterling.  After  spending  three 
years  under  his  instruction,  he  entered  Rush  Medical  College 
at  Chicago  in  the  fall  of  1863.  During  the  spring  of  1864, 
he  spent  three  months  as  assistant  in  a  government  hospital 
at  Quincy,  the  war  of  the  rebellion  then  being  in  progress, 
and  many  wounded  and  disabled  soldiers  being  sent  there 
for  treatment.  He  began  practice  for  himself  at  Coopers- 
town  in  the  summer  of  1864.  He  attended  lectures  at  Rush 
Medical  College  during  the  winter  of  1871-1872,  and  after 
his  graduation  in  the  spring  of  1872  established  himself  in 
the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Mt.  Sterling.  July,  1864, 
he  married  Mary  E.  Glenn,  daughter  of  Robert  Glenn,  one 
of  the  early  settlers  of  Brown  county.  Of  the  three  children 
by  this  marriage,  one  daughter,  Anna,  is  living.  His  time 
has  been  occupied  with  the  duties  of  his  profession,  and  he 
has  taken  no  active  part  in  politics,  though  in  principle  he 
is  an  earnest  and  sincere  Republican. 


GEORGE  VV.  MEANS. 

The  grandfather  of  Mr.  Means,  George  Means,  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  He  married  Elizabeth  Elton,  and  in  1798 
moved  to  Kentucky,  where  he  died  in  1833.  Of  his  nine 
children,  Robert  Means,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  biogra- 
phy, was  the  oldest.  He  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1796, 
was  raised  in  Lewis  county,  Kentucky,  and  in  1831  married 
Harriet  Debell,  a  native  of  Fleming  county,  Kentucky.  In 
1858,  he  moved  to  Tazewell  county,  Illinois,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  same  year  settled  in  Brown  county,  two  miles  west  of 
Mt.  Sterling,  where  he  died  in  1861.  He  had  been  an  officer 
in  the  militia  organization  in  Kentucky,  and  was  known  by 
the  title  of  "  major."  He  also  acted  as  a  magistrate  be- 
fore coming  to  this  State.  He  was  connected  with  the 
Presbyterian  church.  He  was  a  warm-hearted  man,  honor- 
able in  his  business  transactions,  and  a  good  citizen. 

George  W.  Means  was  born  in  Lewis  county,  Kentucky, 
on  the  8th  of  August,  1834.  He  was  twenty-four  years 
of  age  when  he  came  to  Brown  county-  August,  1862,  he 
enlisted  in  company  E,  One  Hundred  and  Nineteenth  regi- 
ment, Illinois  Volunteers.  He  was  orderly  sergeant  of  his 
company,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  was  commissioned  as 
second  lieutenant'.  He  was  with  his  regiment  in  its  various 
movements,  and  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Fort  Derussy,  the 
battle  of  Pleasant  Hill,  Louisiana,  and  the  battle  at  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee,  in  December,  1864.  From  January  to 
April,  1865,  he  was  under  treatment  in  the  hospital  at 
Memphis.  He  was  mustered  out  at  Mobile,  August,  1865, 
and  was  discharged  at  Springfield  on  the  ninth  of  September. 

He  returned  to  Brown  county,  November  6th,  1866.  He 
married  Remetha,  daughter  of  Jacob  Hersman.  In  1871, 
he  moved  to  his  present  farm  in  section  twenty-seven  (27)  of 
Mt.  Sterling  township.  He  has  five  children,  Robert  A., 
Harriet  H.,  Florence  May,  Henry,  and  Jacob  H.  He  is  a 
Republican  in  politics.  Beside  general  farming,  he  has  paid 
attention  to  the  raising  of  a  superior  grade  of  horses  for  gen- 
eral purposes,  and  is  the  owner  of  Kentucky  Boy,  a  horse 
which  has  been  exhibited  at  fairs  in  various  parts  of  the 


State  for  three  years,  and  who  has  always  succeeded  in  bear- 
ing off  the  first  premium. 

ALEX.  K.  LOWRY, 

Who  began  the  practice  of  law  at  Mt.  Sterling  in  1861,  was 
born  in  Armstrong  county,  Pennsylvania;  on  the  7th  of 
November,  1829.  His  ancestors  were  of  Scotch-Irish  stock, 
and  emigrated  to  this  country  from  the  North  of  Ireland. 
His  grandfather,  Adam  Lowry,  was  born  in  county  Derry, 
Ireland,  and  came  to  America  about  the  year  1785.  He 
settled  in  the  Cumberland  Valley,  near  Chambersburg, 
Franklin  county,  Pennsylvania.  In  that  part  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, Joseph  Lowry,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  the  year  1787.  About  the  year  1812  the  family 
removed  to  Armstrong  county,  in  western  Pennsylvania, 
then  a  wild  and  unsettled  region  of  country.  Here  Joseph 
Lowry  married  Elizabeth  Kerr,  and  afterward  lived  in  that 
part  of  Pennsylvania  till  his  death  in  1853. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  the  eighth  of  a  family 
of  twelve  children.  He  was  raised  on  a  farm  in  Armstrong 
county.  The  common  schools  of  the  neighborhood  fur- 
nished the  means  for  obtaining  an  education.  In  January, 
1855  he  married  Sarah  E.  McCartney,  of  Armstrong  county, 
Pa  ,  and  the  following  April  removed  to  the  West.  With 
the  exception  of  six  months,  during  which  he  lived  in  Ne- 
braska, he  resided  at  Griunell,  Iowa,  from  1855  to  1858. 
He  began  the  study  of  law  in  1857,  and  in  October,  1858, 
in  Poweshiek  county,  Iowa,  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  Im- 
mediately afterward  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  in  February, 
1859,  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Macomb.  In 
June,  1861,  he  became  a  resident  of  Mt.  Sterling.  January, 
1864,  he  removed  to  California,  and  resided  at  Marysville, 
in  that  state,  till  May,  1867,  when  he  returned  to  Mt.  Ster- 
ling and  resumed  the  practice  of  law,  in  which  he  has  since 
been  actively  engaged. 

In  his  politics  he  was  first  a  member  of  the  Democratic 
party,  with  which  he  acted  up  to  a  period  subsequent  to  the 
war,  when  he  became  a  Republican.  He  was  the  first  post- 
master at  Grinnell,  Iowa,  holding  the  appointment  under 
Buchanan's  administration.  In  1861  he  served  as  school 
commissioner  of  Brown  county,  and  in  1863  as  county  treas- 
urer. He  was  the  United  States  Internal  Revenue  Collector 
for  Brown  county  during  part  of  the  years  1867  and  1868. 
He  became  a  member  of  Hardin  Masonic  Lodge,  No.  44,.at 
Mt.  Sterling,  in  1862,  and  either  by  election  or  appointment 
had  filled  every  office  in  the  lodge  with  the  exception  of 
two.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
of  which  he  has  been  treasurer  since  1 870.  For  a  number 
of  years  he  has  been  assistant  superintendent  of  the  Sunday- 
school  connected  with  the  church.  The  death  of  his  first 
wife  took  place  in  November,  1870.  His  second  marriage 
occurred  in  March,  1872,  to  Martha  J.  Means,  daughter  of 
Major  John  Means,  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Brown 
county.  He  has  two  children  by  the  first  marriage,  Clara  B., 
and  Mattie  E.,  both  living.  His  name  is  given  a  place  in 
this  work  as  one  of  the  representative  members  of  the  bar  of 
Brown  county.  * 


■262 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


George  N.  Henry,  who,  in  November,  1877,  was  elected 
county  clerk  of  Brown  county,  is  a  native  of  Cooperstown 
township.  His  father,  Orris  M.  Henry,  and  his  mother, 
whose  name  before  marriage  was  Eliza  Emerick,  were  among 
the  early  residents  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  county.  He 
was  raised  in  Cooperstown  township,  and  obtained  his  edu- 


cation in  the  schools  of  Brown  county.  He  had  always  been 
a  Republican  in  politics,  and  in  1877  became  a  candidate  for 
the  office  of  county  clerk  in  opposition  to  the  regular  Demo- 
cratic nominee.  He  was  elected  by  a  liberal  majority,  and 
has  made  an  efficient  public  officer. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


263 


JACOB  HERSMAN. 

Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  in  the  heart  of  the  Blue  Grass 
region,  was  the  birthplace  of  Jacob  Hersman,  one  of  the  old 
residents  of  Mt.  Sterling  township.  He  is  descended  from 
a  family  of  German  origin.  His  grandfather,  George  Hers- 
man, was  born  in  Germany,  emigrated  to  Kentucky,  first 
lived  in  Virginia,  and  afterward  became  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  Kentucky.  His  father,  Henry  Hersman,  was 
born  in  Virginia,  and  was  ten  years  old  at  the  time  the 
family  settled  in  Kentucky.  He  was  raised  in  Bourbon 
county,  and  married  Elizabeth  Fry,  who  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky. From  Harrison  county,  Kentucky,  he  moved  to 
Brown  county,  Illinois,  in  183-4.  He  died  in  1878  at  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety-three. 

Jacob  Hersman  was  born  on  the  11th  of  August,  1811. 
When  he  was  two  years  old,  his  father  moved  with  the 
family  from  Bourbon  to  Harrison  county,  Kentucky,  and 
there  he  grew  up  to  manhood.  The  schools  of  the  vicinity 
in  which  he  lived  were  of  a  very  ordinary  character,  and  he 
had  meagre  advantages  for  securing  an  education.  These 
advantages  he  improved,  however,  as  best  he  could,  thus 
acquiring  an  education  which  well  fitted  him  for  the  trans- 
action of  the  business  affairs  of  life.  June,  1832,  he  married 
Sarah  Ann  Craig,  of  Harrison  county,  Kentucky.  In  1834, 
he  came  to  Brown  county,  Illinois.  At  that  time  he  had 
but  little  means.  His  ready  money  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  He  purchased  eighty  acres  of  land  in  sec- 
tion twenty-seven,  of  township  one  south,  range  three  west 
for  which  he  went  in  debt,  paying  twenty  per  cent,  interest 
on  the  money.  He  was  industrious  and  energetic,  paid  off 
his  indebtedness,  and  purchased  more  land,  till  he  became 
the  owner  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  On  the  build- 
ing of  the  railroad  through  the  county  a  station  was  estab- 
lished near  his  residence,  called  "  Hersman,"  from  which  a 
thriving  little  town  has  grown.  He  erected  a  store  building 
at  that  place,  in  which,  after  renting  it  some  years  to  other 
parties,  in  1876  he  started  a  mercantile  business  of  his  own, 
which  is  now  carried  on  under  the  name  of  J.  Hersman 
&Co. 

His  first  wife  died  on  the  29th  of  September,  1871.  His 
second  marriage  took  place  on  the  19th  of  February, 
1874,  to  Mrs.  Nancy  Elkin,  a  native  of  Vermont.  He 
has  had  nine  children,  Mary  Jane ;  James  Henry,  who 
is  farming  in  Mt.  Sterling  township ;  Margaret,  who  died  in 
infancy ;  Elizabeth  ft,  who  married  Alexander  Curry,  and 
died  in  1875  ;  Remetha,  the  wife  of  George  W.  Means ;  Wil- 
liam T.,  a  farmer  of  Mt.  Sterling  township;  America,  wife 
of  John  Montgomery  ;  Sarah,  who  married  Dr.  King,  of 
Mt.  Sterling  ;  and  George  Jacob  Hersman.  He  started  out 
in  his  political  course  by  voting  for  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson 
for  President  in  1832.  With  such  a  commencement  it  is 
little  wonder  that  he  has  remained  a  Democrat  ever  since. 
His  time  has  been  occupied  by  his  business  affairs,  and  he 
has  had  little  desire  to  hold  public  office,  though  for  one 
term  of  four  years  he  filled  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace. 
As  a  self-made  man,  who  has  acquired  a  competence  by  his 
own  industry,  a  good  citizen,  an  old  resident  of  the  county, 


and  a  man  of  honorable  business  record,  his  name  is  pre- 
sented to  the  readers  of  this  work. 


JOHN  B.  GLASS. 

Among  the  leading  business  men  of  Brown  county  is  Dr. 
John  B.  Glass,  who  for  the  last  twelve  years  has  been  en- 
gaged in  the  banking  business  at  Mt  Sterling.  His  ancestors 
on  his  father's  side  were  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  His 
grandfather,  James  Glass,  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  came 
to  America,  with  his  father,  when  a  child,  at  a  period  some 
years  previous  to  the  Revolutionary  War.  In  this  war  he 
served  as  a  soldier.  John  Glass,  father  of  the  subject  ofthis 
sketch,  was  born  in  Virginia,  in  October,  1797.  He  was 
raised  partly  in  Pennsylvania,  and  when  a  boy  went  to 
Ohio.  At  Lebanon,  Ohio,  he  married  Hannah  Babb,  who 
was  born  in  Maryland.  Her  father,  John  Babb,  was  in  the 
whole  seven  years'  struggle  of  the  colonies  for  independence, 
took  part  in  several  engagements,  and  was  wounded  in  the 
battle  of  Long  Island.  He  was  of  Welsh  descent,  and  in- 
herited an  unusually  hardy  and  vigorous  constitution.  Not- 
withstanding in  early  life  he  had  undergone  many  hard- 
ships, and  endured  much  exposure,  he  died  in  Indiana  at 
the  advanced  age  of  one  hundred  and  four. 

John  B.  Glass  was  the  eldest  of  five  children.  He  was 
born  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the  16th  of  October,  1823. 
When  he  was  an  infant  his  parents  removed  to  Dearborn 
county,  Indiana,  and  thence  to  the  vicinity  of  Greensburg, 
in  Decatur  county,  of  the  same  state.  In  the  latter  county 
the  greater  part  of  his  boyhood  was  spent.  He  attended  the 
district  schools  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  home,  and  after- 
wards a  seminary  at  Wilmington,  Indiana.  Having  resolved 
on  adopting  the  medical  profession,  he  began  the  study  of 
medicine  at  Napoleon,  Indiana,  in  the  spring  of  1845.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1846-47  he  attended  lectures  at  the  Rush 
Medical  College,  Chicago,  for  which  he  received  a  diploma 
in  the  spring  of  1847.  Immediately  after  his  graduation  he 
established  himself  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Cham- 
bersburg,  in  Pike  county,  of  this  state.  At  this  place,  on 
the  10th  of  August,  1848,  he  married  Miss  Clarinda  Van 
Wey,  who  was  born  at  Chambersburg.  Her  father,  John 
Van  Wey,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  that  part  of  Pike 
county.  In  December,  1848,  Dr.  Glass  changed  his  location 
to  Arenzville,  Cass  county,  and  there  successfully  practiced 
his  profession  for  thirteen  years.  He  resided  subsequently 
two  years  at  Meredosia- 

He  became  a  resident  of  Mt.  Sterling  in  June,  1864.  For 
eight  years  he  gave  attention  to  the  practice  of  medicine, 
which  he  then  abandoned,  to  engage  wholly  in  the  banking 
business.  His  bank,  which  he  opened  in  1870,  is  now  the 
oldest  in  Mt.  Sterling,  and  has  always  had  the  confidence  of 
the  people  of  the  county  as  a  financial  institution,  conducted 
on  a  safe  and  sound  basis.  In  his  politics,  like  his  father 
and  grandfather  before  him,  he  is  a  member  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  which  he  has  always  supported  since  1844, 
when  the  first  ballot  he  ever  cast  helped  to  elect  James  K. 
Polk,    the   Democratic  nominee,  to  the  Presidency  of  the 


264 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


United  States.  His  time  has  been  occupied  by  his  business 
interests,  and  he  has  never  aspired  to  any  position  beyond 
the  private  walks  of  life.  As  a  business  man  he  is  well  and 
favorably  known  throughout  the  county. 


HENRY  K.  DAVIS, 

Editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Brown  County  Democrat,  was 
born  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  on  the  11th  of  April,  1828. 
His  father,  Samuel  H.  Davis,  was  a  native  of  New  York. 
His  mother,  Mary  Brown,  was  born  in  Fauquier  county, 
Va.  Her  ancestors,  for  many  generations,  had  been  resi- 
dents of  the  Old  Dominion.  His  father  was  a  printer  by 
occupation,  having  learned  the  business  at  Albany,  New 
York,  in  the  office  of  Solomon  Southwick,  with  Thurlow 
Weed  as  a  fellow-apprentice.  He  removed  to  Alexandria, 
Va.,  in  the  year  1819,  aDd  in  1821  to  Winchester,  in  the 
same  State,  where  he  published  the  Winchester  Republican. 
He  sold  this  paper  to  James  and  Erastus  Brooks,  afterward 
publishers  of  the  New  York  Express,  and  in  1837  moved  to 
Peoria,  in  this  State,  where  he  established  the  Peoria  Regis- 
ter and  Northwestern  Gazette,  a  journal  concerning  which 
Horace  Greeley  at  one  time  remarked,  that  it  was  the  best 
newspaper  printed  west  of  the  Allegheny  mountains. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  niDe  years  of  age  when  the 
family  removed  from  Virginia  to  Illinois.  He  obtained  his 
education  in  the  schools  of  Peoria.  At  a  very  early  age  he 
began  learning  the  printing  business  in  his  father's  office. 
In  1843,  when  fifteen,  he  went  to  Washington,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  going  into  the  office  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  but 
was  sent  by  its  editor,  Joseph  Gales,  to  a  large  job  office  in 
Baltimore,  where  he  was  employed  three  years.  In  1846  he 
went  to  Chicago,  and  worked  there  as  a  job  printer  till  '49, 
when,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  he  returned  to  Peoria,  and, 
in  partnership  with  Thomas  J.  Pickett,  published  the 
Peoria  Register.  The  same  year  (1849)  these  gentlemen 
established  the  first  daily  paper  ever  issued  in  Peoria,  the 
Daily  Champion.  Their  office  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  Jan., 
1850,  the  lives  of  two  or  three  persons  being  lost  during  the 
progress  of  the  conflagration  by  the  fall  of  the  building. 
From  the  spring  of  1850  to  the  spring  of  1851,  Mr.  Davis 
was  employed  on  the  Globe  at  Washington.  The  latter  year 
he  established  at  Bloomington  the  Illinois  State  Bulletin. 
In  1852  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Democratic  National  Con- 
vention at  Baltimore,  which  nominated  Franklin  Pierce  for 
President  of  the  United  States.  After  his  return,  he  estab- 
lished at  Urbana,  the  Urbana  Union,  of  which  he  had  control 
until  1853. 

From  1853  to  1856  he  was  clerk  in  the  treasury  depart- 
ment at  Washington,  but  subsequently,  for  two  years,  he  was 
connected  with  the  old  Missouri  Democrat,  at  St.  Louis,  as 
foreman  of  the  job  department.  In  1858  he  went  ttf  Lex- 
ington, Missouri,  to  fill  a  place  on  the  Expositor  of  that  town. 
On  account  of  his  Union  sentiments  he  was  obliged  to  leave 
Lexington  at  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion,  but  returned  a 
year  afterward  and  established  the  Lexington  Union.  For 
three  or  four  years  this  was  the  only  paper  published  within 


three  or  four  counties.  The  business  brought  lucrative  re- 
turns to  the  publisher ;  during  1864  and  1865  the  annual 
profits  reaching  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  During  the  war, 
while  a  resident  of  Lexington,  he  was  on  the  staff  of  Gen. 
Richard  C  Vaughan,of  the  Missouri  Enrolled  Militia,  with 
the  rank  of  major.  Gen.  Vaughan's  command,  with  con- 
servative spirit,  did  all  in  its  power  to  save  property  from 
destruction  both  by  bushwhackers  and  jayhawkers,  and  pre- 
vented in  a  great  degree  the  devastation  with  which  some  of 
the  western  counties  of  Missouri  was  visited.. 

In  May,  1867,  he  embarked  the  means  he  had  accumulated 
at  Lexington  in  the  Kansas  City  Daily  Commercial  Advertiser* 
The  paper  lost  money  rapidly  during  the  year  he  was  con. 
nected  with  it,  and  he  left  it  in  1868  to  establish  a  job  printing 
office  in  Kansas  City,  which,  in  1870,  he  disposed  of  to  the 
firm  of  Ramsey,  Millet  &  Hudson.  From  1870  to  1872  he 
was  employed  on  the  St.  Louis  Republican-  The  latter  year 
he  went  to  Texas,  and  at  Paris,  in  partnership  with  F.  W- 
Minor,  the  present  United  States  District  Attorney  for  Texas, 
started  the  Chartist.  From  Texas  he  came  to  Mt  Sterling  in 
December,  1874,  and  purchased  the  Brown  County  Democrat. 
At  that  time  this  paper  had  a  circulation  of  about  five  hun- 
dred copies.  His  success  is  best  told  by  mention  of  the  fact 
that  the  circulation  has  been  increased  to  twelve  hundred 
copies,  and  that  the  paper  has  the  reputation  of  being  one  of 
the  leading  democratic  journals  in  this  part  of  the  State. 

His  marriage  occurred  on  the  15th  of  March,  I860,  to  Miss 
Mary  Davis,  of  Lexington,  Missouri.  Of  his  eight  children, 
five — whose  names  are  William,  John  Young,  Robert  Lee, 
Charles  Mitchell,  and  Richard — are  living."  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  denomination,  and  was  mainly 
instrumental  in  the  organization  of  St.  Mark's  Mission  Church 
in  1879,  of  which  he  is  one  of  the  wardens. 


MOSES  BLACK. 

The  ancestry  of  Mr.  Black  were  Scotch  Irish,  and  removed 
from  Scotland  to  the*  county  Londonderry,  Ireland,  to 
escape  the  religious  persecutions  of  the  former  country.  They 
came  to  America  shortly  before  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
settling  in  Pennsylvania.  Samuel  Black,  grandfather  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Ohio,  • 
and  reared  his  family  on  the  frontier,  giving  his  children 
such  educational  advantages  as  the  country  afforded,  and 
carefully  training  them  in  religious  matters. 

Samuel  S.  Black,  son  of  Samuel  Black,  was  born  in  Cham- 
paign county,  Ohio,  December  6th,  1814.  He  afterwards 
removed  with  his  parents  to  Highland  county,  in  the  same 
state.  From  Ohio  he  came  to  Brown  county,  in  the  fall  of 
1841,  locating  at  Versailles.  In  the  autumn  of  1849  he  was 
elected  county  judge.  He  was  the  first  county  judge  elected 
after  the  adoption  of  the  then  new  constitution,  and  the  first 
Whig  ever  elected  over  a  Democrat  in  Brown  county.  In 
1855  he  was  elected  school  commissioner,  and  continued  in 
that  office  till  1857.  He  was  chosen  county  surveyor  in  No- 
vember, 1867,  and  was  the  incumbent  of  that  office  at  the 
time  of  his  death.     He  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 


HISTORY   OF    SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


265 


Church  from  an  early  period  in  his  life  In  early  life  he 
was  a  teacher,  and  during  his  residence  at  Versailles  taught 
in  that  vicinity.  He  was  married  to  Frances  W.  McCorkle 
on  the  16th  of  June,  1836.  He  died  on  the  24th  of  January, 
1869.  He  had  been  connected  with  Hardin  Masonic  Lodge, 
No.  44,  many  years,  and  was  buried  with  Masonic  honors. 
His  children  were  Mary  J.,  now  the  wife  of  W.  W.  Ken- 
drick  ;  Catherine,  who  married  John  Jones  ;  Margaret,  the 
wife  of  John  H.  Hambaugh  ;  Malvina,  now  Mrs.  John  P. 
Murphy ;  Moses  Black,  and  Samuel  Wilson  Black. 

Moses  Black  was  born  in  Versailles  township  on  the  23d 
of  August,  1845.  When  in  his  fifth  year,  his  father  moved 
with  the  family  to  Mt.  Sterling,  and  in  the  schools  of  that 
place  his  education  was  obtained.  In  the  summer  of  1863 
he  was  engaged  in  surveying  with  his  father  in  Nebraska. 
The  first  school  he  taught  was  in  Cooperstown  tow  nship, 
in  the  winter  of  1863-"64.  He  taught  a  part  of  each  year 
afterward  till  July,  1869,  when  he  closed  an  engagement  as 
principal  of  a  graded  school  of  eight  departments  at  Du 
Quoin,  Ills.  He  was  elected  county  surveyor  in  November, 
1869,  and  was  re  elected  in  1875,  and  again  in  1879.  .  His 
marriage  to  Mary  E.  Winslow,  a  native  of  Brown  county, 
occurred  on  the  23d  October,  1877.  He  has  two  children, 
Zada  and  Ernest.  Though  independent  and  liberal  in  his 
political  views,  he  has  always  been  a  Republican. 


GEOEGE  HEKSMAN 

Has  been  a  resident  of  Brown  county  since  1834.  His  an- 
cestors were  Virginians  who  early  emigrated  to  Kentucky) 
making  their  homes  in  Bourbon  county  at  a  time  when  the 
Indians  were  still  numerous  and  occasioned  the  white  set- 
tlers considerable  annoyance.  His  father,  Henry  Hersman, 
was  born  in  Virginia.  Bis  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Elizabeth  Fry,  was  also  a  native  of  that  state,  and  belonged 
to  a  family  who,  at  an  early  period,  settled  in  Kentucky. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  fourth  of  a  family  of 
eight  children.  He  was  born  in  Harrison  county,  Kentucky, 
on  the  29th  of  August,  1816.  The  first  eighteen  years  of 
his  life  were  spent  in  Kentucky.  He  had  the  advantage  of 
only  three  months'  instruction  at  school  in  Kentucky,  but 
subsequently  by  his  own  efforts  succeeded  in  obtaining  a 
good  business  education. 

In  the  fall  of  1834  he  accompanied  his  family  from  Ken- 
tucky to  Illinois.  They  first  settled  southeast  of  Mt.  Ster- 
ling on  a  farm  a  short  distance  from  the  town.  The  town  of 
Mt.  Sterling  was  then  composed  of  a  single  store  and  one  or 
two  log  dwellings.  The  county  was  Schuyler,  Brown  not 
yet  having  been  organized.  After  living  there  five  years  the 
family  move!  to  section  twenty-seven,  of  township  one  south, 
range  three  west,  where  his  father  lived  till  1878  when  his 
death  occurred.  He  was  ninety-two  years  old  when  he  died. 
In  the  year  1841  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Rebecca  Ann 
Knox,  who  was  born  in  Bouibon  county,  Kentucky.  Her 
father,  William  Knox,  removed  from  Kentucky  to  Greene 
county,  of  this  state,  in  1836,  and  in  1840  came  to  Brown 
county  and  settled  in  Versailles  township. 
34 


After  his  marriage  he  engaged  in  farming.  He  is  the 
owner  of  eight  hundred  acres  of  land,  three  hundred  of 
which  are  comprised  in  his  home  farm  adjoining  Hersman 
Station.  Beside  farming  he  has  been  engaged  in  other  busi- 
ness enterprises.  He  was  one  of  those  instrumental  in  secur- 
ing the  construction  of  a  railroad  through  Brown  county! 
and  spent  considerable  time  in  his  efforts  to  effect  this  object. 
On  the  completion  of  the  road,  a  station  was  established  near 
his  residence,  to  which  the  name  of  Hersman  was  given. 
Since  the  road  was  placed  in  operation  he  has  been  acting 
as  agent  for  the  railroad  company.  For  sixteen  years  he 
was  employed  in  furnishing  wood  and  ties  for  the  railroad, 
and  during  this  period  purchased  a  large  amount  of  timber, 
paying  out  in  the  county  upward  of  a  million  dollars  For  five 
years  he  carried  on  a  store  at  Hersman  in  partnership  with 
his  son-in-law,  S.  O.  Elkins,  after  whose  death  Mr.  Hersman 
settled  up  the  business  as  surviving  partner.  He  has  nine 
children:  Isabel,  now  the  wife  of  John  Means;  Elizabeth, 
who  died  in  infancy  ;  Lmina,  the  widow  of  S.  O.  Elkins  ; 
Henry,  John  J.,  Will,  Mattie,  Charles  G.,  and  Carrie.  He 
was  formerly  a  whig  and  a  devoted  adherent  to  the  fortunes 
of  Henry  Clay  who  excited  his  admiration  as  he  did  that  of 
most  Kentuckians.  His  first  vote  for  President  was  for  Gen. 
Harrison,  in  1840.  Since  the  dissolution  of  the  Whig  party 
he  has  been  a  Democrat,  voting  since  for  every  Democratic 
candidate  for  President  except  in  1872.  From  the  time  he 
was  twelve  years  old  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
terian church.  He  is  now  connected  with  the  Presbyterian 
church  of  Hersman  Station,  which  was  formed  from  the  old 
and  new  school  churches  of  Mt.  Sterling  and  which  he 
helped  to  organize. 

DANIEL  SIX. 

Daniel  Six  was  born  in  Greene  county  of  this  State,  a 
short  distance  west  of  Whitehall,  on  the  20th  of  June,  1824. 
His  grandfather  was  John  Six,  a  soldier  of  the  War  of  the 
Revolution.  His  father,  David  Six,  was  born  in  Tennessee, 
in  1799,  and  was  eleven  or  twelve  years  of  age  at  the  time 
his  father  removed  from  Tennessee  to  the  Greene  river  coun- 
try, in  Kentucky.  He  married  Elizabeth  Cox,  in  1819.  In 
1823  he  came  to  Sangamon  county,  in  this  State ;  from  there 
removed  to  Greene  county,  afterward  to  what  was  then  Mor 
gau  county,  and  in  1829  came  to  the  present  Brown  county, 
then  a  part  of  Schuyler.  He  first  settled  in  section  twenty, 
and  afterward  in  section  twenty-two,  of  township  one  south, 
range  three  west  (Mt.  Sterling).  He  was  a  hatter  by  trade, 
but  worked  at  that  occupation  but  little  after  coming  to 
Illinois.  He  served  as  county  commissioner  one  term,  and 
for  many  years  in  succession  was  one  of  the  judges  of  elec- 
tion at  the  Mt.  Sterling  precinct.  He  died  on  the  2d  of 
December,  1857.  He  had  twelve  children,  six  boys  and  six 
girls.  Eleven  grew  to  maturity,  and  ten  are  now  living. 
Two  daughters  live  in  Missouri,  two  in  California,  and  the 
six  sons  are  all  residents  of  Brown  county. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  third  child,  and  was 
five  years  old  when  he  came  to  Brown  county.  The  first 
school  he  attended  was  on  section  twenty-three  of  Mt.  Ster- 


266 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


ling  township,  in  an  old  log  school-house,  with  a  dirt  floor, 
split  log  benches,  and  a  ho'e  between  the  logs,  over  which 
was  pasted  greased  paper,  to  serve  as  a  window.  In  this 
building  were  taught  the  first  schools  in  Mt.  Sterling  town- 
ship, by  James  Alexander  and  Jonathan  Billings.  In  the 
spring  of  1849  he  set  out  for  California.  His  company  was 
one  of  the  first  to  cross  the  plains,  and  reached  Sacra- 
mento City  about  the  1st  of  September.  He  mined  gold 
two  years  on  the  north  fork  of  the  American  river,  and  the 
last  year  lived  on  a  ranch.  He  came  back  to  Illinois  in 
October,  1852,  with  thirty-four  hundred  dollars  as  the 
result  of  three  years'  labor.  February  2d,  1854,  he  mar- 
ried Ann  Quinn,  who  was  born  near  Mt.  Vernon,  Rock- 
castle county,  Kentucky.  He  has.  had  seven  children,  of 
whom  five  are  living.  He  has  represented  Mt.  Sterling 
township  in  the  board  of  supervisors  two  years,  and  in 
1877  was  e'ected  county  treasurer,  as  an  independent  candi- 
date- From  his  uncle,  Jack  Six,  who  came  to  the  county 
in  1828,  Six's  Prairie  received  its  name. 


JOHN  HARPER, 

"Who  has  served  ttree  teims  as  i-heriff  of  Brown  county,  is  a 
native  of  the  county,  and  was  born  four  miles  and  a  quarter 
southeast  of  Mt.  Sterling  on  the  7th  of  May,  1837.  His 
father,  Stephen  Harper,  was  born  in  Kentucky,  January, 
1813,  and  when  seven  years  old  went  to  Ohio  where  he 
grew  up  and  married  Elizabeth  Putman.  He  came  from 
Ohio  to  Brown  county  in  1834  and  settled  in  the  present 
Mt.  Sterling  townfhip.  He  died  in  December,  1865,  at  the 
age  of  nearly  fifty-three.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
the  oldest  of  nine  children.  After  attaining  his  majority 
he  went  to  farming  for  himself  December  11th,  1867,  he 
married  Amanda  M.  Means,  daughter  of  Major  John  Means. 
After  his  marriage  he  went  to  farming  in  Hancock  county, 
where  he  lived  till  October,  1869,  when  he  returned  to 
Brown  county  and  went  to  farming  west  of  Mt.  Sterling. 
In  the  fall  of  1874  he  was  elected  sheriff.  From  that  date 
to  the  present  he  has  been  in  the  sheriffs  office,  either  as 
sheriff  or  deputy.  He  has  been  elected  to  the  office  three 
•  different  times.  He  has  six  children,  whose  names  are 
Charles,  Maggie  M  ,  Libbie,  Gertrude,  Ida  M.,  and  Mattie 
L.     In  his  politics  he  is  a  Democrat. 


JOHN  A.  GIVENS. 

The  ancestors  of  Mr.  Givens  were  Virginians,  who  at  an 
early  period  settled  in  Kentucky.  George  R.  Givens,  his 
father,  was  born  at  Paris,  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  in 
1808.  He  came  to  Illinois  in  1831,  first  settling  at  Cham- 
bersburg,  in  Pike  county,  where  he  lived  some  years,  and 
then  removing  to  -Mt.  Sterling,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
general  merchandising  business,  opening  one  of  the  first 
stores  in  the  town.  This  store  was  on  Main  street,  and  was 
carried  on  for  several  years,  until  he  was  obliged  to  abandon 
the  business,  on  account  of  deafness.     He  is  still  living  in 


Mt.  Sterling.  He  married  Mary  F.  Curry,  daughter  of 
Alexander  Curry,  an  early  settler  on  the  site  of  Mt  Ster- 
ling, and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  town.  John  A.  Giv- 
ens was  the  oldest  of  seven  children.  He  was  born  in  Mt 
Sterling,  on  the  16th  of  September,  1836.  The  house  in 
which  he  was  born  adjoins  his  store,  and  is  now  his  pro- 
perty. His  father  haying  quit  the  mercantile  business  and 
engaged  in  farming,  Mr.  Givens  was  brought  up  principally 
on  a  farm.  He  remained  at  home  till  he  was  nineteen,  and 
afterwards  spent  some  time  in  Texas  and  other  Southern 
States.  In  1860  he  went  to  Pike's  Peak,  and  was  in  Colo- 
rado and  Utah  till  1861,  when  he  returned  to  Mt.  Sterling 
and  embarked  in  the  lumber  business,  which  he  followed 
eighteen  months.  October,  1862,  he  began  the  grocery 
business,  in  which  he  has  since  been  occupied.  He  has 
been  successful  as  a  business  man,  and  is  one  of  the  well- 
known  merchants  of  Brown  county.  His  marriage  to  Jane 
Putman,  daughter  of  Daniel  Putman,  one  of  the  earliest 
business  men  of  Mt  Sterling,  occurred  on  the  3d  of  May, 
1862  He  has  four  children  :  Laura,  George,  Charlie,  and 
Burt     He  has  always  been  a  Democrat  in  politics. 


FRED.  W.  ROTTGER. 

Mr.  Rottger  was  born  near  Minden,  Prussia,  August 
Oth.  1843.  His  parents  were  William  and  Minnie  Rottger. 
When  he  was  seven  years  old,  his  father  came,  with  the 
family,  to  the  United  States,  and  settled  in  St  Louis.  After 
his  father's  death,  which  occurred  when  he  was  twelve  years 
old,  his  home,  until  he  became  of  age,  was  with  E.  L.  Hen- 
richsen,  of  Morgan  county,  in  this  State.  He  went  to  school 
about  eighteen  months.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  began 
his  experience  in  the  railroad  business,  at  Alexander,  in 
Morgan  county,  under  Mr.  Henrichsen,  who  had  charge  of 
the  railroad  station  at  that  place.  October  18th,  1S65,  he 
married  Eugenia  Peters,  of  Alexander.  In  November,  1865, 
he  came  to  Mt.  Sterling,  having  received  the  appointment 
as  agent  for  the  railroad  company  at  this  place.  In  1867 
he  began  buying  ties  on  his  own  account.  He  commenced 
on  a  limited  scale,  but  afterward  expanded  the  business,  and 
has  since  handled  from  sixty  to  seventy  five  thousand  ties  each 
year.  Since  1875  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  grain  busi- 
ntss,  in  partnership  with  C.  H.  Atwood,  under  the  firm 
name  of  F.  W-  Rottger  &  Co.  About  the  same  time  he 
embarked  in  the  -lumber  business  with  C.  M.  Dunlap. 
The  firm  is  known  as  Dunlap  &  Rottger.  Since  1878  he 
has  carried  on  farming  He  was  interested  in  organizing 
the  Mt  Sterling  Drain  Tile  Company,  in  1882,  of  which  he 
is  the  president  He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics.  In  1878 
he  represented  Mt.  Sterling  township  in  the  board  of  super- 
visors. He  was  the  first  mayor  of  Mt  Sterling  after  the 
adoption  of  city  organization.  He  is  the  Vice  President  of 
the  First  National  Bank  of  Mt  Sterling.  He  has  four  chil- 
dren living :  Eugenia,  Nica,  Mirtie,  and  Frederick  Weeins. 
Willie,  the  secoud  child,  died  at  the  age  of  four  years.  He 
1  is  ktown  as  one  of  the  energetic  and  successful  buskess 
men  of  Brown  coirntv. 


BAINBRIDGE   TOWNSHIP. 


(SCHUYLER    COUNTY.) 


HW 


|  HIS  township  deserves  mention  in  the  his- 
tory of  Schuyler  County,  from   the  fact 
that  it  was  within  her  borders  that  some 
of  the  first  blows  were  struck  toward 
civilization.     Nearly  sixty  years  ago  the 
woodsman's   axe   was   heard  to  resound 
through  the  timbers  of  Craue  creek ;  few 
there  were  to  bear  the  burdens  of  pio- 
teer  life,   and   encourage  one   another 
in  paving  the  way  for  civilization  and  the  future  generation. 
What  a  transition  1     In  little  more  than  fifty  years,  it  has 
been  changed  from  a  howling  wilderness  to  a  populous  and 
finely    improved    country.     The    present    generation    can 
scarcely    imagine    the    trials   and    hardships    endured  by 
those  hardy  men  and  women,  who  braved  the  danger  of  pio- 
neer life,  cleared  the  forest,  broke  the  stubborn  glebe,  and 
laid   deep  and  strong  the  foundation  of  our  present  happy 
condition.     Many  have  gone  to  their  last  resting  place,  and 
the  silent  grave  holds  well  the  secrets  of  the  past.    From  the 
few  gray-haired  veterans  that  still  linger  with  us,  we  have 
been  able  to  gather  the  information  found  in  these  pages. 
The  township  is  situated  in  the  extreme  southern  portion  of 
the  county,  bounded  north  by  Rushville,  east  by  Frederick, 
south  by  the  Illinois  river  and  Crooked  creek,  and  west  by 
Woodstock.     It  contains  the.  whole  of  what  is  known  as  con- 
gressional township,  1  North,  Range  1  west,  and  a  fractional 
part  of  township  1  South,  Range   1    west.     The  surface  is 
generally  very  broken,  and  was  originally  covered  with  a 
heavy  growth  of  timber,  more  than  two  thirds  of  which  has 
been  cleared,  and  is  now  in  a  fine  state  of  cultivation.     The 
prairies,  where  they  occur  are  small.     The  soil  is  fertile  and 
produces  large   crops  of  corn,  wheat,  oats,  hay,  etc'    The 
principal  streams  that  water  and  drain  the  lands  are  Crane 
creek,   and  its  tributaries,  which  flow   southeasterly  across 
the  northwestern  and  central  portion  of  the  township.  There 
are  also  small  affluents  of  the  Illinois  river  and  of  Crooked 
creek,  that  assist  in  carrying  off  the  rain  fall. 

The  first  settlement  of  Bainbridge,  began  in  the  same 
year  of  the  earliest  arrival  in  the  county.  The  pioneers, 
and  first  settlers  were  Thomas  McKee,  and  Willis  O'Neal, 
■who  located  in  the  township  in  the  fall  of  1823.  Thomas 
McKee  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  was  a  very  early 
settler  in  Illinois,  having  lived  in  the  state  for  some  time  be- 
fore his  advent  here.  He  settled  on  the  N.  E.  £  of  section 
20,  on  the  place  now  owned  by  James  W.  Lawler ;  O'Neal 
located  near  him,  and  together  they  made  the  first  settle- 


ment in  Bainbridge  township.  This  was  at  least  six  miles 
south  of  the  Hobart  settlement  in  Rushville  township,  and 
they  were  their  nearest  neighbors.  Each  of  them  erected 
for  their  families,  the  same  kind  of  rough  unhewed  log  cabins 
that  all  the  pioneers  enjoyed.  There  was  but  one  way  to 
build  them,  and  nearly  all  were  alike.  It  is  true  they  were 
rude  affairs,  but  the  souls  within  their  walls  were  happier 
and  more  joyous  than  many  of  those  who  reside  in  the 
palaces  of  to-day. 

Mr.  McKee  was  an  excellent  mechanic,  and  followed  gun- 
smithing  and  blacksmithing,  and  also  manufactured  spin- 
ning wheels.  He  was  the  first  mechanic  in  the  county,  and 
was  a  very  valuable  man  in  the  new  country.  The  Indians 
with  their  broken  guns,  came  from  a  great  distance  to  have 
him  repair  them.  He  cleared  some  land  and  made  some  im- 
provements, having  planted  a  small  nursery,  from  which 
came  many  of  the  trees  of  the  first  orchards  in  the  county. 
There  are  yet  standing  several  old  trees  around  the  im- 
provement. About  1830  or  '31  he  sold  out  and  removed 
north  of  Rushville  on  the  prairie,  where  he  resided  until  he 
was  killed  while  digging  coal  a  short  lime  afterwards. 
O'Neal  also  moved  in  the  vicinity  of  Rushville  and  became 
quite  prominent  in  the  early  history  of  the  county.  His 
name  will  be  found  in  many  places  through  this  work. 
Nathan  Eels,  an  eastern  man,  settled  near  McKee,  and 
these  three  families  remained  together  in  this  settlement 
nearly  two  years.  Eels  was  the  first  to  leave  it.  He  moved 
and  located  in  or  near  the  Hobart  or  Chadsey  settlement, 
where  he  remained  for  a  few  years  and  migrated  to  the 
northern  part  of  the  state.  He  sold  his  property  to  a  new 
comer,  James  B.  Atwood,  an  Englishman. 

The  next  arrival  was  probably  Thomas  Blair,  from  Ohio. 
He  came  with  his  family  soon  after  those  above  mentioned 
and  located  in  section  3,  and  remained  there  until  1831, 
when  he  sold  his  claim  to  Zephaniah  Tyson,  and  subsequent- 
ly moved  to  Iowa.  It  was  about  the  same  time  also,  that 
George  Naught  immigrated  here  and  settled  on  N.  E.  i  of 
section  31,  on  the  place  where  Charles  W.  Davis  now  lives. 
He  and  his  wife  were  hardy  old  pioneers,  and  remained  toil- 
ing on  their  place  until  death  overtook  them,  many  years 
ago. 

In  November,  1826,  Abraham  Lemaster  and  his  son-in- 
law,  Charles  Hatfield,  crossed  the  Illinois,  at  Beard's  Ferry, 
and  traveled  in  a  northeasterly  direction  to  what  is  now 
Bainbridge  township,  halting  at  Willis  O'Neal's  vacant 
cabin,  in  which   the  two  families  took  up  winter  quarters. 

267 


268 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


James  B.  Atwood,  was  then  the  only  family  residing  in  the 
northern  or  central  part  of  the  township,  the  others  having 
moved  away  as  above  stated,  and  McKee  being  absent.  In 
the  spring  Lemaster  purchased  McKee's  improvements  on 
section  20,  and  raised  a  crop,  but  was  compelled  to  leave 
there  on  account  of  the  millions  of  mosquitoes.  He  lived  for 
a  few  years  upon  the  prairies  and  again  returned  to  his  place. 
About  1846,  he  went  to  Kentucky  on  a.  visit,  and  while 
there  died.  His  wife  died  in  the  township.  His  descendents 
are  still  living  in  the  county.  Mr.  Hatfield  first  located 
on  the  prairie  north  of  Ilushville,  where  he  lived  about  five 
years,  and  then  moved  into  Bainbridge,  where  he  has  ever 
since  continued  to  reside.  His  house  is  on  section  20,  and 
he  and  his  wife  are  still  happy  together,  having  lived  a  wed- 
ded, life  for  nearly  sixty  years.  Hugh  E.,  his  son  and  his 
daughter,  the  wife  of  John  Dodds,  are  living  in  the  county. 
"William  Gordon,,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  came  here  from 
Indiana,  with  his  mother-in-law,  Nancy  Taylor,  and  her 
family  in  1827,  and  settled  in  the  S.  E.  i  of  section  22,  where 
they  purchased  land  and  improvements  of  John  A.  Reeves, 
who  had  been  here  a  short  time.  They  all  left  this  part  of 
the  country.  Reeves  was  a  New  Yorker,  and  while  here 
his  wife  died.  He  went  to  Indiana,  where  he  was  again 
married,  and  returned  to  Illinois.  One  son,  Simon  A. 
Reeves,  still  lives  in  the  township.  William  Mitchell,  a 
brother-in-law  of  Reeves,  was  here  early  and  remained  only 
a  short  time.  Moses  and  Jonathan  Billing  settled  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  township  as  early  as  1827,  and  both 
died  in  this  county.  Enoch  and  James  Edmonston  came 
here  about  1828,  and  took  up  their  abode  in  the  western 
part  of  the  township,  and  also  spent  their  days  here.  Some 
of  their  families  are  living  in  the  neighborhood.  Rev.  Joseph 
Bell,  who  was  an  early  Baptist  minister  in  this  part  of  the 
state,  located  in  Bainbridge,  under  the  bluffs,  in  1828.  He 
died  at  his  residence  here  several  years  ago.  Isaac  Briggs 
and  George  Butler  were  also  very  early  arrivals.  Jacob 
White  was  here  very  early,  and  stopped  until  1829,  when 
he  moved  across  the  creek,  and  settled  in  Gooperstown  town- 
ship, Brown  county.  It  was  he  who  furnished  the  county 
with  the  money  to  purchase  the  original  land  for  the  county 
seat.  Peter  De  Witt  was  also  aming  the  early  settlers,  and 
sold  out  to  Samuel  Jackson,  a  North  Carolinian,  who  came 
with  his  family  in  1829.  He  reared  a  large  family.  His  sob 
Edgar,  residing  in  Rushville,  is  the  only  one  of  the  family 
now  living  in  the  county.  Sanford  Close,  Elisha  Hudson, 
and  Jerre  Jackson,  a  nephew,  came  with  the  Jackson  family. 
They  were  single  men,  and  married  and  reared  large  families 
here.  Jerre  Jackson  is  still  a  resident  of  Bainbridge- 
Allen  Persinger  was  also  an  early  settler.  He  first  located 
under  the  bluffs,  and  afterwards  moved  up  on  the  bluffs  near 
the  center  of  the  township,  on  the  line  dividing  it  from 
Woodstock.  He  was  the  first  surveyor  elected  in  the  coun- 
ty. Among  other  old  settlers  were  Daniel  Matheney,  Jona. 
than  Reddick,  Harvey  Phinney,  John  Jacobs,  the  McCor- 
micks,  John  Bowling,  John  Dougherty,  James  Lawler,  Jona- 


than Patterson,  Ebenezer  Grist,  and  Apollos  Ward.  Promi- 
nent among  those  now  living  not  before  mentioned  we  will' 
name  Aaron  V.  Harris,  Solena  Dawson,  Samuel  Tomlinson, 
Thomas  Howell,  who  came  here  from  his  native  state,  Guil- 
ford county,  North  Carolina,  in  1829,  John  H.  Lawler, 
Jacob  Howell  and  others. 

The  earliest  mill  built  in  the  township  was  erected  by 
Ephraim  Eggleston,  on  section  19.  It  was  located  on  the 
banks  of  Crane  creek,  and  was  propelled  by  its  waters. 
Just  after  it  was  completed  in  1827,  a  flood  came  and  washed 
it  away  together  with  his  cabin,  nearly  drowning  his  wife 
and  children.  He  was  awakened  in  the  night  by  the  rush- 
ing of  the  water,  and  upon  getting  up  he  found  the  water 
waist  deep  in  his  cabin.     He  had  settled  here  in  1825. 

Zephaniah  Tyson  built  a  horse  mill  on  his  place  in  1835. 
William  Clark  constructed  a  water,  saw  and  grist  mill  where 
Newburg  now  stands  in  the  same  year,  which  was  in  opera- 
tion for  some  time. 

The  first  building  for  school  purposes  was  built  on  section 
15,  and  was  known  as  the  Lemaster  school- house.  It  was  a 
small  log  cabin.  John  Parker,  Joseph  Bell  and  William 
Burnsides  were  among  the  first  teachers.  We  will  give  here 
a  few  of  the  military  patents :  T.  1  N,  R.  1  W.  October  6, 
1817,  John  Trask,  Jr.,  S.  E.  k  of  section  1,  and  Solomon 
Lovegrove,  S.  W.  I  ofsection  5.  October  21,1817,  Thomas 
Davis,  N.  W.  i  section  7,  and  A.  T.  Van  Bockel,  N.  E.  i 
sec.  7,  Nov.  18, 1817,  George  Wintz,  N.  E.  i  ofsection  11, 
December  1,  1817,  Peter  Brush,  S.  W.  i  ofsection  11. 

The  following  parties  have  represented  Bainbridge  in  the 
board  of  supervisors:  In  1854,  Allen  Persinger  was  elected 
and  served  two  terms;  in  1856,  Isaac  Black,  served  three 
terms;  1859  George  Strong;  1860,  Allen  Persinger;  1861f 
Isaac- Black;  1862,  Simon  S.  Griest;  1863-'64,  Isaac  Black  ; 
1865,  Simon  J  Grist;  1866,  George  Strong;  1867-'68, 
George  W.  Campbell;  1869,  Adam  Briggs;  1870,  Adam 
M.  Briggs;  1871-72,  George  W.  Campbell  (chairman); 
1873,  John  H.  Lawler  ;  1874,  Adam  Briggs;  1875,  Samuel 
Dodds  ;  1876,  Charles  W.  Davis ;  1877,  Samuel  D  >dds ;  1878, 
Adam  Briggs.  who  served  by  re-elections  until  1882,  when 
Charles  M.  Dodds,  the  present  incumbent,  succeeded  him. 

NEWBURG 

is  situated  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  20,  Town  1 
north,  Range  1  west.  It  was  laid  out  by  Joseph  Newburg, 
after  whom  it  is  named,  and  surveyed  and  platted  by 
Francis  E.  Bryant,  county  surveyor,  April  24,  1840.  At 
one  time  there  was  a  store  and  blacksmith  shop  there,  and 
some  business  was  done,  but  at  this  writing  there  is  nothing 
but  a  few  houses  collected  together  as  a  settlement. 

CENTER 

is  a  p  >int  near  the  geographical  center  of  the  township,  where 
there  is  a  town  house  and  a  post-office.  According  to  the 
census  of  1880  Bainbridge  has  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  fnrms  and  1205  population. 


HICKORY    TOWNSHIP. 


(SCHUYLER     COUNTY.) 


'HIS  division  of  the  county  is  said  to  have 
been  named  in  honor  of  old  "  Hickory," 
Jackson,  from  the  fact  that  at  one  time 
there  was  but  one  Whig  vote  cast  in  the 
township,  it  being,  with  that  exception, 
a  solid  Democratic  precinct.  It  is  situ- 
ated in  the  extreme  eastern  part  of  the 
county,  bounded  on  the  north  by  Fulton 
county,  east  and  south  by  the  Illinois 
river,  and  west  by  Browning  township. 
It  is  a  fractional  part  of  congressional 
township  2  north,  range  2  east  of  the  fourth  principal  me- 
ridian, that  lies  north  and  west  of  the  Illinois  river.  It  is 
about  equally  divided  between  uplands  and  bottom.  The 
surface  was  originally  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  tim- 
ber, consisting  of  the  different  varieties  that  usually  grow 
in  this  portion  of  the  State.  The  soil  on  the  uplands  is  rich, 
and  produces  large  crops  of  wheat,  corn,  oats,  grass,  etc. 
The  Illinois  bottom  soil  ranks  among  the  most  fertile  lands 
of  the  country,  and  like  the  celebrated  American  Bottom, 
they  are  known  far  and  wide.  In  favorable  seasons,  when 
they  are  not  overflowed,  they  produce  enormous  crops  of 
corn  and  hay.  Alum  creek  is  the  principal  water  course 
in  the  township.  It  enters  in  the  northeast  corner  of  section 
5,  and  passing  in  a  southeasterly  course  through  the  town- 
ship, empties  its  waters  into  the  Illinois,  on  section  15,  at 
Sharp's  Landing.  There  are  several  lakes  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  river,  the  largest  of  which  is  Long  lake,  in  the  southeast- 
ern portion.  It  is  about  two  and  a  half  miles  long,  and  its 
greatest  width  about  half  a  mile.  There  are  also  several 
small  streams  that  empty  into  it,  and  at  low  water  mark  it 
is  entirely  separated  from  the  river. 

The  first  military  patents  located  in  this  township  were  as 
follows  :  January  1,  1818,  Ebenezer  Bobbins  drew  the  S.  E. 
i  of  section  3 ;  March  20,  John  Wright,  S.  W.  i  of  section 
3,  and  William  L.  Stuart,  S.  W.  i  of  section  2;  January 
30,  Joseph  Land,  S.  E.  J  section  4;  February  4,  Adam 
Brewner,  N.  E.  i  section  6,  and  February  18,  Samuel  Hand, 
S.  W.  i  of  section  6,  all  in  the  year  1818.  There  were  but 
few  of  those  who  located  these  claims  in  this  county  that 
ever  settled  them,  and  of  the  above  named  we  do  not  recog- 
nize any  who  were  ever  citizens  of  Hickory.  The  first  per- 
sons to  settle  in  Hickory  township  were  Jonathan  Viles, 
Nicholson  Viles,  his  uncle,  William  Stevenson,  a  son-in-law 
of  Nicholson  Viles,  and  Amos  Bichardson.  In  the  spring 
of  1826  this  party  of  pioneers  crossed  the  Illinois  river  at 
Beard's  ferry,  and  taking  up  an  old  Indian  trail,  followed 


it  along  the  bluffs  until  reaching  a  point  where  Butlersville 
now  stands,  where  they  halted,  and  for  a  time  camped  to- 
gether. They  settled  along  the  bluffs  and  raised  a  few  crops, 
and  all  but  Amos  Bichardson  moved  out  of  the  township 
He  remained  here,  and  about  1830  was  shot  and  killed  by 
Burrell  Basset,  who  was  then  a  resident  or  squatter.  This 
affair  is  said  to  have  occurred  from  trading  wives.  The  next 
settler  was  Abraham  Carlock,  who  arrived  in  1827.  He 
was  a  migratory  individual,  and  moved  about  from  place  to 
place  in  the  township  for  several  years.  It  is  related  that  he 
was  a  very  old  man  when  he  came,  and  had  a  large  family 
of  grown  children.  He  was  minus  his  left  hand,  it  having 
been  burned  off.  He  died  here  nearly  forty  years  ago,  and 
but  little  of  him  is  known.  Jacob  Guinn  was  another  early 
settler.  He  first  located  in  section  8,  cleared  and  improved 
a  small  farm  and  sold  out.  It  seemed  to  be  his  mission  to 
grub  and  clear  the  land,  for  he  made  several  good  farms  in 
this  way,  but  so  soon  as  they  were  improved,  he  would  sell 
them  and  begin  another.  He  was  a  good  hunter  and  trap- 
per, and  in  those  days  game  of  all  kinds  was  so  numerous  as 
to  be  a  nuisance.  He  died  in  the  township,  and  left  quite 
a  large  family,  none  of  whom  are  now  living  in  the  county. 
William  Moss,  noted  as  a  great  bee  culturist,  was  a  settler 
in  Hickory  as  early  as  1830,  and  located  on  section  10.  He 
died  here  many  years  ago.  Burrell  Basset,  above  mentioned 
arrived  about  the  same  time.  His  crime  was  compromised 
by  his  enlisting  in  the  Black  Hawk  war  in  1831,  after  which 
we  lose  sight  of  him.  Stephen  Y.  Jolly,  who  settled  the 
land  on  which  Butlersville  now  stands,  came  in  1830,  and 
died  here  over  thirty  years  ago.  William  K.  Jones,  a  native 
of  Kentucky,  came  here  a  single  man  in  the  fall  of  1834 
and  settled  on  section  7,  where  he  has  ever  since  continued 
to  reside.  He  was  twice  married  and  has  reared  a  family  of 
eight  children,  all  of  whom  are  living  but  one.  In  the 
fall  of  1836,  William  H.  Gregory  came  with  his  family  and 
settled  on  the  bluffs  west  of  Butlersville.  He  is  still  living 
in  bis  eighty-ninth  year,  hale  and  hearty.  He  had  a  large 
family,  five  of  whom  are  now  living,  two  in  Schuyler  county 
— Thomas  and  John  H.  Gregory  both  residing  in  Hickory. 
William  Sackman,  with  his  family,  was  another  prominent 
arrival  in  1836.  He  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
came  from  that  state  to  Indiana,  at  an  early  day,  and  to 
Illinois  in  1828,  settling  in  Morgan  county  in  1836. 
From  there  he  came  to  this  county  and  located  on  section  4, 
where  he  continued  to  reside  until  1866,  when  he  moved  to 
the  state  of  Missouri,  and  died  there.  He  reared  a  family  of 
twelve  children,   being  equally   divided  in  sexes — six  sons 

269 


270 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


and  six  daughters — and  of  the  number  three  are  prominent 
farmers  in  this  township,  John  W.,  Leonard  0.,  and  Geo. 
W.  Sackraan.  When  Mr.  Sackman,  came  here,  there 
were  then  living  in  the  township  Thomas  Wilson,  Philip 
Ruby,  Mo3ier  Alley,  Lyman  Tracey,  Enoch  Steward,  Abra- 
ham Carlock,  and  his  son  Jacob  Carlock,  Levi  Mondon, 
William  Moss,  William  Brown,  Martin  Crafton,  S.  Y.  Jolly, 
William  Powell,  James  Steward,  William  K.  Jones,  David 
Venters,  Margaret  Thompson,  William  Gregory,  Levi 
Sparks,  Jacob  Guinn,  Reason  Prater,  and  Durias  Prater. 
Their  families  constituted  about  all  of  the  inhabitants  in 
Hickory  at  that  date,  but  from  thenceforward  the  settlements 
began  to  fill  up  quite  rapidly,  with  immigrants  from  all 
parti  of  the  country. 

Abraham  Louderback,  who  was  born  in  Rockingham 
county,  Virginia,  in  1786,  soon  arrived  here,  with  a  family. 
He  came  to  Schuyler  county  in  1829,  but  lived  for  several 
years  on  a  farm  near  Rushville,  before  becoming  a  citizen 
of  Hickory.  He  became  one  of  her  most  enterprising  men, 
and  was  much  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him.  Mr.  Louder- 
back  died  at  his  home  in  July,  1371.  He  had  a  family  of 
eight  children,  and  some  of  his  descendants  are  still  residing 
in  the  township. 

About  1837,  Jacob  Sharp  located  on  the  liver  near  the 
mouth  of  Alum  creek,  southeast  of  Butlersville,  where  he 
established  a  steamboat  landing.  The  place  was  known  as 
Sharp's  Landing.  He  erected  a  large  warehouse,  and  kept 
a  store,  consisting  of  a  large  stock  of  general  merchandise. 
He  also  engaged  in  all  kinds  of  river  traffic  at  this  point, 
for  over  thirty  years,  and  acquired  a  fortune.  He  subse- 
quently moved  to  Astoria  where  he  purchased  700  acres 
of  land,  which  has  advanced  in  price  to  a  large  sum  of 
money.  He  died  a  few  years  ago,  and  his  heirs  own  the 
land. 

Daniel  Sheldon  was  one  of  the  prominent  settlers  of  the 
year  1838.  He  was  born  in  Rhode  Island,  February  24th, 
1802.  He  purchased  an  improved  place  of  Jacob  Guinn, 
ou  section  eight,  and  added  to  it  eighty  acres,  which  he 
entered.  Mr.  Sheldon  was  an  early  school- teacher,  and 
taught  the  first  school  on  the  bluff,  at  Butlersville,  in  the 
winter  of  1838.  The  building  was  a  small  log-house,  built 
for  that  purpose  by  the  neighbors,  and  Mr.  Sheldon  was 
the  teacher  for  several  years.  He  was  a  justice  of  the 
peace  for  several  years,  also  town  clerk,  supervisor,  and 
postmaster  of  Sheldon's  Grove  from  the  time  it  was  estab- 
lished until  his  death,  August  5th,  1869.  The  post-office, 
Sheldon's  Grove,  was  named  after  him.  His  wife's  maiden 
name  was  Aurelia  Sharp,  sister  of  Jacob  Sharp.  They 
reared  three  children,  viz  ,  Byron,  who  died  December  14th, 
1873;  Sovioa,  the  wife  of  J.  H.  Gregory,  residing  in  the 
township ;  and  Daniel  D.,  a  resident  of  London,  England. 


Thus  have  we  mentioned  most  of  the  early  and  prom- 
inent families  that  settled  in  the  township.  We  have  not 
sketched  them  all,  and  if  it  were  possible,  it  would  not  be 
interesting  to  do  so.  Below  we  mention  a  few  other  early 
settlers, — Joseph  Workman,  L.  R.  Litchfield,  Wakeman 
Thompson,  John  W.  Curlers,  Daniel  Louderback,  Daniel 
Shaw,  Jacob  Fisher,  Sr.,  Alfonso  Morrell,  Thomas  Mondon, 
James  S.  Turner,  Tippits,  Ezekiel  Gobbel,  the  Butlers, 
Parkers,  Mclntires,  Lewises,  Joseph  Kelly,  Thomas  Ray, 
Samuel  Burrell,  Rutherford  Lane,  and  William  Wisdom. 

The  earliest  mill  in  the  township  was  built  on  Alum  creek, 
a  little  north  of  Butlersville,  in  1839,  by  James  S.  Turner. 
It  was  a  saw-mill,  run  by  water-power.  The  first  school  was 
taught  on  section  three,  in  a  small  log-cabin,  by  De  Witt 
Allen,  in  1834. 

The  following  gentlemen  have  served  on  the  board  of 
supervisors  from  this  township.  The  county  adopted  town- 
ship organization  in  1854,  and  Amos  Hart  was  elected  and 
served  two  terms.  In  1856,  Daniel  Sheldon  was  elected, 
and  by  re-elections  served  until  1359,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  Lewis  Price,  who  served  three  years.  In  1862,  William 
Robertson  was  elected,  and  served  two  years.  In  1864  and 
'65,  Robert  Darling ;  1866  and  '67,  Wakeman  Thompson ; 
1868,  Samuel  Burrell,  and  by  re-election  served  until  1872. 
In  1872  John  W.  Curless  was  elected,  and  served  two  terms, 
and  Valentine  Fisher,  elected  in  1874,  served  two  terms, 
and  was  succeeded  by  John  W.  Curless  for  one  year,  and 
again  re-elected  and  served  two  terms,  when,  in  1879,  Addi- 
son D.  Stambaugh  was  elected  and  served  two  years.  Her- 
man C.  C.  Schultz,  the  present  incumbent,  was  elected  in 
1881,  and  re-elected  in  1882. 

From  the  census  of  1880,  this  township  has  fifty-three 
farms,  and  a  population  of  580  souls. 

BUTLERSVILLE 

Is  situated  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  nine,  and  was  laid  out  and  named  after  its  origi- 
nal proprietor,  Noah  Butler,  November  29th,  1846,  and  sur- 
veyed and  platted  by  I.  M.  Sweeney.  Noah  Butler  built  a 
store,  and  sold  the  first  goods  in  the  town,  soon  after  it  was 
laid  out.  There  has  been  a  store  there  most  of  the  time 
since  its  existence.  At  the  present  writing,  there  are  two 
general  merchandising  establishments, — H.  C.  Schultz  and 
Daniel  Severns  proprietors. 

BLUFF   CITY 

Was  laid  out  Abraham  Louderback,  and  surveyed  and 
platted  by  Leonidas  Horney,  November  2d,  1860  It  is 
situated  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  one.  At  pres- 
ent there  is  one  store,  kept  by  John  Duncan,  and  a  saw-mill. 


MISSOURI    TOWNSHIP. 


(BROWN    COUNTY.) 


*-t-V — o — -V»- 


'ISSOURI  is  one  of  the  northern  tier 
of  townships,  lying  north  of  the  base 
line,  and  south  of  Schuyler  county. 
The  aforesaid  county  bounds  it  on  the 
north  and  northeast,  Ripley  lies  on  the 
east,  Mt.  Sterling  on  the  south,'  and 
Pea  Ridge  on  the  west,  and  it  contains 
nearly  35  sections.  The  name  was  re" 
ceived  from  the  creek  extending 
through  the  northwest  corner  of  the  territory.  Portions 
of  sections  1,  2,  11,  and  12,  are  included  in  Schuyler  county- 
Originally  it  was  mainly  covered  with  heavy  timber.  About 
nine  sections  in  the  south,  and  west  are  prairie  land.  The 
north  acd  east  are  considerably  broken,  approaching  to  quite 
prominent  bluffs  in  places,  especially  in  the  northeast  near 
Crooked  creek.  The  culture  of  wheat  and  corn  is  nearly 
equal  in  acreage.  Grass  and  oats  are  also  raised  in  abund- 
ance, and  with  good  success.  The  natural  drainage  is  ex- 
cellent, as  numerous  streams  traverse  its  territory.  The 
Little  Missouri  crosses  the  northwest  corner,  entering  in 
section  7,  and  passing  out  in  the  northeast  corner  of  sec. 
tion  6.  A  tributary  rises  in  section  17,  flows  north  and 
leaves  the  township  in  section  5.  Curry's  Branch  and 
tributaries  drain  the  east,  discharging  their  waters  into 
Crooked  creek.  The  latter  stream  enters  the  township  in 
fection  one,  flows  south  and  east,  forming  the  northeast 
boundary.  It  leaves  the  township  in  section  12,  and  finally 
discharges  its  waters  into  the  Illinois  river.  Other  small 
streams  abound,  giving  rapid  and  effective  drainage  to  the 
surface  waters.  Coal  abounds  in  various  parts,  and  at  some 
points  nearly  crops  out  at  the  surface  on  the  sides  of  the 
hills  and  bluffs.  It  is  worked  to  some  extent  by  drifts. 
The  vein  will  average  about  three  feet  in  thickness,  and 
the  quality  of  coal  is  considered  good.  Excellent  sand  stone 
underlies  nearly  the  whole  township.  In  places  it  is  quar- 
ried, and  utilized  for  foundations  of  buildings,  etc.  Some 
of  the  best  farms  and  most  desirable  land  lie  in  southern 
Missouri  township.  The  farms  are  well  improved,  and  the  farm 
houses  and  barns  are  among  the  best  in  the  county.  In  1836, 
there  was  a  fever  of  excitement  to  make  new  towns  in  the 
county.  This  township  caught  the  fever,  and  September 
10,  11*36,  Isam  Cox  laid  out  a  town  in  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  10,  and  named  it  New  Washington.  It 
was  only  on  paper,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  there  are  a  half  dozen 
citizens  of  the  township  who  know  that  such  a  place  was 
ever  in    their  midst,  tven  in  imagination. 


EARLY  SETTLEMENTS. 

The  first  step  taken  toward  civilization  in  this  part  of  the 
county  was  by  Levin  Green  in  the  summer  of  1829.  He 
came  from  the  state  of  Missouri  to  Illinois,  and  we  first 
find  him  located  near  what  is  now  Rushville  as  early  as 
1823  or '21.  He  was  a  peculiar  combination  of  the  back, 
woodsman  and  pioneer  preacher.  He  was  of  the  medium 
height,  lank  and  lean,  sharp  features,  high  cheek  bones, 
sandy  complexion,  and  purely  a  nervous  temperament-  He 
had  a  small  family  at  his  coming,  and  located  in  section  20, 
on  the  land  now  owned  by  John  Roberts.  Here  he  erected 
a  good  double  log  house  from  the  lynn  timber  which  was 
then  plenty  on  his  land.  A  stone  chimney  was  constructed 
in  the  center  of  the  building,  and  arranged  with  two. fire 
places,  one  for  each  room.  To  raise  a  house  of  such  preten- 
sions he  was  obliged  to  go  as  far  as  Rushville — about  15 
miles,  to  procure  assistance.  The  Indians  were  then  plenty 
in  the  country,  and  it  is  said  they  were  present  and  aided 
in  the  work.  Green  was  a  local  Methodist  preacher 
and  exhorter,  and  to  him  is  accorded  the  honor  of  preaching 
the  first  sermon  in  Schuyler  county,  in  1823.  Indeed  his 
was  the  first  sermon  preached  in  the  entire  military  tract 
between  Fort  Clark,  where  Peoria  now  stands,  and  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers.  The  first  church 
society  in  this  part  of  the  county  was  organized  at  his  house. 
Many  are  the  stories  told  of  his  eccentricities  and  peculiari- 
ties. Once  he  started  on  his  way  to  conduct  church  service 
in  the  settlement  bareheaded,  but  stopped  at  the  house  of 
one  of  the  settlers  and  procured  the  necessary  head  gear.  In 
the  pulpit  he  was  as  odd  as  out  of  it.  When  in  earnest  dis- 
course he  would  twist  his  mouth  to  one  side,  which  caused  a 
great  deal  of  merriment  to  the  youngsters.  It  was  a  common 
saying  among  them  that  he  was  trying  to  bite  off  one  of  his 
ears.  It  was  he  that  made  the  extravagant  expression  with 
regard  to  the  numerous  snakes  in  the  country,  that  "  they 
were  so  plenty  as  to  clog  the  plow. "  He  conducted  pro- 
tracted meetings  throughout  the  surrounding  settlements, 
and  was  the  instrument  of  many  conversions.  On  some  oc- 
casions he  would  appear  before  his  congregation,  dressed  in 
the  pioneer  garb,  bucksKin  hunting  shirt  and  trowsera  of 
the  same  material.  In  the  fall  of  1832,  he  sold  out  his  im- 
provement to  George  Roberts  and  moved  to  Arkansas,  and 
if  living,  is  undoubtedly  somewhere  just  in  the  lead  of  civili- 
zation. The  second  parties  to  locate  in  this  settlement  were 
two  brothers,  John  and  James  Bell.  They  were  both  heads 
of  families,  and  located  near  each  other  in  section  20.    They 

271 


272 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


were  natives  of  Kentucky,  but  migrated  to  Indiana  in  an 
early  day,  and  in  1826,  came  to  Illinois  and  stopped  in 
Morgan  county  until  early  in  1830,  when  tbey  came  here 
and  settled  as  above  stated.  John's  family  consisted  of  his 
wife  and  two  children,  Mary  J ,  and  Robert.  His  house 
was  a  rude  log  cabin  without  any  door,  and  was  lighted  by 
the  absence  of  a  log  in  one  side.  A  blanket  served  the  pur- 
pose of  a  door.  He  remained  here  but  a  short  time,  when 
he  moved  to  section  28,  and  erected  a  comfortable  log  house. 
It  was  on  this  farm  that  he  died  but  a  few  months  ago.  He 
was  twice  married,  his  first  wife  dying  many  years  ago.  His 
secoud  wife  is  yet  living  and  resides  at  the  old  homestead. 
Several  children  were  born  to  them  in  the  comity,  and  all 
are  residents  of  Brown  but  three.  Ira,  a  son  of  the  second 
marriage,  lives  in  section  28,  near  the  farm  of  his  father. 
James  Bell,  the  brother  of  John,  had  a  wife  and  one  son, 
John,  when  he  came.  Three  other  children  were  born  to 
the  family.  Mr.  Bell  died  in  1841 ;  his  widow  survived  him, 
and  is  now  living  at  Ripley,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Luster- 
Three  sons  are  residents  of  the  county.  Ira,  a  brother  of 
John  and  James,  came  three  years  later,  and  settled  in  the 
neighborhood  of  his  brothers.  He  was  also  at  the  head  of 
a  family,  haviug  a  wife  and  one  son,  John  W.  Ira  died 
in  1876.  His  widow  is  yet  living  at  their  old  home  in  sec- 
tion 28.  Two  of  their  children  are  citizens  of  the  township. 
Another  pioneer  of  1830,  was  Henry  Ausmus,  a  native  of 
Tennessee.  He  came  a  single  man,  but  soon  afterwards 
married  Sarah  Rigg,  and  settled  in  section  31.  He  after- 
wards entered  land  in  section  27,  where  he  resided  until 
1875,  when  he  moved  to  Texas.  One  of  the  children  is  a 
resident  of  the  township,  Nancy,  wife  of  Marion  Bell- 
George  Simons  came  into  the  settlement  the  same  year  as 
the  above  and  located  in  section  32.  He  was  also  from 
Tennessee.  He  came  to  the  state  a  single  man,  and  while 
stepping  in  Morgan  county  married  Sally  Bell.  The  farm 
he  improved  is  now  occupied  by  J.  M.  Clark.  He  moved 
to  the  state  of  Missouri  in  about  1860,  where  he  died. 

The  following  named  persons  all  settled  here  as  early  as 
1830;  David  Shelby,  Jesse  Hunter,  John  Stinnett,  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Sallie,  Elisha  Howard,  the  "  Old  Man  "  Stuart 
and  his  three  sons,  and  John  Ausmus.  Shelby  came  from 
the  South,  and  had  a  large  family.  He  squatted  in  section 
16,  but  remained  only  a  few  years,  when  he  moved  further 
west.  Hunter  and  Stinnett  were  brothers-in-law,  and  came 
from  Tennessee.  Both  had  large  families,  and  located  in 
section  1 .  They  subsequently  moved  near  Rushville,  where 
they  remained  but  a  short  time,  when  they  went  to  some 
other  part  of  the  West.  The  "Old  man  "  Sallie  located  in 
section  17.  Like  most  of  the  others  of  that  settlement, 
he  soon  left  for  some  point  further  west.  Elisha  Howard 
was  a  perfect  type  of  the  Tennessee  backwoods  hunter.  He 
squatted  in  section  17.  His  family  remained  here  until  the 
Nauvoo  excitement,  when  they  all  went  off  with  the  Mor- 
mons. The  Stuarts  left  in  about  1832.  Mr.  Ausmus  loca- 
ted in  section  31.  He  came  from  Tennessee,  and  at  his 
coming  had  a  wife  and  three  sons,  Henry,  Philip,  and  John 
B.  He  remained  but  a  few  years  when  he  removed  to 
Adams  County,  where  he  afterwards  died.     The  subsequent 


settlements  wereof  a  more  permanent  character.  Most  of  the 
first  immigrants  were  from  the  South,  and  the  winter  of 
the  deep  snow  disgusted  them  with  the  climate,  and  they  re- 
mained but  a  short  time,  fearing  another  visitation  of  the 
same  kind.  A  substantial  pioneer  of  1831,  was  Richard 
W.  Rigg,  a  native  of  Virginia.  When  a  mere  lad  his 
parents  moved  to  Kentucky.  He  here  grew  to  manhood,  and 
married  Elizabeth  George,  from  which  union  three  children 
were  born.  Mrs.  R.  died  in  181 8,  and  late  in  the  following  year, 
Mr.  Rigg  was  united  in  marriage  with  Martha  Utterback. 
In  the  fall  of  1830,  they  moved  to  Illinois  and  stopped  one 
year  in  Morgan  county.  In  1831,  they  came  to  this  part  of 
the  county  and  located  in  section  1 7.  The  family  then  con- 
sisted of  eight  children,  Wm.  T,  Sarah,  Elizabeth,  Susan, 
James  N.  Margaret,  Peter,  and  John.  Mr.  Rigg  bought 
out  the  improvement  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  White.  His 
possessions  consisted  of  a  little  log  cabin  and  80  acres  of 
land.  It  was  on  this  farm  that  Mr.  R.,  died  in  1869.  His 
wife  survived  him  eight  years,  her  demise  occurring  in  1877. 
Peter  Rigg,  one  of  the  sons,  now  resides  on  the  old  farm. 
William  T.,  the  oldest  of  the  family,  lives  in  section  32.  He 
is  a  well-to-do  farmer,  and  like  the  pioneers  before  him,  is 
ever  ready  to  entertain  the  wayfarer,  and  to  talk  about  the 
times  of  long  ago.  Another  of  the  family,  Susan  A.,  wife 
of  Joshua  P.  Singleton,  also  lives  in  the  township.  George 
Roberts  was  a  prominent  settler  of  1832.  He  was  a  native 
of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  when  a  small  boy  moved  with 
his  parents  to  Massachusetts.  Here  in  after  years  he  mar- 
ried Sarah  Morse.  In  1831,  he  concluded  to  try  his  fortune 
in  the  "  Far  West."  He  accordingly  set  sail  from  Boston, 
and  came  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  up  the  Mississippi 
and  Illinois  rivers  to  what  was  then  known  as  Ross's  Ferry, 
Fulton  county.  He  remained  here  until  fall,  and  then 
moved  to  Adams  county.  The  fall  following  of  1832,  he 
came  to  this  county  and  located  in  sec.  20,  Missouri  town- 
ship. Liking  the  place  of  Levin  Green,  they  soon  struck 
up  a  bargain,  and  Green  proceeded  to  move  out  and  give 
possession.  The  improvement  consisted  of  a  double  log 
house,  and  a  few  acres  of  cleared  land.  At  this  time  Mr. 
Roberts  had  six  children,  Hannah,  John,  Sarah,  Thomas  M., 
Rachel  and  George  H.  One  daughter  was  born  here,  Mary 
R.  The  place  was  then  principally  in  the  state  of  nature, 
being  covered  with  heavy  timber.  Mr.  Roberts  cleared  the 
forest,  and  in  time  was  the  possessor  of  a  good  farm.  Mrs. 
R.,  died  in  1836,  only  four  years  after  their  advent  here 
Mr.  Roberts  lived  until  the  summer  of  1859.  Four  of  the 
family  are  residents  of  the  county,  Hannah,  widow  of  Moses 
Winslow,  John,  George  H.,  and  Mary  R.,  wife  of  A.  A. 
Hill.  John  is  a  prosperous  farmer  and  lives  on  the  old 
homestead  in  section  20.  Mr.  Hill,  the  husband  of  Mary 
R.,  is  an  old  settler,  and  owns  a  good  farm  in  section  29. 
His  father,  B.  F.  Hill,  came  to  the  county  in  1837,  and  loca- 
ted in  Versailles.  He  afterwards  moved  to  Pike  county, 
and  thence  to  Nebraska,  and  finally  returned  to  Pike  coun- 
ty, where  he  died  in  1881.  Mr.  A.  A.  Hill  is  the  only  one 
i)f  the  family  residing  in  the  county.  Thomas  I.  Beard,  a 
native  of  Kentucky,  came  here  in  the  same  year  as  Mr. 
Roberts,  and  located  in  section  32,  on  the  farm  now  owned 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


273 


by  Win.  T.  Rigg.  His  wife's  maiden  name  was  Catharine 
Bell.  The  children  were,  Alexander,  Jane,  James,  John, 
Martha,  Samuel,  and  Joseph.  Mr.  Beard  resided  here  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  about  1864.  His  wife  lived 
but  a  few  years  after  his  death.  One  son,  John,  resides  at 
Mt.  Sterling.  Among  other  early  settlers  were  the  Millers, 
the  Campbells,  Robert  Henly,  James  Riley,  Jesse  Rains, 
Bonine,  the  Bateses,  the  "  old  man "  Lemon,  William 
Smith,  (commonly  known  as  "Prairie"  Smith),  Sparrow- 
hawk,  J.  P.  Whitmore,  R.  Porter,  the  Coxes,  B,  Stubble- 
field,  Granville  Bond  (see  Pea  Ridge),  Archy  Turner,  the 
Clarks,  and  others.  An  event  that  created  a  great  excite- 
ment for  miles  around,  was  the  loss  of  a  child  of  Mr.  Bonine 
about  1838.  The  county  was  then  thickly  studded  with 
timber,  and  it  was  as  much  as  a  grown  person  could  do,  if 
far  from  home,  to  find  his  way  back  unless  he  was  very 
familiar  with  the  woods.  It  seems  that  one  of  the  swine  of 
Mr.  Bonine  had  strayed  into  the  timber,  and  two  of  his 
children,  a  little  boy  and  girl  went  in  search  of  the  animal. 
In  two  or  three  hours  the  girl  returned  alone,  and  stated 
they  had  found  the  hog,  but  on  starting  home  she  and  her 
brother  disagreed  with  regard  to  the  right  way  home.  They 
accordingly  separated,  the  girl,  as  already  stated,  finding 
their  cabin.  The  father  was  soon  notified  of  the  circum- 
stance, and  immediately  went  in  search  of  his  boy.  Not 
finding  him,  he  soon  gave  the  alarm  to  his  neighbors.  It 
was  now  getting  near  night,  but  the  search  was  continued 
throughout  the  night  and  the  following  day  and  night.  By 
this  time  the  news  was  spread  abroad  for  miles  around.  Hun- 
dreds were  in  the  search,  scouring  the  country  in  every  di- 
rection, but  nothing  could  be  discovered  of  the  missing  boy. 
Day  and  night  were  the  woods  filled  with  people  on  foot  and 
on  horseback.  At  night  the  torches  flickered  among  the 
tall  trees,  and  the  forest  resounded  with  the  hallooing  of  the 
anxious  hunters.  After  two  or  three  days  of  diligent  search 
the  people  disbanded  and  gave  up  the  hunt,  believing  that 
the  boy  was  beyond  recovery.  The  father  kept  up  the 
search  for  more  than  a  week,  but  his  efforts  were  unavailing. 
Some  few  months  afterward  a  hunter's  attention  was  at- 
tracted to  the  movements  of  several  buzzards  that  were  hov- 
ering near  a  certain  spot.  On  investigation  he  found  the 
skeleton  of  a  human  body  that  was  about  the  size  of  the  lost 
boy.  He  was  about  six  years  of  age,  and  when  found  was 
several  miles  from  the  cabin  of  his  parents.  The  hunter 
gathered  up  the  bones,  and  what  clothing  was  left,  and  con- 
veyed them  to  Mr.  Bonine.  This  is  among  the  few  trials 
and  troubles  of  the  pioneers.  It  would  take  a  volume  to  re- 
cord even  a  small  portion  of  what  they  endured  for  their 
children,  who  are  now  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  labor. 

North  of  the  base  line,  the  land  did  not  come  into  market 
until  1836,  but  several  military  claims  were  laid  as  early  as 
1817,  among  which  are,  October  6,  1817,  Samuel  Gonslave 
received  from  the  United  States  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  8,  and  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month  transferred 
the  same  to  one  Richard  Wallace.  David  Hamilton  entered 
the  northwest  quarter  of  the  same  section  at  the  same  date, 
and  on  the  22d  of  the  same  month  transferred  it  to  Elizabeth 
Brown.  December  9th,  1817,  Aaron  Noble  entered  the 
35 


S.  W.  i  of  section  10,  George  Purcell  entered  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  29,  November  6th,  1817. 
Nathan  Woolsey  on  the  same  day  entered  southwest  quarter 
of  the  same  section. 

As  already  stated,  Levin  Green  was  the  first  to  brave  the 
wilderness,  and  it  was  his  daughter  who  has  the  honor  of 
being  the  first  bride.  The  groom  was  A.  C.  Sallie,  son  of 
the  pioneer  previously  mentioned.  The  ceremony  took  place 
at  the  house  of  Levin  Green  the  2d  day  of  August,  1831. 
The  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  by  the  father  of  the 
bride,  and  it  is  told  by  the  old  settlers  that  Green's  closing 
remark  in  the  ceremony  was  "  Root,  little  hogs,  or  die." 
We  cannot  vouch  for  the  truth  of  this  statement,  but  from 
the  character  of  the  man  it  would  not  be  hard  to  believe. 
The  first  born  was  probably  John  Rigg,  a  son  of  Richard  W. 
Rigg,  whose  birth  occurred  Nov.  26th,  1832.  The  first 
death  was  that  of  a  child  of  Elisha  Howard,  in  the  summer 
of  1830.  The  interment  was  on  a  little  knoll  in  section  17, 
on  the  Clark  place.  This  was  the  first  place  of  interment, 
and  it  is  yet  used  as  such.  George  Lester  taught  the  first 
school  in  1833.  The  school-house  was  situated  in  section  20, 
near  the  dwelling  of  A.  Campbell.  It  was  a  small  log  cabin 
about  14x16  feet  in  dimensions,  and  the  usual  split-log  floor 
and  benches  of  the  day,  were  the  main  features.  The  first 
sermon  was  preached  by  Levin  Green  in  1830.  Among 
other  early  preachers  were  Granville  Bond,  Rev.  Winslow 
and  John  Logan.  The  latter  was  a  Baptist ;  the  former  were 
all  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  persuasion.  The  first  church 
building  was  erected  about  1835,  in  section  25,  by  the  Metho- 
dists. The  Baptist  denomination  built  a  house  about  three 
years  later,  and  it  was  situated  in  section  29,  on  the  same 
ground  the  present  church  stands.  James  Riley  was  the  first 
Justice  of  the  Peace.  Esquire  Riley  was  an  upright  man- 
He  belonged  to  the  church,  and  his  integrity  was  not  ques- 
tioned by  his  pioneer  neighbors.  He  moved  to  the  State  of 
Texas  in  an  early  day,  and  there  united  with  the  church. 
He  could  not  refrain  from  speaking  of  the  numerous  snakes 
at  his  old  home  in  Brown  county.  The  result  was,  a  church 
meeting  was  called  and  the  poor  old  Esquire  was  dismissed 
from  the  church.  He  had  only  told  the  truth,  but  the  Tex- 
ans  were  not  prepared  to  swallow  the  old  gentleman's  snake 
stories  of  the  numerous  dens  in  the  ravines  of  Missouri 
township,  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  Dr.  Samuel  Clarkson  was  » 
the  first  practicing  physician.  He  resided  near  Mt.  Sterling. 
Dr.  John  Irwin  and  J.  N.  Allen  were  also  early  physicians. 
A  man  by  the  name  of  Shirtliff  was  the  first  to  locate  a 
blacksmith  shop  in  this  township.  This  was  about  1858, 
and  his  shop  was  situated  in  section  19  Prior  to  this  the 
people  had  their  work  done  in  Mt.  Sterling,  and  other  con- 
venient points  outside  of  the  precinct.  The  first  mill  was 
constructed  by  Robert  Henly  in  1832  or  '33.  It  was  a  water 
mill,  and  situated  in  section  11  on  Crooked  creek,  at  the  same 
point  that  Scott's  mill  now  stands.  Indeed  the  latter 
mill  is  simply  an  outgrowth  of  the  former.  The  bolt 
was  then  turned  by  hand,  and  one  burr  did  the  grind- 
ing. It  was  rather  a  slow  process,  but  answered  well 
the  purposes  of  the  day.  As  an  example  of  some  of  the  ups 
and  downs  of  those  early  times,  we  will  here  relate  a  little 


274 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


circumstance  as  given  to  us  by  one  of  the  early  settlers.  A 
stranger  passing  through  the  country,  and  desiring  to  find 
out  all  about  it  with  the  view  of  locating,  if  it  suited  him, 
stopped  at  the  cabin  of  one  of  the  pioneers  to  rest  and  refresh 
himself  He  desired  something  to  eat,  and  the  good  woman 
was  soon  busily  engaged  in  preparing  his  meal.  While  she 
was  running  to  and  fro  to  get  the  best  she  had,  the  stranger 
kept  plying  her  with  questions, — what  conveniences  they  had 
for  milling,  what  they  could  raise  to  the  best  advantage,  how 
long  they  had  been  there,  where  they  came  from,  etc.  She 
answered  his  questions  as  best  she  could,  until  finally  be- 
coming weary  of  his  importunities,  she  broke  forth,  saying, 
"  If  you  want  to  know  all  about  Illinois  I  can  tell  you  in  a 
few  words:  It  is  a  regular  heaven  for  men  and  horses,  but 
is  h — 1  on  women  and  oxen ! "     The  stranger  subsided- 

Supervisors. — The  following  persons  have  represented  the 
township  on  the  County  Board :  Alexander  Campbell  was 


elected  in  1854,  and  served  for  six  successive  terms.  For 
the  years  1855  and  1857,  he  was  chosen  chairman  of  the 
board.  William  Cullinan  was  elected  in  1860,  and  served 
one  term.  Alexander  Campbell,  re-elected  in  1861  ;  Wm. 
Cullinan,  re-elected  in  1862  ;  Wm.  0.  F.  Campbell,  elected 
in  1863,  and  served  two  terms ;  E.  ShirtlifT,  elected  in  1865, 
and  served  two  terms  ;  Alexander  Campbell,  re  elected  in 
1867,  and  served  two  terms ;  William  Forsyth,  elected  in 
1869 ;  Nat.  Clark,  elected  in  1870 ;  Alexander  Campbell, 
re-elected  in  1871,  and  served  two  terms,  both  years  was 
chosen  chairman ;  Richard  Cook,  elected  in  1873 ;  R.  N. 
Clark,  elected  in  1874,  and  served  two  terms ;  E.  J.  Haley, 
elected  in  1876,  and  served  two  terms ;  J.  E.  Singleton, 
elected  in  1878,  served  two  terms  ;  E.  J.  Haley,  re-elected 
in  1880,  served  two  terms  ;  Alexander  J.  Campbell,  elected 
in  1882,  and  is  the  present  incumbent. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


-►V o -vt- 


(L 


ic'Lrx   JiAisrfT 


Among  the  men  of  New  England  birth  and  ideas  who 
are  now  among  the  old  residents  of  Brown  county  is  John 
Roberts  of  Missouri  township.  He  is  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  was  born  at  Marblehead,  fifteen  miles  from 
Boston,  on  the  20th  of  November,  1817.  His  father, 
George  Roberts,  was  of  Welsh  descent,  and  was  born  at 
Hartford,  Connecticut.  His  mother,  Sarah  Morse,  was  a 
native  of  Marblehead,  and  was  descended  from  the  old  stock 
which  settled  New  England.  His  ancestors  were  not  defi- 
cient in  patriotism,  and  in  the  war  with  England  in  1812, 
both  his  grandfather,  Thomas  Morse,  and  his  father,  George 
Roberts,  took  part.  The  latter  was  one  of  the  minute  men 
who  guarded  the  New  England  coast,  and  also  engaged  in 
the  legalized  privateering  which  was  carried  on  during  the 
war.  He  was  made  prisoner  by  a  British  cruiser,  and  taken 
to  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  and  there  confined  for  some  time. 
Mr.  Roberts'  grandfather  was  also  captured  by  the  British, 
and  was  imprisoned  at  Dartmouth,  England,  till  the  close  of 
the  war.  George  Roberts  learned  the  trade  of  a  shoemaker 
at  which  he  was  employed  till  his  removal  to  Illinois.  He 
left  Massachusetts  in  1831,  and  coming  to  Illinois  tempora- 


rily stopped  on  the  banks  of  Spoon  river  in  Fulton  county 
In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  the  family  removed  to  Adams 
county  and  settled  near  Houston  on  a  branch  of  Bear  creek, 
and  after  remaining  there  a  year  came  to  what  is  now  Brown 
county,  then  a  part  of  Schuyler.  In  the  fall  of  1832,  the 
family  settled  on  section  twenty  of  town  one  north,  range 
three  west,  now  known  as  Missouri  township.  Mr.  Roberts' 
father  here  purchased  a  tract  of  land  of  which  only  ten  acres 
were  then  under  cultivation.  He  lived  on  this  farm  for 
many  years.  He  died  in  Elkhorn  township  in  1859.  The 
death  of  his  wife,  the  mother  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
had  occurred  several  years  previous. 

John  Roberts  was  the  third  of  a  family  of  eight  children. 
Five  are  now  living,  one  in  Logan  county  and  the  others  in 
Brown  county.  He  was  thirteen  years  old  at  the  time  of  the 
removal  of  the  family  from  Massachusetts  to  the  West.  His 
opportunities  for  instruction  were  confined  to  his  native  state. 
He  was  the  oldest  son,  and  after  coming  to  Illinois  was  obliged 
to  remain  at  home  and  assist  in  the  work  of  improving  a 
farm.  It  thus  happened  that  he  never  attended  school  in 
this  state.     He  had  however,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  good 

275 


276 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


education  in  the  schools  of  Massachusetts,  and  his  knowledge 
was  thenceforward  gained  by  the  assiduous  reading  of  news- 
papers and  books.  By  this  means  he  accquired  extensive 
information  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects.  His  library  is 
one  of  the  largest  to  be  found  on  a  farm  in  the  county.  He 
was  still  living  at  home  with  his  father  when  the  news  came 
of  the  great  discoveries  of  gold  in  California.  He  was  one 
of  the  thousands  who  set  out  for  the  Pacific  coast  in  quest 
of  fortune.  He  left  home  on  the  2d  of  April,  1849,  and 
reached  the  banks  of  the  Sacramento  river  on  the  30th  of 
the  following  September.  He  drove  an  ox  team  across  the 
plains  and  over  the  mountains,  and  in  the  course  of  his  jour- 
ney had  a  full  taste  of  the  hardships  and  inconveniences 
which  attended  a  journey  to  the  Pacific  slope  in  those  early 
days  of  travel  across  the  continent.  By  mistake  his  com- 
pany took  a  roundabout  road,  touching  the  southern  part  of 
Oregon,  and  thus  were  delayed  in  reaching  the  gold  diggings. 
The  party,  as  it  set  out  from  Brown  county,  was  made  up 
of  thirteen  wagons.  One  of  the  members  was  John  Bigler, 
who  became  the  first  civil  governor  of  California.  Mr. 
Roberts  was  in  California  nearly  six  years,  during  all  of 
which  time  he  was  engaged  in  digging  gold  on  Feather  riv- 
er in  Butte  county,  and  vicinity.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
first  petit  jury  ever  summoned  in  Butte  county  and  voted 
for  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  under  which  California 
became  a  state  His  labors  in  the  gold  diggings  were  re- 
munerative. 

He  returned  to  Illinois  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
1854.  On  the  27th  of  May,  1858,  he  married  Mary 
Bartlett.  a  native  of  Essex  county,  New  York,  who  died  on 
the  2d  of  October,  1859.  His  marriage  to  Juliaette 
Bartlett,  his  present  wife,  took  place  on  the  9th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1860.  Her  father,  Edwin  Bartlett,  was  a  native  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  and  came  to  Brown  county  in  the 
fall  of  1852,  settling  at  Mt.  Sterling  in  this  county.  Her 
mother,  whose  name  before  marriage  was  Susan  Ann 
Weatherly,  was  born  in  Vermont.  Mr.  Roberts  has  since 
been  living  on  the  old  homestead  farm,  originally  settled  by 
his  father.  He  has  four  children  living,  whose  names  are 
Mary  Ellsworth,  John,  Edward  and  Bertha.  His  farm, 
situated  in  Missouri  township,  five  miles  north  of  Mt.  Ster- 
ling, consists  of  two  hundred  and  ten  acres. 

His  ideas  on  political  subjects  have  always  been  of  the 
most  pronounced  and  aggressive  character.  He  early  ac- 
quired the  habit  of  forming  his  own  opinions,  and  of  utter- 
ing them  without  fear  or  hope  of  favor.  The  boldness  and 
audacity  with  which  he  spoke  his  sentiments  may  sometimes 
have  made  him  enemies,  but  no  one  could  doubt  his  frank- 
ness and  sincerity.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  an*i- 
slavery  movement  in  Brown  county.  As  a  Democrat  in 
1840,  he  voted  for  Martin  Van  Buren  for  president.  From 
his  early  youth  he  had  entertained  sentiments  in  opposition 
to  slavery,  even  at  a  time  when  there  was  little  agitation  on 
the  subject.  ■  In  1848,  his  vote  was  again  cast  for  Van  Buren, 
who  this  time,  was  the  Free  Soil  candidate  for  the  presiden- 
tial office.  Van  Buren  only  received  sixteen  votes  at  this 
election  in  Brown  county,  and  nine  of  these  were  cast  at  the 
polling  place  in  the  present  Missouri  township,  where   Mr. 


Roberts  resided.  When  the  Republican  party  was  organ- 
ized a  few  years  afterward  he  was  one  of  its  earliest  members, 
and  no  one  was  more  active  in  securing  the  circulation  of 
Republican  newspapers  throughout  the  county,  and  in 
seeking  to  spread  in  every  way  anti  slavery  sentiments.  He 
was  outspoken  in  his  views,  and  openly  avowed  himself  an 
"  abolitionist "  in  the  days  when  that  term  was  the  synonym 
of  the  greatest  unpopularity.  He  was  one  of  the  few  in 
Brown  county,  who  in  1856,  voted  for  Fremont  for  president- 
As  an  old  resident  of  the  county  his  name  appropriately 
finds  a  place  in  these  pages.  His  portrait  appears  at  the 
head  of  this  sketch. 


CAPTAIN  ENOS  P.  McPHAIL  (Deceased.) 

Amoxg  the  soldiers  from  Brown  county,  in  the  war  of 
the  rebellion,  who  deserve  to  be  remembered  for  their  pa- 
trotism  and  valor,  was  Captain  Enos  P.  McPhail,  of  the 
Third  Illinois  Cavalry.  He  was  a  son  of  Angus  McPhail, 
now  a  resident  of  Lee  township,  and  was  born  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland,  on  the  15th  of  September,  1833.  The  family 
came  to  America  in  1834,  and  after  residing  some  time  at 
Toronto,  Upper  Canada,  came  to  Illinois  in  1838,  first  to 
Rushville,  in  Schuyler  county,  and  in  January,  1840,  to 
Mt.  Sterling.  He  was  a  boy,  between  six  and  seven  years 
of  age,  when  he  came  to  this  county.  He  secured  an  edu- 
cation in  the  common  schools,  and,  on  reaching  manhood, 
engaged  in  farming,  in  Lee  township.  He  was  married  on 
the  19th  of  January,  1860,  to  Minerva  Pettigrew,  daughter 
of  Moses  Pettigrew,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  eastern 
part  of  the  county.  When  the  nation  was  startled  by  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  in  1861,  Captain  Mc- 
Phail stood  ready  to  offer  his  services  in  defense  of  his  coun- 
try. Though  born  on  Scotia's  shores,  he  had  been  reared 
amid  American  institutions,  and  the  blood  of  a  patriot  ran 
through  his  veins. 

Enlisting  in  a  company  organized  in  Brown  county,  he 
was  mustered  into  the  United  States'  service,  as  first  lieu- 
tenant of  Company  G,  on  the  17th  of  August,  1861.  Reach- 
ing Springfield  two  days  afterward,  his  regiment  was  dis- 
patched to  St  Louis,  and  there  joined  the  forces  under  Gen- 
eral Fremont's  command.  The  fall  of  1861  was  mainly 
spent  in  southwest  Missouri,  and  afterward  the  rebel  forces 
were  pursued  into  Arkansas,  and  Captain  McPhail  and  his 
company  were  present  at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge.  In  April, 
1862,  he  was  commissioned  as  Captain.  The  regiment  was 
stationed  some  months  at  Helena,  Arkansas,  and  subse- 
quently joined  the  forces  under  General  Grant,  investing 
Vicksburg.  It  was  before  Vicksburg  that  he  met  his  death. 
While  riding,  in  company  with  some  officers,  some  distance 
from  the  enemy's  lines,  he  was  shot  through  the  breast,  on 
the  22d  of  May,  1863.  His  death  occurred  three  days 
afterward.  He  was  a  man  of  fine  physical  proportions,  and 
was  considered  one  of  the  best  horsemen  in  the  Union  army. 
He  left  one  son,  Eugene  E.  McPhail,  born  on  the  23d  of 
October,  1861,  after  his  departure  to  the  war.  His  widow 
I   is  now  the  wife  of  William  N.  Clark,  of  Missouri  township. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


277 


w 


Of  the  early  settlers  of  Brown  county,  the  proud  old  com- 
monwealth of  Kentucky  contributed  a  liberal  share.  Her 
sons  were  foremost  in  seeking  a  home  on  the  frontier,  and  to 
the  generous  qualities  of  the  big-hearted  Kentuckians,  is 
largely  due  the  free  hospitality  and  social  enjoyment  which 
prevailed  in  pioneer  times.  William  Travis  Rigg,  of  Mis- 
souri township,  is  a  descendant  of  one  of  these  early  Ken- 
tucky families.  His  grandfather,  Peter  Rigg,  came  from 
England,  and  settled  in  Virginia  while  it  was  yet  a  colony 
of  Great  Britain.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  helped  to  secure  the  independence  of  the  thirteen 
colonies.  His  home  in  Virginia  was  on  the  Potomac  river. 
From  Virginia,  at  an  early  period,  he  moved  to  Bourbon 
county,  Kentucky.  He  afterward  lived  about  twenty  years 
in  Anderson  county,  and  then  moved  to  Shelby  county  in 
the  same  State,  where  he  died. 

Richard  Watson  Rigg,  father  of  William  T.  Rigg,  was 
born  in  Virginia,  in  the  year  1789.  He  was  the  second  of 
a  family  of  six  children.  He  grew  up  in  Kentucky,  and  in 
Anderson  county  of  that  State,  married  Elizabeth  George. 
She  was  born  in  Kentucky.  Her  father  came  from  one  of 
the  Carolinas.  The  marriage  took  place  in  the  early  part 
of  the  year  1812.  He  lived  in  Kentucky  till  the  fall  of 
1830,  when  he  emigrated  to  Illinois,  and  after  remaining  one 
year  in  Morgan  county,  six  miles  west  of  Jacksonville,  came 


to  this  county  in  the  fall  of  1831,  and  settled  on  section  20 
of  township  one  north,  range  three  west,  now  known  as  Mis- 
souri township.  Brown  county  had  not,  at  that  time,  been 
organized.  For  eight  years'  he  was  a  resident  of  Schuyler 
county,  till  the  present  county  of  Brown  was  formed.  He 
improved  a  farm,  on  which  he  lived  till  his  death  on  the 
twenty-third  of  October,  1869.  His  first  wife  died  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  March,  1819.  He  married,  as  his  second 
wife,  Peggy  Utterback.  His  oldest  child  was  William 
Travis  Rigg.  The  next  youngest,  Sarah,  married  Henry 
Ausmus,  and  died  on  the  seventeenth  of  April,  1852.  The 
remaining  children  were  by  his  second  marriage :  Elizabeth, 
married  John  B.  Ausmus,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Texas ; 
Susan  A.,  is  the  wife  of  Joshua  P.  Singleton,  of  Missouri 
township ;  Eliza  J.,  married  James  Parker,  and  died  on  the 
thirtieth  of  August,  1855  ;  James  N.  Rigg,  is  a  resident  of 
Camden,  Schuyler  county ;  Margaret,  who  married  Abner 
Cogburn,  now  lives  in  Hancock  county ;  Peter  Rigg  resides 
on  the  old  farm  originally  settled  by  his  father  ;  John  Rigg, 
the  youngest,  died  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  November,  1852. 
William  Travis  Rigg  was  born  in  Anderson  (then  Frank- 
lin) county,  Kentucky,  on  the  fourth  day  of  November, 
1813.  His  boyhood  was  spent  in  his  native  State.  When 
he  was  between  five  and  six  years  old,  his  mother  died.  The 
old-fashioned  subscription  schools  of  Kentucky  were   his 


278 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


means  for  obtaining  an  education.  The  schools  which  he  at- 
tended were  held  in  log  cabins.  The  benches  were  split 
logs ;  a  huge  fire  place  occupied  the  entire  end  of  the 
apartment,  and  the  teachers  were  often  as  unskilled  and  in- 
competent as  the  building  was  plain  and  poor.  But  in 
structures  such  as  these,  some  of  the  great  men  of  the  na- 
tion laid  the  foundation  of  their  future  careers.  He  was 
seventeen  years  old  the  fall  his  father  moved  with  the  family 
to  this  state,  and  eighteen  when  they  came  to  what  is  now 
Brown  county.  He  lived  with  his  father  till  his  marriage, 
which  occurred  on  the  7th  of  December,  1836,  to  Pur- 
lina  Clark,  who  was  born  on  the  26th  of  October,  1815,  in 
Logan  county,  Kentucky. 

Her  parents  were  Abner  Clark  and  Nancy  Gorham.  Her 
father  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  in  the  year  1777 ;  moved 
to  Logan  county,  Kentucky,  came  to  this  state  in  1845, 
and  settled  in  section  19  of  township  one  north,  range 
three  west,  He  died  on  the  29th  of  August,  1849.  Her 
mother,  Nancy  Gorham,  was  born  on  the  '^8th  of  December, 
1783,  in  Virginia.  When  she  was  two  years  old,  her  father 
moved  with  the  family  to  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky. 
She  died  on  the  13th  of  December,  1846. 

Abner  and  Mary  Clark  were  married  in  Logan  county, 
Kentucky.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten  children.  Calvin, 
the  oldest,  died  in  Ripley.  Perneta  married  Benjamin 
Adams,  and  is  a  resident  of  this  county.  William  T.  Clark 
died  in  Schuyler  county,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1855. 
Harris  M.  Clark  lives  in  Schuyler  county.  Mrs.  Inetta 
Wilgus  died  on  the  1st  of  June,  1838.  Delila,  now  Mrs. 
George  Coffman,  lives  in  Brown  county.  The  seventh  child 
is  Mrs.  Rigg.  Mrs.  Catharine  Wilson  died  on  the  seventh 
of  June,  1841.  Francis  A.  Clark  lives  in  Missouri  town- 
ship, and  the  youngest  son,  Abner  A.  Clark,  in  Schuyler 
county. 

After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Rigg  settled  on  his  present  farm, 
in  section  32,  township  one  north,  range  three  west.  No 
farm  at  that  time,  however,  was  in  existence.  About  twenty 
acres  were  under  fence,  but  little  progress  had  been  made 
towards  the  cultivation  of  crops.  He  moved  into  a  log 
house  on  this  place,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1837.  From 
that  time  to  the  present,  now  within  five  years  of  half  a  cen- 
tury, this  spot  has  been  his  home.  The  old  log  house  still 
remains,  and  forms  part  of  his  present  dwelling.  Of  his 
five  children,  the  oldest,  Abner  C.  Rigg,  is  farming  in  Mis- 
souri township.  Richard  W.  Rigg  was  engaged  in  business 
in  Chicago,  and  died  on  the  31st  day  of  March,  1872. 
Sarah  Catharine  is  the  wife  of  Bradford  B.  Wilson,  a  resi- 
dent of  Schuyler  county.  Susan  G.  died  at  the  age  of  six 
years.  The  youngest,  William  Benjamin  Clark,  still  resides 
on  the  home  farm. 

In  his  political  views,  he  was  first  attached  to  the  old 
Whig  party.  Like  a  true  Kentuckian,  in  1836,  he  gave 
his  first  vote  for  president,  to  Henry  Clay,  the  great  Ken- 
tucky statesman  and  orator.  He  remained  a  Whig  as  long 
as  that  party  had  an  active  existence,  and  then  affiliated  with 
the  Democrats.  Of  late  years,  he  has  been  an  adherent  of 
neither  of  the  leading  political  organizations,  but  has  voted 
for  candidates  with  reference  to  their  honesty,  efficiency  and 


fitness  for  office,  rather  than  in  consideration  of  the  party  to 
which  they  belonged.  His  connection  with  the  Baptist 
church  reaches  back  over  a  period  of  almost  forty  years, 
having  become  a  member  in  Septtmber,  1843.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Mt.  Pleasant  Baptist  church,  one  of  the  old- 
est religious  organizations  in  the  county.  Mrs.  Rigg  joined 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church  in  1844,  in  Kentucky. 
One  item  of  Mr.  Rigg's  life  is  well  worthy  of  mention.  He  serv- 
ed his  country  as  a  soldier  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  took 
part  in  the  campaign  of  1832  as  a  member  of  Capt.  Stin- 
nett's company  of  Major  Bogart's  battalion.  He  was  then 
in  his  nineteenth  year.  No  other  man  of  his  age  has  lived 
so  long  in  Missouri  township.  His  time  has  been  employed 
in  the  management  of  his  farm,  and  he  has  never  aspired  to 
other  than  the  private  walks  of  life.  His  portrait  appears 
at  the  head  of  this  sketch. 


ABNER  C.  RIGG. 

Abner  C.  Rigg,  the  oldest  of  the  children  of  William 
Travis  and  Purlina  Rigg,  whose  history  is  given  above,  is  a 
native  of  Brown  county,  and  was  born  on  the  farm  on  which 
his  father  now  lives  in  Missouri  township,  on  the  1st  of 
November,  1837.  He  gained  his  education  in  the  district 
schools  of  the  neighborhood  of  his  home,  and  at  Mt.  Sterling. 
The  first  school  he  attended  was  held  in  an  old  log  structure 
with  slab  benches,  a  relic  of  the  pioneer  school  buildings  of 
the  county,  which  now  have  happily  disappeared  and  given 
way  to  more  modern  structures.  He  was  married  on  the 
5th  of  November,  1868,  to  Mary  Jane  Singleton,  a  native 
of  Mason  county,  Kentucky,  but  who  was  raised  in  Platte 
county,  Missouri.  Her  father  was  William  P.  Singleton, 
and  her  mother,  Susan  Ensor.  After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Rigg 
went  to  farming  for  himself  in  Missouri  township.  In  1871, 
he  moved  to  his  present  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
in  section  thirty  of  township  one  north,  range  three  west. 
He  has  six  children,  whose  names  are  Susan  N.,  Catharine 
Elizabeth,  Minnie,  Helen,  Richard  W.,  and  Ora  L.  He  has 
generally  supported  the  Democratic  party,  casting  his  first 
vote  for  a  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Legislature  in  1858, 
the  year  of  the  memorable  senatorial  contest  between  Doug- 
las and  Lincoln.  Within  the  last  few  years  his  views  on 
political  subjects  have  been  independent  and  liberal,  and  he 
has  been  inclined  to  support  the  doctrines  of  the  National 
Greenback  party.  As  one  of  the  representative  farmers  of 
the  county  his  name  is  given  a  place  in  this  work. 


WILLIAM  ANTHONY  CLARK. 

Logan  County,  Kentucky,  was  the  birthplace  of  William 
Anthony  Clark,  and  he  first  saw  the  light  of  day  on  the 
16th  of  February,  1811.  His  ancestors  were  residents  of 
North  and  South  Carolina.  His  father,  Thomas  Clark,  was 
born  in  Orange  county,  North  Carolina,  in  August,  1770. 
His  early  home  was  not  far  from  Guilford  court-house,  and 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


279 


he  could  plainly  hear  the  firing  of  the  cannon  while  the  bat- 
tie  was  in  progress  at  that  place  during  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  this  incident  during 
his  later  years.  After  the  battle  a  division  of  the  British 
army  was  encamped  for  several  days  near  his  mother's  house. 
His  father  died  when  Thomas  Clark  was  four  or  five  years 
old.  He  was  raised  in  North  Carolina.  He  was  one  of  that 
fearless  band  who  braved  the  dangers  of  the  wilderness  and 
the  hardships  of  a  pioneer  life  and  made  early  settlements  in 
Kentucky.  He  made  his  home  in  Logan  county  of  that 
state  about  the  year  1795.  He  was  married  in  Logan  coun- 
ty to  Mary  Anthony,  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  daugh- 
ter of  Philip  Anthony,  who  also  was  an  early  settler  of 
Kentucky.  Thomas  Clark  lived  in  Logan  county,  Ken- 
tucky, till  the  fall  of  1839,  and  then  came  to  this  state.  He 
died  in  what  is  now  known  as  Missouri  township  of  Brown 
county,  in  1847. 

William  Anthony  Clark  was  the  third  of  a  family  of 
thirteen  children,  of  whom  twelve  grew  to  mature  years. 
His  boyhood  and  youth  were  spent  in  Logan  county,  Ken- 
tucky. His  opportunities  for  acquiring  an  education  were 
the  same  as  those  which  were  common  in  Kentucky  sixty 
years  ago.  These  were  subscription  schools  held  in  log  cab- 
ins. The  benches  were  of  split  logs.  The  fire-place  occu- 
pied the  entire  end  of  the  room.  The  windows  were  com- 
monly of  greased  paper.  Most  of  his  education  he  gained 
by  reading  and  study  outside  of  school  hours  and  by  actual 
experience  with  the  business  affairs  of  life.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  April,  1832,  to  Mahala  Roberts,  daughter  of  John 
Roberts.  She  was  born  in  Maryland,  not  far  from  George- 
town, and  was  chiefly  raised  in  Washington  county,  Virginia. 
Mr.  Clark  lived  in  Logan  county  till  1837,  and  three  of  his 
children  were  born  there. 

He  then  came  to  Illinois.  He  first  rented  land  a  mile  and 
a  half  southeast  of  Mt.  Sterling,  on  which  he  lived  one  year. 
He  then  entered  eighty  acres  of  land  in  the  present  Pea 
Ridge  township  and  improved  a  farm.  After  living  there 
five  years  he  came  to  his  present  location,  in.  section  seven- 
teen, of  township  one  north,  range  three  west,  (Missouri). 
He  has  there  since  followed  the  peaceful  and  quiet  life  of  a 
tdler  of  the  soil.  With  his  two  sons  he  owns  the  whole  of 
section  seventeen  of  this  township,  with  the  exception  of  forty 
acres.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  have  been  the  parents  of  six 
children.  The  oldest,  Mary  E.,  is  now  the  wife  of  Peter 
Rigg.  Sarah  Jane  married  James  Parker.  Martha  Ann  is 
the  wife  of  Thomas  Ausmus  of  Schuyler  county.  The  two 
sons,  William  N.  and  John  Thomas,  reside  on  the  same  sec- 
tion as  their  father.     Another  daughter  died  in  infancy. 

In  his  politics,  like  a  majority  of  Kentuckians,  he  was  in 
early  days  a  Whig,  and  his  first  vote  for  president  was  given 
to  that  great  representative  Kentuckian  —  Henry  Clay. 
Since  the  Whig  party  ended  its  existence,  he  has  been  a 
Democrat.  He  has  preferred  the  private  walks  of  life  to 
holding  public  station,  and  his  time  has  been  busily  and  pro- 
fitably spent  in  attention  to  his  business  interests  and  the 
management  of  his  farm.  He  became  connected  with  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  church  in  the  year  1833,  and  has 
since  been  a  member  of  that  denomination. 


ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL. 

Alexander  Campbell,  a  well-known  citizen  of  Brown 
county,  is  a  native  of  Kentucky,  though  his  ancestors,  for- 
merly lived  in  Orange  county,  North  Carolina.  His  grand- 
father, John  Campbell,  was  of  Scotch  Irish  stock,  emi- 
grating from  Ireland,  where  he  was  born,  to  the  United 
States,  and  settled  in  North  Carolina.  He  was  a  soldier  in 
the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  the 
Cowpens,  King's  Mountain  and  Guilford  Court  House.  He 
died  in  Logan  county,  Kentucky,  of  which  he  was  a  pioneer 
settler.  Owens  Campbell,  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  in  Orange  county,  North  Carolina,  and  was 
a  young  man  when  he  accompanied  his  father's  family  to 
Kentucky.  He  was  married  in  Logan  county,  Kentucky,  to 
Mary,  daughter  of  William  Clark  Her  father  was  also 
from  Orange  county,  North  Carolina,  and  served  in  the 
Revolutionary  war.  Owens  Campbell  resided  in  Logan 
county,  Kentucky,  till  his  death,  which  occurred  toward  the 
close  of  the  war  of  1812—14.  He  was  strongly  in  favor  of 
the  war  with  England  then  being  carried  on,  and  in  a  dis- 
pute with  a  member  of  the  Federal  party  who  was  opposed 
to  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  he  was  killed.  His  death  left 
his  widow  with  three  children,  all  boys,  of  whom  Alexander 
was  the  second. 

He  was  born  in  Logan  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  twenty- 
seven  of  June,  1813,  and  his  boyhood  was  spent  in  the  same 
part  of  his  native  State.  His  mother  was  left  with  scanty 
means,  but  she  endeavored  to  raise  her  children  the  best  she 
could,  teaching  them  to  lead  honest  and  upright  lives,  and 
living  to  see  them  all  become  useful  and  respected  citizens. 
On  the  twenty-seventh  of  December,  1838,  he  married  Mary, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Clark.  In  1840  he  came  to  Illinois, 
and  became  a  citizen  of  Brown  county.  He  bought  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  twenty,  township  one  north, 
range  three  west,  (Missouri  township)  on  which  he  settled, 
and  where  he  has  since  been  living.  He  has  been  a  success- 
ful farmer,  and  at  one  time  owned  upward  of  a  section  of 
land,  part  of  which,  however,  he  has  given  to  his  children. 
Of  his  nine  children  four  are  now  living.  The  oldest,  A. 
W.  Campbell,  is  farming  in  Missouri  township.  A  daugh- 
ter, Susan,  is  the  wife  of  J.  W.  Singleton.  Alexander  J. 
Campbell  is  a  farmer  of  Missouri  township  and  the  present 
member  of  the  board  of  supervisors  from  that  portion  of  the 
county.  John  Campbell,  the  youngest  son,  is  also  a  resi- 
dent of  Missouri  township. 

He  is  a  sincere  believer  in  the  principles  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  considers  that  they  are  best  fitted  to  pre- 
serve the  free  institutions  of  this  country.  He  has  voted  for 
every  Democratic  candidate  for  president  since  1836,  when 
his  vote  helped  to  elevate  Martin  Van  Buren  to  the  presi- 
dential chair.  While  a  citizen  of  Kentucky  he  was  an  offi- 
cer in  the  militia  service  of  that  State,  and  commanded  the 
Twenty-third  regiment  of  Kentucky  militia  with  a  commis- 
sion as  lieutenant-colonel.  He  was  elected  and  commissioned 
a  major  in  the  Illinois  militia  after  coming  to  this  State,  and 
thus  acquired  the  title  by  which  he  is  known.  He  was 
elected  county  commissioner,  and  as  such  served  three  terms 


280 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


in  succession  up  to  the  adoption  of  township  organization. 
For  two  terms  he  was  chairman  of  the  board  of  county  com- 
missioners. He  was  the  first  member  of  the  board  of  super- 
visors elected  from  Missouri  township,  and  served  as  super- 
visor for  eleven  years.  He  was  several  times  chosen  chair- 
man of  the  board.  He  has  been  elected  three  times  justice 
of  the  peace,  and  is  now  serving  his  third  term.  As  a  pub- 
lic official  he  has  been  known  as  an  honest  and  capable  man, 
and  has  discharged  his  various  trusts  with  credit  to  himself 
and  satisfaction  to  the  people. 


ADAM  WEIGAND. 

This  gentleman,  one  of  the  representative  farmers  and 
business  men  of  Missouri  township,  is  a  native  of  Muskin- 
gum county,  Ohio,  and  was  born  in  Wayne  township,  six 
miles  southeast  of  Zanesville,  on  the  13th  of  May,  1845 ;  his 
father,  John  Weigand,  was  born  in  Hesse  Cassel,  Germany, 
and  came  to  the  United  States  in  the  year  1833.  He  landed 
in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  where  he  lived  for  some  time  ;  he 
was  married  in  that  city  to  Elizabeth  Leison,  who  came  to 
this  country  at  about  the  same  time  her  husband  did.  From 
the  city  of  Baltimore  he  came  to  Ohio,  purchased  land  in 
Wayne  township,  Muskingum  county,  and  there*  went  to 
farming ;  his  first  purchase  of  land  in  Ohio  was  twenty  acres, 
which  he  subsequently  sold  and  bought  eighty;  he  came 
from  Ohio  to  Illinois  in  1853,  making  the  journey  in  wagons ; 
he  settled  where  his  son,  Adam  Weigand,  now  lives  on  section 
thirty-six,  township  one  north,  range  three  west.  He  here 
became  the  owner  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  ; 
he  died  on  the  19th  of  October,  1864;  he  had  ten  children, 
of  whom  eight  are  now  living,  six  sons  and  two  daughters. 
Of  these  three  sons  and  one  daughter  reside  in  Kansas,  and 
the  remaining  children  in  this  state. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  nine  years  old  when  he 
came  to  this  state,  and  was  chiefly  raised  in  this  county ;  his 
opportunities  for  instruction  at  school  were  limited  to  about 
three  months.  For  his  education  he  is  indebted  mainly  to 
his  own  efforts.  On  the  18th  of  January,  1870,  he  married 
Christian  Elizabeth  Roathous,  daughter  of  Andreas  Roat- 
hous.  She  was  born  at  Quincy ;  her  mother's  maiden  name 
was  Tenk,  and  she  is  a  niece  of  J.  and  J.  H.  Tenk  and  Joseph 
Ricker,  among  the  leading  business  men  of  Quincy.     There 


are  four  children  living  by  this  marriage,  whose  names  are : 
Cornelius,  Joseph,  Emily  and  Josephine  Henrietta.  In  his 
political  belief  Mr.  Weigand  has  always  been  a  follower  of 
the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party  ;  his  first  vote  for 
president  was  cast  for  Horatio  Seymour  in  1868,  and  he  has 
been  a  Democrat  ever  since.  He  has  been  an  active 
member  of  that  party,  and  generally  done  all  in  his  power 
toward  the  election  of  its  candidates ;  he  carries  on  farming 
and  dealing  in  stock ;  he  is  the  owner  of  five  hundred  and 
forty-five  acres  of  land  ;  he  had  two  brothers  who  served  in 
the  army  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  Charles  and  Jacob 
Weigand.  Both  were  members  of  Company  E,  One 
Hundred  and  Nineteenth  regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  and 
enlisted  in  1862.  Jacob  served  till  the  close  of  the  war  and 
was  wounded  in  the  charge  on  Fort  Blakeley,  on  Mobile 
Bay,  being  shot  through  the  leg  by  a  cannister  shot  from  one 
of  the  last  guns  fired  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  Mr. 
Weigand  is  one  of  the  younger,  enterprising  business  men 
of  the  county. 


DAVID  J.  RASH 

Was  born  near  Fulda,  Hesse  Cassel,  Germany,  January  6th, 
1832,  the  second  of  five  children  of  John  Joseph  and  Bar- 
bara (Grass)  Rash.  The  family  came  to  the  United  States 
in  March,  1833;  his  father  had  been  a  farmer  in  good  cir- 
cumstances in  Germany,  owning  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  acres  of  land.  He  settled  near  Zanesville,  Ohio,  and 
lived  there  till  1853,  when  he  came  to  Brown  county,  where 
he  died  in  1856.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  raised  in 
Ohio.  He  came  to  this  state  the  year  he  was  twenty-one, 
and  settled  with  his  father  in  section  thirty-five,  township 
one  north,  range  three  west.  November  16th,  1851,  he 
married  Margaret  Crummy,  a  native  of  county  Armagh, 
Ireland,  who  came  to  this  state  from  Kentucky,  her 
father  was  Bernard  Crummy.  Mr.  Rash  has  seven  children  ; 
Frank  Andrew,  Charles  Daniel,  Frederick  Joseph,  Mary 
Ellen,  Ida  Elizabeth,  Anna  Louisa,  and  Edward  David. 
He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics.  He  has  served  one  term  as 
Collector  of  Missouri  Township.  He  is  the  possessor  of 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  and  the  owner  of  the 
homestead  farm  on  which  his  father  settled  on  coming  to 
this  country. 


**e^^ 


FREDERICK    TOWNSHIP. 


(SCHUYLER   COUNTY. 


-«— *^VZ£  O  /z/fcv-r- 


and  a  half  miles. 


HIS  is  the  smallest  township  in  the 
county,  containing  only  twelve  full  sec- 
tions, although  there  are  several  frac- 
tional ones  joining  the  Illinois  river  and 
Sugar  creek,  which  form  the  eastern 
boundary  line.  The  greater  part  of  the 
land  is  in  T.  1N.R.1  E.,  with  that 
part  of  T.  2K.E.1E,  that  is  west  of 
Sugar  creek  as  far  north  as  the  south  line 
of  section  7.  Its  greatest  length  is  about 
ten  miles  and  the  greatest  width  three 
It  is  bounded  north,  east  and  south  by 
Browning  township  and  the  Illinois  river  respectively,  and 
west  by  Bainbridge  and  Rushville.  The  surface  is  broken, 
with  the  exception.of  a  narrow  strip  of  Illinois  bottom.  The 
soil  is  rich  and  productive  In  the  census  of  1880,  it  is  cred- 
ited with  having  38  farms  and  490  population  including  the 
town. 

These  lands  were  all  subjected  to  military  claims,  by  the 
soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812,  and  the  following  are  a  few  that 
was  located  in  T.  1  N.  R.  1  E  :  December  3,  1817,  Halzen 
Richardson,  N.  E.  i  section  6,  and  William  Bartlett,  N.  W. 
I  ofa  section  6  on  the  same  date.  December  17,  1817, 
Francis  Hutchison,  N.  E.  i  of  section  18  ;  January  27,  1818, 
William  Anderson,  N.  W.  i  of  section  9  ;  August  4,  1818, 
Stephen  Page,  N.  W.  i  of  section  17,  and  March  24,  1818, 
John  Glass,  S.  W.  }  of  section  4. 

The  first  settler  in  the  township  was  James  Lanny,  an 
Irishman.  He  located  about  half  a  mile  northwest  of 
Fredericksville  in  1825.  He  had  a  wife  and  three  children. 
In  1826,  his  wife  died,  and  it  is  related  that  this  was  the 
second  death  in  the  county.  He  stopped  here  but  a  few 
years,  and  moved  to  Arkansas.  Andrew  Vance  located 
where  Fredericksville  now  stands  about  the  same  time. 
His  old  log  cabin  stood  there  for  many  yearsi  as  a  witness  of 
his  settlement  Timothy  Harris  was  also  an  early  settler. 
Edward  White  and  his  son-in  law  Doolittle,  came  at  an 
early  date  and  located  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  town- 
ship. White  settled  theDarnell  place  on  section  6,  and  Doo- 
little settled  the  Brines  place  on  section  31  of  T.  2  N.  R.  1 
E.  It  was  through  this  township  that  most  of  the  early  set- 
tlers passed  on  their  way  into  the  county,  after  crossing 
the  river  at  Beardstown,  and  quite  a  number  stopped  within 
its  limits  for  a  short  time,  until  they  became  acquainted  with 
the  country.  That  being  the  case,  it  is  a  difficult  matter  for 
us  to  learn  the  names  of  many  who  first  located  here.  There 
are  but  few  very  old  settlers  in  the  township,  the  earliest  of 
those  having  located  here  as  late  as  1834,  nearly  ten  years 
36 


after  the  first  settlement  was  made,  and  they  know  but  com- 
paratively little  about  the  first  arrivals.  Abraham  Hol- 
lingsworth  was  among  the  earliest  settlers  who  became  a 
perminent  resident  of  the  county.  He  located  on  section  6 
April  7, 1827.  He  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  born  in  1767, 
and  came  to  Illinois  with  his  family  in  1824,  locating  in 
Morgan  county,  where  he  remained  until  his  advent  here.  He 
lived  on  his  improvement  in  Frederick  about  two  years,  and 
then  entered  land  and  moved  north  of  Rushville,  settling  on 
a  small  stream  which  has  ever  since  been  known  as  Hol- 
lingsworth  branch.  He  was  one  of  the  early  Justices  of  the 
peace,  and  died  in  1837.  He  had  a  family  of  six  sons  and  three 
daughters,  all  of  whom  had  families,  and  lived  to  a  good 
old  age.  Gabriel  B.,  residing  in  Browning,  at  the  age  of 
71  years,  is  the  only  one  of  the  family  now  living. 

John  D.  Wren,  a  Kentuckian,  settled  just  north  of  Pleas- 
ant View  in  1829,  and  became  an  early  settler  in  Frederick. 
Lyman  Utter  came  early  in  the  thirties,  and  settled  in  T.  1 
north,  R.  1  east.  He  died  several  years  ago,  and  had  but 
one  child,  a  daughter,  who  became  the  wife  of  Jesse  Dar- 
nell, but  died  a  few  years  after  her  marriage.  Samuel  Hea- 
ton  settled  the  Bellomy  place,  and  had  lived  there  a  number 
of  years,  when  he  sold  out  to  Mr.  B. 

Jesse  Darnell,  a  native  of  Ohio,  came  in  1834,  and  is  still 
residing  on  section  6,  one  of  the  old  and  respected  citizens 
of  the  county. 

June  22,  1832,  Anthony  Messerer,  a  native  German,  came 
to  the  county  and  entered  the  greater  part  of  section  6  of  T. 
1  north,  R.  1  east,  and  immediately  located  on  it.  He  also 
purchased  a  claim  of  a  man  named  Saucer,  who  was  then 
living  on  the  place,  and  had  a  cabin  and  an  acre  or  two 
cleared.  Messerer  reared  a  small  family,  and  two  of  his 
children  are  now  living  in  the  county — Elizabeth,  wife  of 
H.  M.  Deane,  in  Fredericksville ;  and  Louisa,  wife  of  B.  F. 
Redman,  on  the  old  homestead.  He  died  in  April,  1859, 
and  his  wife  survived  until  1881. 

Another  German,  Jacob  Jacoba,  located  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  village  of  Fredericksville  in  1833 ;  he  died  here  in 
1844,  and  his  widow  still  survives.  Andrew,  a  son  of  his, 
is  one  of  Fredericksville's  merchants,  and  others  of  the  chil- 
dren are  residents  of  the  county. 

Thomas  Bellomy,  a  native  of  Virginia,  emigrated  to  this 
county,  landing  in  the  spring  of  1835,  and,  as  stated  above, 
bought  out  Samuel  Heaton  in  section  6,  where  he  settled  and 
remained  until  his  death  in  1876.  He  had  a  family  of  thir- 
teen children,  nine  of  whom  are  living,  and  all  but  two  in  the 
county.    Josiah  F.  resides  in  the  old  homestead. 

Roswell  Brines,  who  is  a  pioneer  of  1827,  located  on  his 

281 


282 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


place  in  T.  2  north,  R.  1  east,  at  an  early  day,  and  is  still 
living.  The  first  years  that  he  spent  in  the  county  (1827-'28) 
were  in  the  Chadsey  settlement,  with  Acel,  his  brother,  and 
James  Stillwell,  who  came  with  him  to  the  county.  He 
married  Delila,  a  daughter  of  John  Norton,  who  came  to 
Schuyler  as  early  as  1830,  and  remained  about  one  year. 
She  is  also  living.     Brines  has  seven  children  living. 

Walter  A.  J.  Black,  a  Virginian,  came  in  1837  and  set- 
tled in  Bainbridge.  In  1852  he  moved  to  Fredericksville, 
where  he  still  resides.  He  had  an  early  mill  on  Crooked 
creek,  ran  a  ferry  from  Beardstown  to  Fredericksville  in 
1848-49,  and  has  served  several  years  as  supervisor  of  this 
township. 

John  Utter  deserves  mention  in  this  work  as  an  e"arly  re-* 
sident  of  the  state.  He  is  a  native  of  New  York,  and  came 
with  his  father,  Henry  Utter,  to  the  Illinois  territory  in  1815, 
settling  in  what  is  now  Wabash  county.  He  was  born  in 
1810,  being  five  years  of  age  when  he  came  to  the  country. 
He  has  lived  in  the  most  eventful  period  of  our  nation's 
history,  and  has  seen  the  state  that  was  then  a  wilderness, 
transformed  as  it  were  by  magic  into  a  great  and  populous 
commonwealth.  He  purchased  the  place  he  now  resides  on 
in  1838  of  William  Skirven.  It  had  been  pre  empted  by  a 
man  named  Miller,  and  a  man  named  Ruby  had  also  lived 
on  the  place  before  he  became  owner. 

We  have  thus  sketched  a  few  of  the  earliest  and  most 
prominent  settlers  in  the  township.  There  was  no  school- 
house  built  until  the  one  at  Fredericksville  was  erect- 
ed, and  there  never  has  been  a  house  of  worship  in  the  town- 
ship. Schuyler  City  was  the  name  of  a  little  place  laid  out 
on  Sugar  creek,  in  section  four,  some  years  ago.  There 
was  a  landing  made  and  a  warehouse  built  at  the  mouth  of 
the  creek,  and  some  goods  were  sold  there,  but  the  place  is 
now  a  thing  of  the  past. 

We  append  a  list  of  the  supervisors  who  have  repre- 
sented Frederick  township :  Anthony  Messerer  was  the  first 
elected,  in  1854,  and  served  eight  years;  Jesse  Darnell 
was  elected  in  1859;  W.  A.  J.  Black  in  1860,  and  served 
until  1866,  when  Charles  M.  Grimwood  was  elected,  and 
served  until  1869.  In  1869  Jesse  Darnell  was  re-elected, 
serving  three  years,  being  chairman  of  the  board  during 
the  whole  time.  In  1872  Emanuel  Hinderer  was  elected, 
and  held  the  office  three  years,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Walter  A.  J.  Black.  Jesse  Darnell  was  again  re-elected 
in  1876,  serving  by  re-election  five  years,  acting  chairman 
of  the  board  the  latter  four  years  of  the  time.  John  Hinton 
was  elected  in  1881,  and  Herman  C.  Schultz  in  1882. 

FREDERICKSVILLE 

was  so  named  after  its  original  proprietor,  George  Frederick 
Jonte.  It  was  laid  out  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
17,  and  surveyed  and  platted  by  Allen  Persinger,  county 
surveyor,  May  12  and  13,  1836. 

George  Frederick  Jonte  and  Frederick  Merchant,  both 
Frenchmen,  were  early  settlers  at  this  point  before  the  place 
was  laid  out.    The  first  goods  were  sold  in  the  village  by 


Samuel  P.  Vail,  in  a  log  house.  It  contained  a  small  stock 
of  groceries.  Ransler  Wells  also  had  an  early  store,  a  mile 
south,  on  the  river,  at  a  point  called  Erie,  which  was  the 
landing  at  that  time.  The  principal  business  of  the  place 
was  established  by  Charles  Farwell  &  Co.,  about  1844. 
The  first  stock  was  kept  in  the  old  warehouse  on  the  site  of 
the  present  one.  The  business  soon  increased  so  that  it  re- 
quired five  or  six  clerks,  and  it  soon  became  necessary  to 
erect  a  store-house,  which  was  completed  in  1852.  This  was 
built  in  the  village  proper,  and  is  still  used  for  a  store, 
being  now  occupied  by  E.  M.  Bradley.  In  1848  Maro 
Farwell,  brother  of  Charles  Farwell,  who  had  been  a  partner 
in  Ohio,  came  and  associated  himself  with  the  business,  and 
they  continued  together  until  1877.  About  1850  they  es- 
tablished a  boat-yard  and  began  the  building  of  tug-boats, 
steam- boats  and  barges  of  all  descriptions.  They  also  built 
a  stave  factory  and  a  pork-packing  house.  They  packed  as 
many  as  twelve  thousand  hogs  per  year.  They  had  some- 
times from  seventy  to  eighty  men  in  their  employ,  and  the 
village  had  a  much  larger  population  than  now. 

At  that  time  there  were  no  railroads  in  this  part  of  the 
State,  and  all  the  towns,  north  and  west,  as  far  as  Macomb, 
did  all  their  shipping  at  this  point.  Some  days  there  were 
as  many  as  a  hundred  and  fifty  wagons  loaded  and  unloaded 
at  the  warehouse.  Steamers,  laden  with  cargoes  expressly 
for  this  place,  came  direct  from  Pittsburg,  and  it  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  best  points  on  the  river  between  St.  Louis 
and  Peoria.  These  were  the  best  days  of  Fredericksville. 
The  river  business  was  soon  superceeded  by  the  railroads, 
and  to-day  there  is  comparatively  little  shipping  done  by 
boats,  yet  it  is  an  item  in  the  business  of  the  village.  These 
enterprising  gentlemen  were  natives  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
Maro  Farwell  is  still  a  resident  of  the  place,  living  a  retired 
life. 

The  first  school  was  taught  by  Horatio  Benton,  in  1845. 
A  one-story  frame  school-house  was  erected  in  the  village  in 
1846,  and  is  now  used  as  a  town  house.  They  have  since 
erected  a  fine  brick  one,  two  stories  in  height.  It  was  con- 
structed in  1871,  under  the  supervision  of  directors  D.  C. 
Linp,  W.  M.  Grimwood,  and  David  Curry,  at  a  cost  of  three 
thousand  dollars. 

PRESENT   BUSINESS. 

Frederick  Flouring  and  Saw  Mill  was  built  several  years 
ago,  by  Joseph  Littlefield.  It  is  now  owned  and  operated 
by  A.  Wetmore.  It  is  a  three-story  frame  building,  steam 
power,  and  has  a  run  of  two  burrs  and  one  circular  saw. 

Physicians. — James  E.  Gillespie  and  D.  C.  Linn. 

General  Merchandise. — E.  M.  Bradley,  Tice  Misenhimer. 

Drugs. — D.  C.  Linn. 

Groceries  and  Hardware.—  A.  Jacoba. 

Blacksmith  Shop. — Louis  Raubnau. 

Wagon  Shop. — M.  Grimwood. 

Agricultural  Implements. — A.  Jacoba. 

Hotel,  Deane  House,  H.  M.  Deane,  proprietor. 

Shoe  Shop. — Emanuel  Henry. 

Post  Master. — Grove  Cunningham. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


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Hon.  Jesse  Darnell,  was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio, 
October  4th,  1813.  His  father,  Henry  Darnell,  was  born  in 
Virginia,  near  the  Potomac  river,  in  the  year  1767.  He 
was  a  volunteer  in  the  Colonial  army  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
years  ;  was  in  the  battle  of  Yorktown  and  at  the  surrender 
of  Lord  Cornwallis.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Mr.  Lee,  a  resident 
of  Virginia.  His  vocation  was  that  of  a  farmer.  The  fruits 
of  this  marriage  were  a  family  of  nine  children,  of  whom  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  youngest.  In  1T97,  Mr.  Dar- 
nell emigrated  to  Ohio,  where  his  first  wife  died,  in  the  year 
1822.  Mr.  Darnell  was  married  the  second  time.  He  died 
at  his  residence  in  AVayne  county,  Ohio,  in  1849.  Jesse 
Darnell  emigrated  to  Warren  county,  Illinois,  in  1833,  and 
in  1834,  settled  in  Schuyler  county,  where  he  has  since  re- 


sided. Soon  after  his  arrival,  he  became  a  manufacturer  of 
fanning  mills,  and  continued  the  same  business  until  1841. 
In  April,  1841,  he  married  Miss  Louisa,  daughter  of  Lyman 
Utter,  Esq.  They  had  a  family  of  four  children,  one  de- 
ceased. Those  living  are  all  single,  one  daughter  and  two 
sons.  Mr.  Darnell  represented  this  district  in  the  legislature 
of  Illinois,  in  1848,  1849,  being  elected  to  that  position  by 
the  Democratic  party.  He  also  served  the  township  of 
Frederick  eight  terms  as  supervisor.  Mr.  Darnell  has  been 
reasonably  successful  in  the  business  pursuits  of  life,  and  his 
history  is  identified  with  that  of  the  early  days  of  Schuyler 
county.  He  is  the  father  of  the  Hon.  John  M.  Darnell, 
who  represented  the  counties  of  Schuyler  and  Fulton  in  the 
legislature  of  Illinois  in  1872  and  1873,  and  of  James  K. 
Darnell,  the  present  county  clerk  of  Summit  county,  Colorado. 

283 


284 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


^trU^^  *^C_   £zt-&^r-t^2^£_ 


Born  August  4th,  1843,  in  Frederick  township;  remained  l  the  degree  of  B.  S.;  elected  member  of  the  Illinois  Legisla- 

on  the  farm  until  the  fall  of  1862  ;  entered  the  preparatory  ]  ture  in  1872,  as  the  candidate  of  the  Democratic  party, 

department  of  Lombard  University,  Galesburg,  111.,  at  this  serving  one  term  ;  was  first  clerk  of  the  lower  house  of  the 

time  remaining  two  years ;  in  September,  1864,  entered  the  Twenty-ninth  Assembly  ;  received  from  Michigan  Univer- 


Sophomore    class    in   Michigan   University,    Ann    Arbor, 
Michigan,  and  graduated  with  the  class  of  1867,  receiving 


sity  the  honorary  degree  of  M.  S.  in  1875. 


ELKHORN    TOWNSHIP. 


(BROWN     COUNTY.) 


«-►» 


~V»- 


|HIS  township  is  situated  in  the  southern 
part  of  Brown  county,  bounded  north 
by  Mt.  Sterling,  east  by  Versailles,  south 
by  Perry  county,  and  west  by  Buck- 
horn.  It  occupies  the  whole  of  what  is 
geographically  termed  Congressional 
township  two  south,  range  three  west, 
and  contains  about  23,040  acres  of  laud, 
about  one-fourth  of  which  is  timber. 
The  main  belt  of  timber  lies  along  the  banks  of  McKee's 
creek,  and  at  many  points  is  two  mile's  in  width.  It  con- 
sists of  the  various  kinds  of  oak,  ash,  maple,  walnut,  etc., 
that  are  usually  found  in  this  part  of  the  State.  The  sur- 
face, generally,  is  considerably  broken,  and  in  the  vicinity 
of  McKee's  creek,  which  crosses  the  entire  township  from 
east  to  west,  the  bluffs  are  high  and  rugged.  This  stream, 
for  the  most  part,  passes  over  a  rocky  bed,  and  sand  and 
calcareous  rocks  protrude  from  its  banks,  and  from  the  side 
of  the  bluffs.  The  rocks  are  sometimes  quarried,  and  make 
a  good  material  for  foundation  and  building  purposes.  Sand 
suitable  for  masons'  material,  and  fire-clay  of  a  good  qual- 
ity, may  also  be  found  here.  This  is  the  largest  interior 
stream  in  Brown  county ;  its  waters  are  clear  and  cool  in 
summer,  which  make  it  very  desirable  for  stock  purposes. 
Together  with  the  numerous  tributaries  it  furnishes  an  admi- 
rable system  of  drainage.  The  soil  of  Elkhorn  is  well 
adapted  for  the  growing  of  all  kinds  of  grain  and  fruit, 
which  yield  abundantly.  There  is  also  considerable  atten- 
tion paid  to  the  raising  of  stock  ;  large  flocks  of  sheep  and 
cattle  may  be  seen  at  all  times  grazing  on  the  hillside  or 
drinking  from  the  cool,  refreshing  streams  of  the  valley. 
The  improvements  in  Elkhorn  compare  well  with  those  of 
the  surrounding  ones;  the  roads,  bridges,  etc.,  are  kept  in 
fair  condition.  The  Wabash,  St  Louis  &  Pacific  Railroad 
crosses  the  northeast  corner,  and  Gilbirdsport,  on  the  line, 
is  the  only  village  in  the  township. 

EARLY   SETTLEMENTS. 

The  first  white  man  to  break  the  solitude  of  nature  in 
this  township,  and  establish  a  home  within  iU  limits,  was 
James  C.  Keid.  a  native  of  Tennessee,  who  caine  to  Illinois 
in  1826,  first  stopping  in  Madison  county  one  year,  and  then 
pushing  northward,  he  reached  a  place  which  suited  him, 
in  the  fall  of  1827.  The  place  selected  by  him  was  in  sec- 
tion twenty-four,  on  the  top  of  the  bluff  overlooking  and 
east  of  McKee's  creek,  and  is  now  owned  by  Erwin  Perry. 
He  chose  the  site  and  entered  the  land  because  of  its  eligi- 


bility of  location  for  a  mill.     He  brought  with  him  a  fam- 
ily of  eleven  children,  the  larger  number  of  whom  were 
grown,  and  able  to  assist  him  in  the  development  of  his  new 
home.     The  nearest  neighbors  to  this  pioneer  were  in  Ver- 
sailles township,  three  miles  east.     He  immediately  com- 
menced the  erection  of  a  mill.     It  was  a  rude  affair,  the 
motive  power  being  supplied  with  the  bawny  arms  of  him- 
self and  sons,  and  only  capable  of  grinding  corn.     He  sub. 
sequently  built  a  water-mill  upon  the  banks  of  the  creek. 
This  was  a  grist  and  saw  mill,  the  saw  being  what  is  known 
as  a  sash  saw,  which  was  largely  patronized.     During  his 
life  Mr.  Reid  filled  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  for 
many  years,  and  righted  many  wrongs.     He  died  in  1876, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-two  years.     His  sons  were 
John  W.  and  Samuel  H.,  who  married  and  settled  near 
their  father,  and  raised  families.    Although  there  was  a  large 
family  of  eleven  children  brought  here,  only  three  bearing 
that  name  are  now  living  here.  They  are  the  children  of  John 
W.,  and  are  John  R.,  Luzenia,  and  Wilson  M.  Reid.     The 
rest  have  either  died,  or  are  scattered  over  other  portions  of 
the  country.     Following  the  settlement  of.  James  C.  Reid, 
came  Thomas  Reeves,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
m  gration  a  resident  of  Kentucky,  where  he  had  been  taken 
when  a  child.      He  married  in  Kentucky,  and  with  his 
family  came  to  Illinois,  first  stopping  in  Versailles  township, 
and  then  removing  to  this  township,  in  the  fall  of  1830.   He 
purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  the 
school  section  sixteen,  and  built  a  cabin  in  the  bottom,  near 
the  creek.     His  cabin  was  one  of  the  fine  dwellings  in  this 
county  at  that  time,  as  it  was  constructed  of  hewn  logs.    He 
had  just  finished  it,  and  moved  his  family  within  its  hospit- 
able walls,  when  the  "deep  snow"  came,  and  covered  the 
ground    to  a  depth  of  from  four  to  five  feet,   and  caused 
untold     suffering   to   man    and   beast,    who   were    wholly 
unprepared,  as  no  such  snow-fall  was  ever  known  before  or 
since.     His  nearest  neighbors  were  Moses  Stinson,  who  had 
been  living  one  and  a  half  miles  east,  on  the  creek,  about  one 
year,  and  had  a  small  clearing  made,  and  Joseph  Groves, 
Jr.,  who  lived   about  two  miles  southwest  of  him.     Groves 
had  been  living  there  about  a  year.     Mr.  Reeves  had  a 
large  family,  some  of  whom  are  scattered  throughout  the 
west,  and  only  one  of  whom,  Nancy,  wife  of  Hiram  Jaques, 
is  now  living  in  the  county.    About  1846,  Mr.  Reeves  traded 
his  farm  to  Thomas  Scanland,  who  now  resides  upon  it. 
Mr.  Reeves  now  lives  in  southern  Missouri,  at  an  advanced 
age. 

John  Bell  was  born  somewhere  in  the  Rocky  Mountains 

285 


286 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUN'MES,    ILLINOIS. 


and   came  to  Illinois,  and   settled   southwest  of  Versailles 
before  1830,  and  had  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  all  of 
whom  grew  up  but  two.   Bell  died  there  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
eight  years,  some  time  between  1830  and  1840.     He  served 
in  the  several  wars;  he  has  two  children, yet  living,  John 
and  Martha,  the  wife  of  Jere  Surratt,  one  of  the  old  settlers 
of  the  township ;  his  son,  John,  served  in  the  Mexican  war. 
Shadrach  Newenham    moved    into  the  settlement  about 
1835;  his  sons,  William,  John,  Joel,  Ab.-alom,  Janus,  Charles 
and  Lorenzo  D.,  lived  in  the  township,  and  several  of  their 
descendants  reside  in  the  vicinity.     Henry  Cox,  a  native  of 
South  Carolina,  came  from  Kentucky  and  located  in  Elk- 
horn  in  1835,  where  he  remained  for  six  years,  and  then 
removed  to  Iowa,  and  thence  to  Missouri,  where  he  died. 
The  number  of  settlers  was  increased  in   1836  by  William 
McDannold,  a  Kentuckian  ;  he  brought  with  him  a  family, 
two  of  whom  now  live  in  the  township,  a  daughter,  Margaret, 
the  wife  of  John  C.  McDannold,  and   a  son,   Gaorge    W. 
McDannold.     In  1837,   Hiram  Jaques  arrived  in    Brown 
county ;    he  was    a    native  of  New  York   and   was  born 
August  17th,   1814,   being   a  man   of    twenty-four,  when 
he  arrived  in   Illinois;   he  stopped  at  a  place  now  known 
as  Jaques'  Mill,  and  obtained    employment  in  digging  the 
first  mill-race,  for   a   mill,   in    1837.     The  mill  was   built 
by  his  employers,  Ayers  &  Lumbard.    The  mill  was  a  frame 
building,  three  stories  high,  with  one  run  of  burrs.     It  was 
both  a  saw  ami  grist-mill.     The  following  year,  1838,  Mr. 
Jaques  selected  Miss  Nancy  Reeves,  the  daughter  of  Thomas 
Reeves,  as  his  wile,  and  the  young  couple  were  married  and 
settled  in  the  township,  where,  with   the  exception  of  three 
or  four  years,  he  has  continued  to  reside.     He  bought  the 
farm,   together   with   the  mill  located    upon   it,  which   he 
assisted  in  building  when  he  first  arrived   in  Illinois,  from 
Ayers  &  Lumbard,  in  1846.     The  farm  is  a  portion  of  sect. 
16  ;  he  built  a  new  water-mill,  and  later  a  fine  steam-mill, 
with  two  run  of  burrs.    Several  houses  were  built  around 
the  mill  site,  and  at  one  time  there  were  two  stores,  a  large 
furniture  factory,  operated  by  steam,  a  blacksmith  shop  and 
a  post-office  established,  becoming  quite  a  place  of  business 
and  known  as  Rochester.     The  first  postmaster  was  Charles 
Manker  followed  by  A.  Baldwin,  Hiram  Jaques,  and  at  the 
time  of  the  discontinuance  of  the  office  Francis  Norris  was 
postmaster.     Now  there  is  nothing  remaining  at  that  place 
except  the  blacksmith  shop  of  Harvey  Pouder,  the  faw-mill 
of  a  son  of  the  pioneer,  and  Dr.  S.  W.  Scanland.     Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jaques  are  both  living  upon  the  old  homestead,  which 
has  been  the  scene  of  their  joys  and  sorrows  for  nearly  half 
a  century.    Samuel  McCoy  and  his  brother.*,  George  W.  and 
Alexander,  accompanied  by  their  father,  Samuel  McCoy,  Sr., 
and  their  families  found  a  home  in  Brown  county,  in  1*38. 
Alexander  McCoy  chose  Mt.  Sterling  township  as  his  home, 
and  Samuel  and  George  W.  settled  in  Versailles  township. 
Alexander,  the  only  survivor  of  the  original  family  resides 
in   Shelby  county,    Illinois-      The   only   one    residing  in 
Brown  county  is  George  McCoy,  the  son  of  Alexander,  who 
resides  in  Elkhorn  township  the  place  of  his  birth  in  1839. 
Connecticut,  the  "nutmeg  state,"  sent  a3  her  contribution  to 
western  civilization,  Samuel  Baker,  vho  migrated  to  New 


York,  where  he  married  Hannah  Van  Hyning,  and  then 
came  west,  stopping  first  in  Ohio  and  from  thence  to  Illinois, 
settling  in  Pike  county,  and  then  moving  northward  in  1839 
or  1840  and  settling  in  Brown  county,  this  township;  his 
sons,  James,  Henry,  Albert  and  Noah,  who  came  with  him, 
married  and  settled  in  the  township  and  bad  families  They 
are  all  dead  except  James,  who  is  living  upon  the  old  home- 
stead at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-eight  years. 

Elijah  Worden,  John  Flynn,  Benjamin  Perry,  Elijah 
Harp,  James  Baker,  Samuel  Hunter,  James  Rusk,  John 
Herring,  Moses  Slatten,  William  Morrell,  Roger  Sullivan, 
John  S.  Wilson,  Silas  Campbell,  Thomas  Osborne,  Thomas 
O'Hara,  H.  C.  Northern,  James  A.  Perry,  Sanford  McDauiel, 
Samuel  Briggs,  Absalom  Gerrish,  Sewell  Gerrish  and  John 
R.  Reeves,  were  all  old  settlers,  who  did  much  by  industry 
to  improve  the  county.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Fitzgerald, 
at  an  early  day  settled  opposite  Reid's  on  the  flat  near  the 
present  iron  bridge.  Spencer  Hall  also  settled  upon  section 
24  at  a  very  early  day.  Henry  D.  Ritter  John  Brown, 
Frederick  Kallasch,  George  W.  Zimmerman,  Andrew  Mehl 
and  Jacob  Zimmerman  were  among  the  early  settlers  and 
were  all  Germans,  who  by  their  industry  and  energy  have 
added  greatly  to  the  prosperity  of  the  township.  Of  the 
uumber  Henry  D.  Ritter  has  been  a  man  of  very  great  public 
worth,  having  honorably  and  acceptably  filled  the  office  of 
school  trustee  for  eight  years;  constable,  eight  years;  justic, 
of  the  peace,  twelve  years  ;  assessor,  twenty  years ;  collector 
one  year;  supervisor,  two  years;  sheriff,  two  years  and  a 
candidate  for  the  same  office  at  the  ensuing  November  elec- 
tion, 1882 ;  he  has  also  been  the  school  treasurer  of  this 
township  for  the  past  twelve  years  and  is  the  present  incum- 
bent. Several  of  the  above  official  positions  have  been  filled 
by  him  at  one  and  the  same  time,  and  in  all  he  has  proven 
himself  to  be  honest,  capable  and  efficient.  Besides  the 
mills  mentioned  in  this  article,  was  the  water-mill  built  on 
section  19,  in  1835,  by  Mr.  Huntley.  Near  Versailles,  near 
the  east  line  of  the  township,  in  section  24,  stands  a  two- 
story  frame  building,  formerly  occupied  by  a  Mr.  Russell,  as 
a  steam  grist-mill ;  but  it  is  now  deserted,  and  time  with  his 
corroding  hand  is  fast  dilapidating  the  building.  About  the 
year  1840,  a  large  number  of  Mormons  from  Nauvoo,  then 
the  holy  city,  settled  throughout  the  township,  and  first 
voted  to  build  a  church  near  the  southwest  part  of  this  town- 
ship ;  but  they  subsequently  came  to  the  conclusion  that  a 
point  just  south  of  Versailles  was  more  suitable.  The  project 
ultimately  collapsed  after  the  return  of  a  commitee  which 
had  been  to  consult  with  Joseph  Smith,  who  advised  against 
it,  and  that  it  was  not  the  proper  time  to  build  the  edifice. 
Schools  and  churches  were  early  established  and  sustained. 
The  first  patent  from  the  United  States  to  land  in  this  town- 
ship was  granted  to  James  C.  Reid,  and  is  dated  October  1st, 
1830,  and  conveyed  to  him  the  west  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  34  in  township  2  south,  range  3  west.  The 
subsequent  early  patents  were  granted  James  Frye  for  the 
west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  13,  on  the  2d 
of  November,  1831  ;  to  John  P.  Ingram  for  the  southwest 
quarter  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  36,  November  12, 
1832;  to  Moses  Stinson,  for  the  north  half  of  the  northwest 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


287 


quarter  of  section  14,  and  to  Josiah  Rose  for  the  southwest 
quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  14,  both  being 
dated  February  21,  1833.  This  township  has  been  ably 
represented  in  the  board  of  supervisors  by  the  following 
named  gentlemen:  In  1854,  Moses  Winslow  was  elected; 
1855,  Sanford  McDaniel;  1856,  Sewell  Gerrish,  who  served 
two  consecutive  terms;  1858,  Sanford  McDaniel;  1859, 
Moses  Winslow,  two  terms;  1861,  Thomas  Russell;  1862, 
John  George,  who  was  re-elected  three  times  in  succession  ; 
1866,  Sewell  Gerrish  ;  1867,  John  George,  re-elected  in  1868 
and  was  chairman  of  the  board  ;  1869,  Henry  D.  Ritter;  1870, 
John  George,  chairman  of  the  board;  1871,  Fred  Wenneker, 


who  was  re-elected  in  1872  ;  Amos  Baldwin  elected  1873; 
H.  C.  Northern  elected  in  1874  and  served  until  1875  ;  D. 
H.  Perry  elected  in  1876  and  served  until  1878 ;  Jesse  Hill 
elected  in  1879  and  served  until  1881 ;  Henry  D.  Ritter 
elected  in  1881  ;  and  the  present  representative  elected  in 
1882,  Henry  C  Northern. 

Gilbirdsport  is  a  station  on  the  W.,  St.  L.  and  P.  Railway, 
has  but  one  general  store  kept  by  Luke  Perry,  and  is  situa^ 
ted  in  the  extreme  northeastern  part  of  the  township. 

The  population  of  the  township  was  1,431 ;  and  Mary 
Harbor,  aged  96  years,  was  the  oldest  inhabitant  according 
to  the  census  of  1880. 


*g2Q.&&g&&&* 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


HENRY  DANIEL  RITTER. 

Among  the  well-known  citizens  of  foreign  birth  residing 
in  Brown  county  is  Henry  D.  Ritter  of  Elkhorn  township. 
He  has  been  a  resident  of  the  county  since  1854,  and  has 
filled  numerous  public  positions.  His  parents  were  Michael 
Ritter  and  Barbara  Elizabeth  Shaefer.  His  father  was  an 
officer  of  the  town  of  Wolf hagen,  Hesse  Cassel,  Germany. 
In  that  town,  on  the  6th  day  of  August,  1819,  was  born 
Henry  D.  Ritter,  the  oldest  of  seven  children,  of  whom  six 
were  boys  and  one  a  girl.  According  to  the  German  sys 
tem  of  instruction  he  went  to  school  from  the  time  he  was 
six  till  he  was  fourteen  years  old.  After  leaving  school  he 
was  employed  a  couple  of  years  as  copying  clerk  in  public 
offices  in  Wolfhagen,  and  subsequently  at  various  occupa- 
tions. 

In  the  year  1845,  thinking  that  he  could  do  better  for 
himself  in  the  new  world,  he  came  to  America.  Leaving 
Bremen  in  April  he  landed  at  New  York  City  after  a  voyage 
in  a  sailing  vessel  of  forty-one  days.  The  same  day  on 
which  he  wentou  board  the  vessel  at  Bremen  his  father  died, 
a  fact,  however,  of  which  he  had  no  knowledge  till  after  his 
arrival  in  this  country.  Within  six  months  of  his  landing 
in  New  York  he  was  seized  with  a  light  attack  of  the  small- 
pox. For  eighteen  months  he  worked  in  New  York  City  at 
polishing  parasol  and  umbrella  handles,  and  thus  acquired 
some  skill  as  a  painter.  In  1847  he  went  to  Harding  county, 
Virginia,  and  there  followed  the  occupation  of  a  painter. 
On  the  28th  day  of  April,  1848,  he  married  Lucinda  Eliza- 
beth Hall,  who  was  born  near  Front  Royal,  in  Warren  coun- 
ty, Virginia.  For  one  year  previous  to  his  removal  from 
that  state  he  held  a  commission  as  first  lieutenant  in  a  com- 


pany of  state  militia.  Leaving  Virginia  in  the  spring  of 
1850,  he  travelled  with  his  family,  then  consisting  of  a  wife 
and  one  child,  in  a  buggy  across  the  mountains  to  Ohio.  He 
resided  in  Fayette  county,  Ohio,  four  years  and  a  half,  and 
there  continued  his  occupation  as  a  painter. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year,  1854,  he  came  to  Brown  county, 
arriving  on  the  first  day  of  November.  He  spent  the  fol- 
lowing winter  in  the  edge  of  Pike  county,  and  in  the  spring 
settled  where  he  now  lives,  on  section  twenty-three,  of  town- 
ship two  south,  range  three  west.  His  capital  on  coming  to 
the  county  consisted  of  a  wagon  and  team  and  seven  hun- 
dred dollars  in  money.  He  engaged  in  farming,  though 
most  of  the  work  done  on  the  farm  he  hired,  while  he  still 
devoted  considerable  attention  to  painting.  The  next  year 
after  his  coming  to  the  county  he  was  elected  constable, 
an  office  which  he  held  for  eight  years.  He  also  served 
eight  years  as  justice  of  the  peace.  He  was  the  second  as- 
sessor of  Elkhorn  township,  and  has  filled  that  office  for 
about  twenty  years  For  seven  years  he  was  township  trea- 
surer. He  represented  Elkhorn  township  on  the  board  of 
supervisors  two  years,  having  been  elected  in  1869  and  again 
in  1881.  He  was  elected  coroner  of  Brown  county  in  1874, 
and  after  filling  that  office  four  years  he  was  elected  sheriff 
in  1878,  serving  till  1880.  These  facts  show  the  estimation 
in  which  he  is  held  by  the  people  of  Elkhorn  township  and 
of  Brown  county,  as  a  man  of  tried  integrity  and  business 
ability.  He  has  always  been  a  Democrat,  and  has  retained 
the  confidence  of  the  members  of  the  Democratic  organiza- 
tion in  Brown  county.  Every  public  trust  committed  to  his 
care  has  been  discharged  with  fidelity  to  the  interrest'of  the 
people. 


288 


HISTORY  OF  SCJIUYLER    AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Of  his  eleven  children  nine  are  living.  Those  living  are 
Mary  E,  the  wife  of  Calvin  Hill ;  Judy  V.,  now  Mrs. 
Henry  C.  H'll ;  Christina  J.,  who  married  Calvin  S.  Hill; 
Calvin  Z.,  George  W.,  Douglass  Jackson,  Eliza  Jane,  wife 
of  William  R.  McDaniel;  James  Henry  Spencer,  Franklin 
Wildey.  He  is  a  self-made  man.  He  arrived  in  America 
from  the  old  country  with  less  than  a  dollar  in  his  pocket, 
his  indomitable  energy  and  ready  shrewdnesj  the  only  re- 
sources on  which  he  had  to  rely  on  his  commencing  life  in 
anew  country  and  among  strange  people.  He  is  the  owner 
of  four  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Elkhorn  township.  A 
view  of  his  residence  and  farm  appears  elsewhere. 


NOAH  W.  BAKER. 

Noah  W.  Baker,  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  Elkhorn 
township,  was  born  in  Summit  county,  Ohio,  on  the  twenty- 
fifth  of  June,  1835.  His  grandfather,  Samuel  Baker,  came 
to  Ohio,  from  the  State  of  New  York.  His  father,  James 
Baker,  was  born  in  New  York,  and  was  grown  at  the  time 
the  family  settled  in  Ohio.  He  married  Eliza  Taylor,  a 
native  of  Connecticut.  The  subject  of  this  biography  was 
the  fifth  of  a  family  of  eight  children.  When  he  was  about 
five  years  old,  his  father  moved  to  Brown  county,  and  set- 
tled in  section  twenty-three  of  Elkhorn  township,  where  he 
still  resides.  Mr.  Baker  was  raised  in  this  county.  In  1863, 
he  went  to  Nevada,  and  resided  there  for  four  years.  Dur- 
ing this  time  he  was  chiefly  engaged  in  mining,  and  led  the 
rough,  adventurous  life  common  to  a  residence  in  a  moun- 
tainous mining  district  at  that  period.  He  returned  to 
Brown  county,  and  in  February,  1867,  married  Margaret 
Greeuleaf,  who  was  born  and  raised  in  Elkhorn  township. 
After  his  marriage,  he  settled  down  and  went  to  farming. 
He  has  six  children,  whose  names  are,  Hattie,  Perry,  Susan, 
Nellie,  Frederick  and  Seth.  He  is  one  of  the  representative 
farmers  of  his  part  of  the  county,  and  is  the  owner  of  three 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land.  In  his  politics,  he  has 
always  been  attached  to  the  Democratic  party,  though  his 
attention  has  been  directed  to  the  management  of  his  farm, 
and  he  has  never  taken  any  part  in  public  life.  Ai  a  well- 
known  citizen  of  the  county,  his  name  appears  in  this  work. 


ANDREW  MEHL. 

Andrew  Mehl,  who  has  been  a  resident  of  Brown  county 
since  1866,  is  a  native  of  Alsace  (at  his  birth,  a  part  of 
France,  now  belonging  to  Germany),  and  was  born  within 
seven  miles  of  Strasburg,  on  the  twenty-second  of  May, 
1828.  His'  father  was  Adam  Mehl.  His  mother's  name 
before  marriage  was  Maria  Eisman.  Andrew  was  the  fourth 
of  a  family  of  seven  children.  The  family  emigrated  to  the 
United  States  when  he  was  four  years  old,  landing  at  Balti- 
more on  the  fourth  of  July,  1833.  His  father  settled  in 
Monroe  county,  Ohio,  and  there  Mr.  Mehl  was  raised,  at- 
tending school  in  an  old  log  school-house.  His  father  was 
a  carpenter  by  trade,  but  principally  followed  farming  after 


coming  to  this  country.  He  died  when  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  sixteen  years  old.  As  Mr.  Mehl  was  the  oldest 
son  at  home,  he  took  charge  of  the  farm.  On  the  sixteenth 
of  November,  1850,  he  married  Elizabeth  Schaub,  who  was 
born  at  Rumbach,  in  Bavaria,  He  lived  in  Ohio  till  1866, 
when  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  settled  where  he  now  lives,  on 
section  thirty-two  of  township  two  south,  range  two  west 
(Elkhorn),  where  he  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land.  He  has  seven  children,  whose  names  are,  George  J., 
John  D.,  Mary  C.  Anna  E.,  Elizabeth  G,  Rebecca  L.  and 
Samuel  A.  The  oldest  son,  George  J.,  is  a  resident  of  Iowa. 
Anna  is  the  wife  of  Adam  Zimmerman,  of  Pike  county. 
The  other  children  are  residents  of  this  county.  Mr.  Mehl 
cast  his  first  presidentUl  vote  for  Gen.  Scott,  in  1852,  but 
united  with  the  Republican  party  when  it  was  formed,  and 
was  one  of  the  supporters  of  John  C  Fremont  for  president 
in  1856.  He  and  his  wife,  since  the  year  1847,  have  been 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  are  now 
connected  with  the  Zion  Methodist  church  in  Pike  county. 


FRANKLIN  MILLS,  SR. 

Franklin  Mills,  Senior,  one  of  the  representative  citizens 
of  Elkhorn  township,  was  born  in  Hartford  county,  Connec- 
ticut, on  the  17th  of  September,  1815  His  ancestors 
were  among  the  early  settlers  of  New  England,  emigrating 
from  Lincolnshire,  England,  to  Massachusetts,  in  the  year 
1621.  His  grandfather,  Jared  Mills,  a  Baptist  preacher, 
was  one  of  the  early  residents  of  Hartford  county,  Connec- 
ticut, and  there  lived  and  died.  He  was  the  father  of  seven- 
teen children,  of  whom  Joel  Mills,  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  biography,  was  the  next  to  the  olde-t  son.  He  resided 
on  a  farm  thirteen  miles  west  of  Hartford.  There  Franklin 
Mills  was  raised.  His  mother's  name  before  marriage  was 
Anna  Russell.  The  public  schools  in  the  neighborhood  of 
his  home  afforded  him  good  opportunities  for  obtaining  an 
education,  the  schools  of  Connecticut  at  that  period  being 
superior  to  those  of  almost  any  other  State.  In  1837,  he 
came  to  Adams  county  in  this  State,  entered  land,  and 
engaged  in  farming.  In  1843,  he  married  Mary  Y.  Gil- 
breath,  a  native  of  Fayette  county,  Ohio.  He  afterward 
engaged  in  the  wagon-making  business,  and  in  1849  moved 
to  Perry,  Pike  county,  where  part  of  the  time  he  carried  on 
business  as  a  wagon-maker,  and  part  of  the  time  was  engaged 
in  the  mercantile  business.  Since  1856,  he  has  resided  on 
his  present  farm,  in  section  thirty-four,  of  township  two 
south,  range  three  west.  He  has  four  sons  and  four  daughters 
living.  Dr.  George  N.  Mills,  the  oldest  son,  is  practicing 
medicine  at  Ripley.  The  others  are  William  E.,  Franklin 
Mills,  Jr.,  Sarah  Maria,  wife  of  S.  L.  Johns,  Anna,  who 
married  J.  H.  Gillespie,  Mary  Louisa,  Samuel,  and  Leah. 
He  was  originally  a  Whig  in  politics,  and  his  vote  helped  to 
elect  Harrison  in  1840.  When  the  Whig  party  dissolved  he 
became  a  Republican,  and  is  one  of  the  Republicans  of  Elk- 
horn township  who  have  adhered  steadfastly  to  their  Repub- 
lican faith.  While  a  resident  of  Pike  county  he  served  as 
justice  of  the  peace. 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


289 


GEORGE  W.  ZIMMERMAN. 

Among  the  leading  and  enterprising  farmers  of  Elkhorn 
township  is  George  W.  Zimmerman.  His  father,  George 
Zimmerman,  was  a  native  of  Germany.  His  mother's  name 
before  her  marriage  was  Anna  Maria  Lutz.  George  W. 
Zimmerman  was  the  oldest  of  a  family  of  eight  children. 
He  was  born  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Pike,  about  a  mile 
south  of  the  Brown  county  line,  on  the  fifth  day  of  August, 
1837.  He  was  raised  in  that  part  of  Pike  county,  and 
acquired  a  fair  business  education  in  the  neighboring  schools. 
He  lived  at  home  till  his  marriage,  -which  occurred  on 
the  26th  of  December,  1859,  to  Lizzie  Winter,  who  was 
born  in  Calhoun  county.  She  is  the  daughter  of  Peter 
Winter.  Soon  after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Zimmerman  engaged 
in  farming  on  his  own  account.     Coming  to  Brown  couuty, 


he  rented  land  in  section  twenty-nine  of  township  two  south , 
range  three  west.  At  that  time  his  sole  capital  consisted  of 
a  good  stock  of  enterprise,  energy,  and  physical  strength. 
Accumulating  some  money,  he  bought  one  hundred  acres  of 
land,  which  forms  part  of  his  present  farm.  He  is  now  the 
owner  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  acres.  He  is  known  as 
one  of  the  leading  agriculturists  of  the  southern  part  of  the 
county.  His  farm  is  kept  in  an  excellent  state  of  cultiva- 
tion, and  the  buildings  are  considered  the  best  in  Elkhorn 
township.  A  large  new  dwelling-house  was  erected  in  the 
summer  of  1882.  He  has  three  children,  whose  names  are 
William  Perry,  George  Henry,  and  Louisa  Angenette. 
Three  others  died  in  infancy.  In  his  political  belief  he  was 
at  first  a  Democrat,  but  of  late  ye^rs  has  given  his  adherence 
to  the  doctrines  of  the  National  Greenback  party. 


■•efesg 


3^^- 


OAKLAND    TOWNSHIP. 


(SCHUYLER    COUNTY.) 


->«8-o-8=«f- 


(AKLAND  township  is  located  in  the 
northeastern  portion  of  the  county.  It 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  McDonough 
county,  on  the  east  by  Fulton  county, 
on  the  south  by  Rushville,  and  on  the 
west  by  Littleton.  Entering  the  town- 
ship from  Littleton  on  the  west,  at  the 
centre  of  section  7,  the  West  Branch  of 
Sugar  creek  winds  its  way  across  the 
township,  finally  discharging  its  waters 
into  Sugar  creek  in  section  24,  while  along  its  entire  course 
it  receives  numerous  tributaries  from  the  north  and  south. 
Sugar  creek  enters  the  township  from  the  east  at  section  13 
and  flows  through  the  sections  immediately  sou'h,  making  a 
wide  horse-shoe  curve  in  sections  25  and  36  and  passes  out 
of  the  township  near  the  half  section  line  of  the  latter,  to  the 
seat.  These  streams  furnish  an  ample  supply  of  water  for 
stock,  and  afford  excellent  drainage  for  the  entire  township, 
while  Sugar  creek  furnishes  a  water  supply  for  manufactur- 
ing purposes  not  excelled  in  the  state.  The  whole  town- 
ship was  formerly  covered  with  a  forest  of  heavy  timber  of 
the  most  valuable  species,  with  the  exception  of  the  south- 
west corner  which  is  prairie  of  a  very  good  quality.  The 
surface  is  much  broken,  though  rich  and  fertile,  and  what 
were  origiually  heavy  forests  in  the   northwestern   portion 


have  been  converted  into  finely  improved  farms  by  the 
sturdy  and  energetic  citizens.  A  somewhat  wonderful  freak 
of  nature  occurred  in  the  latter  part  of  last  April,  on  the 
north  half  of  section  27.  A  portion  of  a  large  hill  in  one 
night  sank  straight  down  into  the  earth  to  a  depth  of  forty- 
five  feet,  carrying  with  it  the  heavy  timber  growing  upon 
its  surface,  and  leaving  the  walls  as  perpendicular  and  smooth 
as  though  excavated  for  a  cellar.  The  portion  that  so  sud- 
denly sank  is  not  less  than  five  acres  in  area,  and  the  trees 
which  were  carried  down  with  it  remain  upright,  many  of 
their  tops  just  reaching  to  the  surface  of  the  surrounding 
country,  while  upon  the  topmost  ledge  stands  one  half  of  a 
tree  while  the  other  half  leans  against  the  side  of  the  wall  at 
the  bottom  of  the  subsidence,  as  though  split  off  with  an  axe. 
The  bed  of  a  creek  some  distance  south  was  subjected  to  an 
upheaval  of  some  five  feet  and  the  channel  of  the  stream  di- 
verted from  its  course,  and  a  valuable  bridge  some  distance 
below  was  left  standing  high  and  dry,  perfectly  useless. 
This  phenomenon  can  not  be  called  a  land  slide,  as  no  por- 
tion of  the  surrounding  country  is  covered  with  any  earth, 
but  remains  the  same  as  before  the  subsidence. 

The  township  U  the  same  in  area  with  Congressional  town- 
ship 3  north,  of  range  one  west,  of  the  fourth  principal 
meridian,  and  contains  thirty-six  full  sections,  and  takes  its 
name  from   the   fact  that   the    principal   timber   was   oak. 


290 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Many  fine  farms,  handsome  residences,  commodious  barns 
are  scattered  throughout  the  township.  The  Rushville 
branch  of  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railway, 
enters  the  township,  from  the  east,  in  section  13  and  tra- 
verses the  eastern  and  southern  portions,  leaving  it  through 
section  34,  "affording  direct  communication  with  Chicago 
and  also  shipping  facilities.  The  first  land  disposed  of  by 
the  United  States,  in  this  township,  by  land  warrants  tn  the 
soldiers  of  1812,  were  as  follows  :  To  Charles  Rowe  for  the 
S.  W.  i  of  section  2,  October  6,  1817  ;  to  Amos  Brown  for 
the  N.  E.  i  of  section  8,  October  25,  1817;  Jacob  Frier  for 
theS.  E.  i  of  section  8,  November  8,  1817;  Abraham  Will- 
man  for  the  N.  E.  }  of  section  9,  November  29,  1817 ;  Robt 
M.  Wilson  for  the  S.  E.  1  of  section  14,  December  13,  1817 ; 
and  to  George  Maun  for  the  N.  E.  \  of  section  3,  Dec.  27, 
1817. 

The  first  to  enter  the  forests  and  hew  out  a  house  was 
Richard  Ashcraft,  a  sturdy  pioneer  who  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky. He  there  married  a  Miss  Margaret  Burress  and 
then  came  to  Indiana,  and  started  in  a  one-horse  wag- 
on for  Illinois.  He  brought  his  all  in  this  small  wagon. 
His  family  consisted  besides  his  wife,  of  William,  Abner  and 
Abisha,  his  children.  When  he  reached  Beard's  ferry,  he 
had  only  thirty  cents  in  money,  and  this  he  parted  with,  to 
be  landed  on  this  side  of  the  river.  He  moved  onward,  and 
reached  what  is  now  Oakland  township  in  November,  1832, 
and  selected  a  home  on  the  S.  W.  I  of  the  N.  E.  i 
of  section  25,  where  he  built  a  log  cabin  and  made  his 
family  as  comfortable  as  he  could.  The  forests  at  that  time 
were  free  from  underbrush,  though  the  trees  were  large  and 
closely  set  During  the  winter  his  trusty  gun  furnished  the 
meat  for  his  table.  Being  the  first  winter  after  the  deep 
snow  the  game  was  very  poor  and  ofttimes  scarce.  Besides 
procuring  food  for"his  family,  he  cleared  six  acres  of  land, 
by  deadening  the  forest  trees.  In  the  spring  he  broke  up  his 
ground  with  his  own  horse  and  the  old-fashioned  wooden 
mould  board  plow,  planted  his  corn  and  garden,  perfectly 
content  with  what  little  he  possessed,  and  buoyed  up  with 
bright  hopes  for  the  future.  He  struggled  along  through 
the  summer,  continuing  his  labors  about  house  aud  farm. 
From  want  of  food  and  proper  protection  his  horse  died 
before  the  next  spring.  He  left  his  wife  and  children  alone, 
and  went  down  Cedar  creek  to  work  for  William  McKee  at 
digging  a  mill-race  His  object  was  to  get  money  to  buy  another 
h  rse.  On  the  opening  of  spring,  William  McKee  loaned 
him  a  horse  to  put  in  another  crop,  and  also,  furnished  him 
with  food  and  clothes  for  his  family  and  took  his  pay  in  work. 
From  this  time  forward  he  was  more  successful,  and  lived 
to  see  the  wonderful  change  from  an  unbroken  forest  to  a 
succession  of  well  kept  farms.  Some  time  after  his  arrival, 
he  became  a  professor  of  religion,  and  served  the  Lord  as  a 
Baptist  minister  until  his  death  which  occurred  in  the  town- 
ship, where  his  son  Abner  now  resides.  Daniel  Matheney 
with  his  family,  soon  moved  into  the  township,  and  became 
a  neighbor  of  Mr.  Ashcraft.  He  came  from  Woodstock 
township,  where  he  had  been  living  for  some  years,  and  set- 
tled on  the  N.  J  of  the  N.  W.  i  of  section  25.  He  made 
au    improvement    upon  which  he  continued   to  reside  for  ' 


several  years  and  then  emigrated  to  Iowa.  William  Bur- 
ress, of  Kentucky,  a  brother  of  Mr.  Ashcraft's  wife,  arrived 
in  December,  1832,  bringing  a  wife  and  one  child  direct 
from  his  native  state,  and  lived  with  his  sister  until  he  built 
his  cabin  on  theE.  \  of  the  S.  W.  \  of  section  25,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  his  death.  Josiah  Do.wnen,  with  a 
wife  and  one  child,  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  in  the  spring 
of  1^33.  He  came  in  a  wagon,  built  his  cabin  and  com- 
menced an  improvement  right  on  the  E.  £  of  the  S.  E.  }  of 
section  23,  which  he  subsequently  bought.  He  is  now  liv- 
ing at  an  advanced  age,  feeble  both  in  mind  and  body. 
Joseph  Logan  and  family  further  increased  the  number  of 
settlers  in  this  neighbrhood,  in  the  spring  of  1834.  He 
came  from  the  Hobart  neighborhood,  in  Rushville,  where  he 
had  been  living  since  the  fall  of  1831,  and  settled  on  the  S. 
E.  J  of  section  23,  built  a  cabin  and  commenced  an  improve- 
ment right,  which  he  sold  in  the  fall  of  1836,  and  moved  to 
Camden.  His  family  consisted  of  nine  persons.  The  popu- 
lation was  further  increased  in  the  spring  of  1834  by  the 
arrival  of  William  Lamb  and  family,  six  persons,  from 
Indiana.  He  settled  on  S.  E.  \  of  section  26,  built  his  cabin 
and  afterward  moved  away.  Caleb  Houston  and  family 
arrived  in  the  fall  of  1834,  took  possession  of  the  N.  W.  }  of 
the  N.  W.  \  of  section  27,  and  built  his  cabin  in  the  midst  of 
the  forest.  He  afterwards  entered  the  land  and  died  at  his  ori- 
ginal home  in  the  township.  In  the  fall  of  1835,  Ephraitn 
Hills  arid  family  came  from  the  vicinity  of  Rushville,  where 
they  had  been  living  several  years,  and  settled  on  the  S.  W. 
\  of  section  31.  His  relative,  Israel  Hills,  now  resides  on  the 
N.  W.  \  of  section  l,and  may  also  be  recognized  as  one  of. the 
pioneers  of  this  township.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Preston 
settled  on  the  S.  E.  i  of  section  22,  made  an  improvement 
and  remained  about  two  years.  He  came  in  the  spring  of 
1835.  Frederick  Noble  and  family  were  also  among  the 
early  settlers,  coming  in  the  fall  of  1834,  and  settled 
on  the  N.  W.  \  of  the  S.  W.  i  of  section  24,  building  a  cabin 
and  taking  possession  of  the  land  under  a  settler's  claim. 
He  died  upon  the  placp,  and  his  wife  moved  away.  Thomas 
Pemberton  and  family  arrived  in  the  fall  of  1836  and  took 
possession  of  the  S.  W.  J  of  section  1 1,  where  he  lived  until 
his  death.  His  sons,  Judge  E.  J.  Pemberton  of  Rushville 
and  H.  C.  Pemberton  of  Oakland,  are  prominent  citizens  of 
the  county.  Nicholas  Pittenger  of  Va.  with  a  large  family, 
arrived  from  Fulton  county  in  the  summer  of  lfc37,en- 
tered  the  S.  W.  i  of  section  13,  built  his  cabin  of  round  logs 
and  spent  his  days  in  the  arduous  toil  of  improving  a  farm 
on  which  his  aged  widow  and  children  now  reside.  When 
Richard  Ashcraft  entered  Oakland  township  his  neanst 
neighbors  were  living  either  in  the  Hobart  settlement,  in  the 
Black  Woods  of  Fulton  county,  or  where  Astoria  now  stands. 
The  first  marriage  was  that  of  John  McGlothing  and 
Mary  Lamb,  at  the  residence  of  William  Lamb,  the  bride 
not  being  yet  fourteen  years  of  age.  The  first  birth  was 
that  of  James  Ashcraft,  September  3,  1833,  to  Richard  and 
Margaret  Ashcraft,  who  also  suffered  the  first  bereavement 
by  death,  that  of  their  son  Abisha,  who  died  in  the  spring 
of  1833.  His  was  the  first  burial  in  the  first  cemetery 
within  the  township,  now  known  as  the  Pittinger  Graveyard, 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


291 


on  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  northwest'quarter  of  section 
25.  The  first  school  was  taught  in  the  summer  of  1835,  in 
the  cabin  which  had  been  built  by  Frederick  Noble,  on  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  21,  by  the  Mr.  Preston  before 
mentioned.  The  pupils  in  attendance  were  Abiier  and  Wil- 
liam, sons  of  Richard  Ashcraft;  Harriet,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Burress;  Rebecca  and  Nancy,  children  of  Josiah*Dow- 
nen ;  Benjamin,  Martha  Ann,  Sarah  Jane  and  Joseph  S., 
children  of  Joseph  Logan ;  and  three  children  of  the  teach- 
er. The  term  was  three  months,  and  the  subscription  was 
$1.50  per  month.  Rev.  Thomas  Kane,  a  Free  Will  Baptist 
minister,  preached  the  first  sermon,  at  the  house  of  Richard 
Ashcraft,  in  the  fall  of  1831.  Revs.  John  P.  Fast  and 
Richard  Ashcraft,  Free  Will  Baptists,  and  Rev.  Deacon 
Brown,  Methodi-t,  were  the  pioneer  preachers.  The  first 
church  built  in  the  township  was  a  frame  building,  known 
as  the  "  Houston  Church."  Richard  Ashcraft  was  the  first 
Justice  of  ihe  Peace  elected  in  the  township,  his  commission 
being  dated  February  10,  1840.  The  first  physicians  to 
practice  in  the  township  were  Drs.  William  H.  Nance,  from 
Vermont,  Rogers  and  Hall,  of  Rushville.  The  first  post- 
office  was  established  in  1867,  at  the  store  of  James  Skiles, 
on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  34,  and  was  known  as 
Oil  Hill  post-office.  James  Skiles  was  the  first  postmaster, 
and  he  also  sold  the  first  goods  in  the  township.  Joseph, 
Billingsby  had  the  first  forge  and  did  the  blacksmithing  for 
the  early  settlers.  The  first  crime  committed  in  the  town- 
ship was  the  killing  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Ashbrook. 
His  slayer  was  David  Haines,  with  whom  he  had  been  gam- 
bling and  drinking,  and  ihe  deed  was  done  in  a  broil,  the 
instrument  being  a  large  club.  Haines  was  sentenced  to  a 
term  of  eighteen  months  in  the  penitentiary,  upon  a  plea  of 
guilty  of  manslaughter,  at  a  term  of  the  Brown  county  cir- 
cuit court,  at  Mt.  Sterling!  The  first  mill  in  the  township 
was  a  saw-mill,  water-power,  built  by  John  Houston,  on 
the  west  branch  of  Sugar  creek,  near  the  Oil  Hill  post  office. 
The  roads  are  kept  in  good  condition,  considering  the 
broken  surface  of  the  country,  and  the  numerous  streams 
are  spanned  by  substantial  bridges,  making  travel  safe  and 
convenient.  Neat  school-houses  are  distributed  over  the 
township,  and  the  education  of  the  young  receives  proper 
attention.  A  neat  frame  church  is  located  upon  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  30.  The  township  has  had  the  follow- 
ing representation  in  the  board  of  supervisors:  Nicholas 
Pittenger  was  elected  in  1854,  and  served  five  consecutive 
terms;  John  Young  in  1859,  one  term;  Stephen  Walker 
in  1860,  two  terms;  Samuel  Hickam,  one  term;  Enoch 
Gillham  in  1863,  two  terms,  being  chairman  of  the  board  in 
1864;  Stephen  Walker  in  1865,  one  term;  Israel  Hills  in 
1866,  two  terms;  Richard  Ashcraft  in  1868,  one  year;  Is 
rael  Hills  in  1869,  one  year;  Stephen  Walker  in  1870  one 
year;  George  Wheelhouse  in  1871,  two  terms;  William 
Baxter  iu  1873,  one  term;  Henry  J.  Foster  one  term; 
Henry  E.  Pemberton  in  1874,  one  term  ;  Henry  J.  Houston 
in  1875.  one  term;  Israel  Hills  in  1877,  two  terms;  William 
H.  Baxter  iu  1879,  one  term;  Henry  C  Pemberton  in 
1880,  one  term;  James  P.  Clarke  iu  1881,  one  term,  and 
Edward  J.  Jones,  the  present  incumbent,  elected  in  1882. 


The  population  census  of  1880  is  given  as  1261,  and  the 
number  of  improved  farms  as  180,  showing  more  farms 
and  a  greater  population  than  either  of  the  other  townships 
of  the  northern  tier. 


OAKLAND   VILLAGE. 

On  the  23d  day  of  June,  1869,  this  village  was  laid  out 
upon  the  S.  E  }  of  seclion  26,  by  William  Seachrist,  and 
surveyed  and  platted  by  J.  W.  Watts,  the  county  surveyor. 
The  town  is  built  along  the  base  of  the  hill,  and  presents  a 
picturesque  appearance,  as  one  approaches  it.  The  buildings 
are  neat  and  comfortable.  It  has  a  station  upon  the  Chica- 
go, Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad,  Rushville  branch,  and 
offers  to  the  capitalist  seeking  an  investment,  a  manufactur- 
ing site  rarely  equaled.  An  inexhaustible  supply  of  fine 
timber,  coal,  building  stone,  potter's  clay,  water  in  abund- 
ance at  all  seasons,  and  a  mill  site  not  surpassed  anywhere. 
The  first  house  built,  where  the  town  now  stands  was  the 
rude  log  cabin  of  William  Lamb,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
township.  The  first  store  erected  before  the  town  was  plat- 
ted, was  a  small  one-story  frame  structure,  built  by  James 
Skiles,  who  removed  his  stock  of  goods  and  the  post-office 
there  from  Oil  Hill ;  when  the  name  of  the  office  was  changed 
to  that  of  Ray,  Mr.  Skiles  continued  to  act  as  postmaster. 
The  business  firm  became  known  as  Skiles  &  Tracy.  This 
was  in  the  spring  of  1869.  Richard  Ashcraft  kept  the  first 
hotel.     Garret  Roberts,  and  Hoops  &  Pemberton   had  the 

,   first  tile  fact  ry.    Snowden  &  Aten  built  the  first  mill,  a 

;  water  power  saw  mill  on  Cedar  creek,  when  the  town  was 
first  located.     The  first  church  was  erected  in  1876,  by  all 

j  the  different  congregations,  and  is  known  as  the  Union 
church.     It  is  a  neat  frame  building,  and  is  under  the  con- 

I  troloftheM.  E.  congregation,  of  which  the  Rev.  Ralph 
Patterson  is  pastor.  All  denominations  have  the  privilege 
of  holding  religious  services  beneath  its  roof.  The  first 
school  house  was  completed  in  the  spring  of  1879,  the  old  one 
previously  used  being  a  half  a  mile  south  of  the  village.  Mr. 
Nicholas  Pittenger  was  the  first  teacher,  the  first  session 
commencing  in  the  fall  of  1879.  It  is  a  neat  and  commodi- 
ous building,  furnished  with  improved  furniture  and  appa- 
ratus, and  a  term  of  seven  months'  duratun    is  maintained. 


PRESENT    BUSINESS. 

Tile  Works. — There  are  two  tile  factories  in  the  village. 
One,  now  in  operation,  has  a  capital  of  $4  000,  and  employs 
ten  men,  using  one  kiln.  It  is  owned  by  Winner  &  Pem- 
berton. Another  is  now  being  built  by  Rufus  Porter  at  a 
cost  of  $5,000,  and  when  in  operation  will  employ  twenty- 
five  men.  The  tile  building  is  a  large  frame,  covered  with 
sheet  iron.  Its  dimensions  are  150  feet  by  32  feet,  with  an 
additional  width  of  10  feet,  at  the  end  in  which  the  engine  is 
placed.  Four  large  kilns  are  now  undergoing  construction, 
and  the  number  will  be  increased  in  the  future. 

Orain  Elevator. — The  grain  elevator  is  a  frame  building 
24  feet  by  24  feet,  two  stories  high,  and  was  built  by  Messrs. 
Wilson  &  Graff,  in   1879,  at  a  cost  of  $1,000,  the  present 


292 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


proprietors,  who  ship  40,000  bushels  of  wheat  annually.  Two 
men  find  employment  in  the  business.  A  good  pair  of  plat- 
form scales  are  connected  with  the  elevator. 

Saw  Mill. — The  date  of  building  this  mill  is  given  above. 
It  is  owned  and  operated  by  Cornelius  Ateu,  aud  manufac- 
tures large  quantities  of  hard  lumber,  which  finds  a  ready 
sale.  Five  men  find  employment  in  this  industrial  establish- 
ment. 

General  Store. — Wilson  &  Graff. 


Drug  Store  — Mrs.  Sarah  Baxter. 

Postmaster. — William  Baxter. 

Physician — Dr.  R.  M.  Barnes. 

Hotels. — Abner  W  inner  and  Marion  Woods. 

Blacksmith. — John  Sullivan. 

Wagonmakers. — Bowers  <fc  Markell. 

Carpenters. — David  S  Moore  and  Jesse  Pemberton. 

Cooper  Shop. — Calvin  Boyles. 

Shoemaker. — James  H.  Dunn. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 


^^C/^cv^u^^u^r 


Robert  M.  Barnes,  M.  D  ,  is  the  sou  of  Marmadukeand 
Jane  S.  Barnes,  and  was  born  in  Park  county,  Indiana, 
May  8, 1841.  When  he  was  twelve  years  old,  he  moved  with 
his  parents  to  Iowa,  and  settled  in  Davis  county,  where  he  re- 
mained until  the  rebellion  broke  out,  when  he  volunteered 
his  services  to  Company  G,  Twenty-first  Missouri  Regiment 
of  Infantry,  and  in  1863,  for  valiant  service  and  good  con- 
duct, was  promoted  to  Lieutenant,  and  took  command  of 
his  company,  and  remained  as  such  until  peace  was  restored, 
when,  with  his  regiment,  he  was  honorably  mustered  out, 
and  returned  home.     Immediately  after  his  return,  he  asso- 


ciated himself  with  the  Keokuk  Medical  College,  where  he 
read  and  studied  medicine,  and  commenced  the  practice  in 
1867.  He  practiced  his  profession  in  several  places  until 
1873,  when  he  located  permanently  in  Ray,  Schuyler  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  has  successfully  followed  the  practice  of 
his  profession,  and  commands  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
the  community.  In  June,  1866,  he  was  married  to  Miss. 
Susan  Halbert,  of  Hancock  county,  Illinois.  The  fruits  of 
this  marriage  have  been  six  children,  only  three  of  whom  are 
living.     Dr.  Barnes  is  an  enterprising  man. 


293 


VERSAILLES    TOWNSHIP. 


(BROWN     COUNTY.) 


♦  V  o— v»- 


HE  history  of  the  early  settlements  and 
subsequent  progress  and  development  of 
the  township  and  town  of  Versailles  pre- 
sents many  features  that  are  interesting. 
A  retrospection  of  sixty  years  would 
carry  us  beyond  the  time  when  the  first 
white  settler  had  trodden  upon  its  site, 
to  the  time  when  it  constituted  part  of  a 
dreary  wilderness,  before  civilization 
had  penetrated  its  solitude,  or  the  voice 
of  the  pioneer  echoed  amid  its  timbered  shade.  The  pioneers 
were  a  hardy  race.  That  it  was  successful,  was  owing  to 
the  dauntless  a->d  persevering  energy  of  the  first  settlers,  for 
it  was  no  enviable  task  to  clear  the  forest,  break  the  prairie, 
and  undergo  the  hardships  incident  to  genuine  pioneer  life. 
Those  early  settlers  were  of  one  origin,  language,  religion, 
with  political  and  patriotic  sentiments  identical  with  a  com- 
moi  history  and  the  same  traditions.  They  were  of  the  in- 
telligent working  class,  and  brought  with  them  little  that 
this  world  calls  wealth,  but  what  is  better,  strong  arms  and 
willing  hearts,  and  set  to  work,  having  community  of  pur- 
pose, which  they  pursued  by  the  same  methods  a-  d  in  the 
same  field,  with  results  not  widely  dissimilar.  The  journey, 
arrival,  fortune,  and  career  of  almost  any  one  of  those  reso- 
lute, vigorous,  thrifty  pioneer  families,  was  the  counterpart 
of  the  history  of  all  the  others. 

This  township  is  situated  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
county,  bounded  on  the  north  by  Cooperstown,  on  the  east 
by  the  Illinois  river,  south  by  Pike  county,  and  west  by 
Elkhorn.  It  contains  the  whole  of  T.  2  S.,  R.  2  W.,  except- 
ing sections  16,  24,  25,  and  36,  which  are  only  fractional, 
the  river  passing  through  them,  and  the  whole  of  section  6 
and  part  of  sections  5  and  7  of  T.  1  S  ,  R.  2  W.  The  chief 
streams  which  water  and  drain  the  laud  are  the  Illinois 
river,  McKee's  and  Camp  creeks.  There  are  also  other 
small  tributaries  of  the  Illinois  river  and  the  creeks  that 
assist  in  carrying  oft"  the  surface  water.  Originally,  nearly 
the  whole  surface  was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  tim- 
ber, the  greater  part  of  which  has  been  cleared  and  made 
into  rich  and  well  improved  farms,  yet  there  is  a  sufficient 
amount  remaining  for  all  local  demands.  There  are  embraced 
among  the  varieties  the  different  kinds  of  oaks,  ash,  sugar 
maple,  walnut,  hickory,  sycamore,  and  elm.  The  surface  is 
divided  between  bottom  and  upland,  the  former  being  about 
one-third  to  two-thirds  of  the  latter.  The  bottom  land  is 
composed  of  a  deep  alluvial  deposit,  which  in  fertility  is  not 
surpassed  by  any  soil  in  the  country.  In  extremely  wet 
294 


seasons,  as  it  is  this  year,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  raise  a 
crop,  unless  it  is  made  late  in  the  season,  but  in  favorable 
years  it  produces  enormous  crops  of  corn  and  grass  It  ex- 
tends in  width  from  one  to  four  miles,  from  the  river  to  the 
b'uffs,  which  form  a  chain  passing  in  a  southeasterly  course 
across  the  township.  In  many  places  these  bluffs  are  very 
rugged,  while  others  slope  gracefully  into  the  bottom  lands, 
sometimes  at  a  distance  of  half  a  mile  or  more.  The  gen- 
eral surface  of  the  uplands  is  rolling  prairie,  and  in  some 
parts  quite  broken,  especially  so  on  approaching  the  small 
water  courses.  The  soil  is  rich  and  peculiarly  adapted  to 
the  raising  of  the  smaller  grains  of  which  it  produces  abun- 
dant crops.  The  township  is  well  supplied  with  good  wagon 
roads  running  in  every  direction,  and  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis 
and  Pacific  railroad  enters  it  in  the  southeast  corner  of  sec- 
tion 35,  and  passing  in  a  northwesterly  direction  through 
the  town  of  Versailles,  leaves  the  township  on  the  west  line 
of  section  7.  This  road  furnishes  to  the  agriculturist  and 
manufacturer  excellent  facilities  for  the  shipment  of  their 
products  and  wares  from  either  the  town  of  Versailles  or 
Perry  Spring  Station.  There  is  also  considerable  shipping 
done  on  the  river,  it  being  cheaper  and  more  direct  to  St. 
Louis  and  some  other  markets.  Considering  all  the  advan- 
tages of  Versailles,  it  is  not  surprising  that  it  was  prosperous, 
and  became  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  populous  town- 
ships in  the  county. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 

In  the.  spring  of  1824  there  might  have  been  seen  under 
the  bluffs,  near  the  east  bank  of  Camp  creek  a  party  of 
four  men  wielding  their  axes  in  felling  the  forest,  clearing 
the  undergrowth  and  blazing  the  way  for  future  civilization. 
This  little  band  consisted  of  the  sturdy  pioneer,  Cornelius 
Vandeventer  and  his  three  sons,  William,  Peter  S.,  and 
Elihu.  They  cleared,  and  with  a  yoke  of  oxen,  broke  six  or 
eight  acres  of  the  stubborn  sod,  and  planted  it  with  corn, 
which  they  enclosed  with  a  fence,  and  cultivated  until  the 
20th  of  June,  when  they  left  it  in  Nature's  care  and  re- 
turned to  the  "  Sanganio  country  "  to  rejoin  their  family. 

Before  going  further  with  the  detail  of  this  settlement,  it 
is  necessary  to  give  a  short  sketch  of  our  subject  Cornelius 
Vandeventer  was  born  in  Virginia  in  the  year  1783.  His 
father,  Jacob  Vandeventer,  was  a  native  of  Holland,  and 
came  to  America  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war,  in  which 
he  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Virginia  militia.  Of  his  family, 
three  sons,  Cornelius,  Jacob  and  Peter,  came  to  this  county. 
About  1810,  these  three  brothers,  with  their  families,  emi- 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


295 


grated  from  their  native  state  to  Madison  county,  Ohio, 
where  they  were  among  the  earliest  settlers.  From  here 
Jacob  went  to  the  war  of  1812,  being  in  General  Harrison's 
army.  In  the  year  1823,  Cornelius  Vandeventer  and  his 
brother-in-law,  William  McFarland,  and  their  families,  left 
Ohio  for  this  state,  the  former  proceeding  by  way  of  the 
Ohio  river,  and  the  latter  traveling  overland  with  their 
stock.  Vandeventer  spent  the  winter  of  1823-'24  with  his 
brother-in-law,  Hamilton  Nighswonger,  at  Shawneetown, 
Ills.,  and  in  the  spring  of  1824  proceeded  to  Sangamon 
county  in  search  of  McFarland,  who  had  wintered  near 
where  Springfield  is  now  located.  He  had  some  difficulty 
in  finding  the  family,  and  when  he  finally  learned  of  their 
whereabouts,  he  was  surprised  on  being  informed  that  the 
head  of  the  family  (William  McFarland)  was  dead.  It  was 
from  here,  as  mentioned  above,  that  Vandeventer  and  his 
sons  came  to  this  county  to  select  a  home.  They  came  in  a 
covered  wagon,  drawn  by  a  yoke  of  oxen,  and  leading  a 
mare,  crossing  the  river  at  Naples.  Here  the  bluffs  of  Camp 
creek  were  pointed  out  to  them,  and,  leading  in  that  direc- 
tion, they  started,  traveling  through  the  river  bottom,  which 
was  so  wet  and  soft  as  to  make  it  a  very  slow  and  hard  jour- 
ney. When  they  had  approached  the  bluffs  near  enough  to 
discern  the  wild  and  suspicious  forms  that  were  gliding 
around  among  the  trees,  it  gave  the  old  pioneer  considerable 
uneasiness,  for  he  knew  well  the  treachery  of  the  red  man. 
But  Vandeventer  was  a  man  who  had  long  braved  the  dan- 
gers of  frontier  life,  and  one  who  was  well  fitted  to  defend 
himself  in  the  wilderness  that  he  had  decided  to  make  his 
future  abode.  Those  hardy  pioneers  never  looked  backward, 
but  pushed  on  with  that  determination  that  knows  not  fear. 
On  approaching  them,  what  was  his  pleasing  surprise  to  see 
them  coming  with  extended  hands  to  welcome  him.  This 
was  a  band  of  Indians  that  had  collected  here  to  make  maple 
sugar.  The  party  consisted  of  Indians  belonging  to  several 
tribes — the  Kickapoos,  Sacs,  Fox,  and  Miamis  principally. 
They  had  several  wigwams  scattered  around  in  the  ravine, 
in  section  15,  and  it  was  their  custom  to  come  here  every 
spring  and  manufacture  sugar,  which  they  carried  away  in 
large  quantities.  The  tract  that  he  selected  was  in  the  N.  E. 
quarter  of  section  14.  There  was  a  "  squatter"  by  the  name 
of  Sheppard  who  had  located  at  this  point  a  year  or  two  be- 
fore, and  had  erected  a  small  pole  cabin  and  girdled  the 
trees  over  about  six  or  eight  acres  of  laud  at  the  foot  of  the 
bluff,  which  was  the  tract  that  Vandeventer  selected,  and 
which  he  cleared  and  put  in  with  corn,  as  above  stated. 
Sheppard's  cabin  had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  as  the  partially 
burned  poles  were  lying  in  a  mass  on  the  spot  where  it  once 
stood. 

We  have  stated  that  after  tending  his  corn  until  late  in 
June  he  returned  to  Sangamon.  Early  in  the  fall  Vande- 
venter brought  his  family  and  the  widow  McFarland  and 
her  family,  in  wagons,  to  their  new  home,  moving  into  the 
cabin  that  he  had  built  the  spring  previously.  The  corn 
had  ripened  and  was  ready  for  gathering,  which  was  done, 
and  preparations  were  made  for  winter.  Thus  have  we 
described  the  first  settlement  in  not  only  Versailles  town- 
ship, but  the  first  in  what  is  now  Brown  county. 


Mr.  Vandeventer  was  twice  married,  the  first  time  to 
Elizabeth  Hyer,  who  died  September  5, 1825,  being  the  first 
death  that  occurred  in  the  county.  He  was  married  the 
second  time  to  the  widow  of  William  McFarland.  His 
family  consisted  of  nine  children,  five  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters by  his  first  wife,  and  two  daughters  by  the  latter. 
Their  names  were :  William,  Peter  Slater,  Joseph,  Elihu 
and  Eliza,  who  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen, — children  of  his 
first  wife ;  William  and  Peter  S.  died  bachelors,  and  Joseph 
died  the  winter  of  the  "  deep  snow."  Elihu,  who  was  born 
in  Ohio,  December  22,  1810,  is  the  only  one  that  had  any 
family.  He  has  been  twice  married,  and  reared  four  child- 
dren,  all  of  whom  are  living.  He  has  always  resided  near 
where  he  first  settled,  and  is  now  in  the  seventy-second  year 
of  his  age,  the  oldest  settler  in  the  county,  and  although 
crippled  with  rheumatism  so  that  he  is  unable  to  walk,  his 
mind  is  yet  clear,  and  he  delights  in  telling  of  the  olden 
time.  He  has  lived  to  see  the  country  transformed,  as 
though  by  magic,  from  a  wilderness  to  a  rich  and  populous 
county.  The  old  pioneer,  Cornelius,  lived  on  the  place 
where  he  first  settled  until  his  death,  October  17, 1865,  aged 
eighty-two  years,  seven  months  and  fourteen  days.  He  was 
the  earliest  justice  of  the  peace  in  this  section  of  country, 
and  was  generally  known  as  Esquire  Vandeventer,  and 
held  other  offices  in  the  early  history  of  both  Schuyler  and 
Brown  counties.  He  was  a  kind  husband  and  father,  hon- 
orable and  upright  citizen,  loved  and  respected  by  all  who 
knew  him.  A  portrait  of  him  can  be  seen  on  another  page 
of  this  work. 

The  McFarland  family  who  came  with  Vandeventer, 
landing  September  7,  1824,  settled  near  him.  The  family 
consisted  of  Mrs  McFarland  and  four  sons, — Robert  N., 
William  H.,  Nathaniel  and  Benjamin  W.  Of  these  Robert 
N.  and  Benjamin  W.  were  married  and  had  families,  and 
they  are  all  dead  excepting  Robert  N.,  who  resides  just  east 
of  the  town  of  Versailles. 

The  next  settler  was  Dr.  Isaac  Vandeventer,  son  of  Wil- 
liam Vandeventer,  and  a  nephew  of  the  old  Esquire.  He 
and  his  young  wife  came  together  from  Virginia,  their  na- 
tive state,  in  a  wagon  drawn  by  one  horse,  arriving:  in  the 
fall  of  1825.  They  reached  the  old  squire's  Eestate  in  the 
evening,  and  stopped  with  him  until  they  could  build  a 
cabin  of  their  own,  which  they  did  on  section  15,  just  at  the 
foot  of  the  bluff.  This  was  half-a-mile  or  more  from  his 
uncle  Cornelius'  cabin,  and  those  were  the  only  two  cabins 
in  the  county  at  that  date  and  for  some  time  afterwards. 
Isaac  cleared  and  made  a  farm,  and  was  an  early  school- 
teacher in  this  country.  He  taught  a  school  in  Naples, 
now  in  Scott  county,  the  first  in  this  portion  of  Illinois.  In 
1827  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Ross,  at  Atlas, 
in  Pike  county,  and  graduated  at  the  Cincinnati  Medical  Col- 
lege in  1830 ;  returned  home  and  began  the  practice  of  his 
profession.  He  was  the  first  physician  here,  and  for  many 
years  had  a  large  practice,  extending  his  visits  as  far  as 
Jacksonville,  Griggsville,  Rushville,  Quincy,  etc.  His 
death  occurred  August  2,  1851,  of  cholera.  His  widow 
married  George  Scripps,  who  also  left  her  a  widow.  At 
her  death  she  was  buried  beside  her  first  husband  in  the 


296 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


old  Bluffs  graveyard  on  section  14.  Dr.  Vandeventer  died 
without  issue.  In  his  life,  the  doctor  was  an  active  man 
and  quite  a  prominent  politician.  He  was  a  Whig  and  made 
several  races  for  office,  twice  for  the  senate,  and  once  for 
congress,  against  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  but  was  never 
elected,  the  Democratic  party  being  largely  in  the  ascen-  | 
dancy. 

The  first  resident  north  of  the  bluffs  was  Hamilton  Nighs- 
wonger.  He  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent  born  in  Ohio,  and 
migrated  here  with  his  family  in  the  spring  of  1826,  settling 
in  section  17.  He  erected  his  little  cabin  on  the  N.  E.  i, 
about  one  hundred  yards  inside  of  the  present  limits  of  the 
town  of  Versailles.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Cornelius 
Vandeventer.  He  resided  here  until  his  death,  in  1855. 
He  had  a  family  of  seven  children,  only  two  of  whom  sur- 
vive, Peter,  who  resides  in  the  township  and  Emily,  the 
wife  of  James  H.  Pettigrew,  in  Cooperstown.  Others  of  the 
family  reared  children,  who  are  yet  in  the  county. 

It  was  not  until  1827  that  the  settlement  was  increased, 
when  John  P.  Hambaugh  and  George  Lampkin  made  their 
appearance:  These  two  men  were  residing  at  Edwardsville, 
Madison  county,  Illinois,  at  the  time,  and  it  was  in  the  win- 
ter of  that  year  they  left  there  on  foot  traveling  northward 
in  search  of  vacant  lands.  After  traveling  about  three  days 
over  the  prairies  and  through  the  timber  and  tangled  under- 
growth they  reached  Naples,  a  distance  of  over  one  hundred 
miles.  Here  they  were  informed  that  by  traveling  north, 
ward  for  about  ten  miles  there  could  be  found  very  choice 
vacant  lands,  which  direction  they  pursued,  crossing  the 
river  at  the  mouth  of  McKee's  creek,  thence  through  the 
bottom  heading  for  the  bluffs  about  a  mile  east  of  where  the 
Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pacific  railroad  now  enters  them. 
Reaching  the  forest  near  the  bluffs  they  proceeded  to  explore 
the  region.  They  traveled,  however,  but  a  short  distance  in 
the  timber,  there  being  such  a  heavy  growth  of  underbrush 
as  to  make  it  almost  impenetrable,  but  gradually  worked 
their  way  along  the  bluffi  to  Camp  creek,  stopping  at  Es- 
quire Vandeventer's.  Lampkin  and  Hambaugh  erected  a 
log  cabin  on  section  33,  where  now  stands  the  Martin  resi- 
dence. After  its  completion  they  returned  to  Edwardsville, 
walking  again  the  entire  distance  in  three  days,  having  been 
absent  about  three  weeks.  This  was  in  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1827,  and  in  March  they  loaded  a  two-horse  wagon 
and  started  with  the  intention  of  making  this  their  perma- 
nent home.  Mr.  Lampkin  had  been  recently  married,  and 
he  brought  his  young  bride,  Mr.  Hambaugh  also  accom. 
panyiug  him.  John  P.  selected  the  land  and  made  the  first 
improvements  on  the  N.  E.  1  of  section  28,  where  the  Ham- 
baughs  settled  and  always  resided.  The  laud  was  not  then 
in  market,  but  each  actual  settler  had  the  privilege  of  pre- 
empting eighty  acres.  Following  these  were  John  Stone 
and  Samuel  Root,  with  their  families,  early  in  1828.  Mr. 
Stone  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  but  while  young  went  to 
Kentucky  with  his  father's  family.  He  settled  on  section 
28,  in  the  N.  W.  quarter,  and  lived  there  until  his  death. 
There  came  with  him  his  wife,  two  sons  aud  one  daughter, 
viz  :  Erastus,  Mirando  and  Elmina,  all  grown.  Both  the 
sons  married  and  settled  here,  and  Elmina  was  married  dur- 


ing the  winter  of  the  deep  snow,  to  Stephen  D.  Hambaugh, 
and  is  the  only  one  of  the  family  living.  Mirando  was  a 
shoe-maker  and  made  all  the  boots  and  shoes  for  the  pio- 
neers in  this  neighborhood.  He  died  in  August,  1860,  his 
brother  having  died  a  few  years  previously,  but  several  of 
their  descendants  are  still  living  here.  Samuel  Root  was 
born  in  Vermont  and  was  an  early  emigrant  in  Kentucky. 
His  family  consisted  of  Erasti's,  Roswell  I ,  Cynthia  and 
her  husband,  Justus  Hurd.  Mr.  Hurd  did  not  settle  in  this 
county.  Erastus  brought  his  wife  with  him  from  Kentucky 
and  reared  a  family  of  ten  children,  six  of  whom  are  now 
living.  He  located  on  section  21,  where  he  died  in  1845, 
and  his  son,S.  O  Root  now  resides  on  the  old  homestead,  and 
the  others  live  in  the  vicinity. 

S.  D.  Hambaugh,  mentioned  above,  came  and  located  on  the 
place  that  his  brother  John  P.  had  selected  the  year  before. 
He  was  then  a  single  man  and  came  in  a  large  heavy  wagon 
drawn  by  four  horses,  from  Edwardsville,  crossing  the  Illi- 
nois river  at  Meredosia.  He  arrived  in  the  spring  of  1828 
and  joined  his  brother.  These  brothers  were  sons  of  Henry 
Hambaugh,  and  natives  of  Virginia.  They  came  with  their 
father  from  Kentucky  to  this  state  in  1825,  settling  at  Ed- 
wardsville. It  was  there  that  Fanny  Hambaugh,  their  sis- 
ter, was  married  to  Gov-  Thomas  Ford,  then  a  young  lawyer 
residing  at  that  place.  In  1853  and  '54  Governor  Ford  was 
engaged  in  compiling  a  history  of  Illinois,  and  the  fact  that 
it  was  written  in  the  old  Hambaugh  residence  in  this  county* 
is  a  thing  not  generally  ■  known.  Stephen  D.  Hambaugh 
married  Elmina,  the  daughter  of  John  Stone,  above  men- 
tioned, and  reared  four  children — John  Henry,  James  S., 
Joseph  M.  and  Mary,  the  wife  of  Charles  W.  Price,  all 
living.  He  was  a  prominent  and  influential  citizen.  Was 
a  member  of  the  legislature  for  one  term  and  held  other  po- 
sitions of  trust  in  the  county.  His  death  occurred  in  1877. 
John  P.  Hambaugh  is  still  living,  a  bachelor,  at  an  ad- 
vanced age. 

In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  1828,  we  find  two  new  arri- 
vals in  the  settlement.  These  were  Jefferson  Hume  and 
Elisha  G.  Adams,  who  came  about  the  sams  time,  in  the 
month  of  October.  Jefferson  Hume  was  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  emigrated  from  that  state  to  Illinois  in  1825, 
stopping  near  the  present  t-ite  of  Springfield.  He  brought 
with  him  to  this  county  a  family  of  ten  children,  viz : 
James,  deceased  ;  Malinda,  the  wife  of  George  A.  Hume,  re- 
siding in  DeWitt  county,  111.,  Gabrial  T,  in  Kansas ;  Milton 
in  Missouri ;  John  residing  on  section  33  of  this  township  ; 
William  F.,  living  on  the  same  section  ;  Cassie,  who  married 
Green  B.  Smith,  both  deceased;  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  Spen- 
cer Adams,  in  Texas;  Mary,  wife  of  Robert  Brown,  and 
Ellen  deceased.  Mr.  Hume  settled  in  the  N.  W.  corner  of 
section  33  just  east  of  the  railroad,  at  the  foot  of  the  bluffs, 
on  the  place  where  Dr.  A.  D.  Six  now  lives.  He  was  a  car- 
penter by  trade,  although  he  made  farming  his  principal  oc- 
cupation. He  was  elected  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  1830, 
ana  held  several  other  minor  offices.  He  was  several  times 
made  Major  or  Colonel  of  militia  in  early  times.  In  1839  he 
went  to  Texas,  where  he  died  about  1842.  There  was  a  very 
early  settlement  made  by  his  nephew  William  Hume.abouta 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


297 


mile  south  of  where  he  settled  and  just  within  the  limits  of 
Pike  county  in  1826.  Elisha  G.  Adams,  was  born  in  Ver- 
mont, January  9,  1806,  and  went  to  Canada  with  his  parents 
when  a  child.  In  1826,  he  emigrated  with  his  mother  to 
Illinois,  locating  in  Morgan  county.  Here  he  married 
Matilda  Henry,  and  moved  to  what  is  now  Brown  county, 
landing  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  one  of  this  town- 
ship on  the  20th  day  of  October  1828.  As  usual  he  built 
the  same  kind  of  a  log  cabin,  as  all  pioneers,  which  was  of 
rough  logs  about  16  feet  square,  entered  160  acres  and  pre- 
empted 80  acres  of  land  upon  which  he  and  his  young  wife 
launched  out  for  themselves.  When  he  arrived  there  were 
several  bark  wigwams  in  the  vicinity  and  in  fact  scattered 
all  along  the  bluffs,  but  the  Indians  were  friendly.  Adams 
was  quite  a  hunter  in  his  younger  days  and  frequently  joined 
them  in  the  chase.  He  informed  us  that  by  their  every  day 
associations  with  him  he  had  learned  their  language  so  as  to 
speak  it  very  intelligibly.  In  the  year  1830,  Adams  killed 
over  forty  deer,  which  brought  him  some  ready  cash,  a  thing 
that  was  indeed  scarce  in  those  days.  The  hides  were  worth 
twenty-five  cents  and  the  hams  brought  the  same  price  per 
pair.  Corn  was  then  worth  ten  cents  a  bushel  and  labor 
twenty-five  cents  a  day.  Adams  says,  "  I  have  split  many 
a  thousand  rails  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  cents  per  hun- 
dred." In  those  early  times  farming  was  not  a  very  exten- 
sive occupation  ;  corn,  cotton  and  flax  were  the  principal 
products.  The  latter  was  woven  into  garments  by  those 
noble  pioneer  women,  and  never  were  there  a  happier  people 
than  our  frontiersmen,  in  their  suits  of  home  spun  or  buck- 
skin. Mr.  Adams  reared  a  family  of  nine  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  now  living,  Amanda,  the  wife  of  John  Thomas  ; 
JoelH.,  residing  in  section  12;  Mary  A.,  the  wife  of  Daniel 
Evans,  in  Cooperstown  ;  Oliver  P.,  in  section  1  of  this  town- 
ship ;  Asenath  became  the  wife  of  George  Ferrell ;  Emily 
the  wife  of  Henry  Stullers,  and  Ellen  a  Mrs.  John  Prudent  of 
Cooperstown.  At  this  writing  Mr.  Adams  and  his  wife  are 
living  on  the  same  place  where  they  located  fifty-four  years 
ago.  They  are  both  in  the  enjoyment  of  health,  and  never 
tire  in  relating  the  trials  and  hardships  through  which  they 
have  passed.  Joel  M.,  and  Orson,  brothers  of  Elisha  G. 
Adams,  came  with  him  to  this  country  in  1828.  The  former 
became  a  permanent  settler  and  died  here  about  ten  years 
ago,  but  Orson  joined  the  Mormons,  and  went  with  them 
from  Nauvoo  to  Salt  Lake  City,  where  he  died.  Thomas 
Lackey  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  about  this  date,  and 
many  say  a  year  or  two  earlier. 

By  this  time  several  families  had  arrived  and  formed  a 
strong  settlement  along  the  bluffs,  and  a  post-office  was  an 
institution  much  desired.  Petitions  were  drawn  up  and  sent 
in  proper  form  to  Washington,  and  their  prayers  were 
granted.  An  office  was  established,  known  as  "  Vandeven- 
ters  Post-office."  Cornelius  Vandeventer  was  appointed  post- 
master, and  the  office  was  kept  at  his  residence.  This  was 
in  the  year  1828.  The  mail  was  carried  on  horse  back  by  a 
man  named  Fowler.  In  those  days  postage  was  paid  at  the 
distributing  office,  and  many  times  the  old  settlers  were  con- 
siderably troubled  to  get  the  "Two-bits"  that  were  required 
to  release  their  letters.  The  Vandeventer  office  was  a  great 
38 


convenience,  but  for  the  want  of  patronage  it  was,  in  a  few 
years,  discontinued,  and  it  was  not  until  1835  that  another 
was  established.  At  that  time  there  was  quite  an  influx  of 
settlers,  and  another  effort  to  obtain  an  office  was  made, 
which  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the  Sugar  Grove 
Post-office.  Stephen  D.  Hambaugh  was  appointed  post- 
master and  it  is  now  kept  at  his  placejon  section  28.  The  route 
was  established  to  Pittsfield. 

In  the  winter  of  1830-31  occurred  that  memorable  event, 
the  " deep  snow. "  On  account  of  the  meager  preparations 
for  so  severe  a  visitation,  the  early  settlers  suffered  many 
hardships.  It  is  difficult  for  those  of  to-day  to  comprehend 
the  sufferings  of  cold  and  hunger  that  those  sturdy  pioneers 
underwent.  The  snow  commenced  falling  in  December  and 
continued  falling  for  several  weeks.  The  depth  was  from 
four  to  five  feet.  The  stumps  of  trees  that  were  cut  for 
firewood,  after  the  snow  had  passed  away,  had  the  appear- 
ance of  having  been  felled  by  giants,  some  of  them  measur- 
ing from  six  to  seven  feet  in  height.  The  roads  or  pathways 
were  completely  blockaded,  and  the  fences  and  cabins  were 
virtually  buried,  and  the  inhabitants  only  went  forth  as 
food  and  fuel  demanded,  from  dire  necessity.  The  deer, 
prairie  chicken  and  games  of  all  kinds  suffered  death  from 
starvation. 

In  1830  the  following  parties  made  the  first  land  entries 
in  this  township  :  John  P.  Hambaugh,  September  20, 1830, 
entered  the  E.  i  of  the  N.  E.  i  of  section  28  ;  George 
Lampkins,  the  S.  E.  \  of  the  S.  W.  \  of  section  33,  Septem- 
ber 30,  1830  ;  Erastus  Stone,  E.  i  of  N.  W.  \  section  22, 
Sept.  30,  1830  ;  Levi  Johnson  and  David  Prickett  also  en- 
tered land  here  on  the  same  date. 

In  1831,  Richard  and  Philip  Briggs,  natives  of  Kentucky, 
arrived  in  Versailles.  They  had  come  to  the  state  the  year 
previous  and  raised  a  crop  in  Morgan  county.  They  both 
located  in  section  18.  Richard  lived  here  until  his  death, 
October  8,  1876.  Philip  moved  from  here  to  the  state  of 
Missouri,  where  he  remained  a  short  time  and  then  returned, 
locating  in  Buckhorn  township  where  he  died  several  years 
ago.  He  had  a  family  of  eight  children  when  he  came, 
only  two  of  whom  are  now  living — John  R.  Briggs  in  Ver- 
sailles and  Louis  Briggs  in  Lee  township.  Michael  Sum- 
my  and  James  Bullard  also  came  with  the  Briggs.  Suramy 
was  a  son-in-law  of  Richard  Briggs,  and  emigrated  to  Texas. 
His  father  and  others  of  the  family  settled  here,  and  some 
are  yet  in  the  township.  Bullard  remained  here  and  died, 
leaving  a  family.  When  Briggs  came  the  following  parties 
lived  in  the  vicinity :  Hamilton  Nighswonger,  Joseph 
Groves,  Mr.  Willford,  and  Mr.  Darnell. 

It  was  the  same  year  that  Jacob  and  Peter  Vandeventer, 
brothers  of  Cornelius  Vandeventer,  came  and  located  in  the 
township.  They  were  natives  of  Virginia  and  came  here 
from  Ohio.  There  was  only  two  years' difference  in  their 
ages.  They  both  married  in  Virginia,  and  had  families 
when  they  located  in  Versailles  Nov.  12, 1831 .  Jacob  moved 
to  Pike  county  in  the  Spring  of  1833,  and  died  there  in  Au- 
gust following,  at  the  age  of  52  years.  His  family  then  re- 
moved to  Versailles,  settling  in  section  15.  He  was  twice 
married  and  had  eight  children  born  to  him,  two  by  the  first 


298 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


wife  and  six  by  the  latter.  Jethro,  his  oldest  son,  came  here 
in  1838,  and  is  yet  living  in  the  town  of  Versailles.  Three 
of  the  children  born  by  the  last  union  are  residing  in  the 
county — Thomas  R.,  Joseph  F.,  and  Barnet  B.  Peter  Van- 
deveuter  died  at  the  residence  of  his  brother,  Cornelius 
Vandeventer,  a  few  weeks  after  his  arrival.  He  was 
also  twice  married,  and  reared  seven  children  by  his 
first  wife  and  two  by  the  latter.  They  all  came  to 
this  county,  and  all  but  two  of  them  have  died  here  Those 
living  are,  Dr.  Saul  Vandeventer,  an  early  physician  in  the 
county,  and  Silas  H.  Another  prominent  early  settler  was 
Ashford  D.  Ravenscroft,  who  came  here  a  single  man  in 
1836.  He  was  born  in  West  Virginia  June  22,  1808.  He 
arrived  here  about  tne  time  of  the  starting  of  the  town  of 
Versailles,  and  went  immediately  into  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness, in  which  he  continue  d  until  his  death  April  19,  1872, 
makingan  active  business  careerof  thirty-six  years  in  the  town 
of  Versailles.  His  widow,  who  is  the  daughter  of  Henry 
Casteen.is  residing  in  the  town.  Mr  Ravenscroft  was  a  man  of 
gr«  at  industry,  and  through  strict  integrity  and  honorable 
dealing  he  accumulated  a  fortune.  Henry  Casteen  was 
another  prominent  early  arrival,  and  one  of  the  proprietors 
of  Versailles  He  was  born  in  Norfolk,  Virginia,  in  1786, 
and  moved  from  there  to  Kentucky  in  1815,  where  he  was 
married  to  Lucinda  Peters,  and  came  with  his  family  to  this 
county  in  1836,  purchasing  the  improvements  of  George 
Hillard,  just  north  of  the  town  of  Versailles.  At  that  time 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  sickness,  and  Mr.  Casteen  soon  lost 
his  wife  and  four  children  ;  four  are  yet  living.  He  was 
again  married  in  1839,  and  two  children  of  this  union  are 
living  here.  He  was  one  of  Versailles'  active  men,  and  was 
much  esteemed  by  his  fellow-citizens.  He  died  April  14, 
}854,  at  the  age  of  68  years. 

'  Among  other  old  settlers  we  will  mention  the  Townsends, 
Pratt,  Scott,  John  Whitten,  Benjamin  and  Joseph  Robinson 
in  1835 ;  George  Summy,  Richard  Upchurch,  an  early 
school  teacher,  Wesley  Tolle,  Elijah  Hall,  Spencer  Hall, 
John  Surratt,  Samuel  Black  an  old  teacher  and  surveyor 
and  at  one  time  County  Judge.  John  Heflin,  Daniel  and 
James  Brown,  Henry  Boss,  James  Bullard,  Jtsse  Landon, 
Thomas  and  James  McCormack,  William  Gamble,  Bethel 
Colston,  Jacob  Summy,  John  A.  Houlderly,  Angel  Hume, 
Avery  Carter,  Prudy  Meeks,  I'avid  McGlaughlin,  Enoch 
Reecer,  John  Sides,  Stephen  Carner,  Benjamin  F.  Hill, 
Henry  May,  Mr  Ray,  George  By  ram,  G.  W.  Temmnis, 
Richard  Marrs,  Philip  Ausmus,  B.  F.  Hill  and  many  others 
that  might  be  mentioned.  We  may  not  have  named  all 
the  early  settlers  in  the  township,  nor  have  traced  the  his- 
tory of  all  of  them,  and  were  it  possible  to  do  so,  it  would 
not  be  interesting.  It  has  been  our  aim  to  follow  up  the 
very  earliest  arrivals,  and  nientu  n  more  particularly  those 
who  figured  prominently  in  its  early  history. 

The  earliest  school  taught  in  Versailles  was  by  a  private 
tutor  in  Cornelius  Vandeventer's  family,  probably  as  early 
as  1828.  The  first  log  cabin  school  was  taught  just  west  of 
the  Vandeventer  brothers'  residence  on  section  15,  by  Miss 
Hannah  Burbank,  a  lady  sent  here  by  an  eastern  mission. 
Another  school  of  the  same  character  was  taught  by  John 


Lister  in  a  cabin  on  section  18.  For  information  on  this 
subject  we  refer  the  reader  to  the  Chapter  on  Common 
Schools. 

In  those  early  days,  when  the  country  was  sparsely  set- 
tled, great  inconvenience  was  experienced  in  obtaining  flour. 
The  mills  were  very  rude  affairs,  and  very  distant  from  each 
other.  In  1828  the  Vandeventers,  Roots,  Stones  and  Ham- 
baughs  constructed  a  pirogue  out  of  a  large  walnut  tree,  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  their  grain  to  be  ground  at  a  little 
water-mill  on  Blue  river.  This  was  the  first  boat-building 
in  the  county.  The  first  mill  built  in  this  settlement  was 
constructed  by  Jefferson  Hume  in  1830.  It  was  a  horse- 
mill,  and  stood  near  the  present  residence  of  Dr.  A.  D  Six. 
Though  rude  and  awkward  as  it  was,  it  served  its  purpose, 
and  was  largely  patronized.  The  settlers  were  often  com- 
pelled to  remain  several  days  before  their  grists  could  be 
ground  ;  ''  the  first  come,  the  first  served,"  was  the  maxim, 
and  each  had  to  await  his  turn.  Another  horse-mill  was 
built  soon  afterwards  by  the  Townsends.  The  first  grist- 
mill was  constructed  by  M.  Johnson,  and  was  located  on 
McKee's  creek.  It  was  propelled  by  water  and  had  one  run 
of  stones.  In  1833,  Cornelius  Vandeventer  built  a  water- 
power  saw  mill  on  Camp  creek.  Others  were  soon  after- 
wards erected  along  the  river  and  creeks,  and  the  lumber 
trade  became  quite  a  profitable  business. 

For  other  pioneer  matter,  we  refer  the  reader  to  the 
various  general  chapters  in  the  front  part  of  this  work, 
wherein  many  interesting  facts  of  the  olden  times  are  re- 
corded. 

We  append  a  list  of  names  of  those  who  have  represented 
the  township  in  the  board  of  supervisors  :  S.  D.  Hatnbaugh, 
elected  in  1854;  Michael  Summy,  in  1855;  A.  D  Ravens- 
croft, in  1856;  Cortez  Hume,  in  1857  ;  John  R.  Briggs,  in 
1858,  and  re-elected  until  1861,  when  A.  D.  Ravenscroft 
was  elected  and  served  for  two  terms.  In  1863  Edward 
Purcell  served  one  term,  and  Thomas  J.  Russell  was  elected 
in  1864 ;  Saul  Vandeventer.  in  1865,  and  served  for  two 
years ;  W.  W.  Glaze,  in  1868,  and  re-elected  in  '6,1 ;  John 
Bond  in  1870,  and  served  two  years;  Obadiah  Summy, 
elected  in  1872,  re-elected  in  '73  ;  Edward  Welch,  in  1874, 
and  re-elected  in  "75;  Thomas  J.  Russell  in  H76  ;  B.  L. 
Rowland,  1877;  Harrison  Burgei-ser,  187rf,  and  served  until 
1881;  James  McCormick,  tlected  1881,  and  is  the  present 
incumbent 

TOWN   OF   VERSAILLES. 

In  point  of  population,  this  is  the  second  town  in  the 
county.  It  is  beautifully  situated  on  high  rolling  land,  in 
the  heart  of  a  rich  and  populous  farming  community. 
Among  the  bluffs  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  there  are 
Lumerous  lasting  springs  of  excellent  water,  many  of  which 
contain  valuable  mineral  properties.  A  few  years  ago  there 
were  iron  and  magnesia  spriugs  opened  about  one  mile  north- 
east of  the  town,  and  a  large  hotel  built,  which,  while  it  was 
open,  had  considerable  patronage  from  invalids  seeking  the 
benefit  of  the  waters.  With  proper  and  experienced  man- 
agement, it  would,  no  doubt,  have  become  a  beneficial  and 
profitable  resort.  The  town  is  one  of  the  most  healthful  loca- 
tions in  this  part  of  the  state. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


NWlMl 
299 


It  was  laid  out  by  Henry  Casteen,  Cornelius  Vandeventer, 
A.  D.  Ravenscroft,  and  Dr.  Isaac  Vandeventer,  December 
2,  1836.  The  original  plat  was  situated  in  the  south  half  of 
section  17,  and  was  surveyed  by  Allen  Persinger.  There 
have  been  several  additions  made  to  the  town,  and  the 
corporate  limits  now  contain  one  square  mile.  The  above 
parties  purchased  twenty-two  acres  of  land  of  Hamilton 
Nighswonger,  and  were  the  originators  and  proprietors  of 
the  place.  The  name  of  the  town  was  chosen  by  one  of  its 
founders,  Mr.  Casteen,  from  Versailles,  his  early  home  in 
Kentucky,  and  from  Versailles  in  France. 

A.  D.  Ravenscroft  erected  the  first  building,  a  frame  store- 
house in  the  spring  of  1836.  It  was  a  one-story  structure, 
about  20x24  feet,  and  in  it  he  placed  the  first  stock  of  goods 
opened  for  sale  in  the  township.  There  has  been  some  dis- 
pute as  to  who  was  the  first  merchant,  but  as  Mr.  Ravens- 
croft s  books  show  that  his  first  entry  was  made  June  27, 
1836,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  he  sold  the  first  goods. 
He  continued  in  business  in  the  town  until  his  death  in  1872. 

The  next  building  was  erected  by  Joseph  C.  Townsend  for 
a  hotel,  and  upon  its  completion  Versailles  became  a  stage 
stand.  The  town  was  located  on  the  Spiingfield  and  Quincy 
stage  line.  The  post-office  was  soon  moved  from  Sugar 
Grove,  and  A.  D.  Ravinscroft  first  kept  it.  The  Townsend 
house  has  always  been  used  for  a  hotel,  and  now  forms  a 
part  of  the  present  Versailles  House.  It  was  not  long  until 
a  second  store  was  built  and  opened  by  Dr.  Isaac  and  Jethro 
Vandeventer.  This  store  was  i-ituated  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  Main  and  First  streets,  just  opposite  the  Versaille 
House.  Jacob  Summy  opened  a  saloon  on  Main  street 
about  the  same  time.  Thomas  Foley  began  the  blacksmithingj 
and  Enoch  Rasor  the  tailoring  business.  Thus  the  town 
started,  and  with  a  steady  growth  and  improvement  it  has 
gained  a  population,  which,  at  the  last  census,  is  given  as 
517  souls.  There  are  a  number  of  good  stores,  and  the 
merchants  are  an  energetic  class,  who  are  striving  to  build 
up  their  town.  The  streets  are  laid  out  square  with  the 
points  of  the  compass,  are  well  shaded,  and  have  good  plauk 
sidewalks.  There  are  several  fine  brick  and  frame  residences 
and  all  speak  well  of  the  enterprise  of  her  citizens. 

Schools. — The  first  school  taught  in  the  town  was  by  a  Mr. 
Wright,  in  a  log  house  erected  for  that  purpose,  situated  in 
the  northeast  corner  of  what  is  now  the  corporate  limits, 
about  1839  or  '40.  George  \V.  Gibson  was  the  next  teacher. 
E.  P.  Bunce  taught  there  in  1842,  and  continued  teaching 
in  the  neighborhood  three  or  four  years.  This  building  was 
subsequently  moved,  and  now  stands  on  Walnut  street  near 
the  old  Methodist  church.  School  was  held  in  it  until 
another  and  better  building  was  erected  in  1852.  This  was 
constructed  of  brick,  20x30  feet,  one-story  high,  located  on 
First  street,  north  of  Walnut.  Here  the  schools  were  taught 
until  the  present  fine  brick  structure  was  completed  in  the 
summer  of  1872.  This  building  is  two  and  a  half  stories 
high,  and  contains  two  rooms  on  the  first  floor,  and  one  large 
room  in  the  second  story.  It  is  a  graded  school,  employ- 
ing three  teachers.  This  building  was  erected  at  a  cost  of 
about  ten  thousand  dollars.  It  is  an  imposing  structure, 
and  stands  as  a  monument  of  the  liberality  and  intelligence 
of  a  progressive  people. 


Churches. — The  first  church  was  erected  by  the  Methodist 
denomination.  There  are  now  besides  it  the  Christian, 
United  Brethren,  and  Catholic  churches.  For  their  history 
see  the  Ecclesiastical  chapter. 

Cemetery — The  first  cemetery  was  established  by  the 
town  authorities  purchasing  an  acre  of  land  of  James  Bul- 
lard,  about  the  time  of  the  starting  of  the  town.  This  is 
located  in  the  southern  part  of  the  town,  and  about  ten 
years  ago  it  was  filled,  and  a  new  ground  was  necessary.  In 
1873,  the  same  authorities  purchased  three  acres  near  the 
centre  of  section  18,  and  laid  it  out  in  lots  and  walks  for  the 
use  of  a  cemetery.  It  is  controlled  entirely  by  the  town 
board. 

Incorporation. — Versailles  was  first  incorporated  as  a  vil- 
lage, under  the  general  State  law.  On  the  twenty-third  day 
of  March,  1858,  a  legal  notice  was  given  to  the  citizens  of 
the  village,  that  a  meeting  would  be  held  at  the  school-house 
in  said  village,  on  Saturday,  April  3d,  1858,  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  incorporating 
the  said  village.  The  meeting  was  held  at  the  appointed 
time  and  place,  and  Cortice  Hume  was  chosen  president,  and 
James  Moorman  secretary,  and  a  vote  was  taken,  which 
resulted  in  twenty-seven  for  incorporation,  and  four  against 
it. 

April  8th,  1858,  an  election  was  held  for  the  purpose  of 
selecting  five  trustees,  and  the  following  named  gentlemen 
were  elected :  George  Glaze,  Henry  May,  John  A.  Casteen, 
Cortice  Hume,  and  Dr.  Saul  Vandeventer.  C.  Hume  was 
made  president,  and  James  L.  Moorman  secretary. 

The  place  was  again  incorporated,  by  special  act  of  the 
legislature,  approved  March  26th,  1869,  as  the  "Town  of 
Versailles  "  The  charter  required  that  an  election  shall  be 
held  on  the  first  Monday  in  April  of  each  year,  for  electing 
five  trustees,  one  of  whom  shall  be  chosen  president  of  the 
board,  and  such  other  officers  as  are  made  elective  by  this 
act,  etc.  This  special  act  was  made  in  order  to  give  the 
authorities  more  power  in  governing  and  controlling  their 
town.  The  officers  elected  under  this  charter  in  1869 
were:  Hiram  McGuffy,  President;  W .  W.  Glaze,  Joseph 
Casteen,  A.  Gough,  and  A.  Burgesser,  Trustees ;  Frank 
Hume,  Constable;  John  James,  Sireet  Commissioner;  and 
A.  J.  Glaze,  Town  Clerk. 

Mills- — The  first  mill  in  the  c  >rporate  limits  was  built  by 
Jesse  Landon,  in  1835.  It  was  a  horse  mill,  situated  in 
what  is  now  the  southeast  part  of  the  town.  It  was  in  ope- 
ration for  eight  or  ten  years.  The  present  grist  and  saw  mill 
was  built  several  years  ago.  It  is  now  owi.ed  and  operated  by 
T.  J.  McWane  It  is  a  three-story  frame  mill,  with  a  run 
of  two  burrs,  and  capacity  of  about  twenty-five  barrels  per 
day.    The  saw  in  use  is  a  fifty-two  inch  circular  saw. 

Brick. — There  has  been  considerable  brick  burning  in  the 
town,  the  first  of  which  was  burnt  in  1838,  by  Cornelius 
and  Dr.  Saul  Vandeventer.  At  this,writing  there  is  a  yard 
in  the  town,  but  it  is  not  being  worked. 

BUSINESS   HOUSES   AND   TRADE    OF    18S2. 

General  Siora.—E    F.  Crane  &  Co. ;  W.  S.  Henry  ;  L. 


Yf/HH 
l.dl  Mil 

300 


HISTORY  OF  SCHVYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


C.  Lancaster  ;  W.  H.  Brackenridge  ;  James  McCormick  ; 
Reid  &  Brady. 

Hardware  and  Groceries. — Barlow  McCoy. 

Hardware  and  Agricultural  Implements. — Wainman  & 
Rowland. 

Drugs.— W.  W.  Eckler ;  John  Wright. 

Ladies'  Furnishing  Goods. — Miss  M.  Casteen. 

Millinery  and  Dress  Making. — Eckler  &  Burgesser. 

Groceries  and  Confectionery. — Aaron  Stinson. 

Groceries  and  Stationery. — Hartman  &  Burgesser. 

Stoves,  Tinware  and  Furniture. — A.  D.  McDaniel. 

Harness  Store. — Rowland  &  Son. 

Heat  Market. — Sargent  &  Martin. 

Physicians. — Saul  Vandeventer ;  John  Bond ;  J.  A.  Lung ; 
B.  Wilson  ;  O.  E.  Wilson,  and  A.  D.  Six. 

Blacksmiths  and  Wagonmakers. — Charles  W.  Wainman  ; 
John  H.  Reisch ;  and  E.  M.  Rockwood. 

Liverymen. — Westbrook  Wight  and  Thomas  Graves. 

Hotels. — Versailles  House ;  Maple  Grove  House,  Thos.  H. 
Graves,  proprietor. 

Carpenter  Shops. — J.  C.  Hoffman  &  Son  ;  Thomas  Keely. 

lAtmber  Yard. — E.  F.  Crane  &  Co. 

Cooper  Shops. — Thomas  McCormack ;  Purcell  Bros.,  and 
John  Allstot 

Drayman.— F.  C  White. 

Shoe  Shop. — J.  R.  Deviney. 

Barbers. — Alexander  Hall  and  H.  A.  Hawk. 

SOCIETIES. 

Versailles  Lodge  No.  108,  A.  F.  and  A.  M.,  was  instituted 
October  1st,  1851 ;  and  the  following  were  its  first  officers 
under  the  charter :  James  H.  Dennis,  W.  M. ;  A.  J.  Stoner, 
S.  W. ;  John  Loer,  J.  W.  The  remaining  charter  members 
were  John  Sides,  Joseph  Robinson,  Thaddeus  McCoy  and 
Joseph  Smith.  The  Lodge  is  now  in  a  prosperous  condition, 
with  a  membership  of  forty-six  at  the  present  time. 


Irene  Lodge,  No.  72, 1.  0.0  F.,  was  first  organized  in 
Mt  Sterling,  on  the  25th  day  of  July,  1850,  with  James  W. 
Singleton,  I.  Nye,  James  M.  Keith,  Vincent  Ridgely,  and 
James  B.  Moore,  as  charter  members.  By  dispensation 
from  the  Grand  Lodge,  it  was  removed  to  Versailles,  Illinois, 
April  4th,  1860 ;  and  reorganized  by  electing  as  the  first  of- 
ficers, M.  M.  Hersman,  N.  G. ;  Jacob  Fleck,  V.  G. ;  J.  A. 
Beard,  Secretary,  and  Jerome  B.  Leonard,  Treasurer.  The 
Lodge  now  has  a  membership  of  fifty-two,  and  is  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition  financially. 


PERRY  SPRINGS  STATION 

was  laid  out  by  William  B.  Elledge  and  Sarah  J.  Elledge, 
Dec.  20,  1875.  It  is  situated  in  the  N.  E.  1  of  section  33, 
and  wa3  surveyed  and  platted  by  Moses  Black.  The  village 
has  been  vacated,  except  lots  Nos.  2,  3  and  4  in  block  No. 
3.  The  railroad  continues  to  make  it  a  regular  stopping 
place,  and  there  is  some  railroad  business  done  there.  The 
station  house,  a  store,  and  two  or  three  other  buildings  con- 
stitute the  place.  It  is  quite  a  convenience  to  the  travelers 
and  shippers  of  the  immediate  vicinity. 

A  town  called  Milton  was  laid  out  August  25,  1836.  by 
Louis  Gay,  situated  on  the  E.  i  of  theS.  E.  }  of  section  31, 
and  the  W.  i  of  the  S.  W.  I  of  section  32,  near  the  site  of 
the  old  Johnson  mill,  on  McKee's  creek,  but  it  was  a  failure. 

We  have  thus  summed  up  the  history  of  Versailles  town- 
ship from  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  Cornelius  Vandeventer, 
in  1824,  up  to  the  present  time ;  and  it  is  no  difficult  task 
for  the  reader  to  see  the  development  it  has  made  in  the  past. 
Containing,  as  it  does,  the  most  productive  land,  and  many 
valuable  improvements,  its  growth  in  the  future  will  be  even 
more  rapid  than  in  the  past.  Its  population  at  the  time  of 
the  census  in  1880,  was  as  follows  :  the  town  of  Versailles, 
517 ;  township,  excluding  the  town,  1318  ;  total,  1835. 


t  1 1  I  /.  f  V 


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BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


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The  portrait*  which  appear  above  are  those  of  represen- 
tatives of  the  earliest  family  of  settlers  in  what  is  now  Brown 
county.  Cornelius  Vandeventer  was  the  pioneer  settler. 
Elihu  Vandeventer,  his  son,  has  now  lived  within  the  limits 
of  the  county  a  longer  number  of  years  than  any  other 
citizen.  Some  account  of  this  family  must  be  valuable  as  a 
'  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  county.  Jacob  Vande- 
venter, the  father  of  Cornelius  Vandeventer,  was  a  native  of 
Holland,  and  from  that  country  emigrated  to  America  at  a 
period  when  the  thirteen  colonies  were  yet  subject  to  British 
rule.  He  first  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware  river 
in  the  southern  part  of  New  Jersey,  but  afterward  removed 
to  Pendleton  county,  Virginia.  He  took  part  as  a  soldier 
in  the  war  for  Independence,  and  was  present  at  the  siege 
of  Yorktown  and  the  surrender  of  the  British  army  under 
Cornwallis.  He  died  in  Ohio.  He  had  eight  children,  of 
whom  one  of  the  youngest  was  Cornelius  Vandeventer, 
born  in  Pendleton  county,  Virginia,  in  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1783. 

Cornelius  Vandeventer  was  married  in  Virginia  to  Elizabeth 
Hyre.  In  the  years  1805,or  1806,  the  Vandeventers,  including 


Jacob,  the  father,  and  the  sons,  removed  from  Virginia  to 
Ohio.  They  were  among  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Madison 
county  in  that  state.  Cornelius  Vandeventer  remained  in 
Ohio  till  1822,  and  then  set  out  for  Illinois.  The  winter  of 
1822-1823  was  spent  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state  in 
the  vicinity  of  Shawneetown,  and  the  following  winter  in 
the  "Sangamo  country,  "  as  the  part  of  the  state  in  which 
Sangamon  county  is  included  was  then  universally  called. 
The  family  would  probably  have  made  their  permanent  home 
here  had  not  Mr.  Vandeventer  desired  to  get  nearer  to  some 
navigable  stream.  At  that  time  steamboats  had  just  begun 
to  navigate  the  western  waters.  The  first  one  had  reached 
St.  Louis  in  1817,  and  their  use  was  becoming  general  on 
the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  That  the  state  would 
become  intersected  by  railroads,  was  not  at  that  time 
dreamed  of.  It  was  supposed  that  the  Mississippi  and  Illi- 
nois rivers  would  always  remain,  for  this  state,  the  great 
highways  of  commerce.  Although  the  soil  of  the  "Sangamo 
country  "  was  amply  fertile,  he  decided  to  select  a  new  loca- 
tion where  he  might  have  the  benefit  of  superior  transpor- 
tation facilities.     With  this  idea  he  visited  the  Illinois  river 

301 


302 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


bottom,  and  chose  a  place  for  a  permanent  settlement  just 
under  the  bluff  in  section  fourteen  of  township  two  south, 
range  two  west.  He  would  thus  have,  he  thought,  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  rich  soil  of  the  bottom,  while  his  proximity 
to  the  river  would  afford  him  a  ready  market  for  his  farm 
products. 

He  came  with  his  three  sons,  William  H,  Peter  Slater, 
and  Elihu,  in  the  spring  of  1824,  and  placed  in  cultivation 
six  acres  of  corn.  This  pioneer  corn-field  was  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  Ynile  from  the  present  residence  of  Elihu  Vande- 
venter.  The  same  spring,  in  a  fence  corner,  was  planted 
from  the  seed  a  nursery  of  apple  trees,  from  which  came  the 
first  orchard  ever  set  out  in  what  is  now  Brown  county.  Re- 
maining long  enough  to  properly  attend  and  cultivate  the 
growing  corn,  he  and  his  sons  then  went  back  to  the  Sanga- 
mon. In  the  fall  the  whole  family  came,  and  thencefor- 
ward were  permanent  residents  of  what  is  now  Brown  county. 
Schuyler  county  had  not  at  that  time  been  organized.  The 
corn  was  found  in  good  condition,  unharmed  by  the  Indians, 
who  had  limited  their  depredations  to  a  few  pumpkins  which 
had  been  planted  among  the  corn.  The  first  log  house  in 
which  the  family  found  shelter  was  an  extremely  rude  and 
primitive  affair.  This  was  succeeded  by  other  log  structures 
till  a  frame  dwelling-house  was  erected,  the  first  ever  built 
within  the  limits  of  Brown  county.  In  the  fall  of  1825, 
about  a  year  after  the  family  came  to  the  county,  the  wife 
of  Cornelius  Vandeventer  died.  He  was  married  again  to 
Mrs.  Susan  McFarland.  Her  maiden  name  was  Hyre, 
a  sister  to  his  first  wife.  On  the  organization  of 
Schuyler  county  Cornelius  Vandeventer  was  elected  a  justice 
of  the  peace  and  filled  that  position  for  about  fifteen  years. 
He  was  familiarly  known  afterward  as  the  "  Old  Squire. " 
He  was  the  first  justice  of  the  peace  within  the  territory 
now  comprised  in  Brown  county.  He  also  was  the  first 
postmaster.  The  post  office  was  kept  at  his  house  and  was 
called  "  Vandeventers.  "  He  was  a  man  of  thrift  and  in- 
dustry, and  became  the  owner  of  a  large  tract  of  land.  He 
was  connected  with  the  Methodist  church,  of  which  his  wife 
was  an  earnest  and  enthusiastic  member.  Though  he  had 
acquired  in  youth,  only  a  moderate  education,  he  was  ex- 
tensively informed  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects  and  was  a 
close  reader.  In  his  old  age  the  reading  of  newspapers  was 
his  favorite  occupation.  He  was  originally  a  whig,  and  on 
the  dissolution  of  the  Whig  party  became  a  Democrat.  His 
health  had  been  generally  good  through  life.  He  died  sud- 
denly from  a  stroke  of  paralysis  on  the  porch  of  the  resi- 
dence of  his  son  Elihu,  on  the  7th  of  October,  1865. 
His  children  were  William  H.,  Peter  Slater,  Elihu,  Abra- 
ham (who  died  in  Sangamon  county)  Joseph,  Eliza,  Eliza- 
beth and  Amanda.  The  last  two  were  by  his  second  mar- 
riage. 

Elihu  Vandeventer,  the  third  of  these  children,  was  born 
in  Madison  county,  Ohio,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1810. 
He  was  in  his  fourteenth  year  when  he  came  with  his  father 
to  what  is  now  Brown  county.  His  advantages  for  obtain- 
ing an  education  were  mostly  confined  to  Ohio.  The  coun- 
try was  new  when  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  he  had  not  more 
than  three  months'  schooling  altogether   in  this  state.     His 


youth  and  early  manhood  were  spent  in  hard  and  rugged 
work.  His  father  and  brothers  had  built  a  saw  mill  on 
Camp  creek,  within  a  short  distance  of  his  present  residence, 
and  in  this  he  frequently  worked  day  and  night,  sometimes 
not  going  home  to  his  meals  for  a  day  or  two  at  a  time.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  year  1837  he  went  to  Virginia,  and 
there  became  acquainted  with  Zipporah  Wells,  whom  he  mar- 
ried in  April,  1837.  After  his  return  to  this  state  he  car- 
ried on  farming  in  partnership  with  his  father.  His  older 
brothers  had  died  in  1833.  In  October,  1844,  occurred  the 
death  of  his  wife.  His  second  marriage  was  in  October, 
1845,  to  Mrs.  Margaret  Bonnitield.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  Joseph  Douglass,  and  was  born  near  Belleville  in  St. 
Clair  county.  From  the  time  she  was  three  until  she  was 
fifteeen  years  old  she  lived  in  Marion  county,  Kentucky. 
Of  the  children  of  Mr.  Vandeventer  the  oldest,  William 
Harrison,  is  engaged  in  farming  in  Versailles  township. 
Two  died  in  infancy,  and  Peter  Slater  at  the  age  of  four 
years.  Amanda  Francis,  the  oldest  child  by  his  second 
marriage,  is  the  wife  of  William  H.  Ravenscroft  The 
next  daughter  is  Mrs.  Josephine  Atchley.  Emeline  died 
when  a  year  old,  and  the  youngest  child,  Maggie  Belle,  is 
the  wife  of  Dr.  Wilson  Reid  of  Versailles.  Mrs.  Vande- 
venter, by  her  first  marriage,  had  a  daughter,  Jane,  who  is, 
now  the  wife  of  S.  C.  Root. 

Business  matters  have  occupied  Mr.  Vandeventer's  atten- 
tion closely,  and  he  has  never  taken  any  active  part  in 
politics  nor  held  any  public  office.  He  was  first  a  Whig, 
but  his  sentiments,  which  were  opposed  to  slavery,  made 
him  a  Republican  on  the  death  of  the  Whig  party.  He  is 
now  one  of  the  large  land  owners  of  the  county,  possessing 
the  title  to  about  thirteen  hundred  acres.  His  early  life 
was  a  struggle  with  debt,  he  and  his  father  being  obliged 
to  borrow  money  with  which  to  enter  land,  for  which 
thirty-five  per  cent,  interest  was  paid  for  a  time.  The  years  of 
hard  work  in  his  earlier  life  have  told  on  his  health  and 
constitution.  The  portrait  which  appears  at  the  head  of 
this  sketch  is  made  from  a  photograph  taken  some  years  ago 
when  in  full  possession  of  bodily  vigor. 


DR.  SAUL  VANDEVENTER. 

Among  the  oldest  physicians  of  Brown  county  is  Dr. 
Vandeventer  of  Versailles.  His  ancestors  were  former  res- 
idents of  New  Jersey,  and  from  there  moved  to  Virginia. 
His  father,  Peter  Vandeventer,  was  born  in  Pendleton  coun- 
ty, Virginia.  His  mother,  Mary  Buffenbarger,  was  a  native 
of  Hardy  county  of  the  same  state.  About  the  year  1806  his 
parents  moved  to  Ohio,  and  in  Madison  county,  that  state,  on 
the  20th  of  March,  1818,  was  born  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  first  fourteen  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  Ohio,  and 
then  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1832,  the  family  moved  to  Illi- 
nois, reaching  what  is  now  Brown  county,  on  the  12th  day 
<  of  November.  The  place  of  their  intended  settlement  was 
i  the  Vandeventer  neighborhood  under  the  bluff  in  Versailles 
township.  His  mother  had  died  in  Ohio  six  years  previous. 
When  Dr.  Vandeventer  was  about  eight  years  old,  and  three 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


303 


weeks  after  the  arrival  of  the  family  in  this  state,  occurred 
the  death  of  his  father.  This  event  broke  up  the  family  and 
scattered  the  children.  Dr.  Vandeventer  was  in  the  em- 
ployment of  various  parties,  making  his  home  a  great  part 
of  the  time  with  his  uncle,  Cornelius  Vandeventer  and  his 
cousin,  Dr.  Isaac  Vandeventer.  His  uncle  was  the  pioneer 
settler  of  the  county,  having  made  his  home  along  the  bluff 
in  1824,  while  Dr.  Isaac  Vandeventer  was  the  earliest  physi- 
cian in  the  territory  now  included  in  Schuyler  and  Brown 
counties. 

He  had  gone  to  school  but  little  in  Ohio,  and  as  he  grew 
up  toward  manhood  all  his  energies  were  bent  toward  acquir- 
ing an  education.  The  money  with  which  his  board  and 
tuition  were  paid  he  earned  by  labor  on  a  farm,  making 
rails  at  twenty-five  cents  a  hundred.  He  thus  gained  a  good 
education,  and  began  the  study  of  medicine  by  the  advice  of 
Dr.  Isaac  Vandeventer,  th  en  practicing  at  Versailles,  under 
whose  instruction  he  gained  a  knowledge  ol  chemistry  and 
anat(  my.  August  2d,  1838,  he  rf  arried  Clarissa  Nighs- 
wonger,  daughter  of  Hamilton  Nighswonger,  ihe  first  settler 
on  the  site  of  Versailles.  In  1842  he  began  to  devote  his 
whole  attention  to  the  study  of  medicine,  and  during  the  win- 
ter of  1844-45  attended  lectures  at  the  Kemper  Medical  Col- 
lege of  St.  Louis,  afterward  called  the  McDowell  College,  and 
now  known  as  the  St.  Louis  Medical  College.  From  the 
spring  of  1845  till  1852  he  practiced  medicine  at  Coopers- 
town.  The  latter  year  he  became  a  resident  of  Versailles, 
where  he  has  followed  his  profession.  His  first  wife  died  on 
the  5th  of  October,  1854.  In  March,  1856,  he  married 
Charlotte  Nighswonger,  sister  to  his  first  wife.  She  died  in 
May,  1859.  His  present  wife,  whom  he  married  on  the  6th 
of  August,  1861,  was  Mary  A.  Sullens,  a  native  of  Howard 
county,  Missouri.  The  six  children  by  his  first  marriage 
were  Martha  Jane,  now  a  resident  of  Jacksonville  ;  Henry 
Clay,  who  died  in  infancy  ;  Julius  Henry  Lee,  who  died 
when  twenty-six  years  old  ;  Cornelius,  now  living  in  Kan- 
sas ;  and  Ann  Augusta,  a  resident  of  Jacksonville.  The  two 
children  by  his  second  marriage  both  died  when  infants. 
He  has  four  children  by  his  present  marriage— Abraham 
Lincoln,  Nini  Inez,  Elihu  Harvey  and  Ulysses  Grant.  In 
his  politics  he  has  always  been  opposed  to  the  Demo 
cratic  party.  He  was  first  a  Whig,  and  voted  for  Harrison 
in  the  enthusiastic  and  celebrated  campaign  of  1840.  He 
became  one  of  the  early  members  of  the  Republican  party, 
voting  the  Republican  state  ticket  in  1856.  He  was  one  of 
the  oldest  physicians  in  the  county,  and  few  men  are  now 
living  in  this  part  of  the  state  whose  memory  is  so  fertile  in 
recollections  of  the  incidents  of  the  pioneer  times. 


STEPHEN  C.  ROOT. 

The  father  of  Stephen  C.  Root,  Erastus  Root,  was  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  Versailles  township,  having  made  his  home 
in  this  part  of  the  county  in  the  year  1828.  Samuel  Root 
the  grandfather  of  Stephen  C.  Root,  was  born  at  Piermont, 
New  Hampshire,  in  1775.  From  New  England  he  moved 
to  Kentucky,  came  to  what  is  now  Brown  county,  in  1828, 


and  died  in  1»29,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four  years  ;  twelve  days 
after  his  decease,  his  wife,  Ruth  Root,  died  at  the  age  of 
fifty-six.  Erastus  Root  was  born  in  Vermont  in  1800  ;  he 
was  a  young  man  when  the  family  moved  to  Kentucky.  In 
Mead  c  unty  of  that  state  he  married  Ann  Lawson,  who 
was  born  in  Maryland ;  soon  after  his  marriage  he  came  to 
Illinois,  and  after  a  residence  of  about  a  year  in  Greene 
county,  he  came  to  what  is  now  Brown,  then  a  part  of 
Schuyler  county,  in  1828,  and  settled  where  his  son,  Stephen 
C.  Root,  now  lives,  on  section  twenty-one  of  township  two 
south,  range  two  west.  He  died  in  February,  1845  ;  his 
wife  survived  him  till  1872.  Stephen  Charles  Root  was  the 
sixth  of  a  family  of  ten  children,  aud  was  born  on  the 
14th  of  October,  1885  ;  he  was  raised  on  the  same  farm 
where  he  now  lives,  and  was  ten  years  old  at  the  death 
of  his  father.  On  the  21st  of  May,  1863,  he  married 
Nancy  Jane  Bonnifield,  daughter  by  a  previous  mar- 
riage, of  Mrs.  Elihu  Vandeventer ;  her  father,  Arnold  Bon- 
nifield, died  when  she  was  a  child  ;  she  was  born  in  Iowa. 
In  1866  Mr.  Root  took  charge  of  the  old  homestead  farm  ; 
he  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land ;  his  three 
children,  Bertie,  Frank,  and  Carrie,  all  died  in  infancy.  In 
his  political  faith  he  is  a  republican. 


JOHN  J.  TAYLOR. 

The  ancestors  of  Mr.  Taylor  formerly  lived  in  the  vicinity 
of  Snow  Hill  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland  ;  here  John 
Taylor,  the  great-grandfather  of  John  J.  Taylor,  resided 
during  the  early  part  of  his  life ;  he  was  captain  of  a  sailing 
vessel  which  made  trips  between  that  part  of  Maryland  and 
the  Bermuda  Islands.  At  an  early  period  in  the  history  of 
Kentucky,  he  left  Maryland  with  his  family  and  made  his 
home  in  the  wilds  of  that  new  and  unsettled  country.  The 
Indians  at  that  time  were  still  numerous,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  face  the  dangers  and  hardships  which  marked  the  settle- 
ment of  "  the  dark  and  bloody  ground."  He  settled  on  the 
Brushy  fork  of  Hinkston  creek,  which  runs  through  Nicholas 
and  Bourbon  counties ;  here  William  Taylor,  the  grandfather 
of  John  J.  Taylor,  was  born;  he  was  the  youngest  of  five 
children,  of  whom  four  were  sons  and  one  a  daughter;  his 
birth-place  was  on  Taylor's  creek,  within  five  miles  of  Car- 
lisle, in  Nicholas  county.  On  reaching  manhood  he  married 
Mrs.  Mary  Ross,  of  Carlisle,  Kentucky ;  her  maiden  name 
was  Stites.  He  removed  from  Kentucky  to  Illinois  in  the 
year  1829,  and  settled  near  the  town  of  Bethel  in  Morgan 
county.  In  the  spring  of  1833,  he  came  to  what  is  now  Brown 
county  and  made  his  home  on  section  eight  of  township  one 
south,  range  two  west,  where  his  son,  William  J.  Taylor 
now  lives ;  here  he  settled  in  a  brush  thicket,  entered  land, 
and  bought  a  good  farm  under  cultivation.  He  died  in  the 
spring  of  1874,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight. 

William  J.  Taylor  was  born  in  Morgan  county  of  this 
state  on  the  9th  of  March,  1832  ;  he  was  about  a  year  old 
when  his  father  moved  to  this  county.  In  the  year  1851  he 
married  Anna   M.  Robinson,  a  native  of  Fayette  county, 


304 


HISTORY    OF   SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Kentucky ;  her  father,  Joseph  Robinson,  became  a  resident  of 
the  present  Brown  county  in  the  year  1836,  and  settled  two 
miles  and  a  half  northwest  of  Versailles.  William  J.  Tay- 
lor is  now  one  of  the  large  farmers  of  Cooperstown  township 
and  is  the  owner  of  six  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land  ; 
he  has  two  children,  John  J.  Taylor  and  Tabitha,  the  wife  of 
Alexander  Bailey,  of  Mt.  Sterling. 

.  John  J.  Taylor  was  born  on  the  11th  of  February,  1852  ■ 
his  education  was  obtained  chiefly  in  the  schools  of  Mt. 
Sterling.  On  the  23d  of  November,  1880,  he  married  Sophie 
Reger,  daughter  of  Casper  Reger,  of  Cooperstown  township  ; 
her  father  made  his  home  in  Brown  county  in  1857.  A 
sketch  of  his  history  appears  elsewhere.  After  his  marriage 
Mr.  Taylor  went  to  farming  on  section  five  of  township  two, 
south,  range  two  west,  a  couple  of  miles  north  of  Versailles, 
where  he  cultivates  a  farm  of  three  hundred  and  sixty 
acres ;  he  is  one  of  the  enterprising  agriculturists  of  the 
county,  and  has  given  much  attention  to  the  raising  of 
thoroughbred  cattle,  hogs  and  fine  horses  ;  he  was  the  first 
to  undertake  the  raising  of  thoroughbred  cattle  in  the 
county  to  any  considerable  extent.  In  his  politics  he,  like 
his  father,  is  a  Democrat. 


STEPHEN  D.  HAMBAUGH,  (Deceased), 

Was  born  in  Nelson  county,  Kentucky,  October  23d,  1802. 
His  grandfather,  Henry  Hambaugh,  emigrated  from  Ger- 
many to  America  previous  to  the  revolutionary  war,  and  in 
the  vicinity  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  then  a  frontier  French 
settlement,  married  a  woman  of  French  descent.  Henry 
Hambaugh,  father  of  Stephen  D.  Hambaugh,  was  the  young- 
est child  by  this  marriage.  Soon  after  his  birth  the  family 
settled  in  Shenandoah  county,  Virginia,  where  he  grew  to 
manhood,  and  married  Rebecca  Morris,  whose  family  are  of 
Irish  origin.  In  1799  he  moved  to  Nelson  county,  Ky.,  and 
afterward  to  the  adjoining  county  of  Bullitt.  In  1823  the 
family  came  to  Illinois.  Henry  Hambaugh,  the  father,  for 
a  time  taught  school  in  the  vicinity  of  Edwardsville,  while 
Stephen  D.  Hambaugh  was  employed  in  teaming  between 
St.  Louis  and  Edwardsville,  and  for  one  winter  was  clerk  in 
a  store  in  St.  Louis.  While  the  family  were  living  at  Ed- 
wardsville, Thomas  Ford,  afterward  governor  of  the  state, 
married  Frances,  Mr.  Hambaugh's  only  sister.  Mr.  Ham- 
baugh first  saw  Brown  county  in  1827.  In  the  fall  of  1828, 
the  family  moved  up  from  Madison,  and  made  a  permanent 
settlement  under  the  bluff",  in  section  twenty-eight  of  town- 
ship two  south,  range  two  west.  On  the  28th  of  December, 
1830,  Stephen  D.  Hambaugh  married  Elmina,  daughter  of 
John  Stone.  She  was  born  in  Berkshire,  Franklin  county, 
Vt,  July  2d,  1813.  Her  father  moved  to  Hardin  (now 
Meade)  county,  Ky.,  in  1818,  and  in  1828  settled  in  section 
twenty-two  of  township  two  south,  range  two  west,  Brown 
county.  Her  mother's  name  was  Abigail  Clark.  On  the 
night  of  this  wedding  the  deep  snow,  which  made  remarkable 
the  winter  of  1830-'31  began  falling. 


For  some  years  Mr.  Hambaugh  carried  on  the  coopering 
business  in  partnership  with  his  brother,  John  Pius  Ham- 
baugh, making  pork  barrels,  flour  barrels,  and  hogsheads, 
which  were  sold  at  Beardstown,  Naples,  and  other  places 
along  the  Illinois  river.  By  this  means  he  secured  enough 
money  with  which  to  enter  land  when  it  came  into  the  mar- 
ket. He  and  his  brother  at  one  time  owned,  together,  about 
nine  hundred  acres.  He  was  known  as  one  of  the  best  far- 
mers of  the  county  for  that  day.  For  some  years  he  had 
charge  of  the  Sugar  Grove  post-office,  kept  at  his  house. 
This  office  was  discontinued  on  the  establishment  of  a  post- 
office  at  Versailles.  He  was  elected  a  representative  in  the 
legislature  in  1842,  over  James  Singleton,  the  present  repre- 
sentative in  Congress,  who  ran  as  the  Whig  candidate.  He 
was  the  first  member  of  the  board  of  supervisors  from  Ver- 
sailles township.  In  his  polities  he  was  a  Democrat.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  energy,  and  throughout  his  life  accom- 
plished a  vast  amount  of  hard  work.  He  died  on  the  4th  of 
Nov.,  1877.  Of  his  seven  children,  two  died  in  infancy,  and 
one  (Eliza),  at  the  age  of  twenty-three.  Four  are  living  : 
John  Henry  Hambaugh,  of  Mt.  Sterling ;  James  Stephen 
Hambaugh,  of  Jacksonville ;  Mary  Frances,  wife  of  Charles 
Price,  of  Cass  county  ;  and  Joseph  M.  Hambaugh,  now  liv- 
ing on  the  old  homestead  farm.  He  was  a  man  widely  known 
throughout  the  county,  and  universally  respected  as  a  good 
citizen. 


.      WILLIAM  W.  GLAZE. 

William  W.  Glaze,  of  Versailles,  was  born  in  Scioto 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  Feruary,  1825.  The  family  is  of 
German  descent,  his  ancestors  coming  from  Germany  and 
settling  in  Virginia  at  an  early  period.  His  grandfather, 
Abraham  Glaze,  moved  from  Virginia  to  Ohio,  and  was  one 
of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Scioto  county  in  that  state,  mak- 
ing his  home  there  when  settlers  were  few,  and  purchasing 
his  land  from  the  government.  His  father,  Jacob  Glaze, 
was  born  and  raised  in  Scioto  county,  and  there  married 
Rachel  Rardin,  a  native  of  Portsmouth,  Ohio.  Her  father, 
Daniel  Rardin,  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  subject  of  this  biography  was  the  oldest  of  six 
children.  He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm.  In  March,  1850, 
lie  married  Mazilla  Coleman  who,  was  born  and  raised  in  the 
same  county  with  himself.  He  was  farming  in  Scioto  county 
till  1856,  and  then  came  to  this  state  in  March  of  that  year, 
settling  on  his  present  farm  within  the  corporate  limits  of  the 
town  of  Versailles,  where  he  has  since  resided.  His  farm 
consists  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  acres.  He  has  six 
children :  Thomas,  Mary  Jane,  the  wife  of  James  Patterson  ; 
Maggie,  who  married  John  Flattery;  Andrew  Jackson,  Car- 
rie, and  Julia.  His  political  opinions  have  attached  him  to 
the  Democratic  party  from  1848,  when  he  cast  his  first  vote 
for  president  for  Lewis  Cass.  For  a  number  of  years  he 
has  been  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  town  of 
Versailles,  and  has  filled  other  public  offices.  For  two 
terms  he  represented  Versailles  township  in  the  board  of 
supervisors. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


305 


Success  is  the  creature  of  energy  and  tact.  Men  may 
sometimes  blunder  into  fame  or  fortune,  but,  unless  they  pos- 
sess sterling  qualities,  the  sequel  to  their  lives  is  apt  to  prove 
that  they  were  unworthily  entrusted  with  great  advantages. 
Opportunities  come  to  every  man,  but  only  a  few  seize  upon 
them  and  rise  with  them  to  success.  Men  spring  to  the 
front  and  become  prominent  as  leaders.  It  is  not  so  much 
because  their  opportunities  are  greater,  but  that  they  possess 
the  qualities  which  in  all  ages  have  been  recognized  as  the 
masters  of  success,  and  by  which  they  are  enabled  to  take 
advantage  of  that 

" tide  in  the  affairs  of  men 


Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune." 

Among  the  former  residents  of  Brown  county  whose  lives 
illustrate  these  truths,  was  Ashford  D.  Ravenscroft,  for 
many  years  a  merchant  at  Versailles.  He  came  to  the 
county  with  but  little  capital,  opened  the  first  store  in  the 
town  of  Versailles,  and  by  his  superior  business  qualities 
built  up  a  fortune,  which  at  his  death  was  second  in  magni- 
tude to  that  of  no  other  person  in  the  county.  The  family 
from  which  he  was  descended  was  of  English  origin,  and  at 
an  early  date  settled  in  Virginia.  His  parents  were  James 
and  Charlotte  Ravenscroft.  His  mother,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Dowden,  was  a  member  of  an  old  and  well-known 
39 


Virginia  family  of  considerable  influence  and  wealth.  Ash- 
ford  Dowden  Itavcnscroft  was  one  of  a  family  of  six  chil- 
dren, of  whom  five  were  sons  and  one  a  daughter.  He  was 
born  at  Romney,  Hampshire  county,  Virginia,  near  the 
North  Branch  of  the  Potomac  river,  on  the  22d  of  June, 
1808. 

His  youth  was  spent  in  Virginia.  He  had  the  ordinary 
advantages  in  the  way  of  schools.  His  naturally  quick 
intellectual  perceptions  made  him  capable  of  rapidly  im- 
proving his  opportunities,  and  in  early  life  he  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  a  thorough  business  education.  As  a  boy  he  was 
self-reliant,  and  early  displayed  those  strong  business  char- 
acteristics which  marked  his  career  in  after  life.  In  the 
year  1832,  then  twenty-four  years  of  age,  he  left  Virginia, 
and  made  his  home  at  Hillsboro,  Highland  county,  Ohio. 
He  soon  gained  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  that  county, 
and  was  elected  sheriff.  A  visit  to  Illinois,  while  he  was  a 
resident  of  Ohio,  made  him  acquainted  with  the  advantages 
of  the  section  of  country  now  comprised  in  Brown  county, 
and  in  the  year  1836  he  came  to  Versailles,  of  which  place 
he  was  afterward  a  resident  till  his  death.  He  was,  at  the 
time  he  came  to  this  county,  twenty-eight  years  old.  His 
means  were  moderate,  and  consisted  of  less  than  a  thousand 
dollars,  which  had  been  accumulated  by  his  own  efforts. 

The  town  of  Versailles  had  been  recently  projected,  and 


306 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


was  just  starting  into  active  growth.  On  looking  over  the 
ground,  he  decided  that  it  would  be  a  good  place  in  which 
to  embark  in  the  mercantile  business.  During  the  winter 
of  1836-1837  he  erected  a  frame  building  of  two  rooms,  in 
which  he  began  selling  goods  the  following  June.  The  entry 
on  his  books  shows  that  he  sold  the  first  article  from  this 
store  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  June,  1837.  To  the  origi- 
nal frame  building  an  addition  was  afterward  made,  and  for 
some  years  it  was  used  both  as  a  store  and  a  residence.  It 
is  still  standing  on  Main  street  in  Versailles.  This  store 
was  the  first  in  the  town ;  others,  from  time  to  time,  made 
ventures  in  the  mercantile  business,  and  finding  it  unprofit- 
able, abandoned  the  field ;  but  he  kept  on,  building  up  each 
year  a  larger  trade,  as  the  population  of  the  surrounding 
country  increased  and  the  people  came  to  know  him  as  a 
business  man.  He  became  owner  of  part  of  the  town  site, 
and  to  him  is  due  much  of  the  prosperity  and  growth  of 
Versailles. 

On  the  21st  of  November,  1841,  he  married  Mary  F. 
Casteen,  who  was  born  near  Versailles,  Woodford  county, 
Kentucky.  Her  father,  Henry  Casteen,  was  a  Virginian  by 
birth,  who  early  went  to  Kentucky,  and  in  1832  came  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  within  a  mile  of  the  present  town  of 
Versailles.  Of  this  town  he  was  one  of  the  original  pro- 
prietors, and  the  fact  that  he  came  from  the  vicinity  of 
Versailles  in  Kentucky,  was  the  circumstance  which  gave 
the  place  its  present  name.  Mrs.  Ravenscroft's  mother's 
name  was  Lucinda  Peters. 

Mr.  Ravenscroft  continued  the  mercantile  business  at 
Versailles,  and  made  it  the  means  of  acquiring  a  generous 
competence.  He  gained  the  confidence  of  the  people,  was 
upright  and  honorable  in  his  dealings,  and  was  eminently 
successful  as  a  business  man.  A  few  years  previous  to  his 
death  he  became  troubled  with  the  rheumatism,  with  which, 
in  March,  1872,  he  was  confiued  to  his  bed  for  a  week.  He 
it  covered  sufficiently  to  visit  a  daughter  in  Missouri,  and  to 
attend  to  his  ordinary  business  affairs.  On  the  19th  of 
April,  1872,  having  suffered  much  pain  through  the  early 
part  of  the  day,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  while  in 
his  store,  he  was  suddenly  seized  with  severe  illness,  and 
expired  in  the  presence  of  his  two  daughters,  Lydia  and 
Katie.  His  funeral,  which  took  place  on  the  23d  of  April, 
is  said  to  have  been  the  most  largely  attended  of  any 
that  ever  took  place  in  the  county.  He  had  numerous 
friends  and  acquaintances  in  this  part  of  the  State,  who 
sincerely  mourned  his  loss.  His  body  was  buried  in  the  old 
Casteen  grave-yard,  but  was  afterward  removed  to  the  Ver- 
sailles cemetery,  where  his  last  resting-place  is  marked  by 
a  handsome  and  costly  monument  of  marble,  erected  to  his 
memory  by  the  surviving  members  of  his  family. 

As  a  business  man  he  had  few  superiors  in  the  county. 
He  had  unusual  energy  and  ambition,  and  a  perseverance  in 
which  most  men  are  lacking.  Nature  had  endowed  him 
with  intellectual  qualities  beyond  those  of  most  men.  Though 
he  possessed  great  shrewdness  as  a  merchant  and  a  financier 
he  would  have  been  successful  in  almost  any  calling.  He 
had  gained  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  law,  as  far  as 
it  relates  to  ordinary  business  transactions,  and  it  was  often 


remarked  that  he  would  have  risen  to  high  rank  in  the  legal 
profession.  His  portrait  shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  of 
unusual  power,  of  ready  resources,  and  of  self-reliance. 

In  his  business  transactions  he  was  generous  as  well  as. 
just,  and  many  acts  of  kindness  and  benevolence  marked 
his  life.  He  had  many  mild  and  gentle  qualities,  which 
made  for  him  warm  friendships,  and  greatly  endeared  him 
to  his  wife  and  children.  He  was  cheerful  and  sociable  in 
his  disposition,  and  his  domestic  relations  were  unusually 
happy. 

In  his  political  belief  he  was  first  a  Whig,  and  afterward 
became  an  earnest  Republican.  He  possessed  a  talent  for 
public  affairs,  and  was  well  informed  as  to  the  political 
issues  of  the  day.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  board 
of  supervisors  from  Versailles  township,  in  1856,  and  again 
in  1861  and  1862.  Of  his  five  children,  Mattie  Charlotte 
died  on  the  15th  of  May,  1856,  at  the  age  of  four  years. 
The  four  living  are  William  Henry  Ravenscroft ;  Lucinda 
J.,  who  married  Thomas  H.  Graves;  Lydia  A.,  the  wife  of 
William  Yates,  of  Pike  county ;  and  Virginia  C.  Raven- 
scroft. 


THOMAS  E.  ROOT. 

The  Roots  came  to  this  country  from  England,  though 
the  family  is  said  to  be  of  French  extraction,  the  ancestors 
emigrating  to  England   from   France  at  the   time  of  the 
Huguenot  persecution  in  the  latter  country.     Thomas  and 
John  Root  of  Badley,  Northamptonshire.  England,  came  to 
America  in  the  year  1637,  Thomas  Root  settling  at  Hart- 
ford, and   John   Root  at  Farmington,  Connecticut.     From 
these  two,  the  different  members  of  the  Root  family  in  the 
;    United  States  are  believed  to  be  descended.     Samuel  Root, 
i   the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  at 
Piermont,  New  Hampshire,  in  1775 ;  married  Ruth  Crook, 
and  in  the  year  1819  removed  to  the  State  of  Kentucky  . 
his  death  occurred  in  Brown  county  of  this  state,  on  the 
9th    of   September,  1829.      Erastus    Root,    the   father  of 
Thomas  E.  Root,  was  born  at  Piermont,  New    Hampshire, 
December   11th,  1799.     He   was  about   twenty  years   old 
when  the  family  removed  to  Kentucky.     On  the  29th  of 
November,  1826,  he  married  Ann  Maria  Lawson,  of  Meade 
county,  Kentucky,  a  native  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  whose 
father  was  one  of  the   early  residents  of  Kentucky.     Di- 
rectly after  his  marriage  he  came  to  Illinois ;  he  remained 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Carrollton,  Greene  county,  till  1828 . 
when  he  came  to  what  is  now  Brown  county,  and  settled  in 
section  twenty-one  of  township  two  south,  range  two  west. 
He  selected  a  location  along  the  bluff  with  his  farm  mostly 
in    the  Illinois  river    bottom.     He    died  on    the  26th  of 
February,    1845.     His   wife   died    on  the   28th  of   Janu- 
ary, 1872. 

Thomas  E.  Root  is  the  eighth  of  a  family  of  ten  chil. 
dren,  and  was  born  on  the  17th  of  October,  1839;  he 
was  raised  on  the  farm  on  which  his  father  had  settled 
on  coming  to  the  county  in  1828,  and  the  district  schools 
supplied  his  advantages  for  obtaining  an  education.  Feb- 
ruary 23d,  1862,  he  married  Pauline  Withers,  the  fifth  of 


FARM   RESIDENCE  OF  ELIHU     1/ 'ANDEVEN1 ER '    S EC.  1 5.T.2 ,  R .2 


TP.J  BROWN     CO  .  ILL. 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


307 


eight  children,  of  Quintal  and  Sarah  Withers.  Her  father 
was  born  in  Culpepper  county,  Virginia,  in  November, 
1804,  and  when  two  years  old  accompanied  his  father  to 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and 
learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter.  From  Kentucky  he  went 
to  Missouri,  and  there,  about  the  year  1830,  married  Sarah 
Sallee.  He  settled  in  section  nine  of  township  two  south, 
range  two  west,  in  this  county  in  the  year  1838,  on  land 
which  he  purchased  from  the  government.  Mrs.  Root's 
parents  are  now  living  in  Chautauqua  county,  Kansas.  After 
his  marriage,  Mr.  Root  purchased  land  north  of  Versailles, 
and  has  since  lived  in  that  part  of  the  county.  He  is  now 
a  resident  of  section  eight,  township  two  south,  range  two 
west.  Of  his  six  children,  two  died  in  infancy  ;  the  four 
living  are  Joseph  Franklin,  born  December  12th,  1862  ; 
Moses  Albert,  born  April  1st,  1870  ;  Sarah  Frances,  born 
December  6th,  1872;  and  John  Virgil,  born  December 
25th,  1875. 

In  his  political  views  he  was  formerly  identified  with  the 
Republican  Party.  His  vote,  in  1860,  helped  to  elect  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  the  first  Republican  President  of  the  United 
States.  He  continued  to  act  with  the  Republicans  till  1878, 
since  which  time  his  opinions  on  the  subject  of  the  finances 
of  the  country  have  led  him  to  support  the  National  Green- 
back organization.  He  became  connected  with  the  Union 
Baptist  Church  in  1859,  of  which  he  was  a  member  till 
1875,  when  he  became  connected  with  the  Missionary  Bap- 
tists. He  has  been  a  regularly  ordained  Baptist  minister 
since  1867.  In  the  religious  welfare  of  the  county,  and 
especially  in  the  establishment  and  support  of  Sabbath - 
schools,  he  has  taken  a  great  interest. 


1881,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Maggie  Glaze,  daughter  of  W. 
W.  Glaze,  of  Versailles.  From  his  early  youth  he  has  been 
an  ardent  Democrat  in  politics.  In  1878,  then  only  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  he  was  elected  collector  of  Versailles  town- 
ship. In  1882,  he  received  the  Democratic  nomination  for 
county  clerk,  and  if  elected,  will  probably  be  the  youngest 
person  filling  that  position  in  the  State. 


JOHN  A.  FLATTERY. 

John  A.  Flattery,  who,  at  this  writing,  is  the  nominee  of 
the  Democratic  party  for  the  office  of  county  clerk  of  Brown 
county,  was  born  at  Versailles,  on  the  second  of  January 
1856.  His  father,  Thomas  Flattery,  was  a  native  of  Ireland, 
and  coming  to  America  when  a  young  man  first  lived  in  the 
neighborhood  of  New  Orleans.  He  subsequently  came  to 
Illinois,  and  married  Catharine  McCormick,  sister  of  Thomas 
and  James  McCormick,  at  present  leading  business  men  of 
Versailles.  The  subject  of  this  biography  was  the  third  of 
a  family  of  ten  children,  of  whom  five  are  now  living.  Most 
of  his  early  days  were  spent  at  Versailles,  though  from  1866  to 
1871  the  family  lived  at  Mi  Sterling.  At  the  latter  place  ' 
his  education  was  chiefly  obtained  in  a  school  carried  on  under 
the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Father  Cogan,  a  gentleman  of  con-  | 
siderable  learning  and  much  experience  in  educational  mat- 
ters. In  1873,  Mr.  Flattery,  then  seventeen  years  of  age,  be- 
came clerk  in  the  store  of  James  McCormick,  at  Versailles, 
and  retained  this  position  till  1880.  For  many  years  he 
was  also  connected  with  the  sewing  machine  business.  These 
occupations  gave  him  opportunity  to  make  extensive 
acquaintances,  not  only  in  Versailles  and  adjoining  town- 
ships, but  over  the  whole  county.     On  the  7th  of  December, 


ALEX.  D.  SIX. 

The  Six  family  is  of  German  origin.  The  great-great- 
grandfather of  Dr.  Six  was  the  first  of  the  family  to  come 
to  America,  and  all  persons  bearing  the  name  of  Six  in  the 
United  States  are  supposed  to  be  his  descendants.  Accord- 
ing to  tradition  the  original  ancestor  of  the  Six  family  in 
America  was  sent  from  Germany  by  his  father  on  account  of 
some  difficulty  in  which  he  had  become  involved  by  reason 
of  violating  the  regulations  concerning  the  killing  of  game, 
which  at  that  time  were  very  strict  in  that  country.  He 
settled  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  Virginia,  married  there, 
and  raised  a  large  family.  The  name  was  then  spelled  ac- 
cording to  the  German  method,  "  Saxe,"  but  became  angli- 
cized in  Virginia  to  its  present  form.  The  Sixes  comprised 
a  well-known  family  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  some  of 
its  members  were  men  celebrated  lor  their  fine  physical  pro- 
portions and  were  noted  Indian  fighters.  The  mother  of 
Louis  Wetzel,  the  celebrated  pioneer  and  hunter,  was  a  Six, 
the  cousin  of  John  Six,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

John  Six  was  the  oldest  of  his  father's  family,  and  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  filled  his  stepfather's  place  in  the  colonial 
army  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  present  at  the 
siege  of  Yorktown  and  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis.  Soon 
after  the  Revolution  he  went  to  Pennsylvania  to  work  at  his 
trade  of  a  joiner,  or  carpenter,  and  there  married  Mary  Du- 
vall.  Shortly  after  this  event,  John  Six  moved  to  Tennessee. 
He  settled  in  a  wild  country  on  the  frontier,  where  it  was 
necessary  to  be  constantly  on  guard  against  the  attacks  of  ' 
the  Indians.  From  Tennessee  he  moved  to  Kentucky,  and 
there  followed  a  hunter's  life.  He  kept  in  advance  of  the 
settlements,  and  in  the  fall  hunted  deer  and  other  game. 
For  his  venison  and  hams  he  found  a  market  on  the  Ohio 
river.  He  moved  from  Kentucky  to  Scott  county,  Illinois, 
in  1825.  The  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in 
South  Prairie,  in  Pike  county.  He  died  in  this  county  at 
the  house  of  his  son,  David  Six,  in  the  year  1848,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-four. 

David  Six,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born 
in  Tennessee  in  1799.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  immigrated 
with  his  father  to  Kentucky.  His  early  life  was  spent  en- 
tirely on  the  frontier.  In  1819,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  he 
married  Elizabeth  Cox  who,  at  that  time,  was  only  fifteen. 
In  1823  he  came  to  the  Sangamon  country,  in  this  State, 
from  there  removed  to  Greene  county,  thence  to  what 
was  then  Morgan  county,  (afterward  Scott)  and  in  1828  to 
what  is  now  Brown  county. 


308 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Dr.  A.  D.  Six  was  the  fifth  of  twelve  children.  Born  in 
what  is  now  Scott  (then  Morgan)  county,  May  31st,  1828, 
he  was  only  a  few  months  old  at  the  time  his  father  settled 
in  this  county.  His  boyhood  and  youth  were  spent  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Mt.  Sterling  He  began  the  study  of  medi- 
cine with  Dr.  James  N.  Allen,  of  Mt.  Sterling,  in  1856, 
and  graduated  from  the  Rush  Medical  College,  at  Chicago, 
in  1859.  He  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  Mount 
Pleasant,  in  Lee  township.  In  the  spring  of  1860,  he  went 
to  Colorado  to  try  his  fortune  in  the  Pike's  Peak  country,  in 
which  gold  had  recently  been  discovered.  After  spending 
two  years  in  Colorado,  he  traveled  with  mule  teams  to  the 
Salmon  river  mines,  in  the  present  territory  of  Montana. 
His  company  was  the  first  to  explore  part  of  this  region,  and 
in  the  early  part  of  August,  1862,  on  the  extreme  head 
waters  of  the  Missouri  river,  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
north  of  Salt  Lake  City,  discovered  the  first  gold  ever  found 
in  Montana.  Dr.  Six  there  established  a  placer  digging. 
In  the  fall  he  brought  from  Salt  Lake  City  their  winter's 
supply  of  provisions,  the  journey  there  and  back  covering 


nine  hundred  miles.  The  winter  of  1862-63  was  spent  at 
East  Bannock,  Montana.  The  next  winter  he  visited  south- 
ern California,  fifteen  hundred  miles  distant,  returning  to  the 
mines  in  the  spring  of  1864.  In  the  summer  of  the  last 
named  year  he  engaged  in  mining  at  Helena,  Montana,  a 
mining  settlement  which  had  recently  sprung  into  existence. 
January,  1866,  he  went  to  Salt  Lake  City,  and  thence  made 
his  way  to  the  Missouri  river  by  stage,  and  thence  came  to 
Illinois.  His  mining  ventures  had  proved  remunerative. 
While  in  the  mountains  his  knowledge  of  medicine  and  sur- 
gery were  frequently  brought  into  requisition,  there  often 
being  no  other  physician  within  a  great  distance.  He  spent 
the  summer  after  his  return  home  in  Texas.  From  1869  to 
1873,  he  was  in  the  drug  and  grocery  business  at  Mt.  Ster- 
ling. The  latter  year  he  bought  his  present  farm  in  section 
twenty-eight  of  township  2  south,  range  2  west,  where  he 
has  resided  since  1875.  His  farm  contains  four  hundred 
acres.  May  14th,  1867,  he  married  Elizabeth  Osborn  of 
Lee  township.  His  three  children  are  named  Charles,  Fred, 
and  Jessie.     He  belongs  to  the  Democratic  party. 


>iJ3ti$&mi*m* 


BROWNING    TOWNSHIP. 

SCHUYLER    COUNTY. 


♦  V  o— %»■ 


AS  so  named  in  honor  of  0.  H.  Browning, 
of  Quincy.  It  is  situated  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  Schuyler  county  along 
the  Illinois  river,  and  is  irregular  in 
shape.  The  surface  is  much  broken, 
\'/WHfif/'&/\  consisting  along  the  Illinois  bottom  of 
^iflfep'  rugged  bluffs.  It  was  originally  timbered, 

**  and  it  contains  but  a  small  quantity  of 

prairie.  The  streams  and  water-courses  are  still  well- wooded 
with  oak,  hickory,  ash,  walnut,  sycamore,  linden,  maple,  etc., 
sufficient  for  building  purposes,  fuel  and  fences.  The  soil  is 
quite  productive,  and  in  some  parts,  especially  in  the  fertile  bot- 
tom, yields  bountifully  to  the  hand  of  labor.  The  township  is 
well  supplied  with  streams,  sufficient  for  water-power  and  for 
cattle.  Sugar  creek,  the  principal  stream  tributary  to  the 
Illinois  river,  enters  the  township  through  the  northern 
boundary  toward  the  west  and  flows  south  forming  a  portion 
of  the  boundary  line  between  this  township  and  Frederick. 
The  township  is  traversed  throughout  its  entire  extent  from 
its  northern, -southwesterly  through  its  southern  boundary 
by  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad. 


The  first  settlement  in  the  township  was  made  in  the  year 
1826,  by  William  Robertson;  he  was  a  native  of  North 
Carolina ;  he  came  to  Schuyler  county  from  Kentucky, 
attracted  by  the  quantity  of  game  that  then  abounded 
here,  and  settled  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  16. 
His  nearest  neighbor  was  six  miles  distant  in  the  Chadsey 
settlement.  After  he  had  built  a  cabin  in  the  wilderness, 
by  an  excellent  spring  of  water,  which  is  still  there,  he  en- 
gaged principally  in  the  pursuit  of  hunting,  of  which  he 
was  very  fond.  Honey  was  very  plentiful,  and  Mr  Robin- 
son could  stand  in  the  doorway  of  his  cabin  and  point  out 
a  dozen  bee-trees.  This  article  of  traffic,  together  with  the 
venison  hams,  he  used  to  carry  to  St.  Louis  in  an  Indian 
bark  canoe.  The  Indians  were  quite  numerous  in  those 
days,  and  he  used  to  hunt  with  them,  frequently  stopping  in 
their  wigwams.  By  his  intercourse  with  them  he  became 
quite  familliar  with  their  language ;  he  was  a  short,  stout 
man  and  his  great  strength  and  endurance  enabled  him  to 
bear  the  hardships  of  the  hunter's  life  which  he  loved  so  well ; 
he  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Kirklin,  Esquire  Isaac  Lane 
officiating.     Nine  children  were  reared  as  the  fruit  of  this 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


309 


marriage,  five  of  whom  are  now  living — George  in  Texas  ; 
Alexander  in  Browning,  on  a  portion  of  the  old  place;  Joel 
on  the  old  homestead  ;  Sarah,  wife  of  William  E.  Walton, 
in  Missouri,  and  Malcomb  in  Macon  county.  Illinois.  He 
died  in  the  year  1806  ;  his  wife  following  him  on  life's  last 
journey  in  1872.  It  was  not  long  after  William  Robertson 
had  settled,  until  Alexander  and  Daniel  Robertson  came- 
They  were  not  related  to  each  other,  being  of  entirely 
different  families,  and  the  two  latter  named  did  not  remain 
more  than  a  year  in  this  vicinity. 

In  August  of  the  year  1828,  four  brothers,  Thomas  T, 
AVilliam,  Henry  and  Hartwell  Lancaster,  natives  of  Ken- 
tucky, came  to  Schuyler  county  and  settled  in  Browning  on 
section  22.  They  all  worked  together  and  clear  d  a  small 
quantity  of  land.  In  the  year  1829  they  were  followed  by 
their  brother  Gabriel  and  their  mother  Elizabeth.  The 
brothers,  after  marrying  and  rearing  families,  all  died  except 
Hartwell  and  Thomas  T.,  both  of  whom  reside  in  the  town- 
ship, the  latter  on  section  10,  where  he  has  been  since  1832. 
On  March  1st,  1831,  he  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Jackson, 
by  Enquire  Isaac  Lane.  Ten  children  were  born  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lancaster,  seven  of  whom  are  still  living.  In  his 
younger  days  he  was  a  skillful  and  successful  hunter.  In 
the  fall  of  1829,  he  gathered  a  barrel  of  strained  honey  and 
peddled  it  out  in  Morgan  county ;  he  is  now  (1882)  seventy- 
five  years  old,  hale  and  hearty,  and  made  this  year  a  full 
hand  in  the  harvest  field.  When  they  came  William  Robert 
son  was  the  only  man  residing  in  what  in  now  Browning 
township,  Alexander  and  Daniel  Robertson,  above  mentioned, 
liaviffg  left 

Isaac  Lane,  the  next  settler,  was  a  Kentuckian,  and  came 
with  his  wife  to  the  township  in  the  fall  of  1828,  and  settled 
on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  16.  Here  was  born  to 
them  the  first  child  ever  born  in  the  township.  Its  name  was 
Sarah,  and  it  died  in  infancy.  Isaac  Lane  was  a  large, 
muscular  man,  weighing  about  two  hundred  pounds  ;  he  was 
an  early  justice  of  the  peace  ;  his  father,  Adrian  Lane,  lived 
with  him  for  a  short  time ;  he  left  this  place  for  California 
about  the  year  1850,  and  died  on  the  way. 

Shelton  Luttrell  settled  on  section  16  in  1828,  where  he 
reared  a  large  family  and  where  his  widow  still  lives  ;  he 
came  from  Tennessee,  and  was  an  old  pensioner  of  the  war  of 
1812;  he  died  in  March,  1882,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven 
years,  at  the  old  place  on  section  16.  George  W.  Justus 
and  his  wife  came  from  Tenneesse  in  1828  and  settled  in  the 
vicinity  of  Ridgeville.  Of  his  children  there  are  living  F. 
M.,  M.  L.,  Martha  A  ,  widow  of  William  Chatman  deceased, 
G.  C ,  J.  O.  and  T.J.  Justus.  George  W.Justus  died  in  1866  ; 
his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Susan  Bates,  dbd    in  1864. 

John  M.  Campbell,  in  the  fall  of  1829,  came  from  North 
Carolina,  and  settled  on  section  14;  he  brought  with  him  a 
wife  and  children ;  he  was  twice  married,  and  one  of  his  family 
is  known  to  be  still  living,  Charles  Campbell,  who  resides  in 
Texas;  he  held  the  office  of  county  commissioner  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  died  several  years  ago  on  the  section 
where  he  first  settled,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five.  In  the 
same  year  came  Stephen  Robertson  and  his  wife  from  Ken- 
tucky and  settled  in  the  township.     In  the  spring  of  1831  > 


they  moved  to  Macoupin  county.  John  Baker  came  from 
Tennessee  bringing  his  family  with  him,  and  settled  on  sec- 
tion 23,  in  the  same  year.  Some  of  his  descendants  are  yet 
living  here,  but  he  moved  to  Morgau  county,  where  he  sub- 
sequently died  George  Garrison,  a  native  of  Ohio,  came 
and  settled  on  the  south  half  of  section  29,  where  he  bought 
a  pre-emption  right  from  Larkin  Baker,  who  had  been  there 
long  enough  to  fence  in  about  twelve  acres  of  land  and  to 
build  a  log  cabin  and  a  stable.  He  came  to  the  county  by 
wagons  drawn  by  a  team  of  horses  and  a  team  of  oxen.  The 
value  of  his  entire  personal  effects  at  that  time  did  not, 
perhaps,  exceed  $350.  His  family  consisted  of  his  wife  and 
two  daughters;  Mary  is  the  wife  of  David  Cox,  of  Kansas, 
and  Emma  the  wife  of  Ebenezer  Vail,  of  McDonough  county, 
Illinois. 

George  Skiles  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  arrived  in 
the  county  December  2d,  1826,  settling  on  the  sixteenth  sec- 
tion of  Rushville  township;  he  had  lived  in  Tennessee, 
and  from  that  state  he  was  with  General  Jackson  at  the 
battle  of  New  Orleans.  In  the  fall  of  1816  he  went  to 
Indiana  ;  subsequently  he  removed  to  Kentucky,  where  he 
remained  till  1819,  when  he  went  to  Missouri.  From  this 
state  he  came  to  Schuyler  county,  bringing  with  him  a  family 
of  eleven  children,  seven  of  whom  are  still  living,  four 
daughters  and  ihree'sons;  John  lives  in  the  town  of  Brown- 
ing, James  R  in  McD  mough  county  and  William  C.  in  Ne- 
braska. All  three  are  ministers  of  the  gospel.  George  Skiles 
held  the  first  coroner's  inquest  ever  held  in  the  county  ;  he 
held  it  over  the  b  >dy  of  George  Everett,  shot  and  killed  by 
James  Morgan.  Jonathan  Reno,  a  native  of  Tennessee, 
came  in  the  fall  of  1825  to  Schuyler  county,  and  settled  first 
in  Bainbridge  township,  where  he  lived  a  year ;  he  next 
settled  on  section  16  of  Rushville  township,  and  in  the  year 
1830  moved  to  McDonough  county  After  the  lapse  of  some 
time  he  returned  to  Schuyler  county,  and  remained  about 
three  years ;  he  finally  went  to  Missouri,  where  he  died.  He 
had  ten  children,  only  one  of  whom,  J  nathan,  became  a 
permanent  settler  in  the  county.  Jonathan  settled  on  sec- 
tion 22,  of  Browning,  in  1849 ;  he  has  seven  children,  all 
living  in  Schuyler  county.  David  Wallace,  a  native  of 
Tennessee,  in  1825  settled  on  th^aortheast  quarter  of  section 
21,  of  Rushville  township,  where  he  lived  for  five  years  ;  he 
then  went  to  McDonough  county.  After  his  roving  dis- 
position had  led  him  to  many  changes  of  residence  he  died 
in  Schuyler  county.  Of  his  eight  children,  Alfred,  Moses, 
James,  Oliver,  Thomas.  John  and  three  daughters  all  are 
now  living  except  Moses  ;  Alfred  is  now  living  at  an  advanced 
age  in  Browning  ;  he  was  born  in  Tennesf  ee  in  the  year  1 81*6. 
He  came  up  the  river  on  board  the  "  Red  Rover,"  in  June, 
1828,  on  one  of  the  first  trips  ever  made  up  the  Illinois  by 
steamer ;  he  has  ever  been  an  active  man,  and  assisted  in 
building  one  of  the  first  water-mills  constructed  in  the 
county  in  1828. 

The  first  school  was  taught  in  a  small  log  cabin,  by 
Nathaniel  Glover,  a  teacher  from  Tennessee.  This  was  in 
the  year  18:>5.  The  first  building  erected  exclusively  for 
school  purposes  was  built  at  Ridgeville. 

The  pioneer  perhaps  sutlers   less  from  almost  every  other 


310 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


cause  than  from  insufficient  mills  to  grind  the  meager  harvest 
won  from  the  primitive  soil.  The  subject  of  mills,  therefore, 
engaged  the  early  attention  of  the  first  settler,  and  George 
Skiles,  David  Wallace  and  Alfred  C.  Wallace  set  to  work 
vigorously  and  erected  the  first  mill  in  the  year  1829,  on 
Sugar  creek,  in  section  20.  It  was  a  rude  log  structure  and 
was  at  first  merely  a  saw-mill.  Two  run  of  burrs,  one  for 
wheat  and  one  for  corn,  were  added  in  1831.  The  dam  was 
constructed  of  logs  and  dirt,  and  a  portion  of  it  yet  remains 
to  remind  us  of  those  primitive  days.  About  the  same  time 
Benjamin  Chadsey  and  a  man  named  Jordan,  built  the 
same  kind  of  a  mill  a  little  below  on  the  stream.  In  the 
spring  of  1829-,  Thomas  Justus,  brother-in-law  of  George 
Skiles,  built  a  combined  saw  and  grist-mill  above  the  Skiles 
mill.  And  above  the  Justus'  mill,  a  little  later,  a  mill  was 
started  by  William  McKee.  Wilcox  and  Teal  built  a  mill 
just  above  the  point  where  the  bridge  crosses  the  creek  on 
the  Frederick  and  Browning  road. 

The  first  marriage  in  the  township  was  celebrated  be- 
tween William  Robertson  and  Elizabeth  Kirklin.  The  first 
birth  was  that  of  Sarah  Lane,  daughter  of  Isaac  Lane.  She 
died  in  infancy.  The  first  Justice  of  Peace  was  Isaac  Lane, 
whose  official  presence  seems  to  have  been  much  sought  after 
by  wooing  swains  and  love-sick  maidens- 

The  first  patents  to  land  were  issued  November  20,  1817  ; 
John  Miller  for  N.  E.  i  of  section  1 ;  October  6,  1817,  to 
G.  S-  Douglass  for  N.  E.  }  of  section  3,  and  to  Lemuel 
Latenion  forX.  W.  i  of  section  3;  December  22d,  1817,  to 
Michael  Howell  for  S.  E.  i  of  section  4 ;  October  24,  1817,  to 
Isaac  Harrison  for  S.  W.  i  of  section  6,  and  October  23, 
1817,  to  John  A.  McDonald  for  S.  E.  1  of  section  6. 

The  county  was  placed  under  the  township  organization 
in  the  year  1854,  and  John  Bogue  was  chosen  supervisor. 
He  was  succeeded  in  1855  by  John  M.  Campbell,  who  was 
followed  in  the  office  by  Thomas  J.  Kinney,  who  served  two 
years,  1856-7.  John  M.  Campbell  was  again  chosen  in  1858, 
and  served  two  years.  In  1860,  John  Parish  was  made  supervi- 
sor. He  was  followed  in  1S61  by  John  M.  Campbell,  who  served 
for  three  years,  the  last  one  1863,  as  chairman  of  the  board. 
Benjamin  Walton  was  supervisor  in  1864,  and  Stephen 
Strong  in  1863.  Jonathan  Bene  was  chosen  in  1866,  and 
served  two  years.  In  1868  John  M.  Campbell  was  again 
chosen  and  was  made  chairman  of  the  board.  Jonathan 
Beno  was  re-elected  in  1869.  William  C  Ventors  held  the 
office  in  1870.  He  was  followed,  1871,  by  William  C.  Beno. 
A.  B.  Marshall  was  elected  in  1872,  and  served  two  terms. 
Sherman  B.  Dray  held  the  office  for  the  next  two  years,  and 
was  chairman  of  the  board  in  1 375.  William  C.  Beno  was 
again  chosen  for  1876.  He  was  followed  in  1877,  by  Mark 
Bogue;  Bogue  resigned  and  William  C.  Beno  was  elected  in 
December  1877  to  fill  the  vacancy.  Mr.  Beno  held  the 
office  till  1880,  when  he  was  succeeded  in  1881  by  William 
Bader,  who  was  re  elected  in  1882,  and  is  the  present  incum- 
bent. 

VILLAGE  OF   BROWNING 

Is  situated  on  the  W-  1  of  section  26.     It  was  surveyed  and 
platted  by  Leonidas  Horney  for  B.  Dilworth.     The  plat  was 


recorded  in  the  office  of  the  circuit  clerk,  May  11,  1848.  Its 
position  on  the  Illinois  river  made  it  at  an  early  day  an  im- 
portant shipping  point.  Vessels  from  Pittsburg  discharged 
their  cargoes  here  and  regular  lines  of  packets  run  to  it  from 
St.  Louis.  Long  lines  of  teams  might  be  seen  every  day 
awaiting  their  turn  at  the  warehouse.  The  town  also  ob- 
tained an  early  importance  in  a  mercantile  point  of  view. 

The  first  settler  on  the  present  town  site  was  John  Lip- 
pencott,  who  located  as  early  as  1829.  The  next  settler  was 
Peter  Holmes,  in  1830,  after  whom  the  place  was  at  one 
time  called  Holmes'  Landing. 

James  Austin  sold  the  first  goods  from  a  small  general 
stock  kept  in  a  log  cabin  about  1849.  A  year  or  two  later 
Benjamin  Kirkbride  sold  goods  from  a  more  complete  stock 
kept  in  a  frame  building.  In  1850  A.  L.  Wells  had  a  store 
and  freight  house  at  what  was  formerly  called  Vermont  Land- 
ing, a  short  distance  up  the  river.  B.  B.  Dilworth  kept  store 
on  the  present  site  of  the  ware-house.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire 
in  1 853  and  the  present  ware-house  soon  followed.  George 
McEvans  then  built  a  store  in  the  town  and  did  business  for 
three  or  four  years,  whenhe  sold  to  Albert  and  Marion  Bates. 
In  the  meantime  G.  B.  and  Wiley  Hollingsworth  built  a 
store  and  sold  goods  for  a  few  years.  _  Among  the  early 
merchants  may  be  mentioned  the  names  of  J.  G.  and  H.  H. 
Lassater,  Charles  Early,  Charles  Dilworth,  S.  F.  Wallace, 
and  E.  M.  and  T.  H.  Bradley. 

The  first  school  in  the  village  was  taught  by  Miss  Dil- 
worth. The  first  school-house,  a  small  frame  building,  was 
built  in  1854  In  it  was  taught  the  village  school  until  1874, 
when  the  present  school-house  was  built  It  was  a  two  story 
brick  building,  and  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $2400,  including 
equipments. 

The  town  is  at  present  in  a  thriving  condition,  and  besides 
the  handsome  school  building  it  has  a  neat  frame  church 
edifice  of  the  Christian  denomination  and  a  lodge  building, 
also  frame. 

PRESENT   BUSINESS. 

Browning  Flouring  Mill  was  built  on  a  former  mill  site  in 
1878.  It  is  owned  and  operated  by  M.  L.  Justus.  It  does 
a  combined  custom  and  merchant  business,  and  has  three 
run  of  burrs  with  a  capacity  of  two  barrels  per  hour.  The 
other  business  of  the  town  is  as  follows : 

General  Merchandise. — S.  B.  Dray,  Thomas  H.  Bradley, 
and  George  W.  Fowler. 

Groceries  and  Hardware. — James  M.  Oarlock. 

Drugs  and  Medicines. — J.  S.  Blac  kinship. 

Physician. — J.  S.  Blackenship. 

Postmaster.— S.  B.  Dray. 

Blacksmith.— Turner  B.  Miller. 

Hotel— W.  C  Ballman  and  J.  P.  Campbell. 

SOCIETY. 

Browning  Lodge  No.  309  I.  O.  O.  F.,  was  chartered  in 
April,  1864,  with  William  Bader,  Daniel Ivins,EliasGibbs, 
George  W.  Garrett,  Henry  Ventors  and  others  as  members. 
Its  present  membership  numbers  about  twenty-five.  Its 
financial  condition  is  good. 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


311 


VILLAGE  OF   OCEOLA. 

It  is  situated  in  the  S.  E.  \  of  the  S.  W.  i  of  section  2, 
and  was  surveyed  and  platted  August  5th,  1870,  by  J. 
Stumm,  Deputy  County  Surveyor,  for  Samuel  Fowler.  The 
name  of  the  post-office  is  Baders.  A  neat  frame  church  of 
the  Christian  denomination,  graces  the  village,  and  a  com- 
modious and  well  built  school-house  shows  that  the  people 
are  not  unmindful  of  the  important  matter  of  education. 

PRESENT   BUSINESS. 

General  Merchandise. — S.  D.  and  W.  Bader  &  Co. 


Hardware. — Eli  Hartly. 

Saw  Mill.— Bader  &  Co. 

Postmaster. — S.  J.  Gibbs. 

The  village  of  Ridgeville  was  laid  out  by  Isaac  Garrett, 
April  19th,  1836,  on  section  16.  It  was  the  voting  place 
before  the  township  organization.  The  name  is  still  per- 
petuated as  the  title  of  the  church  and  the  school  there. 

The  farming  industry  of  Browning  Township  is  quite  im- 
portant, and  notwithstanding  the  brokenness  of  much  of  the 
surface  it  has  some  very  productive  farms.  The  total  num- 
ber of  farms  in  the  township  is  155.  The  population  in- 
cluding town  is  1529. 


>S3tr03BCC>t£g' 


LITTLETON    TOWNSHIP. 


(SCHUYLER   COUNTY.) 


HIS  is  the  best  and  most  finely  improved 
of  all  the  townships  in  the  county ;  and 
here  we  find  the  model  farms,  the  most 
beautiful  farm  residences,  elegantly  fur- 
nished with  all  the  conveniences  of 
modern  life.  The  pastures  are  dotted 
with  blooded  stock,  and  the  large  and 
commodious  barns  are  tenanted  by  fine 
horses  and  comfortable  and  handsome 
carriages.  Beneath  surrounding  sheds 
stand  the  latest  and  best  improved  machinery  of  all  kinds 
necessary  for  the  successful  cultivation  of  the  soil.  As  one 
drives  along  the  well-kept  roads,  feelings  of  pleasure  well 
up  in  his  breast,  as  field  after  field  of  golden  grain,  or  green 
corn  meets  the  eye  upon  all  sides,  while  the  ear  is  not  unfre- 
quently  greeted  with  strains  of  sweet  music  issuing  from 
the  farm  houses  by  the  way-side,  indicating  that  the  wives 
and  daughters  of  the  proprietors  have  time  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  taste  as  well  as  for  labor.  Littleton  is  one  of  the 
northern  tier  of  townships.  McDonough  county  borders 
on  the  north,  Oakland  on  the  east,  Buena  Vista  on  the 
south,  and  Brooklyn  on  the  west.  Its  entire  surface  is  slight- 
ly rolling  prairie,  highly  productive,  naturally,  and  im- 
proved by  extensive  tilling.  There  is  sufficient  timber 
along  the  water  courses  to  answer  all  demands  for  fencing 
and  fuel.  Horney  Branch  in  the  northwestern  corner, 
Brushy  creek  in  the  southwest,  and  streams  in  each  of  the 
other  corners  afford  an  ample  water  supply  and  the  neces- 
sary drainage.  Military  patents  for  services  in  the  war  of 
1812  were  issued  for  land  in  this  township  as  early  as  1817 


to  the  following  named  persons:  Jacob  Newman  re- 
ceived a  warrant  for  the  S.  W.  i  of  section  11,  on  the  27th 
of  November ;  John  Cyphers,  for  the  N  E.  I  of  section  8  ; 
and  Charles  Hodgedon  for  the  N.  W.  i  of  the  same  section  on 
the  29th  of  November  ;  Amasa  Turner,  for  the  N.  E.  i  of  sec- 
tion 5,  December  6  ;  John  Merritt,  for  the  S.  E.  i  of  section 
13,  December  15 ;  and  Benjamin  Spearmin,  for  the  S.  E. 
i  of  section  10,  December  27. 

This  township  was  one  of  the  earliest  settled  in  the  county. 
Its  fertile  soil,  beautiful  location  and  proximity  to  the  first 
settlement  made,  were  circumstances  that  soon  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  pioneers,  and  David  Trainor,  a  yonng 
man,  was  the  first  to  enter  the  township  in  the  summer  of 
1825.  He  built  a  cabin,  put  in  a  crop  in  the  weeds,  and 
then  went  back  to  his  former  home,  and  in  the  spring  of  1826 
returned  with  his  father.  He  improved  the  W.  J  of  the  N. 
E.  i  of  section  27. 

The  next  to  seek  a  home  within  its  inviting  borders  were 
Thomas  McKee  and  his  son-in-law,  Garrett  WycofF,  with 
their  families.  They  both  settled  upon  the  S.  E.  i  of  sec- 
tion 35,  in  the  spring  of  1826,  at  which  time  they  had  moved 
up  from  Bainbridge.  McKee  was  susequently  killed  in  a 
coal  mine  in  Rushville,  and  Wycoff  subsequently  sold  his 
interests  in  that  portion  of  the  township,  and  about  the  fall 
of  1832,  took  possession  of,  and  improved  the  S.  W.  }  of  sec- 
tion 19.  His  cabin  he  constructed  of  clapboards  in  form  of 
a  frame  house.  He  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  died 
upon  his  last  improvement  in  the  township,  leaving  a  large 
family  of  children,  some  of  whom  are  now  residents.  John 
Ritchey  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,   where   he   married 


812 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


and  came  to  Cincinnati,  and  from  there  to  Schuyler  county 
in  the  fall  of  1824,  bringing  his  wife,  and  Martha,  Daniel, 
Addison  B.,  his  childn  n,  and  first  settled  in  Buena  Vista, 
where  he  remained  until  the  fall  of  1824,  sold  out  and  then 
moved  around,  and  in  the  spring  of  1826  came  into  Little- 
ton and  took  up  the  S.  W-  i  of  section  35,  which  he  pur- 
chased from  Garrett  Wycoff,  December  7,  1826.  The  first 
summer  he  spent  in  a  camp  constructed  of  clapboards  rest- 
ing upon  a  ridge-pole.  The  beds  were  made  upon  the  ground, 
until  one  morning  in  makiug  them  up,  a  large  rattlesnake 
was  discovered  in  a  bed  from  which  one  of  the  children  had 
just  been  taken,  and  then  Mr.  Ritchey  made  bunks  by  driv- 
ing a  forked  stick  of  timber  into  the  ground  and  laying 
sticks  across.  He  died  in  the  township  some  years  ago, 
and  several  of  his  sons  now  reside  here.  David  and  Thomas 
Blair,  brothers,  came  from  Bainbridge,  also  settled  on  the 
N.  W.  t  of  section  36,  about  this  time,  but  did  not  remain 
long.  James  Trainor  purchased  from  William  H.  Taylor 
the  E.  i  of  the  N.  \V.  i  of  section  27,  on  the  22d  day  of 
December,  1825,  and  in  the  following  spring  came  into  the 
township  and  made  his  home,  building  his  rude  cabin  and 
plodding  along,  in  the  manner  of  those  days. 

James  H.  Smith,  who  came  from  the  southern  part  of  Illi- 
nois and  who  was  commonly  known  as  "  Judy  Smith,"  from 
the  fact  of  his  replying  when  asked  to  trade,  "that  he  would 
h  ive  to  see  Judy,"  (his  wife)  was  also  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers in  this  section  and  one  of  the  first  in  the  county.  He 
purchased  the  N.  E.  }  of  section  27  from  William  H.  Tay- 
lor as  early  as  December  24,  1825,  and  the  following  year 
he  made  some  li'tle  improvement  but  did  not  remain  long. 
David  Snyder,  a  native  of  Virginia,  came  from  Kentucky — 
•where  he  had  married — in  October  1830,  direct  to  Littleton. 
He  brought  a  wife  and  four  children,  making  the  whole 
journey  in  a  four-horse  wagon.  He  entered  the  N.  i  of  the 
N.  E  J  of  section  33,  built  a  cabin  and  commenced  a  life 
of  toil,  which  ended  only  with  his  death,  which  occurred 
some  years  ago  in  the  township.  He  left  several  children, 
Sarah,  the  wife  of  Major  Joseph  Walker,  being  one  of  the 
number.  Elijah  M  Wilson  with  his  family  of  a  wife  and 
four  children  was  another  of  the  pioneers  from  Kentucky, 
who  assisted  in  the  settlement  of  this  township.  He  arrived 
in  the  spring  of  18:31  and  made  bis  home  on  the  N.  E  i  of 
sec.  22.  where  he  died  several  years  since.  James  Thompson,  a 
Kentuckian,  and  one  of  the  young  men  who  made  the  jour- 
ney from  Indiana  to  this  county  with  Joel  Tullis  in  a 
pirogue  in  October,  1823.  first  settling  in  Buena  Vi-ta,  but 
selling  his  interests  in  that  part  of  the  county  to  his  brother 
and  coming  to  this  township  in  the  early  spring  of  1831,  a 
single  man,  bought  out  a  pre-empti  m  right  to  the  S.  W.  i 
of  section  21,  from  James  McKee,  a  son  of  Thomas  McKee. 
There  was  a  cabin  and  some  improvement  in  the  way  of 
fencing  and  ground  broken  ready  for  cultivation,  which  had 
been  made  by  young  McKee,  who  had  lived  there  about 
two  years.  The  place  was  in  the  skirts  of  the  timber  bor- 
dering on  the  prairie.  Young  Thompson  built  a  new  cabin 
and  made  further  improvements,  and  in  the  fall  returned  to 
his  old  home  in  Kentucky,  and  on  New  Year's  day,  1832, 
was   married  to   Miss  Catharine  Ciawford.     He  and    his 


young  wife  left  Kentucky  on  the  steamboat  Water  Witch. 
and  on  1st  day  of  May,  1832,  arrived  at  the  new  home  which 
he  had  prepared,  where  he  died  in  1843,  leaving  a  large  fam- 
ily of  children.  The  eldest  son,  William  O,  now  occupies 
the  old  homestead  Richard  P.  Applegate  came  from 
Kentucky  with  his  wife  and  two  children  in  the  spring  of 

1832,  first  stopping  at  the  house  of  Elijah  M.  Wilson,  his 
brother-in-law,  until  he  purchased  the  claim  of  James 
Trainor  to  the  W  I  of  the  N.  E  i  of  section  27,  where  he 
built  a  cabin  in  which  he  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  days.  His  son,  Madison,  now  lives  on  the  old 
homestead.  William  H.  Crawford,  of  Kentucky,  ar- 
rived in  the  township  in  the  spring  of  1833,  with  a 
wife  and  five  children,  and  settled  on  the  S  E.  }  of  section 
20,  which  he  occupied  until  his  death,  which  occurred  from 
injuries  received  in  a  hurricane,  while  in  the  village  of  L:t- 
tleton.  He  left  a  large  family  of  children,  Mrs.  Jane  Hor- 
ney,  the  widow  of  Col.  Leonidas  Horney.  b^ing  a  daughter, 
and  James  Crawford,  the  superintendent  of  the  U.  S  Mint 
at  Carson  City,  a  son.  Absalom  Willey,  Obadiah  Griffin 
and  Mahlon  Shaw,  all  having  large  families,  were  squatters 
living  in  one  small  cabin  on  the   S.   W.    i   of  section  21,  in 

1833.  Randolph  R>se,  Diury  Sellers,  Michael  Matheney, 
Joseph  Logan,  Col.  Samuel  Horney  George  Garrison,  Wil- 
liam Lambert,  James  De  Witt,  Ji>hn  S.  Walker,  Samuel 
D.idd,  Joseph  W.  Snyder,  Adam  Walker,  the  Wells'  family, 
Joseph  Walker,  may  all  be  classed  as  old  settlers,  as  all 
came  prior  to  1840. 

Lester  Seward  improved  the  N.  E.  },  section  3,  in  1832  ; 
Darius  Runkle  made  the  first  improvement  on  section 
4,  in  1840;  Samuel  Dodds,  section  5;  Jonathan  Horney,  sec- 
tion 6,  in  1834;  Thomas_  L°gg.  section  7,  in  about  1838; 
David  Smith,  section  14,  iu  1835  ;  Samuel  Cooper,  section  15, 
in  1834  ;  Hugh  Hays,  section  18,  in  1832  ;  Garrett  Wycoff 
section  19,  in  1832;  Obadiah  Griffin,  section  20,  in  1832; 
James  McKee  and  Michael  Matheney,  section  21,  in  1829  or 
30  ;  E.  M.  Wi  son,  section  22,  in  1831  ;  Thomas  Cooper,  sec- 
tion 23,  in  1833;  James  Traiuor,  section  27;  Thomas  Bro- 
naugh,  section  28  ;  James  Thompson, section  29;  Greenwood, 
section  30,  in  1831  ;  Thomas  Townsend,  section  31  ;  John 
Logan,  section  32  ;  David  Snyder,  section  33 ;  John  Ritchey, 
section  34 ;  Thomas  McKee,  section  35 ;  David  and  Thomas 
Blair,  section  36. 

The  first  marriage  in  the  township  was  that  of  James 
Trainor  and  Mary  Shields,  which  was  celebrated  on  Christ- 
mas day,  1828,  by  Thomas  McKee,  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
The  first  death  was  that  of  a  young  man,  Solomon  Stanbury, 
who  died  at  the  cabin  of  Garrett  Wycoff,  and  was  buried 
on  the  S.  W.  i  of  section  35,  which  became  a  grave  yard, 
and  was  the  first  in  Littleton.  The  first  school  in  Littleton 
township  was  taught  by  Thomas  Bronaugh  in  the  summer 
of  1835,  in  an  old  deserted  cabin  on  the  S.  W.  }  of  section 
21. 

Among  the  pupils  in  attenda-ce  at  Bronaugh's  school  were 
Julia,  Margaret,  John  and  Ephraim  Snyder,  children  of 
David  Snyder;  Mirtha,  Nancy,  Evaline  and  Ludwell, 
children  of  Elijah  M.  Wilson  ;  Eliza  and  Benjamin,  chil- 
dren of  Richard  1'  Applegate  ;  Andrew  Wycoff  a  uephew, 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


313 


and  John,  Thomas,  Asher,  Daniel  and  Jacob,  children  of 
Garrett  Wycoff,  and  Jane,  Elizabeth  Ann  aud  Tolbert,  chil- 
dren of  William  H.  Crawford.  The  first  school-house  was 
built  in  1838,  on  the  S.  W.  i  of  section  19.  School  was 
taught  in  old  deserted  cabins  prior  to  that  time.  The  first 
sermon  was  preached  by.  Levin  Green  in  the  McKee  settle- 
ment ;  and  in  the  Snyder  settlement  by  Rev.  John  Logan,  a 
Missionary  Baptist,  at  the  house  of  Elijah  M.  Wilson  in 
1835.  The  first  church  in  the  township  was  the  Union 
church,  a  frame  building,  erected  in  the  village  of  Littleton 
in  1847.  The  first  physicians,  who  practiced,  were  Drs. 
Teal,  Blackburn,  Rogers,  and  Blackburn.  Thomas  McKee 
was  not  only  the  first  justice  of  the  peace,  but  also  the  first 
blacksmith,  wheelwright  and  mechanic.  The  first  post-office 
was  at  Doddsville,  where  the  town  was  first  laid  out  and 
Samuel  Dodds  was  the  first  postmaster.  The  first  mill  was 
also  in  Doddsville,  and  erected  in  1857,  by  John  Pelsor.  It 
was  a  large  four  story  frame  custom  and  merchant  steam 
mill,  complete  in  all  its  appointments.  The  machinery  was 
removed  to  St-  Louis  in  1879.  The  roads  and  bridges  of 
the  township  are  kept  in  excellent  condition,  making  travel 
safe  and  even  pleasant.  The  township  has  been  represented 
by  the  following  named  gentlemen,  as  supervisors,  since 
township  organization  ;  The  first  elected  was  James  De  Witt 
in  1854,  who  served  until  1856,  when  E.  D.  Wells  was 
elected  and  served  until  1861.  Dr.  Hosea  Davis,  elected  in 
1861,  served  one  term  ;  James  Prather,  elected  in  1862, 
served  until  1864 ;  Dr.  Hosea  Davis  was  again  elected  in 
1864,  serving  one  year ;  Joseph  Walker  elected  in  1865, 
served  one  term,  when  Dr.  Hosea  Davis  was  again  chosen 
and  served  until  1869  ;  John  M.  Dennis  served  from  1870 
to  1871 ;  In  1871,  James  De  Witt  was  elected  and  served 
two  terms  ;  William  Pollard  was  chosen  in  1873  and  1874 ; 
Dr.  Hosea  Davis  represented  the  township  from  1875  to 
1878,  and  was  honored  with  chairmanship  of  the  board  in 
1876 ;  in  1879,  James  T.  De  Witt  was  chosen  and  served 
two  terms,  and  was  followed  by  William  Pollock,  who  is  the 
present  incumbent.  But  few  people  were  more  patriotic  than 
those  of  Littleton,  as  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  forty-nine 
of  her  citizens  answered  their  country's  call  and  did  battle  in 
her  behalf  during  the  late  civil  war,  a  complete  list  of 
whose  names  may  be  found  at  the  close  of  the  chapter  on 
patriotism.  Littleton  is  accredited  with  161  farms,  and  a 
population  of  1060,  in  the  census  of  1880. 

The  interest  in  public  education  is  apparent  from  ten  hand- 
some frame  school  buildings,  with  all  the  modern  conve- 
niences, where  half-yearly  sessions  of  school  are  maintained. 
The  moral  education  of  the  people  is  inculcated  through  the 
medium  of  the  churches  of  Doddsville  and  Littleton,  and 
Bethany  Christian  Church,  situated  on  the  N.  W.  i  of  the 
S.  W.  i  of  section  36,  which,  however,  is  without  a  pastor 
at  present.  Religious  services  are  also  held  in  the  several 
school-houses,  and  but  few  people  have  greater  respect  for 
religion. 

VILLAGE  OF    DODDSVILLE. 

Situated  in  the  extreme  northern  part   of  Littleton  town- 
ship, partly  in  Schuyler  county  and  partly  in   McDonough 
40 


county,  is  the  cosy  village  of  Doddsville.  It  was  laid  out 
by  Samuel  Dodds  and  Paris  Wheeler,  July  6,  1836,  and 
platted  and  surveyed  by  Allen  Persinger,  county  surveyor. 
That  portion  lying  in  Schuyler  county  is  located  on  the  N. 
W.  }  of  section  5.  Samuel  Dodds  built  the  first  house  and 
had  the  first  store.  The  village  formerly  did  considerable 
local  trade.  The  principal  business  portion  of  the  town  at 
present  is  that  which  lies  in  McDonough  county. 

THE  PRESENT   BUSINESS. 

Blacksmith. — Thomas  McGrath. 

Wagon  Maker. — J.  H.  Wheeler. 

That  portion  in  McDonough  Co.  is  as  follows : 

General  Store. — W.  G.  Irvin. 

Carpenter. — William  Cowan. 

Physician. — J.  W.  Donnelly. 

The  old  Union  church,  used  by  all  denominations,  was 
built  in  1851  and  was  a  neat  frame  building.  The  Metho- 
dist congregation  have  a  neat  frame  building,  built  in  1879, 
with  Rev.  W.  F.  Lowe  for  its  present  pastor.  There  is 
also  a  handsome  church  edifice  belonging  to  the  Presbyterian 
congregation.  It  is  a  frame  building,  and  was  erected  in 
1880,  and  is  in  that  portion  of  the  t>wu  lying  in  McDonough 
county.     Rev.  D.  T.  McAuley  is  the  pastor. 

VILLAGE   OF   LITTLETON 

From  which  the  township  receives  its  name  is  the  geo- 
graphical centre  of  the  township,  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
section  15,  the  northwest  corner  of  section  22.  James  Little 
and  Dr.  William  H.  Wendow  located  the  village  on  the  31st 
day  of  July,  1819,  and  procured  the  services  of  Leonidas 
Homey,  then  county  surveyor,  to  survey  and  plat  the  town. 

Dr.  William  H.  Wendow  built  the  first  house  in  the  vil- 
lage, a  small  log  cabin  in  1847,  and  also  kept  the  first  store, 
soon  after  the  village  was  laid  out.  A  post-office  was  estab- 
lished in  1847  and  Dr.  William  H.  Wendow  received  the 
appointment  as  postmaster.  John  Dale  opened  the  first 
blacksmith  shop  in  1847.  The  first  physicians  to  practice 
in  the  village  were  Dr.  W.  H.  Wendow  and  Dr.  Hosea  Da- 
vis. The  first  school-house  built  in  the  village,  was  one 
made  of  round  logs,  in  1849,  and  was  occupied  until 
1856,  when  a  neat  brick  building,  two  stories,  was  sub- 
stituted for  the  log  hut.  The  different  congregations  united 
in  the  erection  of  a  neat  frame  building  in  1847  for  the  pur- 
pose of  worship,  and  was  known  as  the  Union  church.  Re- 
ligious services  prior  to  that  time  were  held  in  the  school- 
house.  This  old  building  was  destroyed  by  a  hurricane 
which  swept  over  the  village  on  the  26th  day  of  October, 
1856,  and  left  but  three  houses  standing,  and  they  in  a 
wrecked  condition.  Fortunately  no  lives  were  lost  at  the 
time,  though  Mr.  W.  H.  Crawford,  an  aged  farmer  who 
happened  to  be  in  town,  was  so  seriously  injured,  that  he 
died  from  the  effects  of  his  injuries  in  a  short  time. 

PRESENT   BUSINESS. 

Steam  Flouring  Mill. — This  mill  was  built  in  1878,  by 
its  present  proprietors,  George  M.  Matheney  &  Sons,  at  a 


314 


HISTORY   OF   SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


cost  of  about  $3,000.  It  is  a  substantial  two  story  frame 
building,  with  one  run  of  burrs,  and  finds  steady  employ- 
ment in  doing  a  strictly  custom  business. 

General  Store.-r-J ames  L.  De  Witt. 

Tile  Factory. — Just  being  constructed,  Erwin  &  Barron. 

Blacksmiths. — Miles  K.  Barron,  and  James  McGee. 

Wagon  Maker. — Joseph  Logan. 

Carpenter. — E.  F.  Roberts. 

Shoemaker. — David  Agnew. 

Postmaster. — David  Agnew. 

Physicians.     Drs.  Hosea  Davis  and  H.  H.  McCabe. 

A  well  kept  cemetery  of  one  acre  located  in  1851  north-   I 
west  of  the   village   contains   the  remains   of  many  loved   ! 
ones  whose  last  resting  place   beneath   the  shade  of  forest 
trees  is  marked  by  the  humble  wooden  slab,  the   plain  mar-   i 


ble  or  the  handsome  pile.     The   first    interment  made   was 
that  of  the  remains  of  Mabel  Horton. 

The  village  is  supplied  with  two  neat  brick  churches. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  built  in  1857,  and  Rev. 
W.  F.  Lowe  is  the  pastor  in  charge.  The  Baptist  Church 
was  erected  in  1857,  and  is  presided  over  by  Rev.  Sanders. 
A  pretty  little  white,  frame  school-house  graces  the  village, 
and  plainly  shows  that  the  citizens  are  not  neglecting  the 
educational  duties  they  owe  their  children.  They  have  a 
term  of  nine  months.  There  is  but  one  department.  The 
village  has  never  had  any  organizations.  The  streets  are 
broad,  well  shaded,  and  run  at  right  angles.  The  houses  are 
new,  and  bear  evidence  of  the  thriftiness  of  their  inhabitants. 
There  are  several  very  pretty  residences,  both  frame  and 
brick. 


_ — __ , — _ — , „ , — _ . 


FARM  RESIDENCE  OF  GEORGE   H.  K I RKHA  M,  SEC.3 5,T.3/  R.  Z^LITTLETON  TR)SCHUYLER    CO. ILL. 


FARM  RESIDENCE  OF  CASPER    REG  ER/  S  EC.Z^T.I^.a^COOPER  STOWN  TP^  BROWN    CO. ILL 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


COL.    LEON  IDAS    HORNKY. 


Col.  Leonidas  Hornet,  was  born  in  Guilford  county, 
North  Carolina,  September  4th,  1817.  His  parents  moved, 
when  he  was  only  a  year  old,  to  St.  Clair  county,  Illinois. 
He  was  the  only  descendant  of  Hon.  Samuel  Homey,  of 
whom  mention  is  made  in  this  work.  In  the  spring  of  1825, 
his  parents  removed  with  him  to  Schuyler  county.  Leonidas 
received  most  of  his  early  education  in  the  common  schools 
of  this  county.  After  leaving  school,  he  engaged  in  teaching 
for  a  few  years.  On  the  2d  of  September,  1841,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-four,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Jane,  the  daughter 
of  William  H.  Crawford,  Esq.,  of  Schuyler  county.  Soon 
after  his  marriage  he  purchased  a  farm,  and  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  and  stock  raising.  On  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  Mr.  Horney  enlisted  as  a  private 

in  Co. commanded  by  Capt.W.  A.  Richardson ;  regiment, 

by  Col.  John  J.  Hardin.  They  were  very  soon  ordered  to 
the  seat  of  war  after  their  organization.  He  served  in  that 
division  of  the  army  commanded  by  Gen.  Taylor,  and  while 
bravely  fighting  he  was  wounded  at  Buena  Vista.  Being  a 
flesh  wound,  it  did  not  disable  him.     After  this  engagement 


he  was  promoted  lieutenant,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  com- 
missioned captain.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  mustered 
out  and  returned  home,  where  he  again  engaged  in  farming. 
Soon  after  his  return,  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  county 
surveyor  of  Schuyler,  and  retained  that  position  until  1860. 
He  voted  for  Douglas,  but  his  favorite  being  defeated,  he 
accepted  the  situation,  and  became  one  of  President  Lincoln's 
warmest  supporters.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  the 
rebellion,  he  laid  aside  the  pursuits  of  peace  and  the  endear- 
ments of  a  happy  family,  and  again  drew  forth  his  sword  in 
defence  of  the  flag  of  his  country.  In  August,  1861,  he 
volunteered,  and  was  elected  Captain  of  Company  A,  Tenth 
regiment,  Missouri  Volunteers  Infantry,  and  soon  after  he  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  Major,  and  subsequently  to  the  rank 
of  Colonel.  He  participated  in  many  hard  fought  battles,  and 
at  the  battle  of  Corinth,  October  4,  1862,  received  a  flesh 
wound,  which  did  not  disable  him  from  active  service.  At 
the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  near  Champion  Hill,  while  bravely 
leading  his  gallant  regiment  into  the  fight,  he  was  shot,  and 
killed,  and  fell  into  the  arms  of  his  men.     He  was  buried  on 

315 


31(5 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


the  .field,  within  a  few  paces  of  where  he  fell.  After  the  war, 
he  was  brought  home,  and  buried  on  the  15th  of  February, 
1865,  in  what  is  known  as  the  Thompson  graveyard,  near 
Littleton,  being  buried  with  military  honors  The  Colonel 
left  a  wife  and  family  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  have 
been  married,  and  with  three  exceptions,  live  on  farms 
adjoining  the  homestead  or  at  home.  The  Colonel  was  a  man 
highly  respected  for  his  many  virtues,  and  in  losing  him,  not 
only  his  family,  but  the  people  of  the  county  lost  a  noble  and 
valuable  citizen. 

Col.  Horney  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Corinth  in  the 
right  leg,  but  remained  on  the  field  until  the  battle  was  over. 
"  The  date  of  the  above  was  Saturday,  October  4, 1862,  (second 
day  of  the  battle),  taken  from  his  own  memoranda;"  lost, 
91  killed  and  wounded,  all  from  Co.  A  and  the  five  companies 
left. 

On  the  25th  October,  1862,  after  the  battle  of  Corinth,  he 
received  his  commission  as  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Tenth 
Missouri,  and  on  the  following  day  was  placed  on  duty  as 
Lieutenant  Colonel.  On  Friday,  May  8, 1863,  he  received  a 
congratulatory  letter  from  Gen.  Grant  for  capturing  1,000 
prisoners  and  5  guns,  (artillery),  while  marching  to  Vicks- 
burg.  From  his  own  memoranda  we  take  this  item : 
Thursday,  May  14,  "  Tenth  Missouri  Infantry  in  advance. 
I  came  in  sight  of  the  enemy  shortly  after  9  o'clock,  A.  m. 
The  enemy  began  shelling  the  10th.  About  12  o'clock,  we 
made  a  charge  in  fine  style,  routing  the  enemy's  columns  and 
batteries  at  all  points,  and  by  3  o'clock,  p.  m.  were  in  Jack- 
son, Miss. ;  loss,  85."  From  Jackson,  they  marched  on  to 
Vicksburg.  In  the  engagement  of  Champion  Hill,  May 
16th,  the  Colonel's  regiment  was  held  in  reserve  until  2  or 
3  o'clock,  and  the  enemy  was  thought  to  be  winning  the  day, 
when  the  Tenth  Missouri  was  ordered  to  the  front,  to  make 
the  last  and  final  effort  for  victory.  Col.  Horney  took  in 
the  situation,  and  riding  in  front  of  his  regiment,  inspired  his 
men  with  the  courage  that  resulted  in  a  successful  charge, 


breaking  through  the  enemy's  ranks  and  winning  the  day. 
After  this  charge  was  made,  he  ordered  his  command  to  the 
"  right  front,"  where  a  minor  portion  of  the  enemy's  army 
had  not  yet  yielded.  He  continued  in  advance  of  his  column, 
when  he  noticed  a  squad  of  six  or  eight  soldiers  in  blue 
uniforms,  whom  he  at  first  took  to  be  Union  men,  but,  alas ! 
they  proved  to  be  rebels  in  disguise,  as  he  soon  discovered. 
When  within  a  few  rods  of  them,  they,  with  one  accord,  be- 
gan to  draw  a  bead  upon  him.  He  turned  quickly  upon 
his  horse,  and  commanded  his  men  to  fire  upon  them, 
but  ere  the  words  had  escaped  his  lips,  two  balls  had  pierced 
his  body,  one  entering  his  left  side,  and  passing  out,  the  other 
passed  through  his  skull,  and  he  fell.  He  died  like  a  hero 
in  a  righteous  cause.  His  body  was  embalmed  and  laid  to 
rest  at  the  foot  uf  a  tree,  from  which  place,  in  1865,  it  was 
removed  to  Thompson  cemetery,  in  Littleton  township, 
Schuyler  county,  Illinois,  and  buried  with  military  honors. 

Col.  Horney  was  a  man  of  unusual  self-respect,  one  of  the 
most  esteemed  by  his  fellow  citizens,  was  strictly  temperate, 
cherishing  a  righteous  disgust  for  drunkenness.  Charitable 
to  the  unfortunate,  and  those  of  his  acquaintance  who  have 
conversed  with  the  writer  speak  in  the  highest  terms,  with 
emotion,  of  him.  His  children  retain,  to  a  great  degree,  his 
self-respect.  His  son,  W.  J.,  is  the  present  county  surveyor, 
and  is  on  the  high  road  to  take  his  father's  place  in  public 
matters.  His  widow  and  aged  mother,  (the  latter  the  oldest 
citizen  of  Schuyler),  reside  on  the  farm  near  Littleton.  His 
youngest  daughter,  Adelia,  also  a  widow,  lives  with  them. 
His  three  sons,  Samuel  Madison,  Leonidas  Hardin,  and  Wil- 
liam Jeffrey,  live  on  adjoining  farms.  His  daughter,  Celeste 
Elizabeth,  (Mrs.  John  T.  Sellers),  resides  in  Sumner  county, 
Kansas,  on  a  farm.  Mary  Jane,  (Mrs.  Lee  E.  Johnston), 
resides  near  Rushville,  on  a  farm.  Emilia  Ann,  (Mrs.  W.  J 
Larash),  lives  in  Rushville,  and  is  engaged  in  publishing 
the  Schuyler  Citizen. 


RES/ DENCE    AND    STOCK     FARM      OF     GEORGE     GARRI  SON ,  S  C 


f 


6,T.3  ,R  .2  ,  (  LI  TTLETON     TP.JSC 


HUYLER      CO.  ILLINOIS. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


317 


MRS.    SARAH    HARRISON. 


The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  seventh  child  of  Jonathan 
and  Mary  Garrison,  and  was  born  in  Butler  county,  Ohio, 
June  16th,  1809.  He  remained  at  home  until  he  was  ten 
years  of  age,  when  his  mother  died ;  and,  as  his  father  was 
poor,  he  was  obliged  to  go  forth  and  seek  his  own  fortune. 
He  applied  to  a  man  named  Giphart,  and  secured  employ- 
ment to  chop  wood  and  clear  off  land,  for  which  he  received 
four  dollars  per  month.  At  this  he  remained  only  a  short 
time,  when  he  engaged  in  chopping  cord-wood  at  twenty 
cents  per  cord.  At  this  and  similar  jobs  he  continued  until 
he  was  about  sixteen  years  old,  when  he  secured  a  situation 
as  laborer  on  the  Miami  canal,  where  he  remained  for  one 
year.  He  next  obtained  a  situation  in  a  distillery  at  eight 
dollars  per  month.  Here  he  remained  for  two  years,  and 
saved  a  small  sum  of  money.  During  the  next  two  years 
he  was  engaged  on  a  farm  at  $9  per  month.  He  next  ac- 
cepted a  position  as  superintendent  in  a  distillery  at  $1 1 
per  month,  where  he  continued  eighteen  months,  when  the 
proprietors  discontinued  business.  By  this  time,  by  constant 
labor,  strict  economy,  and  much  self-denial,  he  nad  saved 
some  money,  which  he  invested  in  two  good  colts  ;  and  after 
keeping  them  some  time,  he  was  induced  to  trade  them  off 
for  a  patent  right,  which  he  lost  entirely.  After  this  he  con- 
cluded to  change  his  way  of  living  and  get  married.  And 
to  accomplish  his  purpose,  he  borrowed  from  a  friend  the 
sum  of  twenty-five  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  his  wedding 
suit.     March  10th,  1830,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah 


Vaile,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Permelia  Vaile.  She  was  a 
native  of  Butler  county,  Ohio.  Immediately  after  their 
marriage,  he  moved  on  rented  land  and  commenced  to  farm. 
Through  the  assistance  of  good  friends,  he  procured  a  team, 
with  which  he  raised  two  good  crops.  Having  heard  many 
favorable  reports  as  to  the  prosperity  of  Illinois,  he  con- 
cluded to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  prairies  of  that  new  coun- 
try. Accordingly  in  Sept  1833,  with  his  family,  consisting  of 
his  wife  and  two  children,  he  started  overland  for  Illinois, 
and  on  the  5th  of  October  of  the  same  year  landed  in 
Schuyler  county.  He  brought  with  him,  of  his  own  hard 
earnings,  $363  in  money,  two  horses  and  one  wagon.  On 
his  arrival  he  immediately  traded  a  horse  and  wagon  and 
one  hundred  dollars  in  money  for  a  claim  on  240  acres  of 
good  land  on  Sugar  creek,  and  moved  with  his  family  into  a 
small  log  cabin.  He  entered  the  land  at  $1.25  per  acre, 
borrowing  money  from  Jacob  Sharp,  of  Fulton  county,  and 
paying  him  30  per  cent,  interest  for  the  same.  On  this  land 
Mr.  Garrison  remained  and  had  good  success  for  seven  years, 
after  which  he  purchased  a  quarter  of  land  in  section  26, 
in  township  2  north,  2  west,  where  he  has  remained  ever 
since — a  fine  view  of  which  may  be  seen  on  another  page  of 
this  work.  For  about  ten  years  he  rented  his  first  purchase 
on  Sugar  creek ;  but,  wishing  to  have  his  land  all  together, 
he  sold  the  farm  on  Sugar  creek,  and  purchased  the  adjoin- 
ing quarter  to  his  home  place  on  section  26,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  add  thereto,  until  he  now  owns  840  acres  all  ad- 


318 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


joining,  which  is  considered  among  the  best  farms  in  Schuy- 
ler county.  He  has  always  been  engaged  in  farming  and 
raising  stock,  in  which  he  has  been  very  successful.  He  has 
done  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other  man  in  improving  the 
stock  of  the  country.  He  was  the  first  to  introduce  thor- 
ough-bred Durham  cattle,  and  has  done  his  share  in  improv- 
ing the  breed  of  horses  and  hogs.  His  large  farm  is  well 
supplied  with  first-class  stock  of  all  kinds. 

Mr.  Garrison,  in  his  younger  days,  was  deprived  of  edu- 
cational advantages,  as  schools  were  few  aud  his  means 
limited ;  but,  owing  to  his  good  judgment,  he  has  proved 
himself  a  successful  business  man.  The  fruits  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Garrison's  marriage  have  been  eleven  children,  ten  of 
whom  are  living,  all  married,  and  well  settled  in  life.  They 
are  now  the  grand  parents  of  69  grand-children  and  11 
great-grand-childreu.   On  the  10th  of  March,  1880,  Mr.  and 


Mrs  Garrison  celebrated  their  golden  wedding,  and  received 
many  presents  as  testimonials  of  affection  from  their  chil- 
dren, grand-children,  and  friends.  On  this  occasion  it  was 
Mr.  Garrison's  delight  to  present  to  his  great-grandson,  Eb- 
enezer  Cordell,  the  coat  in  which  he  had  been  married. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  have  always  enjoyed  good  health,  aud  at 
this  date  are  remarkably  active  for  people  of  their  age.  It 
affords  Mr.  Garrison  pleasure  at  all  times  to  speak  in  the 
highest  praise  of  his  good  wife,  to  whom  he  cheerfully  con- 
cedes her  full  share  in  his  success  through  life. 

In  politics,  Mr.  Garrison  is  a  Democrat  He  cast  his 
first  vote  for  Andrew  Jackson,  for  President,  in  1836,  and 
has  voted  for  every  democratic  candidate  for  president  to 
the  present  Mr.  Garrison  and  wife  have  for  many  years 
been  members  of  the  Christian  Church. 


■c<^C3&>&£2^> 


COOPERSTOWN    TOWNSHIP. 

BROWN    COUNTY.) 


-%-•—* 


OOPERSTOWN   deserves   favorable   men- 
tion from  the  fact  that  it  was  within  her 
borders  that  many  of  the  earliest  settle  - 
ment-<  in  the  county  were  made,  and  that 
it  contains  some  of  the  richest  farming 
land  in  this  section  of  country  ;  splendid 
farms  and  farm-improvements  abound 
throughout  its  territory.     It  is  situated 
in    the  extreme   eastern-central  part  of  the  county,  to  the 
north  Ripley  and  Schuyler  county,  to  the  east  the  Illinois 
river,  to  the  south  Versailles,  and  to  the  west  Mt  Sterling. 
It  is  irregular  in  shape,  comprising,  with  the  exception  of 
about  four  sections  from  the  northeast  corner,  the  whole  of 
T.  1  S.,  R.  2  W ,  and  that  fraction  of  T.  1  S.,  R.  1  W.,  that 
lies  between  the  river  and  Crooked  creek.     The  general  sur- 
face is  rolling  prairie,  becoming  more  broken  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  creeks  and  the  river  bluffs.     The  central  and  main 
portion  of  the  township  is  as  fine  a  body  of  land  as  any  in 
the  county.     The  bottom  land  comprises  only  a  small  area, 
the   main    portion    being   in   the  northeast  corner,  where 
•  Crooked  creek  empties  into  the  river.     Crooked  creek  forms 
the  northern  line,  separating  Cooperstown    from   Schuyler 
county,  and  the  Illinois  river  the  eastern  boundary,  and  these 
streams,,  together  with  their  numerous  affluents,  drain  the 
lands  and  supply  water  for  other  purposes.     There  is  yet  con- 


siderable timber  here,  although  many  acres  have  been  cleared 
and  made  into  rich  and  beautiful  farms.  James  H.  Petti- 
grew,  who  resides  on  section  23,  informed  us  that  fifty  years 
ago  the  forest  on  the  north  side  of  his  place  consisted  of  verv 
large  old  trees,  nearly  all  of  which  have  died,  fallen  and  de- 
cayed, and  young  trees  have  sprung  up  in  their  places.  This 
is  undoubtedly  the  case  with  all  the  forests  in  this  locality 
that  were  not  felled  by  the  woodman's  axe,  and  can  be  ac- 
counted for  only  by  supposing  them  to  have  lived  out  the  two 
hundred  years  that  is  thought  to  be  allotted  to  their  existence- 
There  has  always  been  a  good  supply  of  coopers'  material, 
and  in  early  times  cooperage  was  extensively  carried  on  in 
this  locality.  It  is  said  that  nearly  all  of  the  old  settlers 
followed  the  business ;  hence  the  name  Cooperstown.  The 
barrels  were  shipped  north  and  south,  and  found  a  market 
at  several  of  the  river  towns  where  whiskey  and  other  liquors 
were  distilled. 

Pleasant  De  Witt,  a  native  of  Clark  county,  Kentucky,  was 
born  in  1802 ;  and  while  a  young  man  migrated  from  Ken- 
tucky, first  stopping  in  Morgan  county,  Illinois,  and  from 
thence  to  what  is  now  Rrown  county,  in  the  winter  of  1S28, 
settling  on  section  13  of  this  township,  and  building  a  small 
cabin  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff,  upon  the  site  of  an  old  Indian 
camp.  This  site  was  chosen  on  account  of  an  excellent 
spring,  which  still  pours  its  pure  water  over  the  rocks.     He 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


319 


brought  with  him  a  wife  and  one  child  from  Kentucky. 
Pleasant  De  Witt  is  still  living  in  Buckhorn  township,  at  the 
ripe  old  age  of  eighty  years,  though  very  feeble  and  in  ill 
health. 

Asa  Benton  also  settled  in  this  township  in  1829,  and  built 
a  saw  mill  on  section  4  in  1832.  He  was  a  native  of  New 
York,  and  has  long  since  left  the  county,  moving  to  Mis- 
souri. 

Among  the  original  pioneers  who  sought  a  home  in  this 
township,  was  Jacob  White,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  who, 
with  his  family,  came  to  the  wilds  of  Illinois  at  a  very  early 
day.  We  first  find  him  living  near  Rushville  until  the  spring 
of  1829,  when  he  came  down  into  what  is  now.  Cooperstown 
township,  and  squatted  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  17 
with  his  family,  then  composed  of  a  wife  and  four  children, 
all  of  whom  had  reached  the  age  of  manhood  at  the  time  of 
his  settlement  in  Cooperstown.  Here  he  commenced  build- 
ing his  cabin,  and  while  thus  engaged,  Thomas  F.  Glenn  and 
Ezekiel  Rose,  with  their  families,  arrived  from  Kentucky. 
White  continued  to  reside  upon  his  homestead  until  1835, 
when  he  sold  his  property  to  Henry  Huffman,  a  new-comer 
from  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  and  removed  to  the  north 
side  of  Schuyler  county,  where  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
days  and  died  there.  The  Henry  family  located  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  township  as  early  as  1828,  but  we  were 
unable  to  learn  much  of  their  history.  Some  of  the  descend- 
ants are  still  living  in  the  county. 

As  above  stated,  Thomas  F.  Glenn,  in  company  with  Eze- 
kiel Rose,  came  and  settled  in  this  township  in  May,  1829. 
They  came  in  a  prairie  schooner  drawn  by  four  horses. 
They  came  from  Kentucky,  and  the  man  who  brought  them, 
they  having  hired  him,  returned  with  his  wagon  and  team 
to  Kentucky.  Thomas  F.  Glenn  was  a  native  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  when  a  child  was  taken  to  Kentucky.  Here  he  was 
raised  and  married  Melinda  Miligan,  who  came  with  him  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  on  the  southwest  part  of  section  16,  being 
the  section  appropriated  to  the  public  schools  of  the  State, 
and  which  he  purchased  as  soon  as  it  came  into  market.  Be- 
sides the  three  children  which  they  brought  with  them,  two 
were  born  to  them  after  coming  to  Cooperstown.  Mr  Glenn 
was  an  old  man  when  he  came  to  his  new  home,  but  he  cleared 
up  a  farm  upon  which  he  continued  to  reside  until  1864, 
when,  worn  out  with  old  age  and  hard  work,  feeble  and  blind, 
he  died.  Three  of  his  children  survive  him,  Nancy,  widow 
of  Robert  A.  Glenn,  now  residing  in  Mt.  Sterling  ;  Matilda, 
living  in  Iowa;  Hester,  the  wife  of  Nathan  Perry,  of  Mt. 
Sterling  township. 

Ezekiel  Rose,  Sr.,  the  companion  of  Thomas  F.  Glenn  on 
his  journey  from  Kentucky  to  the  wilds  of  Illinois,  was  born 
in  Virginia,  in  1786,  and,  when  a  lad,  his  parents  removed 
to  Kentucky,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and  married  Catha- 
rine Stites,  who  came  with  him  to  Illinois  in  1829.  Upon 
arriving,  he  landed  upon  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  16, 
built  a  log  cabin,  cleared  a  patch  of  ground,  and  put  in  a 
crop.  He  brought  with  him  several  head  of  stock.  Three 
or  four  of  his  sons  were  almost  grown  at  the  time  of  his  ar- 
rival, and  were  capable  of  materially  aiding  him  in  subju- 
gating nature  and  wreaking  from  the  soil  a  sustenance.     He 


reared  a  family  of  ten  children,  some  of  whom  married  and 
settled  near  their  parents.  Two  daughters  and  a  son  now 
reside  in  the  township,  viz :  Rachael,  wife  of  William  Mol- 
ley,  living  on  section  20 ;  Martha,  wife  of  G.  R.  Logsdon, 
on  section  16,  and  Ezekiel,  Jr.,  residing  upon  the  old  home- 
stead. Mary  Ann,  Richard,  and  Jonathan  reside  in  Iowa, 
are  married  and  have  families.  The  old  gentleman  passed 
away  in  1868,  and  his  widow  survived  him  until  1870. 

Richard  Stites,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Ezekiel  Rose,  Sr  ,  fol- 
lowed his  daughter  from  Kentucky  a  few  years  after  their 
settlement  in  Illinois,  and  located  on  section  28.  None  of 
his  family  now  reside  in  this  township. 

Elijah  Bell  was  born  in  Virginia  and  went  from  there  to 
Kentucky  when  a  young  man,  and  there  married  Annis 
Haggard,  and  the  couple  came  to  Illinois  in  1830,  and  settled 
on  section  36,  near  Little  creek,  in  this  township,  during  the 
summer  of  the  same  year.  They  brought  with  them  a  family 
of  seven  children,  and  a  son  was  born  to  them  after  their 
arrival  Only  one  is  now  living — Mary,  or  "  Aunt  Polly," 
the  wife  of  Gabriel  P.  De  Witt.  Enoch,  a  son,  mar- 
ried and  settled  in  this  township,  and  has  since  died  in  Iowa, 
to  which  place  he  had  removed.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  a  Baptist  minister  of  the  "  hard  shell "  persuasion,  and 
was  one  of  the  earliest  preachers  of  the  church  in  this  sec- 
tion. 

Ralph  Alexander,  a  native  of  Ohio,  came  from  Indiana  to 
Illinois  and  settled  on  a  piece  of  land  in  section  20  of  this 
township  in  the  fall  of  1830.  He  soon  entered  the  land  and 
occupied  it  as  his  home  until  the  day  <>f  his  death,  June  13, 
1847.  He  had  a  family  of  twelve  children,  five  of  whom  are 
still  living,  viz :  Thomas  Matthew,  iu  Arizona  Territory ; 
Milton  H,  in  Versailles  township;  James  P ,  in  Texas; 
Minerva,  widow  of  Gideon  Hinman,  residing  on  section  21 ; 
John,  in  Greene  county,  Illinois.  Ralph  Alexander  was  a 
tanner  by  trade,  and  started  a  tannery  upon  his  farm  a  few 
years  after  his  arrival.  • 

Martin  De  Witt,  the  father  of  Pleasant  De  Witt,  men- 
tioned in  a  former  part  of  this  chapter,  was  born  just  out- 
side of — but  now  included  within — the  city  of  New  York, 
in  1777.  The  old  gentlemau  came  from  Kentucky  to  Illi- 
nois in  1830,  bringing  with  him  his  wife  and  eight  children. 
There  were  three  boys  and  five  girls,  viz. :  America,  who 
married  John  Haggerty,  from  Kentucky,  a  widower,  who 
brought  several  children  with  him,  and  settled  upon  section 
twenty-four,  in  1831.  Eliza  J.  married  Reddick ;  Susan 
married  Thomas  Houston  ;  Emma  C.  married  Daniel  Fisher ; 
Sarah  A.  married  Jonas  Houston  ;  Gabriel  P.,  born  in  Ken- 
tucky in  1811,  is  still  living  on  section  twenty-six,  with  his 
wife,  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Elijah  Bell,  who  settled  here  in 
1830.  Henry  Clinton  died  at  his  home,  in  this  township, 
in  1847,  and  William  Martin  died  when  a  lad  of  but  ten 
years;  Pleasant,  Gabriel  P.,  Mrs.  Eliza  J  Reddick,  and 
Mrs.  Emma  Fisher,  are  all  that  are  living  at  this  writing. 
The  old  man,  Martin  De  Witt,  went  to  Texas  in  1839,  and 
became  an  officer  iu  the  border  wars  of  Texas.  The  last 
account  of  him  was,  that  he  had  started  home,  but  as  no 
further  information  of  his  whereabouts  could  be  obtained,  it 
issuppo-ed  that  he  was  murdered,  or  met  with  some  accident. 


820 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


William  Thomas  settled,  in  1832,  just  south  of  the  pres- 
ent site  of  Cooperstown.  He  was  from  Ohio.  He  reared  a 
large  family,  some  of  whom  are  yet  living.  Mr.  Thomas 
lives  north  of  Cooperstown. 

George  Emerick,  an  old  Pennsylvania  Dutchman,  settled 
in  the  neighborhood  of-  La  Grange,  as  early  as  1829  or 
1830.  He  had  a  large  family,  but  as  they  have  all  either 
died  or  scattered,  no  account  of  them  can  be  obtained.  The 
old  man  died  about  1846. 

John  Stewart  was  a  squatter  in  1830,  settling  on  Crooked 
creek. 

Benoui  Hewlett  was  a  character  of  the  neighborhood, 
settling  near  the  river,  with  a  large  family.  His  chief  diet 
was  catfish,  which  could  be  obtained  with  the  least  labor  ■ 
and  he  was  a  man  who,  recognizing  the  debasing  effects  of 
whiskey,  endeavored  to  remove  its  influences  by  drinking  it 
all  himself. 

David  M  Campbell  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  resided  in 
the  township  during  the  winter  of  the  "deep  snow" — 1830-'31 
— and  in  the  spiing  of  1831  he  removed  to  Clayton,  and  now 
lives  in  Kansas,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-seven  years, 
and  is  blind. 

At  this  early  day  the  pioneers,  whose  careers  we  have 
briefly  sketched,  had  for  neighbors,  John  Orr,  who  settled 
south  of  Cooperstown,  in  1830,  and  died  there,  about  1839 
Captain  Alfred  Spencer  also  lived  there  for'  a  short  time, 
and  then  movtd  to  Iowa.  Abel  Logan  also  settled  in  the 
township  in  1830  Monroe  Page,  John  Logsdon,  William 
Wilson,  Samuel  Brisco,  John  W.  Davis,  White  Stiles,  and 
Thomas  Barton,  of  Kentucky  may  be  mentioned  as  old 
settlers.  Of  the  pioneers  settled  in  Cooperstown  township, 
but  few  reached  greater  prominence  than  the  Glenn  family. 
The  head  of  this  family  was  Henry  Glenn,  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, reared  in  Kentucky,  where  he  married  Ruth 
Rhodes,  and  being  of  a  nomadic  disposition,  he  took  his 
family  and  started  out  into  the  unsettled  portions  of  the 
new  States,  first  moving  to  Indiana,  in  the  year  1821,  where 
he  remained  seven  years.  Not  being  suited  in  a  home,  he 
removed  to  Illinois,  and  stopped  in  Vermillion  county,  in 
1828.  Soon  tiring  of  his  new  home,  and  having  received 
information  from  his  double  cousin,  Thomas  F.  Glenn,  who 
had  made  his  home  in  this  township  as  early  as  1829,  he 
turned  his  course  westward,  and  arrived  in  1831.  He 
selected  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  sixteen.  This  was 
in  November.  He  brought  with  him  a  wife  and  nine  chil- 
dren. Being  pleased  with  the  country,  he  built  a  cabin, 
and  resolved  to  spend  his  remaining  days  in  quiet,  with 
the  relatives  and  friends  of  his  early  youth.  The  names 
of  the  children  of  this  sturdy  old  man  were  as  follows : 
Robert  A.,  Fielding  T.,  Matilda,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Simon  P.  O'Neal ;  Amanda,  married  to  W.  C.  Hardin ;  Ar- 
chibald A.,  Elizabeth  J.,  William  H.,  Samuel  R.,  and 
Sarah,  who  married  C.  C  Kindsey.  The  father  and  pio- 
neer, Henry  Glenn,  died  in  1832,  the  year  after  his  arrival 
in  this  county,  his  wife  surviving  him  only  a  few  years. 
Robert  A.  Glenn,  the  eldest  son,  married  and  reared  a  fam- 
ily of  children,  five  of  whom  are  yet  living:  Mary  E.,  the 
wife  of  Dr.  George  H.  Tebo,  living  in  Mt.  Sterling;  Henry 


A.,  a  practical  printer  and  newspaper  man,  now  residing  in 
Mt.  Sterling ;  Matilda,  the  wife  of  I.  N.  Miller,  of  Kansas ; 
Frederick,  residing  in  Kansas ;  and  Louis,  a  printer  Robert 
A.  Glenn  was  an  able  lawyer,  and  an  early  newspaper  man 
in  these  counties.  He  also  filled  the  office  of  Clerk  of  the 
Circuit  court,  in  1836,  while  Brown  county  was  yet  a  part 
of  Schuyler.  During  his  life,  which  was  strictly  honorable 
iu  every  walk,  he  held  other  offices  of  trust,  all  of  which 
were  filled  with  satisfaction  to  the  public.  He  died  in  De- 
cember, 1860.  Fielding  T.  Glenn  has  made  this  county  his 
home  ever  since  he  came  to  the  State  with  his  father,  with 
the  exception  of  two  years  in  the  far  west,  on  a  prospecting* 
tour.  His  principal  occupation  has  been  that  of  a  farmer, 
though  he  has  found  time  to  serve  his  neighbors  in  the  office 
of  justice  of  the  peace,  to  which  he  has  been  frequently 
elected.  He  served  his  country  in  the  Black  Hawk  war, 
being  a  member  of  a  company  commanded  by  Captain  W. 
C.  Ralls,  and  attached  to  the  Third  Regiment  Upon  the 
breaking  out  of  the  late  rebellion,  his  patriotism  and  vene- 
ration f.>r  his  country's  flag  induced  him  again  to  bear  arms 
in  its  defense.  He  was  commissioned  to  the  office  of  second 
lieutenant  of  Company  H.,  Fiftieth  Regiment,  Illinois  In- 
fantry. He  received  this  commission  from  Governor  Yates, 
being  promoted  for  meritorious  services  while  on  the  field 
of  battle.  He  has  been  three  times  married,  and  is  the 
father  of  eleven  children  by  the  first  two  wives.  Five  of  the 
numbtr  yet  live:  William  H.,  Robert  A.,  James  M.,  Irene, 
wife  of  Peter  Thomas,  and  Archibald  A.  All  of  the  sons 
have  made  their  homes  in  Nebraska,  and  the  daughters  are 
residents  of  Cooperstown.  Archibald  A.  Glenn  was  born 
iu  Kentucky,  and  married  Lavinia  Cooper.  Mr.  Glenn's 
family  was  small,  and  at  the  present  day  he  has  but  two 
children  alive,  both  of  whom  are  residents  of  Kansas.  His 
daughter,  Ella,  is  the  wife  of  William  Shields.  William 
C.  is  his  only  son.  Mr.  Glenn,  while  a  resident  of  this 
county,  attained  to  a  prominent  place  in  the  political  his- 
tory of  the  State,  being  elected  as  President  of  the  State 
Senate,  at  the  time  Governor  Oglesby  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  Lieutenant-Governor  Beveridge 
becoming  Governor,  Mr.  Glenn  became  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor. Prior  to  his  election  to  the  State  Senate,  Mr.  Glenn 
served  the  people  of  Brown  county  as  Circuit  Clerk  for 
twelve  years,  and  as  Associate  Justice  of  the  county  court. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  enterprise,  being  always  engaged  in 
active  business  in  Mt.  Sterling,  for  many  years  of  which 
place  he  was  a  prominent  citizen,  until  his  removal  to  the 
city  of  Wichita,  Kansas,  where  he  now  lives.  William  H. 
is  a  prominent  citizen  of  Ripley  township.  He  has  held 
the  offices  of  justice  of  the  peace,  collector,  supervisor,  and 
other  official  positions,  all  of  which  have  been  competently 
discharged.  He  has  two  daughters,  Ruth,  the  wife  of  Dr. 
Russell,  and  Ella,  living  at  home.  Samuel  R.  Glenn  lives 
in  Franklin  county,  Nebraska,  though  a  resident  of  the 
county,  and  a  prominent  business  man  of  Ripley,  until  two 
years  ago. 

William  Taylor  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  coming  to 
Illinois  in  1829,  and  stopping  in  Morgan  county.  From 
that  place  he  came  to  Cooperstown  in  1831 ;  with  him  he 


HISTORY   OF    SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


321 


brought  a  wife  and  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  now  liv- 
ing, respected  citizens  of  the  county.  His  son,  William  J.,  is  a 
prosperous  farmer  in  Cooperstown  township  ;  and  R.  H.  Ross, 
his  step  son,  is  a  miller  in  Mt.  Sterling.  The  Perrys  were 
among  the  very  early  settlers  of  Cooperstown  township,  and 
several  of  their  descendants  are  yet  residents  of  the  town- 
ship. Moses  W.  Pettigrew  came  from  South  Carolina,  of 
which  state  he  was  a  native,  with  his  father,  Montgomery 
Pettigrew,  in  1818,  and  settled  in  Gallatin  county.  Here 
Moses  grew  to  manhood,  and  married  Rebecca  Evans,  of 
Kentucky.  In  1825  Moses  ca"me  to  Schuyler  county,  and 
located  in  Woodstock  township,  where  he  continued  to  reside 
until  1832,  when  he  moved  across  the  creek  to  Cooperstown, 
settling  on  section  21.  Here  he  lived  until  1841,  when  he 
moved  to  Texas,  and  remained  until  '43,  when  he  returned 
and  settled  in  Elkhorn  township.  Being  of  a  restless  dispo- 
sition, he  moved  around  from  place  to  place  in  this  county, 
and  about  1865  he  again  migrated  to  Iowa,  where  he  re- 
mained until  he  died,  shortly  afterwards.  He  reared  a 
family  of  five  children,  four  of  whom  raised  families,  viz. : 
William  Franklin,  who  was  killed  in  1848;  James  H,  born 
in  1830,  and  is  still  living  on  section  23,  hale  and  hearty; 
Charles  W.  lives  in  the  Black  Hills ;  Mary  Ann,  married, 
and  living  in  Kansas;  Andrew  Jackson,  living  in  Kansas; 
and  Minerva,  wife  of  William  Clark,  of  Missouri  township. 
Among  the  native  Virginians  who  came  to  Illinois  at  an 
early  day  to  seek  a  home,  were  two  brothers,  Benjamin  and 
Joseph  Robinson,  who  came  from  Kentucky,  where  they 
had  been  raised.  In  company  with  their  wives,  each  having 
a  family  of  two  children,  they  reached  the  territory  now 
comprising  Brown  county,  in  the  fall  of  1835.  Joseph  set- 
tled in  Cooperstown  township,  where  he  remained  a  short 
time,  and  then  moved  to  Versailles,  where  he  continued  to 
reside  until  two  years  ago,  and  then  went  to  Mt.  Sterling, 
which  he  has  since  made  his  home.  Benjamin  ultimately 
settled  in  Versailles  township,  which  has  continued  to  be  his 
home  up  to  the  present  time.  Anna,  the  wife  of  Ira  Howell, 
of  Cooperstown  ;  and  her  sister,  Margaret,  wife  of  Edmund 
Perry,  of  Mt.  Sterling,  were  daughters  of  John  Thomas,  a 
native  of  Kentucky,  who  settled  in  Mt.  Sterling  township 
in  1836,  where  he  lived  ten  years,  and  then  moved  to  Iowa. 
Joseph  Cox  was  also  one  of  the  natives  of  Virginia,  who 
went  with  his  parents  to  Kentucky,  while  a  youth,  grew  up 
and  married  Cynthia  Brockman,  daughter  of  Aaron  Brock- 
man,  in  that  state,  and  with  his  wife  came  to  Mt.  Sterling 
township  in  the  year  1832,  and  from  there  came  to  Coopers- 
town, and  settled  upon  section  25,  where  he  resided  for  seven 
years.  Tiring  of  the  county,  in  1844  he  again  left,  going  to 
Morgan  county,  Illinois,  where  he  died  in  1847,  aged  about 
sixty  years.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  was  among 
the  first  to  work  at  the  forge  in  this  county,  and  followed  it 
as  an  occupation  while  a  resident  of  this  township.  lie  had 
a  family  of  eleven  children,  of  whom  but  two  are  now  living. 
His  son,  Joseph  A  ,  is  a  prominent  citizen  and  farmer  of 
Cooperstown,  and  has  represented  his  township  for  six  years 
as  a  member  of  the  board  of  supervisors.  Robert  A.  Cox, 
another  son,  is  a  prominent  and  successful  merchant  of  Mt. 
Kieiling.  The  names  of  the  other  children  are  William  F. ; 
41 


James  P.;  John  B. ;  Mary,  who  was  married  to  Edward 
Logsdon;  Lydia,  married  to  John  Brockman;  Sarah,  the 
wife  of  Daniel  Surratt ;  Cynthia,  wife  of  William  Wash- 
burn ;  all  of  whom  are  dead.     They  all  left  large  families. 

Samuel  Bridwell  emigrated  from  Kentucky  to  this  place 
in  1837,  and  settled  upon  section  15.  He  was  a  native 
of  Virginia.  His  family  consisted  of  six  daughters,  all  of 
whom  were  married  and  have  families  living  in  Brown  or 
Schuyler  counties,  except  Sarah  Ann  Cox,  who  died  in  1870. 

Jonathan  Howell  grew  to  manhood  and  was  married  to 
Elizabeth  Gillham,  in  his  native  state,  North  Carolina.  He 
left  the  state  in  company  with  his  wife,  and  came  to  Illinois, 
at  which  place  he  arrived  and  chose  a  home  upon  section 
16,  Cooperstown  township,  in  1838,  where  he  died  in  1861, 
at  the  ripe  old  age  of  over  seventy  years.  He  raised  a  large 
family — five  of  the  number  being  still  living.  Ira  resides 
in  this  township,  on  section  16  ;  James  resides  in  Schuyler 
county ;  Esther,  widow  of  David  Beard  ;  Sarah,  wife  of 
John  Stutsman  ;  and  Harrison,  who  now  lives  in  Missouri. 

Sarah  Mallory,  in  1838,  came  to  this  place,  and  settled 
upon  section  22.  She  came  from  Kentucky,  and  brought 
with  her  Reuben,  James  P., and  Elizabeth,  who  married  Mor- 
decai  Shelly.  Her  children,  William  and  Reuben,  still  live  in 
the  county,  and  Mrs.  Kelly  resides  east  of  Mound  Station. 

Allen  Alexander,  a  Tennesseean,  first  stopped  in  Morgan 
county  in  1830,  and  in  '31  came  to  Schuyler  county,  and 
settled  just  north  of  Crooked  creek,  where  he  lived  until 
1840,  and  -then  moved  into  Cooperstown  township.  His 
advent  into  Brown  county  contributed  largely  to  the  popu- 
lation, as  he  brought  with  him  a  family  of  nine  children — 
six  daughters  and  three  sons.  Seven  are  living,  and  three 
of  that  number  reside  in  this  county,  as  follows : — J.  H.,  a 
thrifty  farmer,  lives  about  one  mile  south  of  Mt.  Sterling; 
Lucy  J.,  wife  of  James  Barton,  and  Octavia,  wife  of  Martin 
Johnson.  The  old  man  built  and  conducted  one  of  the  first 
ferries  across  the  creek.  He  died  in  1841,  and  his  wife  in 
1847. 

With  this  we  close  a  brief  sketch  of  the  first  settlers  of  the 
township — men  who  encountered  the  hardships  of  the  wil- 
derness, and  its  only  occupants  the  Indians  and  wild  beasts ; 
and  by  their  earnest  and  unremitting  toil  subjugated  mother 
Nature,  and  made  her  a  servant  of  mankind.  Upon  the 
rocks  along  the  bluff  are  rudely  carved  the  names  of  many 
of  the  old  pioneers,  but  when  time  shall  have  crumbled  the 
rocks  to  powder,  their  names  will  yet  live  in  their  early 
work,  by  which  dense  forests  were  converted  into  pleasant 
homes  for  the  posterity  of  man.  They  have  passed  away 
and  are  no  more. 

The  earliest  military  patents  of  land  in  township  1  south, 
range  2  west,  Cooperstown  township,  are  those  issued  to 
John  Chesur,  October  6,  1817,  and  conveyed  to  him  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  2,  and  was  signed  by  James 
Monroe,  President  of  the  United  States,  as  were  also  those 
following. 

Joseph  Emerson  for  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  4  ; 
and  to  Calvin  Dike  for  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  4  ; 
both  dated  December  4,  1817.  To  Henry  Chase  for  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  two,  dated  September  8th,  1817, 


322 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


patents  were  also  granted  to  the  following  described  parcels 
of  land  in  township  one  south,  range  one  west,  also  in  the 
civil  township  of  Coopers-town :  to  John  Henderson,  for 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  17;  and  to  Phineas 
Wright  for  the  northeast,  section  17,  both  dated  October, 
6th,  1817  ;  to  Cornelius  Bradford  for  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  19,  November  29,  1817 ;  Reuben  Bartlett  for  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  18  ;  and  Warren  Farrington 
for  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  18,  both  dated  Decem- 
ber 30th,  1817. 

Schools — The  schools  of  the  township  have  kept  pace 
with  the  development  and  improvements  of  the  community 
and,  to-day,  the  sites  of  the  schools  are  marked  by  neat  and 
comfortable  houses,  furnished  with  easy  and  appropriate 
seats.  The  old  log  or  pole  cabin,  with  its  puncheon  floors 
and  seats,  its  mud-daubed  walls,  and  great  fire-place,  have 
disappeared  with  the  march  of  time.  The  early  settlers 
were  imprtS-ed  with  the  importance  of  the  education 
of  their  children,  and  as  early  as  1832,  we  find  a  young  man 
named  George  W.  Lester,  teaching  a  summer  school  in  a 
cabin  built  by  the  neighborho'»d  on  section  nine;  while  a 
little  later  we  discover  Martin  De  Witt  engaged  in  the  same 
work.  The  house  in  which  De  Witt  instructed  the  grand- 
fathers and  grandmothers  of  many  of  the  present  citizens  of 
the  county,  was  a  small  log  cabin  which  had  been  built  by 
Philip  Briggs  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  24,  now 
owned  by  Caspar  Regar.  The  house  had  been  built  by 
Briggs  as  a  home ;  but  subsequently  he  entered  land  in 
Versailles  township,  where  he  settled,  and  his  former  neigh- 
bors appropriated  the  house  for  a  school.  In  the  summer  of 
1833,  Samuel  Brisco  taught  this  school,  and  was  succeeded 
by  a  man  named  McKnab.  These  early  schools  were  sus- 
tained by  private  subscription,  and  the  tuition  was  ordi- 
narily two  dollars  a  term  for  each  pupil. 

The  people  of  this  township,  being  mostly  emigrants  from 
Kentucky,  were  principally  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  held 
services  in  each  other's  houses.  The  first  preacher  of  the 
township  was  Henry-  Bell,  who  came  to  the  township  in 
1830.  He  was  a  Baptist,  or  '•hard-shell,  as  they  were 
called,  and  was  very  active  in  establishing  churches  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country  ;  and  in  looking  after  the  spirit- 
ual welfare  of  his  neighbors. 

Mills. — A  mill  in  the  olden  time  was  of  the  rudest  struc- 
ture, barely  able  to  crush  the  corn,  which  was  then  taken 
home  and  there  sifted,  or  used  unsifted.  They  were  not 
only  rude,  but  few  and  far  scattered,  taking,  oftentimes, 
two  or  more  days  to  go  and  return,  either  on  foot  or  on 
horseback,  with  the  grist  in  one  end  of  the  bag,  and  a  stone 
in  the  other  to  balance  it  The  first  mill  was  built  by  Abel 
Logan  in  1830,  on  Logan  creek,  about  one  and  one  half 
miles  west  of  where  the  stream  empties  its  waters  into 
Crooked  creek.  It  was  situated  upon  the  bank  of  the  creek, 
whose  waters  were  utilized  as  a  motive  power.  It  was  sim- 
ply a  corn  cracker,  but  it  answered  the  purposes  of  the  set- 
tlers as  fully  as  does  a  mill  of  the  present  day,  with  all  its 
patent  improvements,  and  bread  made  from  its  products  was 
productive  of  health  and  happiness.  The  settlement  in- 
creasing in  numbers,  justified  Pleasant,  Gabriel,  and  Mar- 


tin De  Witt  in  building  a  horse-power  mill  for  John  B. 
Houston,  in  1833.  The  mill  was  located  at  the  foot  of  the 
Bluffs,  about  a  mile  distant  and  north  of  La  Grange ;  it 
was  a  "band  "  mill,  and  the  stones  were  cut  and  put  into 
shape  by  Martin  De  Witt,  who  was  a  stone-cutter  by  trade. 
This  mill  received  a  large  patronage  for  many  miles  around, 
and  was  looked  upon  as  a  wonder  in  those  early  days. 

The  county  having  adopted  township  organization  in 
1854,  Cooperttown  sent  as  its  first  representative  in  the 
Board  of  Supervisors,  B  R  Parke,  who  served  two  suc- 
cessive years,  was  elected  the  first  chairman  of  the  Board, 
which  p  isition  he  creditably  filled  during  his  two  years  of 
official  life;  O  M  Henry  was  elected  in  1856;  Hiram  Bar- 
ker in  1857  ;  B.  F.  Da  Witt  in  1857-8-9,  and  was  chair- 
man of  the  Board  in  1858 ;  John  Chapman  in  1860, 
and  served  nine  consecu'ive  years,  and  was  chairman 
during  the  years  1861  to  1863,  inclusive,  and  during  1866 
and  1867 ;  Benjamin  F.  De  Witt  was  chosen  in  1869, 
and  acted  as  chairman  during  his  term ;  William  Tay- 
lor, in  1870;  John  Burgesser,  in  1871-72;  Stephen  D. 
Cox,  in  1873;  Ira  Howell,  in  1874—75  ;  Joseph  A.  Cox, 
from  1876  to  1881,  included;  the  last  two  years  of 
his  term  of  office  he  served  as  chairman  ;  and  the  present 
incumbent,  William  C.  Perry,  who  was  elected  in  1882. 

LA   GRANGE. 

This  little  town  situated  upon  the  west  bank  of  Illinois 
river  in  the  eastern  portion  of  Ctx>perstown  township,  upon 
the  low  bottom  land;  and  has  frequently  been  submerged  by 
the  encroachment  of  the  river  during  its  season  of  high 
water.  The  first  persons  to  seek  a  habitation  where  it  now 
stands,  were  William  Wilson,  who  selected  a  plat  of  ground 
at  the  foot  of  the  bluffs,  and  John  and  Berry  Whitten,  who 
selected  a  high  point  of  land  upon  the  top  of  the  bluffs,  then 
known  as  "  Cape  Lookout,"  by  the  old  settlers.  The  time 
of  the  location  of  the  above-named  settlers  was  about  1829. 
William  Wilson  utilized  the  location  as  a  means  of  gaining 
a  livelihood,  and  immediately  established  a  ferry  at  that 
place  in  1829.  In  1832,  a  man  named  Henry  Robinson 
opened  a  store  in  a  small  log  cabin  at  the  base  of  the  bluff. 
This  was  the  first  store  in  the  place.  The  town  received  an 
accession,  1834,  in  the  persons  of  several  eastern  parties, 
wh  i  were  possessed  of  some  means,  and  at  once  engaged  in 
business.  Of  this  patty,  Wheeler  Barnes  and  R.  H.  Hurl- 
but,  opened  general  ttores  and  afforded  the  settlers  an  op- 
portunity to  barter,  an.l  ready  market  for  whatever  they 
might  have  to  trade  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  A  second 
lot  of  settlers,  consisting  of  Peter  I.  Dodge,  with  about  a 
dozen  companions,  who  arrived  in  1834,  augmented  the 
population  of  the  little  hamlet ;  and  did  much  to  increase 
its  growth  and  prosperity  by  their  industry  and  per- 
severance. 

The  town  continued  to  increase  in  numbers  until  about 
1837.  Frank  M.  Simpson,  the  owner  of  the  land  upon  which 
it  was  located,  in  the  southwest  quaiter  of  section  29,  town- 
ship 1  south,  range  1,  secured  the  services  of  Allen  Persinger, 
county  surveyor,  who  made  a  plat  of  the  town,  and  had  it 
placed  on  record,  June  24,  1837.     Three  additions  were  sub- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


323 


sequently  added  to  the  original  town.  Its  location  upon  the 
banks  of  the  river  soon  caused  it  to  become  a  landing  for  all 
the  boats  that  plied  the  waters  of  the  Illinois,  and  before  the 
county  was  favored  with  railroad  facilities  it  became  the  re- 
ceiving and  shipping  point  of  the  interior  town  of  Mt.  Ster- 
ling, Versailles,  and  other  places.  At  this  place  all  goods 
arrived,  and  from  here  all  produce  was  shipped.  This  greatly 
facilitated  the  growth  of  the  town,  as  a  large  flouring  mill  was 
built,  which  enjoyed  a  large  business,  and  from  which  ship- 
ments to  the  east  were  made,  uutil  destroyed  by  fire.  Three 
or  four  mills  were  subsequently  erected  at  different  times. 
Numerous  stores,  several  hotels,  and  all  kinds  of  business 
were  carried  on  in  a  profitable  manner,  and  enterprise  was 
visible  upon  all  sides.  Large  warehouses  and  an  elevator 
were  built  upon  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  much  grain  was 
shipped  from  the  town.  John  Emerick  kept  the  hotel. 
When  the  railroad  entered  the  county,  other  towns  sprang 
up  along  its  course,  and  La  Grange  as  rapidly  lost  its  former 
greatness,  and  at  the  present  there  is  but  one  store  kept  by  A. 
C.  Orr,  and  a  blacksmith  shop  operated  by  Andrew  Boss, 
Jr.  There  is  some  coal  mined  by  means  of  a  drift,  but  the 
vein  is  only  thirty  inches  in  thickness.  At  the  present 
writing,  the  site  of  the  town  is  covered  to  a  depth  of  ten  feet 
with  water.  It  may  almost  be  classed  with  the  things  of  the 
past. 

COOPERS  TOWN. 

Near  the  central  portion  of  the  township,  bearing  the  same 
name  as  the  town,  the  pleasant  little  village  of  Cooperstown 
is  situated.  The  village  was  surveyed  and  platted  by  Moses 
Black,  on  the  11th  day  of  February,  1870.  The  owners  of 
the  land,  are  H.  E.  Henry,  G-  V.  Henry,  J.  L.  Mallory,  Elihu 
Parke,  and  S.  D.  Cox.  It  is  located  on  sections  fourteen, 
fifteen,  twenty-two,  and  twenty-three,  mainly  upon  section 


twenty-two.  At  one  time,  it  adopted  the  general  law  per- 
taining to  villages,  but  has  since  abandoned  its  organiza- 
tions- It  is  located  about  ten  miles  east  of  the  county  seat. 
The  first  step  towards  the  establishment  of  a  village  was 
taken  in  1856,  by  William  F.  Cox,  who  erected  a  small 
frame  storehouse.  No  further  improvements  were  made 
until  18(56,  when  Frank  Putnam  built  another  store.  Farm- 
houses were  standing  close  to  the  store  first  built,  and  the 
little  village  took  the  name  of  Cooperstown.  It  has  gradually 
increased  until  its  present  population  numbers  one  hundred 
souls.  The  first  blacksmith  in  the  town  was  Calvin  Wilson. 
A  post-office,  bearing  the  name  of  the  town,  was  established, 
and  Samuel  R.  Glenn  received  the  first  appointment  as  post- 
master, and  opened  the  post-office  at  his  residence.  John 
Emerick  improved  the  farm  upon  which  the  village  stands, 
and  at  an  early  day  operated  a  saw  mill. 

THE  PRESENT  BUSINESS 

of  the  town  is  sufficient  to  support  the  following  : 

General  Stores. — S.  D.  Cox,  J.  A.  Cox,  and  W.  A. 
Thomas. 

Blacksmith  Shops. — H.  R.  Diekerson,  and  D.  H.  Anderson. 

Shoe  and  Harness  Shop. — Andrew  Johnson. 

Cooper  Shop. — H.  E.  Henry. 

Physician. — J.  T.  Bradberry. 

Post  Office. — J.  A.  Cox,  p.  m. 

There  is  also  a  neat  school-house.  There  is  only  one 
church  in  the  town,  that  of  the  Baptist  denomination.  The 
structure  is  a  small,  neat  frame  building. 

The  population  of  Cooperstown,  according  to  the  census  of 
1880,  was  1,649,  and  George  Logsdon,  aged  86  years,  was 
the  oldest  person. 


■^*^S^£§£^- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


-+*r-t-~>r*- 


JONATHAN  W.  SECKMAN. 

Among  the  old  residents  of  this  part  of  Illinois  is  J.  W. 
Seckman  of  Cooperstown  township.  His  parents  were 
William  Seckman  and  Susan  Wright.  His  father  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  year  1812  moved  to  Indiana. 
On  the  journey  from  Pennsylvania  occurred  the  birth  of 
Mr.  Seckman  on  the  14th  of  April,  1812.  His  father 
settled  in  Indiana,  ten  or  twelve  miles  north  of  Lawrence- 
burg.  His  mother  died  when  Mr.  Seckman  was  four  years 
old,  and  he  was  then  raised  by  his  grandfather  Wright,  who 
lived  in  Perry  county,  Ohio.     He  was  of  an  active,  restless 


disposition,  and  did  not  much  like  the  confinement  of  the 
school  room.  In  the  year  1828,  in  company  with  an  older 
brother,  he  came  from  Ohio  to  Illinois.  Walking  to  Ports- 
mouth on  the  Ohio  river  he  there  embarked  on  a  steamboat 
by  which  he  reached  St.  Louis.  From  St.  Louis  he  came 
on  a  keel  boat  to  Naples.  Running  a  keel  boat  up  stream 
was  hard  work,  and  it  took  two  days  and  a  night  to  get  to 
Alton,  twenty-five  miles  above  St.  Louis,  and  seven 
days  to  reach  Naples.  He  landed  at  Naples  on  the  6th  of 
August,  1828.  He  remained  for  a  short  time  with  his  father, 
who  lived  about  ten  miles  west  of  Jacksonville,  and  then 
worked  for  other  parties  several  years  in  Morgan    county. 


324 


EI  STOUT   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


Out  of  the  first  year  he  lost  only  four  days  time.  He 
hauled  goods  to  Jacksonville  from  St.  Louis,  Naples 
and  Meredosia.  »When  the  Jacksonville  and  Meredosia 
railroad  was  built,  the  first  railroad  constructed  in  the 
state,  he  hauled  from  Bluff  City  part  of  the  material  with 
which  some  of  the  bridges  were  built.  He  subsequently  went 
to  Adams  county.  March  1841,  he  married  Nancy  P. 
Taylor,  daughter  of  James  Taylor.  She  was  born  in  Bour- 
bon county,  Kentucky,  and  at  the  time  of  her  marriage 
lived  in  what  is  now  Scott  county. 

After  his  marriage  he  lived  for  the  remainder  of  the  year 
1841  on  the  Sny  Carte  island  in  Menard  county.  While 
there  he  was  elected  a  justice  of  the  peace.  He  then  went 
back  to  Morgan  county.  In  1844  he  came  to  Brown 
county  and  settled  two  miles  southwest  of  Cooperstown.  The 
land  on  which  he  had  settled  was  claimed  by  the  holder  of 
a  military  patent,  and  in  1848  he  moved  to  his  present  res- 
idence in  section  eighteen  of  township  one  south,  range  two 
west.  There  were  then  -no  improvements  on  this  place,  not 
a  solitary  rail  to  work  or  attempt  to  make  a  farm  out  of 
the  wilderness.  He  entered  forty  acres  of  land,  and  bor- 
rowed ten  dollars  of  the  money  with  which  to  pay  the 
land  office  fees.  It  was  fifteen  years  before  he  paid  this 
ten  dollars.  He  had  commenced  life  with  no  capital.  He 
landed  from  the  boat  in  Menard  county,  a  few  days  after 
his  marriage,  with  only  twenty-five  cents  in  money  in  his 
pocket.  From  this  small  beginning,  with  hard  work,  he 
has  managed  to  secure  considerable  property,  and  is  now 
the  owner  of  seven  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Cooperstown, 
Mt.  Sterling,  and  Missouri  townships  on  which  he  owes 
no  man  a  dollar.  His  oldest  son,  James  Riley,  resides  in 
Nebraska.  The  next,  John  William,  moved  to  Carroll 
county,  Missouri,  and  died  there.  Kate  J.,  married  Wil- 
liam Schultz,  and  lives  in  Nebraska.  Charles,  Jonathan 
Franklin,  George  Adolphus,  Josephus,  and  Archibald  Fred- 
erick, are  residents  of  Brown  county.  He  has  been  a 
straight  out  Democrat  from  1836  when  he  voted  for  Van 
Buren  for  president.  For  fifteen  years  he  served  as  con- 
stable. In  early  life  he  was  fond  of  hunting,  and  spent 
many  a  day  in  the  chase  of  wolves  and  foxes.  He  is  one 
of  the  old  settlers,  now  becoming  scarce,  who  witnessed 
the  hardships  of  the  early  settlement  of  the  country,  and 
who  think  there  have  been  no  times  so  good  as  the  pioneer 
days  fifty  years  ago. 


THOMAS  BOWE. 

The  town  of  Thourles  in  Tipperary  county,  Ireland,  was 
the  birth  place  of  Thomas  Bowe.  The  history  of  the  family 
dates  back  to  France  from  which  country  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  his  ancestors  four  generations  back,  emigrated  to 
Ireland.  The  name  was  originally  spelled  De  Bow  and 
from  that  was  changed  to  its  present  form.  His  grandfather 
was  named  Thomas  Bowe.  His  father,  Jeremiah  Bowe, 
was  born  in  Tipperary  county,  Ireland,  in  the  year  1800. 


He  was  the  oldest  of  two  children.  His  mother  died  when 
he  was  between  three  and  four  years  of  age.  He  secured  a 
better  education  than  was  common  at  that  day.  It  was  de- 
signed that  he  should  enter  the  mercantile  business,  and  he 
underwent  a  course  of  study  especially  fitting  him  for  that 
pursuit.  His  uncle,  who  held  a  government  position  as 
teacher  in  one  of  the  parishes,  was  for  a  time  his  instructor, 
and  he  afterward  attended  a  high  school.  On  reaching 
manhood  he  married  Margaret  Brassill,  who  was  born  in  the 
same  part  of  Ireland  as  himself. 

In  the  year  1835  Jeremiah  Bowe  came  to  America,  leaving 
his  family  then  consisting  of  a  wife  and  one  child  behind  in 
Ireland.  He  remained  about  two  years  in  Massachusetts, 
and  not  considering  the  advantages  of  this  country  at  that 
time  sufficient  to  induce  him  to  become  a  permanent  resident 
with  his  family,  of  this  country,  he  returned  to  Ireland. 
Subsequently  occurred  the  famine  in  Ireland,  and  hard 
times  followed  after.  It  was  then  that  he  resolved  to  come 
to  the  United  States.  He  left  his  native  country  with  his 
family  in  September,  1849.  Mr.  Bowe,  then  a  boy  of  nearly 
seven,  remembers  the  voyage  across  the  ocean  as  rough  and 
stormy.  Landing  from  their  vessel  at  New  Orleans,  the 
family  came  up  the  Mississippi  and  Illinois  rivers  to  La 
Grange,  and  there  set  foot  on  the  soil  of  Illinois  and  of 
Brown  county. 

The  means  of  his  father  had  been  nearly  exhausted  du- 
ring the  two  years  of  hard  times  through  which  he  had 
lived  in  the  old  country.  He  bought,  however,  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  section  twenty  of  township  one 
south,  range  one  west.  He  died  in  1855.  He  was  an  indus- 
trious and  energetic  man,  of  more  than  usual  intelligence. 
His  widow,  who  was  born  in  March  1807,  is  still  living. 
Their  children  were  seven.  The  oldest,  Mary,  is  the  wife 
of  Edward  O'Connell.  Ellen,  who  married  Michael  O'Con- 
nell,  died  in  January,  1882.  Bridget,  the  third  child,  was 
drowned  in  Ireland  at  the  age  of  two  years.  The  remain- 
ing children  are  Thomas  and  John  H.,  Bridget,  wife  of 
James  Bowe,  of  Bluff  City,  Scott  county,  and  Margaret. 

Thomas  Bowe  was  the  fourth  of  seven  children,  and  was 
born  on  the  22d  of  December,  1842.  The  schools  of  the 
neighborhood  in  which  he  lived  in  this  county,  afforded  the 
principal  advantages  he  had  for  obtaining  an  education. 
One  wiuter  he  attended  the  public  school  at  Beardstown. 
When  he  became  of  age  he  and  his  brother  undertook  the 
management  of  the  farm,  on  which  their  mother  had  lived 
after  the  death  of  her  husband,  and  together  carried  on 
farming  operations  until  1871.  Since  then  he  has  been 
farming  for  himself.  He  owns  five  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  land  in  sections  seventeen  and  eighteen  of  town- 
ship one  south,  range  one  west.  His  farm  is  mostly  b  >ttom 
land  and  is  rich  aud  productive.  In  his  politics  he  has 
always  been  a  Democrat,  and  has  taken  great  interest  in  the 
success  of  the  Djinocratic  party  whose  principles  he  believes 
to  be  best  fitted  to  carry  on  this  government.  He  has  been 
identified  with  the  educational  interests  of  his  part  of  the 
county,  and  for  twelve  years  has  served  as  school  treasurer 
of  Cjoperstown  township. 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


325 


JOHN  H.  BOWE. 

John  H.  Bowe,  one  of  the  representative  farmers  of 
Cooperstown  township,  was  born  at  Thourles,  Tipperary 
county,  Ireland,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  1845.  He  was 
the  fifth  of  a  family  of  seven  children  of  Jeremiah  Bowe 
and  Margaret  Brassill.  About  ten  years  before  the  birth  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  his  father  came  to  the  United 
States,  and  after  remaining  a  year  or  two  in  New  England 
went  back  to  Ireland.  Iu  the  year  1849  he  came  a  second 
time  to  America,  this  time  with  his  family,  with  the  in- 
tention of  making  this  country  his  permanent  home.  Land- 
ing at  New  Orleans  they  eame  up  the  Mississippi  to  St.  Louis 
and  thence  up  the  Illinois  river  to  La  Grange.  Jeremiah 
Bowe  had  a  brother  living  in  Schuyler  county,  and  after  re- 
maining in  that  county  three  months  he  settled  in  Coopers- 
town  township  in  this  county.  In  1852  he  purchased  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  twenty  of  township  one  south, 
range  one  west,  and  there  lived  till  his  death  on  the  12th 
of  April,  1855,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six.  His  widow  still  sur- 
vives him. 

Mr.  Bowe  was  four  years  old  when  he  came  to  Illinois. 
He  attended  school  in  the  neighborhood  of  La  Grange,  and 
from  the  time  he  was  eleven  till  he  was  fifteen  years  old  went 
to  school  at  Beardstown.  During  part  of  the  year  1869,  he 
attended  a  commercial  college  at  Quincy.  May  28th, 
1872,  he  married  Mrs.  Ellen  Howell,  daughter  of 
Orris  M.  Henry,  an  old  and  prominent  resident  of  the 
county.  Her  father  was  born  in  Ontario  county,  New 
York,  in  1814;  came  to  Ohio  in  1818,  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Naples  in  this  state  in  1820,  and  afterward  to  Brown 
county.  He  died  November  7th,  1875.  Her  mother, 
Eliza  Emerick,  was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Virginia, 
in  1814,  came  to  Ohio  when  four  year  old,  to  Morgan  county 
in  this  state  in  1828,  and  to  what  is  now  Brown  county, 
in  the  fall  of  18o0.  She  dkd  on  the  9th  of  April,  1875. 
Mrs.  Bowe  is  one  of  a  family  of  eight  children,  composed  of 
six  boys  and  two  girls.  She  was  first  married  in  1867  to 
George  C.  Howell,  who  died  two  years  and  nine  months 
afterwards. 

For  some  years  Mr  Bowe  was  farming  in  partnership 
with  his  brother,  Thomas  Bowe,  but  since  1871  has  been 
conducting  agricultural  operations  on  his  own  account.  His 
farm  comprises  five  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  is  situated 
along  the  bluffs  about  a  mile  and  a  half  above  La  Grange. 
The  most  of  it  consists  of  the  rich  and  productive  land  of 
the  Illinois  river  bottom.  The  buildings  are  handsome  and 
substantial,  and  the  farm  well  improved.  Of  his  children 
the  oldest,  Maggie  Ann,  died  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1874,  at  the  age  of  thirteen  months.  The  three  living  are 
James  Edwin,  Grace,  and  Thomas  Nolte.  Another  died  in 
infancy.  Mrs.  Bowe  has  one  child  by  her  previous  marriage, 
Thomas  Martin  Howell.  In  his  politics  Mr.  Bowe  has  al- 
ways been  a  member  of  the  Democratic  party,  of  which  he 
has  been  one  of  the  most  active  and  efficient  members  in 
Cooperstown  township.  He  is  a  gentleman  who  stands  well 
in  the  community  in  which  he  lives.  In  1870  and  again  in 
1872  he  served  as  collector  of  Cooperstown  township.     He 


was  elected  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  1877,  and  re-elected  in 
1881. 


JACOB  H.  SNYDEK. 

Tins  gentleman,  one  of  the  progressive  and  enterprising 
farmers  of  Cooperstown  township,  isa  native  of  Perry  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  born  on  the  10th  day  of  June,  1831. 
His  father,  Jacob  Snyder,  was  born  in  Germany,  and  came 
to  the  United  States  with  his  father  when  fourteen  years  old. 
This  was  about  the  year  1816.  The  family  settled  in  Perry 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  there  Jacob  Snyder  grew  to  years 
of  maturity,  and  married  Elizabeth  Young,  who  was  born 
and  raised  in  Perry  county,  Pennsylvania.  In  1837  he 
moved  to  Preble  county,  Ohio,  and  there  lived  till  his  death 
in  the  year  1858,  at  the  age  of  fifty -six.  His  widow  survived 
him  ten  years,  and  died  in  1868.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  the  sixth  of  a  family  of  eleven  children.  He  was  six 
years  old  at  the  time  the  family  moved  from  Pennsylvania 
to  Preble  county,  Ohio,  in  which  locality  he  grew  to  man- 
hood. When  his  father  settled  there,  that  part  of  Ohio 
was  comparatively  new,  and  a  great  part  of  his  time  in  boy- 
hood was  spent  in  assisting  to  bring  a  farm  under  cultiva- 
tion. He  attended,  as  he  had  opportunity,  the  schools  of  the 
neighborhood,  which  for  the  most  part  were  kept  up  by  sub- 
scription. 

On  the  7th  of  October,  1860,  he  married  Margaret 
Rush,  who  was  born  and  raised  in  Preble  county.  Her 
father,  Cornelius  Rush,  and  her  mother,  whose  name  before 
marriage,  was  Barbara  Brower,  was  from  Virginia.  After 
his  marriage  he  went  to  farming  on  his  own  account.  In 
1863,  during  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  he  served  four  months 
as  sergeant  in  company  D,  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fifty- 
sixth  Ohio  regiment.  He  removed  from  Ohio  to  Illinois  in 
the  year  1865.  He  first  settled  in  Woodstock  township  of 
Schuyler  county,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  bf  land.  He  had  accumulated  about  one 
thousand  dollars  in  Ohio,  and  this  constituted  his  capital  on 
coming  to  this  state.  He  was  a  citizen  of  Schuyler  county 
till  1872.  In  the  fall  of  1871  he  purchased  his  present  farm 
in  section  thirteen,  of  township  one  south,  range  two  west 
(Cooperstown  township)  on  which  he  moved  the  following 
spring.  He  has  been  engaged  in  agricultural  operations  on 
an  active  scale,  and  is  the  possessor  of  five  hundred  and- forty 
acres  of  land.  His  farm  has  an  advantageous  location,  ex- 
tending into  the  rich  and  fertile  soil  of  the  bottom,  and  in 
capacity  of  production  will  compare  well  with  the  other 
farms  of  Brown  county. 

He  has  nine  children,  whose  names  are  Joseph  F.,  John 
B.,  Ida  N.,  Cora  G-,  Luella  B.,  Angeline  A.,  Charles  H., 
Oliver  E.,and  Arthur  L.  All  are  living  at  home.  In  poli- 
tics he  has  been  a  Republican  from  the  time  the  Republican 
party  was  formed.  His  sentiments  were  in  opposition  to  sla- 
very, and  when  the  Free  Soil  movement  started  it  had  his 
sympathies.  When  the  Republican  party  was  organized  he 
was  one  of  the  first  to  give  it  his  support,  and  in  1856  voted 
for  Fremont,  the  first  nominee  presented  by  the  Republicans 
for  president.     He  is  known  as  an  intelligent  and  enterpris- 


326 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


ing  farmer.  The  comfortable  position  which  he  occupies 
among  the  well  to-do  farmers  of  the  county  is  due  to  his  own 
industry  and  good  management.  He  started  with  no  capi- 
tal except  his  energy,  and  no  advantages  beyond  those  which 
are  common  to  all  men.  As  a  fitting  representative  of  the 
agricultural  interests  of  the  country  his  name  is  presented 
to  the  readers  of  this  work. 


ABSALOM  A.  PARKS  (deceased), 

Formerly  a  resident  of  Cooperstown  township,  was  a  native 
of  Madison  county,  Kentucky,  and  was  born  on  the  8th  of 
May,  1830.  His  father  was  Daniel  Parks,  and  his  mother's 
name,  before  marriage,  was  Minerva  Adams.  He  was  the 
oldest  of  six  children.  When  he  was  about  six  years  old 
his  father  removed  with  his  family  from  Kentucky  to  Illi- 
nois, remaining  for  a  short  time  in  Morgan  county,  and  then 
coming  to  ths  county  and  settling  east  of  Cooperstown. 
The  common  schools  were  the  means  by  which  he  acquired  a 
good  business  education.  March  16th,  1864,  he  married 
Sarah  Robinson,  who  was  born  in  Fayette  county,  Ken- 
tucky, and  whose  father,  Joseph  Robinson,  moved  from 
Kentucky  to  Illinois  in  1836,  when  Mrs.  Parks  was  a  year 
old,  and  settled  in  Versailles  township.  After  his  marriage 
Mr.  Parks  engaged  in  farming  on  section  17  of  township 
1  south,  range  2  west,  where  he  resided  till  his  death.  He 
began  with  only  moderate  means,  but  was  industrious  and 
energetic,  a  good  farmer,  and  at  his  death  had  one  of  the 
best  farms  in  the  township,  consisting  of  three  hundred  a  nd 
eighty  acres.  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  his  health 
was  impaired,  and  he  died  from  typhoid  pneumonia,  on  the 
22d  of  March,  1875.  Of  his  eight  children  six  are  living: 
Joseph,  Daniel  A.,  Minnie,  Tabbie,  Maggie  and  Fred  D. 
In  his  political  opinions  he  was  a  a  Republican.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Adventist  Church,  with  which  he  had  been 
connected  for  a  number  of  years  previous  to  his  death.  He 
was  a  man  of  enterprise  and  public  spirit,  a  good  citizen, 
and  his  death  was  a  loss  to  the  community.  His  widow 
and  children  still  remain  on  the  farm. 


CASPAR  REGER. 

Caspar  Reger,  one  of  the  large  farmers  of  Cooperstown 
township,  was  born  at  Winzeln,  Wurtemburg,  Germany,  on 
the  8th  of  January,  1822.  His  early  life  was  spent  in  his 
native  town.  By  the  compulsory  system  of  education  exist- 
ing in  Germany,  he  was  sent  to  school,  from  the  time  he  was 
six  till  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  has  since  been  an 
extensive  reader,  and  is  well  informed  on  a  variety  of  sub- 
jects. In  Germany,  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  stone  cutter, 
an  occupation  followed  by  his  father.  In  the  year  1849,  he 
came  to  America.  From  New  York,  where  he  landed,  he 
came  to  St.  Louis.  On  the  loth  of  December,  1849,  he 
married  El'zabeth  Bregenzer,  who  was  also  born  in  Wur- 
temburg, Germany,  and  came  to  America  the  same  year  with 
himself.     A  mouth  or  two  after  his  marriage,  he  went  to 


Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  was  employed  for  four  years  on  the 
new  State  house,  then  in  course  of  construction  at  that  place. 
Returning  to  St  Louis  in  1854,  he  remained  there  till  1857, 
and  then  came  to  Brown  county,  with  the  intention  of 
engaging  in  farming,  which  he  considered  a  more  independ- 
ent and  desirable  occupation. 

He  first  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-three 
acres  of  rough  land,  east  of  where  he  now  lives,  and  after- 
ward acquired  possession  of  his  present  farm,  situated  a  mile 
east  of  Cooperstown.  This  farm  is  one  of  the  best  in  the 
county,  and  has  substantial  buildings  and  fine  improvements. 
His  children  are  Louis  Reger,  now  in  California :  Sophie, 
the  wife  of  John  J.  Taylor ;  Frank  H.  Reger,  who  married 
Susie,  daughter  of  Robert  Cox,  and  is  now  engaged  in  farm- 
ing in  Cooperstown  township ;  William,  Lizzie,  and  Fred- 
erick. In  1876,  Mr.  Reger  and  his  wife,  after  spending 
some  time  at  the  Centennial  Exposition  in  Philadelphia, 
visited  the  old  country  and  saw  once  more  the  familiar  scenes 
amid  which  their  early  days  had  been  spent  His  first  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic  was  in  a  sailing  vessel,  and  occupied 
forty-two  days.  His  last  trip  was  made  in  a  steamship,  and 
only  about  one-fourth  of  the  time  was  required  in  the  passage. 
When  he  first  came  to  this  country  his  political  sympathies 
were  with  the  Democratic  party.  His  residence  in  Ten- 
nessee impressed  him  with  the  evils  of  slavery,  and  he  united 
in  the  Free  Soil  movement,  and  became  an  early  Republican. 
In  St.  Louis,  at  the  Presidential  election  of  1856,  he  intended 
to  vote  for  Fremont,  but  no  Republican  ballots  were  pro- 
vided at  the  polls.  He  has  been  a  Republican  since,  though 
he  is  independent  and  liberal  in  his  views,  and  for  the  candi- 
dates for  local  offices  votes  as  his  judgment  dictates  without 
regard  to  politics. 


GIDEON  HINMAN  (deceased), 

Formerly  a  resident  of  Cooperstown  township,  was  born 
near  Utica.  New  York,  on  the  17th  of  December,  1812. 
His  parents  were  Aaron  and  Gertrude  Hinman  ;  his  mother 
was  of  Holland  Dutch  descent ;  he  was  the  youngest  of  a 
family  of  twelve  children.  When  he  was  nine  years  old  his 
father  moved  with  the  family  to  Verona,  Madison  county,  in 
the  same  state,  and  there  Mr.  Hinman  grew  to  manhood. 
He  acquired  a  good  education,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty 
began  teaching  school  in  Verona;  he  taught  one  or  two 
terms;  he  was  married  in  Madison  county,  New  York,  to 
Jane  Eames,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  emigrated  to 
the  AVest.  For  a  few  months  he  made  his  home  in  the 
neighborhood  of  La  Grange.  What  is  now  Brown  county 
was  then  a  part  of  Schuyler.  About  the  year  1846  he  pur- 
chased one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  section 
twenty-one,  township  one  south,  range  two  west ;  he  here 
improved  a  farm  on  which  he  lived  till  his  death.  In  1849 
occurred  the  death  of  his  first  wife.  His  second  marriage 
was  in  April,  1850,  to  Minerva  Alexander,  who  was  born 
and  raised  in  Cooperstown  township;  her  father,  Ralph 
Alexander,  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  came  to  Brown  county 
from  Indiana  in  1830.     He  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and  was 


HIS TOR Y   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


327 


he  proprietor  of  one  of  the  first  tan  yards  in  the  country ;  her 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Fields,  married 
David  M.  Campbell,  now  a  resident  of  Kansas,  after  the 
death  of  her  first  husband. 

Mr.  I  Unman  resided  in  Cooperstown  township  till  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  the  4th  of  May,  1875.  In  his 
political  views  he  was  originally  a  Whig,  and  afterward  be- 
came a  Republican ;  he  was  a  man  who  was  much  respected 
as  a  citizen.  For  some  years  previous  to  his  death  he  had  been 
a  member  of  the  Second  Adventist  Church.  He  had  twelve 
childnn  ;  Gertiude  ditd  in  infai.cy.  Joseph,  the  next  in  the 
order  of  his  birth,  is  now  a  resident  of  McDonough  county. 
He  served  three  years  in  the  Third  Illinois  cavalry  during 
the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  Eugene  enlisted  in  the  Eighty- 
fourth  Illinois  regiment,  was  taken  sick,  and  died  on  his 
return  home  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  Charles  resides  in 
Warren  county.  Minerva  Jane,  the  oldest  daughter  living( 
is  the  wife  of  William  Withrow.  Ralph  died  at  the  age  of 
seventeen,  Hester  when  sixteen,  and  Clara  when  seven- 
Ellen.  Lincoln  and  Elizabeth  are  the  three  youngest  living. 
Otis,  the  next  to  the  youngest  child,  died  in  infancy.  The 
last  eight  are  children,  by  his  second  marriage.  Since  her 
husband's  death  Mrs.  Hinman  has  had  the  management  of 
the  farm. 


ELIAS  CLARK. 

Culpepper  county,  Virginia,  was  the  birth-place  of  Elias 
Clark.  His  forefathers  came  from  Frederick  county,  Mary- 
land ;  his  grandfather,  Elias  Clark,  and  his  father,  Josiah 
Clark,  were  both  born  in  Maryland,  and  from  that  state 
moved  to  Virginia.  His  grandfather  was  a  man  of  con- 
siderable property,  and  owned  a  number  of  slaves  in  Vir- 
ginia. His  father  was  young  when  he  came  to  Virginia, 
and  there  married  Jane  Adams,  who  also  came  from  Mary- 
land. Josiah  Clark  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812-1814, 
serving  in  a  company  raised  in  Virginia,  commanded  by 
Capt.  Charles  Shackleford. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  fifth  of  a  family  of 
ten  children,  and  was  born  within  three  miles  of  Chester's 
Gap,  in  Culpepper  county,  Virginia,  on  the  15th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1808.  The  only  schools  then  in  Virginia  were  sub- 
scription schools.  By  the  time  he  became  old  enough  to 
appreciate  the  advantages  of  an  education,  his  labor  was 
required  on  the  farm,  and  he  had  little  chance  of  at- 
tending school.  On  the  29th  of  March,  1829,  he  married 
Elizabeth  Tompkins,  who  was  born  and  raised  in  the  same 
county  as  himself,  within  a  distance  of  a  few  miles.  In  the 
fall  of  1835  he  moved  from  Virginia  to  Coshocton  county, 
Ohio.  He  lived  there  till  1849,  when  he  came  to  this  state, 
remaining  in  Edgar  county  one  year,  and  coming  to  Brown 
county  in  1850,  and  settling  where  he  now  lives,  on  section 
33  of  township  1  south,  range  2  west.  He  settled  on  new 
land,  aud  by  hard  work  has  succeeded  in  placing  a  fine 
farm  under  cultivation.  His  first  wife  died  on  the  27th  of 
August,  1873.  He  married  again,  Mrs.  Eliza  Logsdon,  who 
was  born  in  Madison  county,  Kentucky.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Cuilitu.    Mr.  Clark  has  had  nine  children.    The  oldest, 


James  William,  died  in  1859,  aged  twenty-nine  years ; 
Talitha  Catharine  is  the  wife  of  George  Kendrick  ;  Jane 
married  George  Hollis,  and  is  now  living  in  Ford  county ; 
Franklin  and  Charles  are  farming  in  Cooperstown  town- 
ship. Jonah  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  Elias  in 
infancy.  The  two  youngest  sons,  Moses  and  Martin,  en- 
listed on  the  Hth  of  February,  1864,  in  company  E  of  the 
Sixteenth  Regiment  111.  Vol.  Veterans,  and  served  till  the 
close  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  They  took  part  in  the 
battles  of  Rocky  Face,  Resaca,  Buzzard  Roost,  Kenesaw 
Mountain  and  Atlanta,  and  were  with  Sherman  in  his  march 
to  the  sea.  Moses  died  in  1871 ;  Martin  lives  in  Cooperstown 
township. 

In  his  political  principles  Mr.  Clark  h:is  been  a  Demo- 
crat, though  he  has  not  adhered  so  closely  to  the  Democratic 
party  as  to  vote  for  its  candidates  when  he  considered  men 
of  opposite  political  faith  were  more  fit  for  public  office. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  He  has  lived  to  see  his 
children  all  well  situated  in  life.  Elsewhere  a  view  of  his 
residence  in  Cooperstown  township  is  shown. 


JAMES  A.  COX. 

James  A.  Cox,  who  since  1874  has  carried  on  the  mer- 
cantile business  at  Cooperstown,  is  a  native  of  that  place 
and  was  born  on  the  20th  of  February,  1850.  His  father, 
William  F.  Cox,  came  to  Illinois  from  the  vicinity  of 
Georgetown,  Kentucky,  and  after  being  for  a  time  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Mt.  Sterling  came  to  Cooperstown,  and 
was  the  first  person  who  ever  opened  a  store  and  sold  goods 
in  that  place.  He  died  in  1873.  His  mother  was  Emily 
Orchard,  daughter  of  John  Orchard,  one  of  the  pioneer 
residents  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  county.*  She  was  born 
in  Madison  county,  Kentucky  Of  the  ten  children  of  Wil- 
liam F.  and  Emily  Cox  all  were  sons,  and  James  A.  Cox 
was  the  seventh  in  the  order  of  his  birth.  The  schools  of 
Cooperstown  and  Mt.  Sterling  furnished  him  his  educa- 
tional advantages.  After  leaving  school  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enteen, he  became  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  John  A.  Givens  at 
Mt  Sterling-  He  then  came  to  Cooperstown,  and  occupied 
the  same  position  in  the  store  of  Cox  &  Brackenridge  and 
their  successors  in  business.  He  was  thus  employed  up  to 
the  year  1874,  when  he  opened  a  store  himself  and  has  since 
been  successfully  engaged  in  merchandising.  He  has  a  com- 
plete assortment  of  dry  goods,  groceries,  hardware,  and  other 
articles  usually  found  in  a  general  store.  On  the  29th  of  Au- 
gust, .1870,  he  married  Martha  J.  Pettigrew,  daughter  of  J. 
H.  Pettigrew,  an  old  resident  of  this  county.  This  marriage 
occurred  in  Missouri,  though  Mrs.  Cox,  like  her  husband, 
was  born  and  raised  in  ISrowu  county.  He  has  three  chil- 
dren— Lula,  Maud,  and  George  M.  In  his  political  inclina- 
tions he  has  always  been  a  Republican,  and  his  first  vote  for 
President  was  given  for  General  Grant  in  1872.  Since 
March,  1882,  he  has  held  the  office  of  post-master  at  Coop- 
erstown. 


328 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


IRA  HOWELL. 

Jonathan  Howell,  father  of  Ira  Howell,  was  born  in 
Guilford  county,  North  Carolina,  and  married  Elizabeth  Gil- 
luun,  a  native  of  the  same  State.  He  moved  from  North 
Carolina,  and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Monroe  county, 
Indiana.  In  the  last  named  county,  on  the  2d  of  October, 
1819,  was  born  Ira  Howell,  the  third  of  a  numerous  family 
of  children.  He  lived  in  Monroe  county,  Indiana,  till  he 
was  thirteen  years  old,  when  the  family  moved  to  Hendricks 
county  in  the  same  State.  The  nearest  schools  were  two  or 
three  miles  distant  from  his  home,  and  he  had  only  limited 
opportunities  for  obtaining  an  education.  In  the  fall  of 
1838,  the  family  came  to  Brown  county,  and  settled  a  mile 
aud  a  half  southeast  of  Ripley.  Here  Jonathan  Howell  died 
in  1861.  Mr.  Howell  was  nineteen  when  he  came  to  this 
county.  In  1841,  he  married  Anna  Thomas,  a  native  of 
Ohio,  and  daughter  of  John  Thomas.  In  1856,  he  moved  to 
his  present  farm,  and  has  since  resided  on  section  sixteen  of 
township  one  south,  range  two  west.  He  has  six  children, 
Elizabeth,  now  the  wife  of  William  Newby;  John;  Marga- 
ret, who  married  Edward  Logsdon  ;  George,  Hezekiah,  and 
Alice,  now  the  wife  of  George  Logsdon.  All  are  residents 
of  this  county  except  the  oldest  daughter,  Mrs.  William 
Newby,  who  resides  in  Macon  county,  Missouri.  He  was 
originally  a  Democrat  in  politics,  but  of  late  years  he  has 
been  independent  in  his  views,  and  is  inclined  to  support  the 
doctrines  of  the  National  Greenback  organization.  He  has 
succeeded  in  life  beyond  most  men,  commencing  on  slender 
capital,  and  having  now  become  the  owner  of  six  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  Cooperstown  township. 


STEPHEN  D.  COX. 

Among  the  prominent  business  men  of  Cooperstown  town- 
ship is  Stephen  D.  Cox.  He  was  born  two  miles  southeast 
of  Cooperstown,  on.  the  22d  of  October,  1843.  His  ances- 
tors were  Kentuckians.  His  grandfather  was  Joseph  Cox. 
His  father,  William  F.  Cox,  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and 
coming  to  this  State  with  his  father,  first  settled  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Mt.  Sterling,  and  then  came  to  Cooperstown 
township.  He  married  Emily  Orchard,  daughter  of  John 
Orchard,  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  in  the  vicinity  of  Coop- 
erstown. She  was  born  in  Madison  county,  Kentucky. 
William  F.  Cox  died  in  1873,  at  the  age  of  fifty  seven.  His 
widow  is  still  living.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the 
fourth  of  ten  children,  all  of  whom  were  boys.  He  was 
raised  in  Cooperstown  township.  September,  1862,  then  in 
his  nineteenth  year,  he  enlisted  in  Company  D,  One. Hun- 
dred and  Nineteenth  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  for  ser- 
vice in  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  He  was  with  his  regiment 
from  the  time  it  entered  the  service  till  mustered  out  at  the 
close  of  the  war.  For  the  last  two  years  he  was  the  bugler 
of  the  regiment.  He  served  in  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Mis- 
sissippi, Aliiliam  ',  and  other  Southern  States, and  was  in  the 
battles  of  Fort  Derussy,  Yellow  Bayou,  Tupelo,  Nashville, 
and  at  the  attack  on  Fort  Blakelcy,  in  Mobile  harbor,  the 


last  battle  which  ended  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  After  his 
discharge  at  Springfield,  on  the  9th  of  September,  1865,  he 
returned  to  Brown  county, 

From  1865  to  1868  he  was  employed  a?  clerk  in  a  store 
at  Versailles.  The  latter  year  he  embarked  in  the  mercan- 
tile business  at  Cooperstown,  for  a  few  months  in  partnership 
with  W.  W.  Stites,  and  in  the  fall  of  1868  forming  a  part- 
nership with  W.  H.  Breckenridge,  of  Versailles,  which 
continued  for  six  years.  Since  1875  he  has  been  carrying 
on  the  mercantile  business  on  his  own  account.  Oh  the  6th 
of  July,  1871,  he  married  Miss  Candes  Henry,  daughter  of 
0.  M.  Henry,  one  of  the  early  settlers,  and  formerly  one  of 
the  leading  business  men  of  Brown  county.  By  this  mar- 
riage he  has  three  children,  whose  names  are  William  H.  B., 
Sarah  D.,  and  Nellie.  He  is  the  owner  of  a  farm  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty  acres,  adjoining  the  town  of  Coopers- 
town, which  is  finely  improved,  and  on  which  are  superior 
buildings.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics,  and  has  acted 
with  that  party  from  the  time  he  was  old  enough  to  exercise 
the  right  of  suffrage.  He  was  chosen,  though  of  opposite 
political  faith  from  the  majority  of  the  voters  in  his  part  of 
the  county,  to  represent  Cooperstown  township  on  the  board 
of  supervisors  in  1873. 

FRANCIS  MARION  STOUT. 

Among  the  old  residents  and  leading  business  men  of 
Brown  county  is  F.  M.  Stout  of  Cooperstown  township.  He 
is  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  was  born  within  three  miles  of 
Georgetown,  Scott  county,  on  the  29th  of  January,  1823. 
His  ancestors  were  English.  His  great-great-grandfather 
came  from  England  and  settled  in  New  Jersey.  His  grand- 
father, Eli  Stout,  migrated  from  New  Jersey  to  Kentucky 
about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  He  journeyed 
down  the  Ohio  river  in  a  boat,  exposed  to  considerable  dan- 
ger from  the  hostile  Indians  on  the  banks  of  that  stream. 
He  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Fayette  county,  Ken- 
tucky, and  died  in  Owen  county  of  that  State.  Isaac  Stout, 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  and  raised  in 
Scott  county,  Kentucky,  and  married' Lydia  Baxter,  a  native 
of  the  same  State.  He  subsequently  moved  to  Leesburg, 
Harrison  county,  Kentucky,  where  he  died  of  cholera  in 
1833.  The  death  of  his  wife  occurred  a  few  days  previous  to 
that  of  his  own. 

Francis  M.  Stout  was  the  oldest  of  four  children.  He  was 
ten  years  old  when  his  parents  died.  He  was  taken  care  of 
by  his  paternal  grandfather,  and  grew  up  in  Scott  and  Owen 
counties,  living  in  Kentucky  till  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
He  attended  the  subscription  schools,  then  the  ordinary  means 
for  obtaining  an  education,  and  also  for  one  year  was  a  stu- 
dent in  the  high  school  of  Owenton,  the  county  seat  of  Owen 
county.  In  the  year  1844,  a  few  months  after  he  had  at- 
tained his  majority,  he  came  to  Illinois,  arriving  in  Brown 
county  in  June.  For  three  or  four  years  after  coming  to  the 
county,  he  was  occupied  in  teaching  school.  He  taught  south 
of  Mt.  Sterling,  afterward  in  what  is  now  Cooperstown  town- 
ship, and  then  at  Ripley.  December  1846,  he  married  Mar- 
geuia  Alexander,  a  native  of  Tennessee.     In  184S  he  began 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


329 


the  pottery  business  at  Ripley,  in  which  most  of  the  time 
he  has  since  been  engaged.  The  death  of  his  wife  having 
taken  place  in  September,  1851,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
in  January,  1853,  to  Nancy  C.  Alexander,  a  sister  to  his  first 
wife. 

He  embarked  in  the  mercantile  business  at  Ripley  in  the 
spring  of  1851,  at  first  in  partnership  for  a  few  months  with 
William  Ward,  and  then  for  two  or  three  years  with  J.  A. 
Hawkins.  He  afterward  carried  on  the  store  for  a  number 
of  years  by  himself,  though  for  a  time  he  had  as  a  partner 
Samuel  R.  Glenn,  and  subsequently  L.  D.  Stoffer.  His  part- 
nership with  the  last-named  gentleman  was  closed  in  1872. 
Since  1878  the  business  has  been  conducted  in  partnership 
with  his  son,  I.  N.  Stout,  under  the  firm  name  of  F.  M.  Stout 
&  Son.  Besides  carrying  on  a  large  mercantile  business,  the 
firm  operate  a  pottery  establishment.  Mr.  Stout  resides  on 
a  farm  of  four  hundred  acres  of  land,  a  short  distance  south 
of  Ripley.  Altogether  he  is  the  owner  of  eight  hundred 
acres  in  Brown  county.  He  has  seven  children  living.  La- 
fayette, the  oldest,  is  farming  in  Mt.  Sterling  township; 
Isaac  Newton  is  in  partnership  in  the  store  with  his  father; 
John  C.  Fremont  is  farming  for  himself.  The  others  are 
James  Madison,  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  daughter  named  An- 
nis,  and  Allen.  Three  beside  are  dead.  He  was  first  a  Whig 
in  politics,  and  the  first  vote  he  ever  cast  for  president,  as- 
sisted in  electing  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor  to  the  chief  magis- 
tracy of  the  nation  in  1848.  He  was  one  of  the  early  Re- 
publicans of  Brown  county,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneer 
members  of  the  party  who,  in  1856,  supported  Fremont,  the 
first  Republican  presidential  nominee.  For  a  number  of 
years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Christian  church. 

Isaac  Newton  Stout,  member  of  the  firm  of  F.  M.  Stout 
&  Son,  was  born  at  Ripley,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1854,  and 
is  the  second  of  the  seven  children  now  living.  His  educa- 
tion was  obtained  in  the  schools  of  the  county.  His  home 
was  with  his  father  till  his  marriage,  which  took  place  on  the 
25th  of  November,  1880,  to  Sarah  M.  Moore,  daughter  of 
S.  A.  Moore.  She  was  born  in  Adams  county.  He  has  one 
child,  Winnifred.  Since  November,  1878,  he  has  been  in 
partnership  with  his  father  in  the  mercantile  business.  In 
his  political  views  he  is  an  earnest  Republican. 


H.  E.  HENRY. 

Of  the  men  who  have  been  connected  with  the  business 
interests  of  the  eastern  part  of  Brown  county  none  better 
deserve  mention  in  this  work  than   Capt.  H.  E.  Henry,  of 
42 


Cooperstown.  His  father,  Orris  M.  H  enry,  was  born  in  On- 
tario county,  New  York,  March  10th,  1814;  in  1818  came 
with  his  father's  family  to  the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
and  in  1820  to  Illinois,  first  settling  near  Naples,  in  what  is 
now  Scott  county.  He  subsequently  came  to  Brown  county 
and  settled  near  Cooperstown,  where  he  died  on  the  7th  of 
November,  1875.  He  was  one  of  the  active  business  men 
of  the  county,  and  for  some  years  was  engaged  in  the 
pork-packing  business  at  La  Grange.  In  1834  he  married 
Eliza  Emerick,  who  was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Vir- 
ginia, April  14th,  1814;  came  with  her  father  to  Ohio  in 
1818  ;  to  Morgan  county,  in  this  state,  in  1828  ;  and  to  what 
is  now  Brown  county,  in  1830.  She  died  on  the  9th  of 
April,  1875. 

The  subject  of  this  biography  was  the  sixth  of  a  family 
of  twelve  children.  His  early  years  were  spent  in  Coopers- 
town township.  On  the  16th  of  June,  1859,  he  married 
Sarah  Putman,  daughter  of  Daniel  Putman,  an  early  set- 
tler of  the  county  and  one  of  the  pioneer  merchants  of  Mt. 
Sterling.  September,  1862  he  enlisted  in  company  D.,  One 
Hundred  and  Nineteenth  Illinois  regiment,  and  served  three 
years  during  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  On  the  organization 
of  the  company  he  was  elected  lieutenant,  and  about  a  year 
afterward  was  commissioned  as  captain,  and  thenceforth  had 
command  of  his  company  till  the  end  of  the  war.  He  was 
never  absent  from  duty,  nor  sick  a  day  during  the  whole 
term  of  his  service.  He  was  present  at  the  siege  of  Fort 
Derussy,  the  engagements  at  Pleasant  Hill  and  Yellow 
Bayou,  the  battle  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  which  resulted 
in  the  defeat  of  Hood,  and  of  Tupelo,  Mississippi,  and  took 
part  in  the  charge  on  Fort  Blakeley  in  Mobile  harbor,  the 
last  engagement  of  any  magnitude  in  the  war.  After  the 
close  of  active  hostilities  his  regiment  remained  in  Alabama 
during  the  summer  of  1865.  He  was  mustered  out  at  Mo- 
bile, Alabama,  on  the  26th  of  August,  1865,  and  discharged 
at  Springfield  in  this  state  on  the  following  9th  of  Septem- 
ber. 

For  several  years  he  was  in  partnership  with  his  father 
in  the  coopering  and  pork-packing  business,  and  the  firm  of 
O.  M.  Henry  &  Co.  transacted  a  large  business  in  grain  and 
pork  and  handled  a  considerable  part  of  the  products  of  the 
eastern  part  of  the  county.  The  pork-packing  business  was 
carried  on  at  La  Grange,  and  afterward  at  Mt.  Sterling. 
From  1867  to  1870  he  was  in  the  mercantile  business  at 
Cooperstown.  He  has  two  children,  Charles  M.  and  Hattie. 
Two  others  died  in  infancy.  He  was  one  of  the  early  Re- 
publicans of  the  county,  and  in  1856  was  one  of  the  few 
men  in  Brown  county  who  supported  Fremont,  the  first  Re- 
publican candidate  for  President. 


WOODSTOCK    TOWXSHIP. 


(SCHUYLER    COUNTY.] 


-.»  * 


- 


I  oa  section  36,  m  the 
btkrw  1824.    George 
the  In 
til  has  doth  in  1*47.    He  left  bo 

of  laeae  Naught's  wiie,  was  Nancy 
they  had  a  family  of  eleven  children  fire  mm 
At  {mats*  there  are  teres  living,  (bar 


fear  of  then  in  thk  county,  two  in 
The  oldest,  John  Naught. 
the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  two  sons,  George  and 
liiJnf,  in  the  township.     Isaac  Naaght 
settled  the  &m  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  Alexander  Stuts- 
hk  cabin  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  tbe 
of3S,T.   1  >%  R.  2  west,  and  lived  there 
it  to  Manlore,  when  he  moved  aboot  a  mile 
of  the  base  line-    He  continued  to  reside  oo 
lead.     It  waa  at  his  residence  that  the  first 
in    the    township  was    organised.    Thk    ocearred 
in   1*27,  by  the    regular  Baptist   di  nndaaliin,  and  tbe 
a  name  was  Kay.    Tbe  first  elections  were  also  held 
The  Naught  settlement,  as  it  was  called  in 
eariv  days,  was  the  earliest  in  this  township,  and  ore  of  tbe 
first' in  the  county.     In  the  year  1825,  were  added  to  it  the 
of  John  Starr,  and  Hading  Starr,  son  of  John  Starr, 
Tbe    Starr   family    came   from 
of  the  old  sire,  John  Starr,  are  yet 
firing  in  tbe  county.  The  first  settlement  made  in  the  north- 
of  the  township  ocearred  in  the  year 
-_•'      The  pioneer  waa  Richard  Black,  a  native  of  Sooth 
He  was  bora  in  1784,  and  grew  to  naabood  and 
He  moved  with  his  family  to  Kentucky,  where 
he  kat  his  wife  and  was  married  again  to  Elizabeth  Fowler. 
In  November,  1825,  be  emigrated  and  landed  at  Rnshville 
with  his  family,  and  purchased  Willis  O'Neal's  improve- 
ment.   This  waa  the  land  upon  which  tbe  center  of  tbe  city 
d  hia  cabin  stood  near  the  site    of  the  old 
in  the  public  square.     For  this  improvement 
Mr.  Black  paid  O'Neal  two  hundred  dollars,  and  be  raised 
only  one  crop,  when  he  waa  "catered  oat"  by  tbe   eounty, 
i  then  a  new  organization ;  and  that  particular  spot 
eea  affected  lor  the  site  of  tbe  county  seat    Mr.  Black 
received  more  than  twelve  dollars  in  money,  and  a  two 
year  old  heifer,  for  the  place  for  which  be  had  only  a  abort 
before  paid  two  hundred  dollars-     In  tbe  fall  of  1826 
he  moved  to  Woodstock,  and  settled  on  tbe  8  W.  J  of  sec- 
15-     Hia  cabin  waa  so  located  that  tbe  road  from  Ra»h- 
viJle  to  Mt-  Sterling,   which  waa  afterwards  laid  out.  ran 
pact  k,  aad  his  place  breams  almost  an  inn,  the  traveling 
public  halting  there  at  all  times  of  tbe  day  and  night-    Hia 
children  that  grew  up  were  Nancy,  Elvina,  Sophia,  William 
T.and  Isaac;  James  P.  Black,  a  married  son  of  bis,  came  to 
Baahville  in  tbe  spring  of  1826,  and  made  hia  borne  with 
hia  father  till    tbe  fall,  «ben  be  moved  with  his  father  to 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


331 


Woodstock,  and  afterwards  settled  on  the  N.  E.  }  of  section 
i'5  north  range.  He  remained  in  the  township  until  his  death. 
In  1827  we  find  Isaac  Sanders,  who  arrived  here  from 
Indiana  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  bringing  with  him  his  wife 
and  four  children,  Tolbert,  John,  James  and  Purlina.  He 
located  on  the  S.  W.  }  of  the  N.  E.  k  of  section  1 5,  where  he 
erected  a  cabin  and  in  the  spring  broke  five  acres  and 
planted  it  in  corn.  He  lived  and  died  on  the  place,  but  his 
children  have  all  left  the  county.  He  was  also  accompanied 
with  Jacob  Fowler,  father-in-law  of  Richard,  who  was  a 
South  Caroliuian.  His  family  consisted  of  his  wife  and 
children,  William,  Isaac,  Mary,  Sarah  and  Rebecca.  They 
drove  a  flock  of  geese  all  the  way  from  Indiana,  which  were 
probably  the  first  domestic  geese  brought  to  the  country. 
He  located  on  the  S.  E  i  of  the  N.  W.  i  of  section  15,  and 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  Woodstock,  and  there  is 
but  one  of  his  children  now  residing  in  the  township. 
He  was  for  a  number  of  years  a  mail  carrier  and  at  one 
time  controlled  many  of  the  mail  routes  in  the  state. 

Moses  Pettigrew,  James  Edmunston  and  Benjamin  Gols- 
ton  came  into  the  township  early  in  1827.  Pettinger  moved 
across  the  creek  into  Cooperstown  township,  Brown  county, 
a  few  years  later,  where  he  was  among  the  early  settlers. 
There  also  arrived  in  the  same  year  Archibald  Paris,  James, 
William  and  John  Evans,  and  Daniel  Matheny.  Captain 
Daniel  Matheny,  as  he  was  better  known,  was  a  patriot  of 
the  War  of  1812,  and  was  with  General  Jackson  at  New 
Orleans,  and  captain  of  a  company  of  rangers  in  the  Black 
Hawk  War.  He  came  to  this  county  with  Joel  Tullis,  from 
Indiana  in  a  pirogue,  down  the  Ohio  river  and  up  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  Illinois,  in  1826.  May  5,  1831,  he  sold  his 
place,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  21,  to  James  Tomp- 
sou,  and  subsequently  moved  to  Iowa. 

In  1829,  Mrs.  Amelia  Riley,  with  a  family  of  six  sons, 
Daniel,  Caleb,  Anderson,  Martin,  Isaac  Shelby,  and  Pressly, 
and  a  married  daughter,  the  wife  of  Mordecai  Fowler,  came 
into  the  township  from  Indiana.  They  came  in  wagons, 
drawn  by  horses.  Daniel  was  married  when  they  came, 
and  they  all  settled  together,  except  Fowler,  on  the  N.  W. 
quarter  of  section  7,  north  range.  He  (Fowler)  located  on 
the  same  section  with  his  father,  Jacob  Fo'wler.  The  Rileys 
were  great  sportmen,  very  fond  of  horse-racing,  shooting- 
matches,  etc.,  in  which  the  early  settlers  frequently  indulged. 
The  children  of  Martin  Riley  are  all  of  the  family  now  re- 
siding in  the  county. 

Early  in  1826,  John  Logsdon  came  from  Indiana  with  his 
wife  and  one  child,  and  stopped  with  Richard  Black  at 
Rushville,  for  about  three  months,  and  some  time  afterward 
became  a  resident  of  the  southern  part  of  this  township.  He 
finally  moved  to  Missouri.  About  the  same  time  that  he 
came  into  Woodstock,  his  brother  Vaughn  and  family  set- 
tled on  the  S.  W.  quarter  of  section  3,  north  range,  and 
remained  for  a  few  years.  His  brothers,  Amos  Redman 
and  Jackson,  single  men,  also  became  early  residents,  but 
afterwards  went  to  the  same  state. 

Allen  Alexander  and  his  family  came  about  1829,  and  set- 
tled On  section  28.     He  kept  a  ferry  across  Crooked  creek, 


at  a  point  near  where  the  Rushville  and  Mt-  Sterling  road 
crossed  the  stream,  at  a  very  early  day. 

Timothy  Harris  was  also  an  early  arrival.  He  was  a 
native  of  one  of  the  eastern  states,  and  came  here  from 
Morgan  or  Sangamon  county.  He  brought  with  him  con- 
siderable stock,  cattle  and  horses;  had  a  wife  and  one  child, 
and  settled  on  the  N.  W.  quarter  of  section  15,  north  range. 
He  had  purchased  the  land  before  moving,  and  came  with 
the  intention  of  becoming  a  permanent  settler.  He  died 
here  at  a  very  old  age. 

Zachariah  Wells  and  his  sons,  Tenney  and  Joseph,  and 
John  Conrad  settled  in  the  southern  part  of  the  township  in 
1830.  James  Beard,  John  Howell,  and  Jonathan  Manlove, 
jr.,  came  in  1831.  John  Skaggs,  Pierre  J.  Jonte,  Peter 
Hermitete,  James  F.  Groscloude,  and  Peter  Adams,  also,  in 
the  southern  portion,  settled  in  the  year  1833.  Jonte,  Her- 
mitete and  Groscloude  were  native  Frenchmen.  Jonte  and 
Groscloude  were  brothers-in-law. 

Alexander  Stutsman  was  another  prominent  early  settler. 
He  was  born  near  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  1798,  and  came 
to  this  county  with  his  family  in  1831,  and  purchased  the 
old  place  that  Isaac  Naught  settled,  of  Jonathan  Manlove, 
and  resided  there  until  his  death,  Oct.  30,  1876.  He  was 
married  in  Indiana  to  Rhoda  Seybold,  and  she  still  survives 
him,  and  is  residing  on  the  old  homestead,  in  the  seventy- 
fifth  year  of  her  age.  They  had  born  to  them  eleven  chil- 
dren, who  are  now  living — two  sons,  John  S.  and  Alexander 
Stutsman,  jr. ;  and  nine  daughters,  all  married  but  one,  and 
six  of  them  residing  in  the  county.  Alexander  Stutsman, 
jr.,  died  in  1862,  and  three  of  his  children  reside  in  the 
county.  John  S.  resides  near  the  old  homestead,  and  is  one 
of  the  prominent  and  influential  men  of  the  township,  having 
served  several  terms  as  supervisor,  and  seventeen  years  as 
school  trustee  in  Woodstock.  In  the  Black  Hawk  War  the 
Naught  settlement  furnished  seven  volunteers,  viz :  Captain 
Daniel  Matheny,  George  Naught,  sr.,  John  Naught,  Benja- 
min Golston,  William  Allen,  Hasting  Starr,  and  Daniel 
Edmonston.  The  township  was  equally  patriotic  in  the 
other  wars,  and  the  names  of  her  gallant  sons  may  be  found 
enrolled  in  the  chapter  of  patriotism  in  the  former  part  of 
this  work.  . 

Joseph  Hoffman,  a  Pennsylvania  German,  and  family, 
emigrated  from  Ohio,  and  located  in  section  16,  about  1837 
or  '38.  Michael  Palmer,  another  Pennsylvanian,  also  set- 
tled about  the  same  time.  In  18  i9,  John  Brown,  a  Ken- 
tuckian,  who  had  come  to  the  county  in  1831,  made  his  home 
in  Woodstock.  He  had  lived  at  Rushville  for  eight  years. 
He  located  on  sec  16,  and  remained  there  until  his  death  in 
1858.  Six  of  his  children  are  living;  only  one,  however,  in 
Schuyler  county — Robert  Brown,  on  section  10  of  this  town- 
ship. The  father,  John  Brown,  was  an  associate  judge,  and 
was  elected  to  the  legislature,  while  the  capital  was  yet  at 
Vandalia ;  and  was  re  elected  to  serve  his  county  two  or 
three  times  in  that  capacity.  '  He  was  also  elected  to  the 
state  senate  for  one  term,  was  supervisor  of  the  township, 
and  also  served  the  people  in  other  minor  offices.  His 
son,  Robert  Brown,  served  one  term  in  the  Illinois  senate  ; 
John  O,  auother   son,  was  sheriff"  of  the  county  for  two 


332 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


terms ;  and  his  sou,  George  W.  Brown,  residing  in  Kansas, 
has  also  represented  the  township  in  the  lower  house  in  that 
state. 

Thus  have  we  sketched  a  few  of  the  earliest  and  most 
prominent  families  in  the  township.  We  have  not  men- 
tioned all  of  them,  nor  should  it  be  expected  of  us  to  do  so. 
Early  in  the  decade  of  1830-' 40,  there  began  a  steady  im- 
migration, and  in  some  years  during  that  time  there  was  a 
large  influx,  many  of  them  becoming  permanent  settlers,  and 
others  remaining  but  a  short  time.  It  would  require  a  vol- 
ume to  follow  up  the  arrivals  and  departures  of  all  of  them  ; 
and,  were  it  possible,  it  would  not  be  interesting  to  do  so. 
The  trials  and  hardships,  customs  and  habits,  and  mode  of 
living  are  fully  set  forth  in  the  chapter  on  Pioneers  in  this 
work,  and  it  would  be  only  a  repetition  to  relate  them  here. 
In  1817  and  '18,  long  before  any  settlements  were  made  by 
the  white  man  in  this  part  of  Illinois,  these  lands  were  set 
apart  by  Congress  for  the  survivors  of  the  war  of  1812,  and 
each  soldier  received  a  patent  for  160  acres  of  land  ;  and  the 
following  are  a  few  of  the  first  claims  located  in  this  town- 
ship :  T.  1  N.,  R  2  W.— November  15,  1817,  Joseph  Clough, 
S.  E.  quarter  section  1 ;  November  2'J,  Samuel  Pierce,  N.  E 
quarter  section  4  ;  same  date,  Nicholas  Wells,  N.  W.  quar- 
ter of  section  4 ;  November  1 9,  Isaac  Brayraan,  S.  E  quarter 
of  section  8 ;  October  6,  1817,  L.  Winson,  N.  W.  quarter  of 
section  9  ;  December  24,  William  Linton,  S.  W.  quarter  of 
section  10,  all  in  the  year  1817.  T.  1  S.,  R.  2  W.,  in  the 
same  year,  October  6,  Virgil  Eachus,  N.  W.  quarter  section 
14 ;  October  6,  John  W.  Fancher,  S-  E.  quarter  section  2  ; 
January  15,  1818,  John  H.  Kersey,  S.  W.  quarter  section 
one ;  and  William  Handle,  S.  E.  quarter  section  one,  on  the 
same  date. 

The  first  school  taught  in  the  township  was  in  a  small  log 
cabin  on  section  36,  in  the  year  1827,  by  John  Taylor.  The 
earliest  school  in  the  northern  part  of  the  township  was 
taught  by  a  man  named  Hatfield,  in  an  elm  pole  cabin,  built 
in  the  fall  of  1833,  in  an  elm  grove,  and  the  children 
"  daubed  "  it  after  the  session  began,  making  the  mortar  in- 
side the  house,  which  had  no  floor.  It  was  a  subscription 
school,  $1.50  or  $2.00  per  pupil.  Among  the  scholars  of 
that  term  were  William  T.  and  Isaac  Black,  Sarah  and  Re- 
becca Fowler,  Houston  and  Elihu  Alexander,  James  and 
Thomas  Sanders  ;  Alexander,  Isaac  S.  and  Pressly  Riley. 
Anderson  and  Isaac  Riley,  took  the  teacher  Hatfield  out 
tied  his  hands  and  set  him  down  in  the  snow,  because  he 
would  not  agree  to  treat  his  pupils  with  whiskey,  which  was 
then  the  custom,  on  Christmas  day.  He  did  not  comply  with 
the  request  on  Christmas,  but  signed  thtir  petition  agreeing 
to  treat  on  New  Year's  day,  which  he  did.     The  earliest  mar- 


riages, mills,  ferries,  etc.,  are  all  mentioned  in  the  chapter 
on  the  Civil  History  of  the  county.  The  first  church  was 
built  by  the  regular  Baptists  on  N.  E.  i  of  section  2  south 
range,  as  early  as  1831.  John  Ray,  John  Logan,  William 
Cross,  John  Taylor  and  Granville  Bond  were  among  the 
earliest  preachers.  James  P.  Black  was  the  first  justice  of 
the  peace.  Isaac  Fowler  did  the  first  blacksmithinginl827 
and  Gamaliel  Hill  was  the  first  wheelwright  He  made 
many  of  the  spinning  wheels  for  the  early  settlers.  The 
earliest  mill  was  built  by  Robert  Burton,  on  Crooked  creek, 
on  the  S.  E.  1  of  section  28,  in  the  fall  of  1837.  It  was  a 
saw  and  grist  mill  propelled  by  water ;  a  frame  building,  and 
had  one  wheat  and  one  corn  burr.  Another  mill  stands  on 
the  same  site,  which  was  built  by  Michael  and  Henry  Huff- 
man about  1865,  and  is  now  owned  and  operated  by  Joseph 
Long.  It  has  one  wheat  and  one  corn  burr.  The  building 
is  frame,  and  the  mill  is  propelled  by  water.  There  is  a 
good  vein  of  coal  underlying  the  whole  surface  of  the  township, 
and  it  is  worked  for  local  demands  at  several  different  points. 
William  Lowden  works  the  vein  on  section  11,  and  it  is 
also  being  obtained  on  sections  14.  9  and  12.  There  is  also 
an  excellent  quality  of  building  and  whet  stone  quarried  in 
section  24. 

The  township  is  supplied  with  several  churches,  the  his- 
tory of  which  may  be  seen  in  the  Eccles'a?tical  chapter. 
There  are  five  neat  and  well  furnished  school- houses,  where 
teaching  is  held  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  There  is  but 
one  post  office,  Sylvia,  which  was  established  in  the  spring  of 
1881.  Austin  Black  is  the  postmaster.  It  is  situated  near 
the  center  of  the  township  on  the  Mt.  Sterling  and  Rush- 
ville  road.  Below  are  the  supervisors  who  have  represented 
Woodstock  since  township  organization.  1854  John  Brown 
was  elected  and  served  four  terms,  and  was  made  chairman 
of  the  board.  He  was  succeeded  by  John  Howell,  for  one 
year,  when  James  H.  Browning  was  elected  and  served  two 
terms.  In  1861  John  C.  Brown  was  elected  and  re-elected 
in  1862.  William  P.  Thompson  was  elected  in  1863  and 
by  re-election  served  until  1869.  In  1869  John  S.  Stutsman 
was  elected  and  served  one  year.  John  C.  Brown,  was  re- 
elected in  1870,  and  John  S.  Stutsman  in  1871  and  '72.  In 
1873  John  C.  Brown  was  again  elected,  and  succeeded  the 
following  year  by  John  S-  Stutsman.  In  1875,  Perry  Logs- 
don  was  elected  and  served  two  term*,  and  was  succeeded  in 
1877  by  John  S.  Stutsman.  John  F.  Langford  was  elected 
in  1878,  and  succeeded  in  1879  by  John  C.  Taylor,  who  has 
been  re-elected  each  succeeding  year,  and  is  the  present  in- 
cumbent- 
Woodstock  was  reported  in  ihecensus  of  1880  to  have  one 
huudred  and  ninety-three  farms  and  1381  population. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


-fV 


■*i*  * 


HON.  ROBERT  BROWN, 

One  of  the  leading  citizens  and  enterprising  farmers  of 
Schuyler  county,  was  born  here  October  19th,  1835.  He 
was  a  son  of  the  late  Hon.  John  Brown,  whose  death  oc- 
curred on  the  16th  of  January,  1859.  John  Brown  had 
frequently  been  called  on  by  the  citizens  of  his  county  to 
accept  of  many  of  the  offices  of  both  honor  and  trust.  He 
twice  represented  Schuyler  county  in  the  legislature  and  one 
term  in  the  State  senate,  discharging  the  duties  pertaining 
thereto  with  capacity  and  ability.  He  was  a  man  always 
held  in  high  esteem  by  his  constituents.  His  death  was 
mourned  not  only  by  his  family  but  by  his  numerous  friends 
throughout  the  county. 

The  early  education  of  Robert  Brown  was  acquired  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  county.  By  close  application  and 
diligent  study,  he  acquired  a  sound  knowledge  of  the  rudi- 
ments of  an  English  education,  which  he  has  greatly  added 
to  by  a  careful  course  of  reading.  After  the  death  of  his 
father  he  assumed  the  general  management  of  the  farm  and 
affairs  at  home.  On  the  2d  of  November,  1866,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  Margaret  Smith  Hoffman,  also  a  na- 
tive of  Schuyler  county.  As  a  practical  farmer  and  stock 
raiser,  Mr.  Brown  has  exhibited  much  energy,  skill  and  suc- 
cess, and  has  done  much  to  create  an  interest  in  the  breed- 
ing of  good  stock  in  the  county. 

He,  like  his  father,  has  frequently  been  solicited  by  the 
citizens  of  the  county  to  accept  office,  but,  as  a  rule,  he  has 
preferred  devoting  his  attention  to  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
he  finally  consented  to  allow  his  name  to  be  used,  and  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  State  senate  in  1874,  serving  four 
years,  the  full  term,  giving  eminent  satisfaction  to  his  con- 
stituents. 


WILLIAM  T.  BLACK. 

The  Black  family  is  of  German  ancestry.  They  came  to 
America  at  a  time  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war.  They 
settled  on  the  coast  of  the  Carolinas,  and  subsequently,  as 
the  country  improved,  went  back  into  the  interior.  Thomas 
Black,  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  in  South  Carolina,  near  the  northern  line  of  the  state, 
and  was  living  there  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
Members  of  the  family  participated  and  fought  on  the 
patriot's  side  in  that  memorable  struggle.  He  moved  to 
Hancock  county,  Kentucky,  and  there  died.  His  son 
Richard,  the  father  of  William  T,  was  also  born  on  the 
line  of  North  and  South  Carolina ;  he  removed  to  Dubois 
county,  Indiana,  about    the  time  that  s'ate  was  admitted 


into  the  Union.  He  remaiued  in  Indiana  until  1825,  then 
came  to  Illinois  and  settled  where  Rushville  now  stands- 
The  town  was  laid  out  the  next  year.  In  the  spring  of 
1827  he  removed  to  the  neighborhood  where  William  T. 
now  lives,  and  there  remained  until  his  death  which  oc- 
curred in  1853. 

He  married  Elizabeth  Partlow,  by  whom  he  had  four 
children,  two  of  whom  are  living.  She  died,  and  he  sub- 
sequently married  Elizabeth  Fowler ;  she  died  1 877.  By 
the  latter  marriage  there  were  eight  children,  three  of 
whom  have  survived  the  parents. 

William  T.  was  born  in  Dubois  county,  Indiana,  March 
18,  1821,  and  was  in  his  fifth  year  when  the  family  came  to 
Illinois.  Here  he  grew  to  manhood,  and  received  but  a 
limited  education.  It  must  be  remembered  that  it  was  then 
the  pioneer  days  of  Illinois,  and  schools  were  the  exception 
rather  than  the  rule.  Mr.  Black's  education  is,  therefore, 
self-acquired.  He  remained  at  home  until  he  attained  his 
majority,  then  married  and  commenced  farming  on  rented 
lands.  In  the  spring  of  1844  he  moved  to  Littleton  town- 
ship and  rented  a  farm.  One  year  later  he  purchased  it,  and 
six  years  later  sold  it  and  purchased  another  farm  west  of 
it,  in  section  17,  and  there  he  remained  until  the  fall  of 
1867,  when  he  bought  laud  in  section  10  southeast  in  Wood- 
stock township,  and  there  he  has  resided  until  the  present. 

On  the  30th  of  October,  1842  he  married  Miss  Matilda 
Matheny,  a  native  of  Ohio,  but  was  a  resident  of  Littleton 
township  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  By  this  union  there 
have  been  eight  children,  six  of  whom  arrived  at  maturity. 
Their  names  in  the  order  of  their  birth  are :  Austin,  who 
married  Miss  Nancy  King,  and  is  a  farmer  and  resident  of 
section  15  in  this  township;  Athilinda,  wife  of  R.  W.  Ket- 
tenring,  a  resident  of  McDonough  county;  Harriet  A.; 
William  H.,  married  Miss  Rachel  Boyles,  and  lives  in 
Camden  township  ;  Richard,  married  Miss  Samantha  Jane 
Stephens,  and  lives  in  this  township ;  Fjanklin  P.,  married 
Miss  Sarah  Kennedy,  and  lives  on  the  old  homestead.  Both 
Mr.  Black  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  regular  Predes- 
tinarian  Baptist  church.  Politically  the  family  have  with 
few  exceptions  always  been  staunch  Democrats.  Mr.  Black 
has  been  justice  of  the  peace  for  one  full  term  and  was  re- 
elected, and  is  now  serving  his  second  term. 

In  1879  he  was  regularly  nominated  by  the  Democratic 
party  in  convention  assembled  for  the  office  of  county  trea- 
surer, but  his  defeat  was  brought  about  by  the  treachery  of 
members  of  his  own  party.  He  had  succeeded  in  carrying 
the  nomination  over  the  heads  of  other  aspirants,  who  be- 
came jealous  of  his  popularity,  and  adopted  such  measures  as 
led  to  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Black.     All  acknowledged  his  emi- 

333 


334 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


nent  fitness  for  the  place,  and  none  stood  higher  in  the 
community  for  honesty  and  probity  of  character  than  Mr. 
Black,  therefore  his  defeat  was  a  surprise  to  his  friends,  and 
they  attributed  it  to  the  treacherous  action  of  those  who 
were  under  obligations  as  Democrats  to  support  him.  The 
Black  family  are  among  the  pioneers  of  four  states,  viz. : 


South  Carolina,  Kentucky,  Indiana  and  Illinois.  When 
tht-y  came  to  Illinois,  Schuyler  county  was  almost  unknown, 
and  Rushville,  the  county-seat,  had  not  yet  been  laid  out. 
What  a  wonderful  change  has  gone  on  since  they  first  came 
here.  Then  it  was  a  frontier  state  with  a  few  thousand  in- 
habitants, and  now  it  ranks  fourth  in  the  union  of  states. 


■^£^3jj£g5^y> 


BUENA  VISTA    TOWNSHIP. 


(SCHUYLER    COUNTY.) 


,  HE  second  settlement  in  the  county, 
was  made  in  this  township,  and  from  the 
solitary  family  which  invaded  its  soli- 
tude in  1824  it  has  steadily  increased  in 
population  and  wealth  until  it  now  ranks 
second  in  the  county  in  population. 
Upon  its  entire  surface  are  found  valua- 
ble and  highly  improved  farms,  occupied 
by  thrifty  farmers.  Neat  and  pleasant 
homes  greet  the  eye  of  the  traveler  as 
he  passes  over  its  roads-  . 
The  location  is  near  the  geographical  centre  of  the  county, 
its  boundary  upon  the  north  being  Littleton,  on  the  east 
Rush\  ille,  on  the  south,  Woodstock,  and  xm  the  west,  Cam- 
den. Its  surface  is  gently  undulating,  and  that  portion  lying 
between  the  water  courses,  a  strip  extending  diagonally 
across  the  township  from  the  southwest  to  the  northeast,  is 
rolling  prairie,  while  the  portions  along  the  streams  are  more 
broken,  and  were  formerly  covered  with  a  dense  growth  of 
timber,  nearly  all  of  which  has  long  since  yielded  to  the  axe 
of  the  sturdy  pioneer  yeoman,  and  is  now  transformed  into 
fertile  and  productive  fields.  The  soil  is  rich  and  highly 
productive,  yielding  large  crops  of  the  cereals,  and  hay,  and 
excellent  pastures.  It  is  strictly  an  agricultural  township, 
though  much  attention  is  paid  to  grazing,  and  much  valua- 
ble and  fine  blooded  stock  of  all  kinds  add  to  the  wealth  of 
its  inhabitants.  Access  is  had  to  all  sections  by  well-kept 
roads  and  bridges,  which  span  the  streams  in  all  directions. 
Its  citizens  are  moral,  well  educated  and  intelligent,  and  are 
surrounded  by  all  the  accessories  necessary  for  comfort  and 
happiness.  All  this  has  been  accomplished  in  less  than  ^xty 
years,  and  the  former  abode  of  the  red  man,  the  deer,  and 
other  beasts  of  the  forest,  is  now  one  continued  succession 
of  fertile  aud  beautiful  farms,  with  handsome  residences, 
commodious  barns,  improved  machinery,  aud  valuable  stock. 


Stony  Branch  and  Brush  creek  enter  the  township  from  Lit- 
tleton on  the  north.  The  former  enters  in  two  distinct 
branches,  one  in  section  one,  the  other  in  section  eight,  both 
meeting  in  the  northwest  corner  of  section  nine,  and  keeps 
the  same  southwesterly  direction  in  which  they  enter,  and 
pass  west  in  Camden,  through  section  nineteen.  Brush  creek 
enters  through  section  six,  flows  south  and  west,  and  passes 
out  in  section  seven.  Green  Branch  rises  in  three  distinct 
branches  in  sections  twenty-two,  twenty-three,  and  twenty- 
four,  all  flowing  southwest  and  uniting  in  one,  in  section 
thirty-two,  then  bears  due  west,  and  passes  out  through  sec- 
tion thirty-one.  The  streams  furnish  a  plentiful  supply  of 
water  for  stock,  and  afford  the  necessary  drainage  for  the 
surface  water,  and  are  greatly  aided  in  the  latter  by  tiling, 
to  which  much  attention  has  been  given  of  late. 

The  first  land  entries  or  patents  to  the  heroes  of  the  war 
of  1812  were  issued  to  Dennis  Owens,  for  the  S.  E  quarter 
of  section  one,  October  6,  1817  ;  to  James  McArthur,  for  the 
S.  E  quarter  of  section  seven,  October  13,  1817;  to  Robert 
Reynolds,  for  the  S.  W.  quarter  of  section  three ;  aud  to 
Joseph  Sealey,  for  the  S.  E  quarter  of  section  three,  both 
bearing  date  of  November  19,  1817;  to  John  Hutchinson, 
for  the  S.  W.  quarter  of  section  four,  December  6, 1817  ;  aud 
to  Nathan  Lake,  for  the  N.  E.  quarter  of  section  eight,  No- 
vember 29,  1817. 

About  the  1st  day  of  November,  1823,  Levin  Green,  a 
Methodist  local  preacher, -made  his  appearance  at  the  cabin 
of  Calvin  Hobart,  in  Schuyler  county.  He  met  with  a 
hearty  reception,  such  as  was  common  only  in  pioneer  times, 
and  the  next  morning  his  host  started  with  a  team  to  bring 
his  visitor's  family  to  the  settlement,  as  well  as  that  of  George 
Stewart,  his  brother-in-law,  all  of  whom  were  camped  sixteen 
miles  north  of  where  Frederick  no  v  stands.  These  families 
passed  the  winter  iu  a  vacant  cabin,  which  had  been  built 
by  two  young  man,  James  and  Samuel  Turner.     Green  and 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


335 


Stewart  were  natives  of  North  Carolina,  but  had  been  living 
in  Missouri,  from  which  place  they  had  just  come.  In  the 
early  spring  of  1824,  Henry  Green,  Jr ,  arrived  at  the  Ho- 
bart  settlement  with  a  wife  and  two  children,  and  the  Greens 
went  into  Buena  Vista  township,  built  their  cabins,  and  then 
moved  their  families.  Levin  selected  for  his  home  the  S 
E.  1  of  section  23 ;  Henry  Green,  Jr.,  the  S.  E.  J  of  N.  E 
\  of  section  20;  and  some  time  in  1825,  George  Stewart,  the 
S.  E.  J  of  section  13.  Stewart's  family  consisted  of  a  wife 
and  two  children,  and  Levin's  family  consisted  of  four 
persons,  making  eight  human  beings  in  the  settlement. 
Levin  Green  and  George  Stewart  moved  to  what  is  now 
Missouri  township,  in  1829,  and  they,  and  Henry  Green, 
Jr.,  subsequently  emigrated  to  Texas.  John  Ritchey  arrived 
shortly  after  Levin  Green,  and  with  his  wife  and  three 
children  took  up  a  pre-emption  right  to  the  S.  E.  }  of  section 
25,  which  he  sold  to  Samuel  Turner,  and  went  to  Littleton. 
This  early  settlement  was  augmented  in  March,  1^25,  by  the 
arrival  of  two  brothers,  Samuel  and  Manlove  Horney,  with 
families,  consisting  of  a  wife  and  one  child.  These  pioneers 
were  natives  of  North  Carolina,  but  came  from  St.  Clair 
county,  Illinois,  where  they  had  been  living  since  181 8- 
They  settled  ia  Buena  Vista,  Samuel,  on  the  S  W.  i  of 
section  14,  and  Manlove,  on  an  adjoining  quarter.  They 
both  resided  here  until  1834,  when  they  moved  up  into  Lit- 
tleton. The  settlement  was  further  increased  in  numbers 
by  the  arrival  on  the  2d  day  of  May,  1825,  of  Philip  Spohna- 
more  and  family  of  eight  persons  ;  George  Green  and  family 
of  wife  and  six  children  ;  John  Spohnamore,  a  nephew  of 
Philip,  wife  and  two  children  ;  Henry  Green,  Sr.,  and  wife, 
parents  of  Levin  ;  John  Green,  wife  and  three  children ; 
James  Robinson,  Levin's  brother-in-law,  with  a  wife  and 
three  children,  making  in  all  an  increase  of  thirty-four  in 
the  population.  All  came  from  Missouri,  and  all  relations 
of  Levin,  being  brothers,  or  relatives  by  marriage,  and  it 
was  through  Levin's  importunities  that  they  came.  Philip 
Spohnamore  built  his  cabin  on  the  S.  E.  }  of  section  24,  and 
died  in  Rushville  at  the  age  of  eighty-four  years.  George 
Green  made  improvements,  and  built  a  house  on  a  portioa 
of  the  same  quarter  in  1827,  living  in  the  meantime  about  a 
mile  north,  and  died  in  the  township.  John  Spohnamore 
lived  on  the  land  with  his  brother-in-law,  George  Green, 
until  1827,  when  he  took  possess:on  of  the  S.  E.  }  of  section 
20,  upon  which  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days.  Henry 
Green,  Sr.,  and  his  wife,  made  their  home  with  their  son 
John,  on  the  N  E  1  of  section  23,  where  the  old  people 
died,  and  John  followed  his  brother  Levin  James  Robin- 
son, the  brother  in-law  of  the  Greens,  selected  the  S-  E.  i 
of  section  29,  as  a  squatter,  made  limited  improvements,  by 
building  a  cabin  and  clearing  a  small  patch  of  ground.  He 
subsequently  returned  to  his  old  house  in  Missouri.  Samuel 
Turner,  the  young  njan  mentioned  as  having  built  the  cabin 
in  the  Hobart  settlement,  re turned  in  the  spring  of  1825, 
and  found  his  cabin  occupied.  He  sold  his  interest  in  the 
improvement,  and  commenced  a  new  one  on  the  S  E.  i  of 
section  25,  where  he  married  in  1830,  and  continued  to  live 
until  1834,  when  a  claimant  with  a  superior  title  appeared. 
He  then  moved  to  S.  E.  J  of  section  11,  which  he  purchased, 


and  upon  which  he  died  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  seventy  years. 
Charles  Teas  arrived  in  the  fall  of  1826,  with  a  wife  and 
family  of  children,  and  made  improvements  on  the  Is.  W.  i 
of  section  23,  building  a  cabin,  and  continuing  his  residence 
there  until  the  fall  of  1829,  when  he  sold  to  Lemuel  Sparks, 
and  moved  to  Rushville,  where  he  remained  until  March, 
1831,  when  he  parted  with  his  interest,  and  went  to  Mc- 
Donough  county.  Alexander  Ross,  of  Kentucky,  with  a 
wife  and  six  children,  was  also  one  of  the  early  settlers, 
having  arrived  in  the  summer  of  1826,  when  he  built  his 
cabin,  and  took  a  settler's  claim  to  the  N  E.  1  of  section  16, 
where  he  improved  a  farm,  subsequently  purchased  the  land, 
and  spent  his  declining  years  in  the  enioyment  of  the  home 
made  with  his  own  hands.  In  the  spring  of  1827,  William 
JJoyd,  with  a  large  family  of  children,  arrived  from  Missouri, 
and  made  a  home  for  his  little  ones  on  the  S.  W.  i  of  section 
23,  which  he  subsequently  purchased,  acd  after  living  here 
a  number  of  years,  until  his  neighbors  became  too  numerous 
to  suit  his  pioneer  disposition,  he  disposed  of  his  farm,  and 
moved  to  Iowa,  where  he  died  at  a  ripe  age. 

We  next  invite  the  attention  of  the  reader,  to  the  settle- 
ment made  in  the  extreme  northeastern  portion  of  the 
township.  In  the  spring  of  1827,  Joel  Tullis,  with  his 
family  of  wife  and  one  child  came  into  the  township  April 
26th,  1826,  accompanied  by  William  McKee  his  father-in- 
law,  whose  farm  in  Rushville  township  was  their  point  ot 
departure.  With  McKee  he  spent  the  first  year.  He  took 
possession  of  the  N.  W.  i  of  section  2,  built  his  rude  log 
cabin,  and  began  the  toilsome  life  of  the  hardy  pioneer. 
He  subsequently  bought  a  tax  title  to  the  property,  and 
continued  his  residence  there  until  1847,  when  the  country 
becoming  too  thickly  settled  to  suit  him,  he  sold  his  home, 
and  with  a  family  of  wife  and  twelve  children,  in  an  ox- 
wagon,  he  undertook  an  overland  journey  to  Oregon,  where 
he  arrived,  after  great  suffering  and  the  loss  of  six  of  his 
children.  He  returned  in  1851,  and  bought  the  farm  upon 
which  he  now  resides,  hale  and  hearty,  and  over  eighty 
years  of  age.  Joel  Tullis  had  the  first  distillery  in  the 
township,  upon  the  N.  W.  }  of  section  2,  as  early  as  1833. 
In  the  spring  of  1827,  Charles  Hatfield  and  family  made 
their  home  on  the  S.  \V.  i  of  section  2,  but  subsequently  re- 
turned to  their  former  home  iu  Bainbridge  township,  where 
they  had  been  living  prior  to  making  their  home  in  Buena 
Vista,  and  where  they  both  now  reside,  upon  the  land, 
which  they  first  improved.  For  neighbors,  Joel  Tullis  had 
James  Thompson,  a  single  man,  and  John  his  brother,  with 
his  wife  and  three  children,  who  came  with  Tullis  and 
William  McKee  in  a  pirogue  in  1826.  They  moved  into 
Buena  Vista,  shortly  after  Mr  Tullis,  and  built  a  house  on 
the  N.  E.  i  of  section  one,  which  they  purchased  together, 
December  4th,  1827.  James  subsequently  sold  his  interest 
to  his  brother  John,  moved  into  Littleton  as  one  of  the  early 
settlers,  where  he  died.  John  died  upon  his  home  place, 
and  his  widow  became  the  wife  of  Randolph  Rose,  who  was 
one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Littleton.  D<  ury  Sellers,  a 
native  of  Kentucky,  with  a  large  family,  moved  into  this 
settlement  in  the  spring  of  1828  and.  bought  the  claim  of 
Charles  Hatfield  on  the  S.  W.  i  of  section  2,  and  afterwards 


336 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


moved  into  Littleton.  Robert  L.  Dark,  a  son-in-law  of  Sel- 
lers, and  a  wife  and  one  child  came  with  his  father-in-law, 
and  resided  in  the  same  place,  until  he  moved  to  the  N.  W- 
i  of  section  where  he  built  a  cabin  and  then  went  into  the 
north-eastern  portion  of  Littleton.  The  year  1829  wit- 
nessed the  arrival  of  George  Swan,  William  Owens,  Lemuel 
Sparks,  Thomas  Bronaugh  and  others.  In  the  spring  of 
this  year  George  Swan,  with  a  large  family,  arrived  from 
Kentucky,  and  purchased  the  S.  W.  i  of  section  13,  and 
built  his  cabin  and  made  a  home,  where  he  lived 
until  his  death.  He  was  followed  in  the  fall  from  the  same 
state  by  his  son-in-law,  William  Owens,  who  brought  his 
wife  with  him.  They  came  on  horseback  and  spent  the 
winter  with  him.  The  next  summer  they  spent  in  Brooklyn, 
and  in  the  fall  returned  to  Buena  Vista  and  purchased  the 
N.  W.  i  of  section  24  from  Samuel  Horney,  paying  two  hun- 
dred dollars  therefor.  Mr.  Owens  died  some  years  ago,  and 
his  widow  survives  him,  living  upon  the  old  home  place. 
Lemdel  Sparks,  a  native  of  Maryland,  arrived  with  his  wife 
and  six  children,  from  Indiana,  on  the  17th  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1829,  and  purchased  the  improvements  of  Char'es  Teas, 
the  N.  W.  J  of  section  25.  He  died  some  years  ago,  and 
many  of  his  children  are  now  residents  of  the  county. 
With  him  came  a  young  man  named  Ephraim  Haines,  who 
died  at  his  house.  Thomas  Bronaugh,  a  single  man,  ar- 
rived from  Kentucky  in  1829  and  made  a  home  on  the 
N.  W.  }  of  section  4.  Me  was  among  the  first  teachers  of 
the  county.  Me  moved  into  Littleton.  In  1830,  Hosea 
Tullis,  a  brother  of  Joel,  and  John  Boggs,  arrived  from 
Ohio,  built  cabins  in  the  Tullis  neighborhood  but  returned 
to  Kentucky  in  less  than  a  year,  becoming  alarmed  by  the 
Indians.     Both  had  families. 

On  the  31st  day  of  May,  1827,  John  R.  Skiles  was  mar- 
ried to  Eleanor  Spohnamore,  and  at  once  took  possession  of 
the  N.  W.  i  of  section  14,  upon  which  he  built  a  cabin,  and 
made  some  improvement,  but  neglecting  to  purchase  the 
land  he  was  ousted  and  moved  into  Browning,  where  he 
now  resides-  Among  the  early  settlers  may  be'  mentioned 
the  Doyles,  John  McCreery,  Robert  McCreery,  the  Parrotts, 
Moores,  Henry  Kirkham,  the  Hughes,  Hales,  Hares,  Les- 
ters,  Kings,  Snyders,  Cunninghams,  Coxes,  Smiths  and 
Youngs.  We  have  been  compelled  to  mention  the  early 
settlers  briefly,  for  want  of  space,  and  for  a  fuller  account  of 
the  first  settlers  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  chapter  on  the 
Pioneers. 

The  improvement  of  the  first  farm  and  the  building  of 
the  first  house  may  be  unquestionably  accorded  to  Levin 
Green.  The  first  wedding  was  that  of  William  Hobart 
Taylor  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Spohnamore,  which  was  celebra- 
ted on  the  27th  day  of  November,  1825,  at  the  residence  or" 
the  bride's  father,  Philip  Spahnamore.  Rev.  Levin  Green 
officiated  and  performed  the  ceremony.  The  whole  neighbor- 
hood was  present.  The  bride  was  attired  in  a  calico  dress 
and  store  shoes,  and  was  bedecked  with  gay  ribbons,  a  garb 
seldom  seen  in  those  olden  times.  The  groom  had  laid  aside 
his  everyday  clothes  and  wore  a  suit  of  home-made  jeans. 
After  the  ceromony,  t'le  guests  sat  down  to  a  table  spread 
with  wild  turkey,  venison  and  other  game,  corn  bread,  honey 


and  sassafras  tea.  The  groom  being  a  professor  of  religion 
at  the  time,  the  old  time  fiddle  was  not  present  and  the 
merry  dance  was  not  indulged  in.  The  first  birth  was  a 
little  daughter  born  to  Levin  Green.  The  first  death  occur- 
ring among  the  early  settlers  of  the  township,  was  that  of  a 
little  four-year-old  son  of  Henry  Green,  Jr.,  in  the  summer 
of  1827,  and  his  body  was  buried  on  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  20.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  first  grave-yard. 
While  attending  the  funeral,  the  old  white-headed  grand- 
father, Henry  Green,  Sr.,  who  had  been  a  soldier  in  the 
Revolutionary  war,  selected  a  place,  where  he  requested  to 
be  buried,  and  his  wishes  were  complied  with,  after  his  de- 
cease, which  occurred  May  1st,  1835. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  early  settlements  for  many  years  sent 
their  children  to  the  schools  in  the  western  edge  of  Rush- 
ville  township,  they  being  very  convenient,  and  no  school- 
house  was  built  until  1828,  when  a  small  log  building 
was  erected  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  1,  in  which 
Robert  Sexton  was  the  first  teacher  for  a  short  time ;  but  the 
first  that  might  be  called  a  school  was  a  session  of  six  months, 
commencing  on  the  10th  day  of  May,  1825,  in  an  old  log- 
cabin,  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  22.  In  May,  1825, 
Levin  Green  came  to  the  house  of  Col.  Samuel  Horney,  with 
the  request  that  he  would  makehim  a  pair  of  shoes,  as  the 
people  were  getting  hungry  for  preaching,  and  stated  that 
he  could  not  preach  without  them.  The  shoes  were  made, 
and  towards  the  close  of  the  month  the  whole  neighborhood 
gathered  in  the  humble  cabin  of  the  pioneer  preacher  and 
listened  to  his  rough,  though  eloquent  appeal.  Levin  Green 
was  the  pioneer  preacher,  and  among  those  who  preached  in 
early  times  were :  Peter  Cartwright,  Asa  West  and  James 
Bankston.  The  first  building  ever  erected  in  the  township, 
exclusively  for  church  purposes,  was  a  small  frame  building, 
situated  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  15.  It  belonged 
to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  congregation,  was  built  about  the 
year  1832,  and  was  known  as  Spark's  Meeting  House.  Rev. 
Henry  Somers  preached  the  first  sermon  in  the  building. 

Levin  Green  was  the  first  justice  of  the  peace,  his  com- 
mission being  the  first  one  issued  after  the  organization  of 
the  county.  Drs.  B.  V.  Teal,  Crosset,  James  Blackburn  and 
Adams  Dunlap  were  the  first  physicians  in  the  county  Joel 
Tullis  had  the  first  mill  as  early  as  1831.  It  was,at  his  home 
on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  2,  and  was  the  old 
fashioned  tread-mill ;  horses  or  oxen  furnished  the  motive 
ower.  It  was  liberally  patronized,  being  in  constant  use 
by  some  of  his  neighbors.  Col.  Clark,  an  Englishman, 
also  had  a  horse-mill,  the  burrs  being  made  of  what  were 
known  as  '•  nigger-head  "  rock,  found  on  the  prairie,  on 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  17,  as  early  as  1835. 
John  Green  had  a  cotton  gin  at  his  house  as  early  as 
1827.  The  first  steam  grist  mill  in  the  township  was  built 
by  George  C.  Clark,  in  1857,  on  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  14.  It  was  first  a  saw-mill,  anS  two  run  of  burrs 
were  afterwards  added  With  the  site  of  ten  acres,  it  was 
valued  at  $6,000  It  was  burned  in  January,  1880.  Another 
mill  was  built  just  south  of  the  site  of  the  old  one,  by  Alex- 
ander Young,  in  the  summer  of  1880,  at  a  cost  of  three 
thousand  dollars.     It  is  provided  with  one  three -foot  burr- 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


337 


stone  for  grinding  wheat,  and  one  of  like  dimensions  for 
corn.  Its  capacity  is  fifteen  barrels  daily,  and  is  kept  al- 
most constautly  employed  in  grinding  on  the  shares ;  it 
being  strictly  a  custom  mill. 

A  fine  quarry  of  building  stone  was  opened  upon  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  13,  on  the  farm  of  Joel  Tullis, 
about  twenty  years  ago.  The  township  is  well  supplied  with 
schools,  which  are  in  session  six  months  in  the  year.  The 
buildings  are  all  neat,  comfortable  frames,  conveniently 
located,  and  well  attended.  There  are  two  churches  iu  the 
township,  the  Methodist  Episcopal,  of  which  Rev.  Lyon  is 
the  pastor,  and  the  Protestant  Methodist  supplied  by  Rev. 
Bryden  Mayall.  Both  buildings  are  frame.  In  1880,  the 
population  of  the  township  was  1,728,  and  there  were  162 
improved  farms  within  its  boundaries. 

The  township  has  had  the  fallowing  named  representatives 


in  the  board  of  supervisors,  since  township  organization  was 
adopted  in  the  county:  In  1854,  John  Mitchelltree  was  elected 
and  filled  the  office  two  years;  Thomas  J.  Wilson,  in  1856, 
two  terms ;  Simon  Doyle,  in  1858,  three  terms ;  John  L. 
Moore  in  1861,  one  term;  John  A.  Young  in  1862,  one 
terra  ;  Samuel  S.  Benson  in  1863,  one  term  ;  Simon  Doyle 
in  1864,  two  terms ;  John  F.  Davis  in  1866,  one  term ; 
Simon  Doyle  in  1867,  one  term ;  G.  B.  Sharp  in  1868,  one 
term  ;  Isaac  Lindley  In  1869,  one  term  ;  A.  L.  Noble  in 
1870,  one  term;  Charles  Ryan  in  1871,  one  term;  Simon 
Doyle  in  1872,  one  term;  William  R.  McCreery  in  1873, 
one  term  ;  John  H.  Tullis  in  1874,  one  term  ;  John  H, 
Tullis  in  1875,  one  term  ;  John  N.  Roach  in  1876,  one  term 
and  Thomas  Cunningham  was  elected  in  1877,  and  has 
been  returned  annually  since,  and  was  chairman  of  the 
county  board  in  1881. 


-*<^g$G£&^ 


RIPLEY    TOWNSHIP. 


(BROWN    COUNTY.) 


-t^r- 


HE  township  of  Ripley  is  the  smallest  iu 
the  county,  and  contains  only  about  six 
sections  of  land.  It  is  very  irregular 
in  form,  the  north  and  east  boundaries 
being  described  by  the  various  mean- 
derings  of  Crooked  creek.  It  has  the 
honor  of  being  the  third  settled  territory 
within  the  county.  Its  surface  is  very 
much  broken,  and  at  some  points  near 
Crooked  creek  rises  to  quite  prominent  bluffs.  The  soil 
is  light  in  color,  and  is  principally  composed  of  a  clayey 
loam,  mixed  in  places  with  sand  or  fine  gravel,  and  is  spe- 
cially adapted  to  the  raising  of  wheat,  and  grazing.  Prior 
to  the  coming  of  the  white  man,  it  was  thickly  studded  with 
heavy  timber  of  walnut,  hard  maple,  oak,  sycamore,  and 
other  varieties  Now  fine  farms  #ud  improvements  are  seen 
on  every  hand.  The  wilderness  has  given  way  to  civiliza- 
tion, and  is  now  the  happy  abode  of  man.  Yet  at  this  writ- 
ing plenty  of  timber  has  been  reserved  for  all  the  wants 
and  conveniences  of  its  people.  Schuyler  county  lies  on  the 
northeast,  Cooperstowu  township  on  the  south,  and  Missouri 
township  on  the  west.  The  natural  drainage  is  unsurpassed, 
as  the  surface  is  composed  mainly  of  hills  and  valleys,  and 
with  Crooked  creek  marking  more  than  one-third  of  its 
boundaries.  Curry's  branch,  on  West  creek,  enters  in  the 
southwest  of  section  thirty-one,  flows  north,  and  empties  into 
43 


~%+- 


the  Crooked  in  section  thirty.  Glasgow  branch  makes  a 
short  cut  through  sections  nineteen  and  thirty,  and  dis- 
charges its  waters  into  the  Crooked  a  little  above  West 
creek.  The  transportation  facilities  are  very  meagre,  the 
products  of  the  township  having  to  be  hauled  across  the 
country  several  miles  to  some  shipping  point.  A  few  time? 
during  high  water  barges  and  flat-boats  have  navigated 
Crooked  creek  as  far  as  the  town  of  Ripley,  but  this  is  not 
of  common  occurrence.  A  railroad  is  sadly  needed  for  the 
convenience  of  the  people  of  this  part  of  the  county,  and 
time  may  prove  that  such  an  enterprise  will  be  beneficial, 
even  to  the  stockholders  of  a  hard-hearted  railroad  corpo- 
ration. The  entire  population,  according  to  the  official 
census  of  1880,  was  six  hundred  and  forty-five,  the  oldest 
resident  then  being  Jacob  Dennis,  who  was  eighty  years  of 
age. 

FIRST   SETTLEMENTS. 

The  first  to  seek  the  solitudes  of  this  portion  of  the  county, 
and  to  commence  the  onward  movement  toward  civilization, 
was  the  pioneer,  Willis  O'Neal,  iu  the  summer  of  1826.  He 
was  born  in  Kentucky,  in  1785,  where  he  married  and  reared 
several  children.  In  1824  he  concluded  to  try  his  fortune 
in  the  new  state  of  Illinois.  Accordingly  he  moved,  with 
his  family,  and  first  located  near  what  is  now  Rushville, 
within  the  present  limits  of  Schuyler  county,  then  an  almost 
uninhabited  waste,  and  a  part  of  Pike  county.    Mr.  O'Neal 


38 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


remained  here  two  years,  when  he  crossed  Crooked  creek 
and  located  in  section  thirty-three,  just  a  little  south  of  what 
is  now  the  village  of  Ripley,  his  improvement  including  a 
part  of  the  corporation  of  the  town.  His  family  then  con- 
sisted of  a  wife  and  seven  children,  Simon,  Pierson,  Owen> 
Minerva,  Amanda,  Amelia  A.,  and  Polly.  He,  with  the 
help  of  his  family,  built  a  small  log-cabin,  sixteen  by  eight- 
een feet  in  dimensions,  sufficient  for  temporary  wants.  His 
family  being  large,  it  was  but  a  short  time  before  he  pro- 
ceeded to  construct  a  double  log-house,  which  was  a  story 
and  a  half  high,  and  eighteen  by  thirty  feet  on  the  ground- 
Jn  order  to  raise  such  a  building,  he  was  obliged  to  procure 
help  from  his  nearest  neighbors,  who  were  then  living  near 
the  bluffs  in  Versailles.  The  Indians  were  plenty  then,  and 
they  also  aided  in  the  enterprise;  that  is,  they  did  not  do 
much  log-rolling,  but  helped  to  get  away  with  a  large  portion 
of  the  eatables  and  drinkables.  Mrs  O'Neal  died  in  1828, 
two  years  after  their  settlement.  Mr.  O'Neal  was  married 
again  in  1829,  to  Hannah  Hunt,  from  which  union  eight 
children  were  born.  The  pioneer  children  are  all  dead- 
Three  of  the  children  of  the  second  marriage  are  residents 
of  the  township.  Mr.  O'Neal  died  in  1869,  and  his  wife 
survived  him  but  a  few  years.  In  an  early  day  he  was  an 
important  factor  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  county,  and 
was  always  considered  one  of  the  staunch  citizens  of  the 
community  in  which  he  lived.  A  small  accession  was  made 
to  this  settlement  in  1828,  among  whom  was  Peter  F.  De- 
counter,  a  native  of  France,  and  who  had  been  an  old  sea- 
captain.  He  had  come  here  with  his  family  from  tbeHBtate 
of  Missouri,  and  located  in  the  same  section  of  land — thirty- 
three — as  O'Neal.  At  this  time  he  was  living  with  his  third 
wife,  and  had  a  large  family  of  children.  He  was  always  a 
welcome  visitor  to  the  homes  of  his  few  neighbors,  and  espe- 
cially a  favorite  with  the  children,  as  the  wonderful  tales  of 
his  life  at  sea  were  an  oasis  in  the  desert,  to  the  hum-drum 
life  of  the  secluded  average  pioneer  boy.  Mr.  Decounter 
resided  here  until  his  death,  which  occurred  atcut  1853. 
Mrs.  D  also  died  here.  The  family  are  now  scattered  in 
various  parts  of  the  earth.  Bat  one  is  now  living  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  Samuel  F.,  who  resides  in  Schuyler 
county.  "William  Wilsie  came  soon  after  the  above,  and 
settled  in  section  thirty-two.  He  remained  but  a  short  time, 
when  he  moved  with  his  family  to  Arkansas.  Jesse  Jones 
came  from  Kentucky,  and  settled  in  section  thirty-three 
late  in  1829.  The  family  consisted  of  his  wife  and  eight 
children,  three  sons  and  five  daughters.  He  remained  here 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  but  a  few  years  after  his 
coming.  But  one  of  the  family  is  now  a  resident  of  the 
county,  the  widow  of  Thomas  Garrett,  who  lives  a  little 
southeast  of  Mt-  Sterling. 

An  immigrant  of  1834  was  John  Rush  and  family.  They 
came  from  Ohio,  in  1831,  and  first  settled  in  Cooperstown, 
and  in  1834  moved  to  Ripley  and  located  in  section  thirty- 
two,  on  the  land  now  owned  by  Isaiah  Lanning.  About 
1845  he  moved  with  his  family  to  the  state  of  Iowa,  where 
it  is  said  he  is  yet  living.  Fielding  T.  Glenn  came  to  this 
township  from  Cooperstown  about  the  same  time  as  the  above, 
and  afterward  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  O'Neal ;  but  as  his 


father's  family  settled  in  Cooperstown,  a  more  complete  his- 
tory of  Mr.  Glenn  will  be  found  in  the  Cooperstown  chapter- 
"Wm  Clark  Hardin  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  came  to 
this  state  a  single  man  in  1832,  and  stopped  near  Ripley. 
He  subsequently  taught  school  in  Schuyler  county,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Sugar  creek.  In  1834  he  married  Amanda 
M.  Glenn,  and  located  just  over  the  line  from  Ripley,  in 
Cooperstown  township.  After  the  town  of  Ripley  was  laid 
out,  he  moved  to  the  village,  where  he  has  resided  princi- 
pally to  this  time.  He  and  his  wife  are  both  living,  and  are 
among  the  oldest  citizens  of  Ripley.  But  one  child  was  born 
to  them,  a  son,  William  H.,  who  is  also  a  resident  of  the 
town. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  early  settlers  was  John 
N.  Ebey.  He  was  born  in  Huntingdon  county,  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  migrated  to  Ohio  when  he  was  a  young  man.  While 
here  he  married  Rebecca  Brunk.  In  1828,  he  moved  to  Il- 
linois and  settled  in  Sangamon  county,  where  he  remained 
until  1832.  He  then  moved  to  Scott  county,  and  two  years 
later  came  to  Ripley.  He  was  a  potter  by  trade,  and  while 
hauling  his  wares  from  his  place  in  Scott  county  to  Rushville, 
he  chanced  to  stay  over  night  with  the  pioneer,  O'Neal. 
During  the  conversation  in  the  evening,  which  related  to  his 
calling,  the  manner  of  manufacture,  and  the  kind  of  clay 
necessary  to  the  same,  some  one  present  stated  that  he  had 
discovered  from  a  tree  turned  up  by  the  roots  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, a  clay  that  fairly  answered  the  description  given  by 
Mr.  Ebey.  On  the  following  day  Mr.  E.  was  taken  to  the 
place  mentioned,  and,  on  investigating  it,  was  found  to  be  a 
superior  quality  of  potters'  clay.  Mr.  Ebey  returned  home, 
and  immediately  commenced  preparations  to  remove  to  Rip- 
ley, which  was  effected  the  same  year,  1836.  A  shop  and 
kiln  were  soon  erected,  and  the  first,  pottery  manufactured 
in  the  town  was  taken  from  thejdln  late  of  the  same  year. 
This  was  the  starting  point  that  has  made  this  towu  so  fa- 
mous as  one  of  the  most  extensive  manufacturing  towns  of 
pottery  in  the  west. 

When  Mr.  Ebey  moved  here  his  family  consisted  of  his 
wife  and  four  children,  L.  C,  Mariah  J.,  George  W.,  and 
John  V.  Several  children  were  afterwards  born  to  the  fami- 
ly. He  was  a  public-spirited  man,  and  did  much  to  build  up 
the  town.  It  was  he  and  Mr.  F.  T.  Glenn  who  laid  out  the 
town,  and  who,  a  little  less  than  fifty  years  ago,  were  the  ac- 
tive, driving  men  of  the  yet  little  village  of  Ripley.  In 
1855.  Mr.  Ebey  moved  back  to  Scott  county,  and  from  thence 
he  went  to  Green  county,  where  his  wife  died  in  1873.  He 
is  yet  living  with  some  of  his  children  in  various  parts  of 
the  state,  having  no  fixed  abiding  place  since  the  death  of 
his  wife.  He  yet  relates  to  his  grand-children  some  of  his 
experiences  of  early  days.  Oue,  among  his  anecdotes  is  the 
narrow  escape  he  had  from  a  large  panther  while  living  at 
Ripley.  A  little  east  of  the  town  there  was  what  was  called 
a  "  salt  lick,"  where  the  deer  were  in  the  habit  of  congre- 
gating for  the  purpose  of  licking  the  ground,  the  water  ooz- 
ing from  the  hillside  being  of  a  brackish  character.  The 
hunters  would  station  themselves  here  on  moonlight  nights 
to  get  a  "  crack  "  at  the  deer  as  they  came  in.  Mr.  Ebey 
was  secreted  at  this  point  one  night,  waiting  for  a  deer  to 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


339 


heave  in  sight,  and  was  soon  rewarded  with  the  approach  of 
a  fine  buck  making  for  the  "  lick."  The  tempting  game  was 
within  easy  rifle  shot,  when  Mr.  E.  prepared  to  fire.  He 
supposed  he  was  the  only  hunter  for  this  kind  of  game  in  all 
that  solitude.  But  he  had  reckoned  wrougly,  for  just  as  he 
had  brought  his  rifle  to  his  shoulder,  a  peculiar  noise  attract- 
ed his  attention  just  over  his  head.  A  quick  glance  dis- 
covered a  huge  panther  springing  from  a  tree  above  him, 
and  about  to  alight  upon  his  person.  Quick  as  thought  he 
intuitively  bent  down,  and  forward,  and  the  animal  passed 
over  his  head,  but  in  such  close  proximity  that  his  hat  was 
carried  away  by  the  panther.  Scared  nearly  out  of  his 
wits,  he  dropped  his  gun  and  ran  for  home.  It  was  not  un- 
til the  next  day  that  he  recovered  his  hat  and  gun.  The 
panther  did  not  follow  him,  but  probably  contented  himself 
by  making  a  supper  of  the  deer  if  opportunity  presented  it- 
self. It  is  said  by  the  early  hunters  that  the  deer  in  those 
days  were  nearly  all  more  or  less  scarred  from  the  attacks  of 
their  formidable  enemy,  the  panther.  Another  early  settler 
was  George  Clark,  who  came  from  Indiana  in  1834,  and  set- 
tled in  section  34.  He  had  a  wife  and  six  children,  three 
sons  and  three  daughters.  He  remained  here  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  about  the  year  1863.  HU  widow  survives 
him.  She  and  one  daughter,  widow  of  James  Warren,  yet 
reside  in  Ripley.  Mrs.  Nancy  Burke,  a  sister  of  Clark; 
came  here  from  Indiana  about  two  years  after'her  brother, 
and  for  about  a  year  she,  with  her  two  sons,  lived  in  the 
house  with  him.  She  afterwards  located  in  section  33,  where 
she  lived  for  several  years,  when  she  moved  to  Pike  county. 
One  son,  George  J.,  resides  in  Ripley.  Among  other  old 
and  prominent  citizens  are,  L.  D.  Stoffer,  A.  E  Martin,  I- 
N.  Stout,  N.  S.  Hetrick,  I.  E.  Stoffer,  Olie  Smith,  Homer 
H.  Keith,  John  Friday,  Frank  Effort,  W.  H.  Glenn,  and 
others. 

The  first  land  entries  were  made  several  years  prior  to  any 
settlement,  and  by  parties  who  never  saw  the  land  or  made 
subsequent  settlements.  Of  the  first  four  the  records  show 
as  follows  :  Entered  by  James  Monroe  the  S.  W.  i  of  section 
7,  September  20,  1818.  Prior  to  this  date,  we  find  that  some 
time  in  1815,  Benjamin  Tucker  granted  to  Thomas  Rice  the 
N;  W.  i  of  section  18.  Again,  James  Monroe  grants  to 
John  Marvin,  on  the  8th  of  November,  1817,  the  S.  W.  i 
of  section  19.  Two  days  later,  the  same  grantor  grants  the 
N.  \V.  }  of  section  19  to  James  Campbell.  As  is  well  known, 
this  portion  of  the  State  is  a  military  tract,  and  these  grants 
were  made  in  accordance  with  an  Act  of  Congress,  donating 
lands  to  those  who  had  served  in  the  war  of  1812.  For 
many  years  the  land  was  of  little  value,  and  was  traded  to 
other  parties  for  a  mere  trifle  as  a  consideration. 

As  already  stated,  the  first  land  tilled,  and  the  first  timber 
felled  in  this  township,  was  by  the  pioneer,  Willis  O'Neal, 
on  section  33,  in  the  summer  of  1826.  The  first  child  born 
here  was  a  son  of  his,  and  was  born  late  in  the  fall  of  1826, 
or  ejirly  in  1827.  He  was  named  Willis,  Jr.  He  lived  to 
s-erve  his  country  in  the  late  war,  where  he  died.  He  was 
buried  in  St.  Louis,  but  was  afterwards  exhumed  and  brought 
to  Ripley,  where  the  remains  now  lie.  The  first  buried  in 
ibis  cemetery  was  a  child  of  Mr.  Blankenship,  who  lived 


just  over  the  township  line  in  Cooperstown.  This  was  early 
in  1828.  The  first  death  within  the  boundaries  of  the  town- 
ship, was  the  wife  of  Willis  O'Neal,  and  occurred  in  1828, 
and  was  the  second  interment  made  in  the  cemetery.  The 
first  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  by  John  Logan,  a 
local  preacher,  on  the  2d  day  of  August,  1829.  The  con- 
tracting parties  were  Willis  O'Neal  and  Harriet  Hunt,  the 
history  of  whom  has  already  been  given.  They  now  lie  side 
by  side  in  the  old  Ripley  burial  ground.  This  cemetery  is 
situated  in  the  southern  part  of  the  corporation,  and  con- 
tains about  one  and  a  half  acres.  It  is  well  kept  and  cared 
for  by  the  people  of  the  town.  The  first  school  was  taught 
in  1837,  by  Milo  Henry.  The  school-house  was  a  small  log 
building,  and  situated  about  a  hundred  yards  west  from  where 
the  present  school-house  stands.  It  was  utilized  for  school 
purposes  until  about  1850,  when  it  was  torn  down,  and  the 
logs  consumed  in  burning  pottery  ware.  The  first  preaching 
was  by  the  Baptist  persuasion,  about  1831.  The  Reverends 
Ray  and  Crow  were  among  the  first  to  officiate,  and  the 
services  were  held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  O  Neal.  The  first 
church  building  was  erected  about  1847,  by  the  Christian 
denomination.  It  i3  a  plain  frame  house,  and  is  situated  in 
the  western  part  of  the  town  of  Ripley.  The  first  justice  of 
the  peace  was  Willis  O'Neal,  and  the  second  was  Milo  Henry. 
O'Neal  was  appointed  as  early  as  1830.  Dr.  Teal,  of  Rush- 
ville,  was  the  first  to  attend  to  the  wants  of  the  sick  in  this 
part  of  the  country.  Dr.  Isaac  Vandeventer,  from  Ver- 
sailles, was  also  among  the  first.  The  first  resident  physi- 
cian was  Dr.  Town.  He  located  here  about  1843,  but 
moved  to  Havana,  on  the  Illinois  river,  in  a  few  years.  The 
first  post-office  was  established  in  the  spring  of  1837,  with 
Milo  Henry  as  postmaster.  The  mail  was  distributed  at  his 
house,  which  was  a  sort  of  pioneer  hotel.  The  first  black- 
smithing  was  done  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hovey.  He 
remained  but  a  short  time,  selling  out  his  shop  to  William 
S.  Ishmael.  The  shop  was  a  temporary  affair,  and  situated 
on  the  north  side  of  the  square.  It  was  torn  away  and  a 
better  one  erected  in  its  place.  A  ferry  was  established  at 
Ripley  by  Allen  Alexander  in  1832,  and  the  crossing  was 
made  just  below  the  present. bridge.  A  close  observer,  even 
to  this  day,  may  yet  see  the  worn  way  leading  to  that  p  jiut 
from  the  town  above.  Within  the  knowledge  of  the  living, 
or  of  those  now  dead,  commencing  with  Mr.  O  Neal,  there 
was  no  bridge  or  ferry  crossing  the  creek  at  this  point  prior 
to  1830.  Emigrants  crossed  here,  if  on  foot  or  horseback. 
The  passage  was  made  by  a  canoe  or  "  dug-out,"  and  a  horse- 
man led  his  animal  by  the  side  of  the  canoe.  Yet,  when 
Mr.  O'Neal  located  here,  in  1826, — not  a  white  man  within 
miles — there  were  plainly  +,o  be  seen  the  remnants  of  a  bridge 
a  little  above  the  present  bridge.  The  abutments  were  there, 
and  when  the  water  was  low,  a  bent  could  be  discovered  in 
the  middle  of  the  creek  swashing  in  the  current  above  the 
surface  of  the  water.  By  whom  built,  or  when,  and  for  what 
purpose,  none  of  the  pioneers  ever  knew.  A  bridge  was  coi.- 
structed  across  the  stream  in  1830,  but  in  the  spiing  of  the 
deep  snow  it  was  washed  away.  Three  other  bridges  have  bet  n 
thrown  across  the  creek  since  the  one  of  1830,  but  have  not 
been  sufficient  tc  withstand  the  floods.     The  present  bridge 


340 


HISTORY   OF  SCJIUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


was  finished  iu  1853,  and  to  date  has  bid  defiance  to  high 
water.  It  is  an  excellent  structure,  is  covered,  and  bids  fair 
to  stand  for  many  years  yet  to  come. 

Supervisors. — The  following  are  the  names  of  those  who 
have  served  on  the  county  board  since  township  organi- 
zation :  First  term,  1S54,  John  N.  Ebey ;  William  H.  Glenn 
was  elected  in  1855,  and  served  two  terms ;  William  O'Neal, 
elected  in  185  7,  and  served  one  term  ;  B.  C.  Vincent,  elected 
in  1858 ;  William  H.  Glenn,  re-elected  in  1859 ;  A  E-  Mar- 
tin,  elected  in  1860,  and  served  until  1869;  William  H. 
Glenn,  reelected  in  1869,  and  served  two  terms;  A.  E. 
Martin,  re-elected  in  1872,  and  served  two  terms;  William 
H.  Glenn,  re-elected,  and  served  for  the  year  of  1875 ;  R 
R.  Randall,  elected  in  1876,  and  served  two  terms ;  A. 
E.  Martin,  re-elected  in  1878,  and  served  two  terms ;  the 
latter  year,  1879,  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  board  ;  R.  R 
Randall,  re-elected  in  1880,  served  one  term ;  William  A. 
Canada,  elected  in  1881 ;  Charles  W.  Keith,  elected  in  1882, 
and  is  the  present  incumbent- 

TOWS   OF   RIPLEY. 

The  town  was  laid  off  by  John  X.  Ebey  and  Fielding  T. 
Glenn,  and  placed  on  record  the  3d  of  September,  1836,  being 
a  part  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  33.  Allen  Persinger 
was  the  surveyor.  It  was  originally  named  Centerville,  from 
the  fact  that  it  lay  near  the  geographical  center  of  Schuyler 
county,  of  which  this  was  then  a  part.  It  was  laid  oat 
with  a  commodious  square,  the  projectors  believing  that 
some  future  day  it  would  becDme  the  capital  of  the  county. 
And  so  it  probably  would,  if  the  couuty  had  not  been  di- 
vided in  1839,  creating  a  new  county  from  the  south  half. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  containing  a  population  of  thousands, 
it  has  but  about  five  hundred.  The  name  was  changed 
to  Ripley  in  honor  of  General  Ripley,  a  gallant  soldier  of  ! 
the  war  of  1812.  It  is  probable  that  it  would  have  re- 
tained its  former  name  if  there  had  not  been  another  town  j 
and  post-office  in  the  state  of  the  same  name.  The  first  \ 
house  built  within  what  is  now  the  corporation  of  Ripley 
was  in  1834,  and  constructed  by  Fielding  T.  Glenn.  It  , 
was  a  rough  log  cabin  16x18  feet,  puncheon  floor,  and 
contained  one  door  and  one  window.  It  was  built  for  a 
dwelling,  and  was  situated  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  in  the 
middle  of  the  street  leading  to  the  bridge.  It  remained 
here  only  about  three  years,  when  it  was  taken  down  and 
moved  to  Logan's  creek  iu  Cooperstown  township.  John  N. 
Ebey  sold  the  first  goods  in  the  fall  of  1838.  His  store- 
room was  a  small,  temporary  frame  building,  aad  was  lo 
rated  on  the  north  side  of  the  square.  The  first  hotel  was 
built  by  Milo  Henry  in  1 836,  just  after  the  town  was  laid 
out  It  was  a  hewed  log  house,  weather-boarded,  one  and  a 
half  stories  in  height  It  was  built  upon  the  north  side  of 
the  square  ;  it  is  yet  standing,  and  is  in  a  good  state  of  pre- 
servation. The  first  lot  sold  was  bid  off  by  Asa  Benton,  and 
brought  $50. 

Incorporation. — A  meeting  was  called  pursuant  to  notice, 
at  the  business  house  of  Glenn  &  Ingles,  on  the  13th  of 
February,  1865,  for  the  purpose  of  incorporation.  S.  R 
Glenn  acted  as  both  president  and  clerk  of  the  meeting. 


Thirty-three  votes  were  cast,  all  in  favor  of  incorporating. 
An  election  for  officers  was  held  the  25th  of  February, 
1 865,  when  the  following  named  persons  were  elected  mem- 
bers of  the  board  of  trustees :  Samuel  R  Glenn,  William 
Cleveland,  B.  C  Vincent,  A.  E  Martin  and  C.  W.  Keith. 
At  the  first  meeting  of  the  board,  Samuel  R.  Glenn  was 
chosen  chairman,  and  A.  E.  Martin  clerk  pro  tern.  The 
limits  of  the  corporation  were  defined  as  follows:  Com- 
mencing at  the  northwest  corner  of  section  33,  town  1 
north,  range  2  west ;  thence  south  220  rods,  thence  east 
160  rods,  thence  north  60  rods,  thence  east  to  section  line 
dividing  sections  33  and  34,  thence  north  to  Crooked  creek, 
thence  up  the  creek  to  section  line  of  sections  28  and  29, 
thence  south  to  place  of  beginning.  The  present  officers 
are:  C.  W.  Keith,  President;  Mathias  Staffer,  W.  C.  Bas- 
selt,  N.  S  Hetrick,  Henry  Taylor  and  B.  T.  Stofer  ;  Village 
Clerk,  Edgar  A.  Martin ;  Police  Magistrate,  B.  C.  Vincent ; 
Marshal,  W.  W.  H.  Westbrook. 

PRESENT  BUSINESS,   ETC 

The  principal  industry  of  the  town  is  the  manufacture  of 
pottery.  Excellent  clay  beds  are  in  the  vicinity,  and  thus 
the  town  has  been  enabled  to  make  this  one  of  the  principal 
pottery  manufacturing  points  in  the  West.  Not  less  than 
1,000,000  gallons  of  various  kinds  of  ware  are  shipped  an- 
nually. A  railroad  is  sadly  needed  to  give  full  develop- 
ment to  this  industry.  The  most  extensive  manufacturer  is 
L  D.  Stofer.  He  has  two  shops  and  two  kilns,  and  manu- 
factures about  250,000  gallons  of  ware  annually,  and  gives 
employment  to  25  men.  There  are  eight  shops  in  active 
operation  at  this  time.  F.  M.  Stout  &  Son  employ  about 
20 men ;  Harvey  Irwin  has  7  employees ;  Stofer  &  Leach,  the 
same  number;  W.  A  Canada  employs  6  hands;  Dennis  & 
Elett,  5  men  :  E  Warren  employs  6  men,  but  is  suspended 
at  this  time  ;  Crawford  &  Sons  employ  3  men.  B  C.  Vin- 
cent, one  of  the  oldest  potters  in  the  town,  has  suspended 
his  works  for  a  time.  There  are  two  or  three  other  shops 
that  are  not  in  operation,  but  may  be  again  revived.  There 
have  been  as  many  as  13  shops  in  active  operation  at  the 
same  time.  The  town  is  literally  paved  with  broken  crock- 
ery ware.  A  stranger  is  particulary  struck  with  the  quaint 
appearance  of  many  things  in  this  town  of  jugs. 

Ripley  Steam  and  Flouring  Mill. — This  mill  was  first  built 
for  a  clay  crusher  by  MeNeal  k  Shields  in  the  winter  of 
1872-'73,  and  was  transformed  into  a  grist  mill  by  McNeal 
&  Randall  in  1S76.  It  is  a  frame,  three  stories  high,  and 
situated  iu  the  east  part  of  town,  not  far  from  the  square. 
It  has  two  run  of  stone,  one  for  wheat  and  one  for  corn, 
with  a  capacity  of  grinding  39  barrels  of  flour,  and  100 
bushels  of  meal  in  twenty-four  hours.  A  saw-mill  has  been 
attached  and  is  run  when  custom  demands.  The  capital  in- 
vested is  upwards  of  $3,000.  Mr.  R.  R.  Randall  has  the 
entire  supervision  and  control  of  the  industry. 

Coal  Mining. — Within  a  mi"e  and  a  half  of  town  are  four 
coal  mines  in  operation,  and  are  owned  and  conducted  by 
the  following  parties:  Jerry  O'Neal,  T.  F.  Lea  is,  James 
Moody,  and  C.  McKee.  The  mines  are  worked  by  drifting 
into  the  bluff.    The  coal  is  found  from  ten  to  thirty  feet  be- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


341 


low  the  surface,  and  the  vein  will  average  about  30  inches 
in  thickness.  The  mines  are  meagerly  worked,  only  suffi- 
cient to  supply  home  demand.  The  village  contains  three 
churches,  Methodist,  Christian,  and  Advent.  All  are  com- 
fortable houses  of  worship.  A  fine  school-house  adorns  the 
southern  part  of  the  town.  It  was  built  about  six  years  ago, 
and  is  furnished  with  all  the  conveniences  for  a  village 
school.  It  contains  three  rooms,  and  is  thus  partially  graded, 
employing  two  teachers.  The  maximum  attendance  is  about 
130  pupils.  The  cost  of  the  building,  seating,  etc.,  was 
3,000.  The  town  also  has  at  this  time  the  following  busi- 
ness: 

General  Stores.— F.  M.  Stout  &  Son,  L.  D.  Stoffer. 

Groceries — A.  E.  Martin. 

Druggist  and  Pharmacist. — Millen  &  Price. 

Physicians  — G.  M.  and  E.  H.  B.  Mills,  W.  F.  Millen, 
Hiram  Bowman. 


Hotel. — Randall  House,  B.  T.  Stofer,  proprietor. 

Postmaster. — A.  E.  Martin. 

Shoe  Maker. — James  Patterson. 

Dress  Makers- — Mrs.  May  E  Scott,  Mrs.  Lydia  James, 
Mrs.  Laura  O'Neal. 

Artist. — John  M.  Stout,  crayon  portraits  and  oil  landscape 
views.     He  is  the  only  deaf  mute  artist  in  the  state. 

Insurance  Agent. — C.  W.  Keith. 

Carpenter. — Mathias  Paris. 

SOCIETIES. 

Sincerity  Lodge,  No.  458,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  was  chartered  the 
11th  of  September,  1872,  with  five  charter  members.  The 
present  membership  is  eighteen.  The  whole  number  en- 
rolled, forty-five.  The  Lodge  meets  in  Staffer's  Hall  ev^ry 
Saturday  evening  in  each  week.  It  is  in  good  condition, 
financially,  being  out  of  debt,  and  money  in  the  treasury. 


"wmMB»fr™ — 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


ADAM  E.  MARTIN. 

Adam  E.  Martin,  merchant  and  postmaster  at  Ripley, 
is  a  native  of  Stark  county,  Ohio,  and  wa3  born  on  the 
20th  of  March,  1832.  On  his  father's  side  his  ancestors  were 
of  Irish  descent,  and  on  his  mother's  German.  His  father, 
John  Martin,  and  his  mother,  Catharine  Lutz,  were  both  born 
and  raised  in  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania.  In  the  year 
1832  his  parents  moved  from  Pennsylvania  to  Stark  county, 
Ohio,  where  both  subsequently  died.  Adam  E.  was  the 
youngest  of  a  family  of  nine  children.  He  was  only  three 
years  old  when  his  father  died.  He  lived  in  Stark  county 
till  about  fourteen  years  of  age  when  his  mother  moved  with 
the  family  to  Summit  county,  Ohio.  In  the  schools  of  the 
latter  county,  and  in  Mt.  Union  college  he  obtained  his  edu- 
cation ;  after  working  a  few  months  at  the  tinner's  trade  he 
became  clerk  in  a  store  at  New  Franklin,  Stark  county, 
Ohio.  At  Mogadore,  Summit  county,  Ohio,  he  learned  the 
potter's  trade.  In  the  year  1852  he  came  to  Illinois,  reach- 
ing Ripley  in  October,  of  which  place  he  has  since  been  a 
resident.  After  working  at  the  potter's  trade  about  twelve 
years  he  became  clerk  in  a  store.  In  1872  he  began  the 
mercantile  business  for  himself,  at  first  in  partnership 'with 
Capt.  Isaac  McNiel  and  afterwards  with  W.  A.  Canada. 
Since  1876  he  has  carried  on  the  business   by   himself.     He 


was  married  in  1855  to  Amanda  O'Niel,  a  native  of  Brown 
county  and  a  daughter  of  S.  P.  O'Niel.  There  have  been 
seven  children  by  this  marriage.  Four  are  now  living  : 
Edgar,  now  twenty-one  years  old ;  John  L.  now  fifteen 
years  of  age ;  Katie,  nine  years  old  ;  and  Delia  aged  six. 
Three  are  dead,  William  B.  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty 
mouths  ;  Clara  when  a  year  old,  and  Freddie  at  the  age  of 
four  years.  Another  adopted  child  is  a  member  of  Mr. 
Martin's  family. 

He  was  raised  an  abolitionist,  and  in  his  boyhood  his  senti- 
ments were  strongly  opposed  to  slavery.  When  the  Free 
Soil  movement  started  it  had  his  sympathies,  and  he  was  olo 
of  the  few  men  in  Brown  county  who  in  1856  supported 
Fremont,  the  first  Republican  nominee,  for  president.  He 
wrote  the  call  for  the  first  Republican  convention  held  in 
Brown  county,  and  has  since  been  one  of  the  active  Republi- 
cans of  the  county.  He  was  elected  assessor  of  Ripley 
township  in  1855.  He  was  afterwards  elected  supervisor, 
and  altogether  has  represented  Ripley  township  on  the 
board  of  supervisors  for  years.  He  made  a  good  record  as  a 
supervisor,  and  though  a  Republican  in  politics,  while  a 
majority  of  the  members  were  Democrats,  was  elected  chair- 
man of  the  board.  He  has  been  clerk  and  collector  of 
taxes  of  the  township  of  Ripley.  For  ten  years  he  has  filled 
the  office  of  postmaster  at  Ripley. 


342 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


HIRAM  BOWMAN,  M.  D. 
This  gentleman,  who  has  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  Brown  county  since  1869,  is  a  native  of  Ve- 
nango county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  born  on  the  11th  of 
June,  1819.  His  father,  Alexander  Bowman,  was  born  in 
Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania.  His  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Murray.  Dr.  Bowman  was  raised  in  Venango 
county;  he  was  married  in  1840  to  Eleanor  L.  Singleton; 
in  1844  he  relnoved  to  Crawford  county,  Ohio ;  his  wife 
died  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  in  1851 ;  in  .1852  he  came  to 
Illinois,  and  for  some  time  was  engaged  in  farming  in  Bu- 
reau county  ;  the  same  year  occurred  his  marriage  to  Han- 
nah E.  Puller,  who  died  in  1855  ;  in  1856  he  became  a 
resident  of  Cass-  county,  Missouri,  where  he  entered  land 
and  improved  a  farm ;  in  1861  he  removed  to  Camp  Point, 
in  Adams  county,  of  this  state,  and  the  following  year  to 
Rushville,  where  in  1866  he  began  the  practice  of  medicine, 
he  had  begun  the  study  of  medicine  some  years  before  in 
Ohio,  but  had  never  engaged  in  active  practice  ;  he  attended 
lectures  at  the  Eclectic  Medical  College  of  St.  Louis,  from 
which  he  graduated  in  January,  1876.  His  present  wife, 
whose  name  was  formerly  Emma  Robbins,  he  married  in 
Woodstock  township,  Schuyler  county  in  1866  ;  she  was  the 
daughter  of  Garret  W.  Robbins,  an  early  settler  of  Schuy- 
ler county ;  her  mother  was  Elizabeth  Thompson.  Since 
1869,  Dr.  Bowman  has  been  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Ripley  township.  He  has  two  children  by 
his  first  marriage ;  Theresa,  the  wife  of  J.  H.  Harwood  of 
Waco,  Texas,  and  Alexander  Bowman,  who  is  now  prac- 
ticing dentUtry  iu   Cooper  county,  Missouri.     He  is  inde- 


pendent in  his  political  views,  and  votes  for  the  candidate 
whom  he  considers  best  qualified  for  the  office.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  church  of  the  Abrahamic  Faith,  of  which 
there  is  a  society  at  Ripley. 


CHARLES  W.  KEITH, 
The  present  member  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  from  Rip- 
ley township,  was  born  in  Harrison  county,  Indiana,  on  the 
18th  of  August,  1828.  When  he  was  six  years  old  his 
parents  moved  to  Vigo  county,  Indiana,  where  the  family 
lived  till  he  was  fourteen  years  old,  and  then  came  to  Cum- 
berland county,  in  this  state,  and  afterwards  removed  to 
Floyd  county,  Indiana.  On  the  8th  of  April,  1847,  he  there 
married  Amanda  Haukins,  who  was  born  in  Floyd  county, 
Indiana.  In  the  year  1849,  he  came  to  Ripley,  in  this  coun- 
ty, where  he  has  since  lived.  In  early  life  he  had  learned 
the  trade  of  a  plasterer,  but  when  he  came  to  Ripley  ^engaged 
in  the  pottery  business,  and  for  about  twenty  years  con. 
ducted  a  pottery  establishment  of  his  own.  He  has  seven 
children.  Elizabeth,  the  oldest,  married  John  T.  Roberts, 
and  now  lives  at  Fort  Scott,  Kansas.  The  others-are,  Frank 
W.,  Homer  H,  Abraham  L.,  Julia,  Ella,  and  Eva.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Whig  party  till  its  dissolution,  and  has 
since  been  a  Republican.  He  has  filled  nearly  every  office 
in  Ripley  township,  and  is  now  president  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  town  of  Ripley.  He  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  board  of  supervisors  in  1882.  He  was  elected  a  Ju.-t'c3 
of  the  Peace  in  1668,  and  has  filled  the  office  ever  since,  have 
ing  been  elected  three  times. 


•^^^^S^3^^' 


CAMDEN    TOWNSHIP. 


(SCHUYLER    COUNTY.) 


-Hi- 


-V+- 


,Nthe  early  fall  of  1829,  three  hardy  and 
venturesome  men,  crossed  the  Illinois  river 
at  Beard's  ferry,  and  with  guns  upon  their 
shoulders,  turned  their  course  westward, 
following  an  Indian  trail  from  Rushville, 
then  a  small  village,  and  crossed  a  stream 
of  water  on  a  fallen  log,  in  search  of  new 
homes  to  which  they  could  bring  their 
-  £  wives  and  little  ones.     At  a  distance   of 

fourteen   miles  •  west   of   Rushville,   they 
found  a  hill  in  the  form  of  a  perfect  dome,  and  from  this 


point,  they  selected  their  future  homes,  staked  off  their  land, 
retraced  their  footsteps  to  Rushville,  aud  thence  returned  to 
their  families  in  Morgan  county.  These  men  were,  John 
and  Robert  Brown,  brothers,  and  Luke  Allphin,  a  brother- 
in-law  of  John  Brown-.  From  the  entry  of  these  sturdy 
pioneers,  begins  the  history  of  what  is  now  Camden  town- 
ship. It  is  one  of  the  southern  range  of  townships  of 
Schuyler  county,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Brooklyn 
township,  on  the  east  by  Buena  Vista,  on  the  south  by 
Brown  county,  and  on  the  west  by  Huutsville.  In  form, ' 
it  is  a  perfect  square,  and  contains  thirty-six  full  sections, 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


343 


and  is  Congressional  township  two  north,  range  three  west 
of  the  fourth  principal  meridian.  Originally  this  township 
was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber,  especially 
along  the  streams,  while,  here  and  there,  were  scattered 
small  prairies  covered  with  tall  grass.  The  surface  is  gently 
undulating,  save  along  Crooked  creek,  where  it  is  very 
much  broken,  with  rich  bottom  land  upon  either  side  of 
the  streams.  The  soil  is  rich  and  productive,  and  well 
adapted  to  agriculture.  It  is  well  watered,  Crooked  creek 
entering  it  in  the  northeast  corner  of  section  five,  and  in 
its  serpentine  course  intersecting  sections  four,  eight,  nine, 
ten,  e'even,  thirteen,  fourteen,  twenty-three,  twenty-four, 
twenty-five,  and  passing  through  section  thirty-six,  into 
Brown  county,  furnishing  an  excellent  range  for  stock, 
besides  abundant  water  supply,  mill  sites  and  drainage 
facilities.  Little  Missouri  creek  also  flows  across  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  township,  and  receives  many  small  tributa- 
ries. Cedar  creek  enters  the  township  from  the  west.  Spring 
branch  from  the  north,  and  Brush  creek  and  Stony  branch 
from  the  east,  and  all  pour  their  waters  into  Crooked  creek. 
Believing  that  the  first  land  entries  will  prove  interesting 
to  the  present  as  well  as  future  generations,  we  append  a 
few,  all  being  patents  granted  to  soldiers  for  services  in  the 
war  of  1812.  The  first  patent  was  issued  to  Elihu  Stivers, 
Oct  6, 1817,  for  the  S.  E.  quarter  of  action  13  ;  to  William 
Gray,  for  the  N.  E.   quarter  of  section  27,  November  21) 

1817  ;  to  James  C.  Young  for  the  N.  W.  quarter  of  section 
20;  a  patent^for  S.  E.  quarter  of  section  6,  February  18, 

1818  ;  Wijliam  Bowden  for  N.  E  quarter  of  section  7,  Mar. 
5,1818;  and  to  J.  Bauhy  for  N.  W.  of  section  24. 
The  township  took  its  name,  at  the  adoption  of  township  or- 
ganization, from  the  village  of  the  same  name. 

The  three  pioneers,  who  had  selected  locations  in  the  wild- 
erness, returned  to  Morgan  county,  and  made  preparations 
for  removal  to  their  new  homes.  John  Brown  was  a  native 
of  Grant  county,  Kentucky,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and 
married  Miss  Sarah  Points,  and  in  1825  left  Kentucky  and, 
with  a  wife  and  two  children  came  to  Morgan  county,  where 
he  resided  until  the  early  spring  of  1830.  Iu  the  last  men- 
tioned year,  he  loaded  his  household  goods,  and  with  his 
wife  and  children,  Lucy  and  Thomas  B.,  started  on  h.13  jour- 
ney, behind  his  patient  ox  team.  Arriving  at  his  proposed 
home,  he  built  a  comfortable  cabin  of  hewed  logs,  covering 
it  with  clapboards,  which  were  held  to  their  places  with 
pole  weights.  He  settled  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 20;  where  he  died,  January  10,  1871,  aged  84  years, 
leaving  several  children,  and  his  aged  widow  who  still  sur- 
vives, and  lives  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Goodwin  West, 
near  Camden.  With  John  Brown  came  his  brother  Robert 
and  family,  and  settled  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
17,  first  squatting  and  afterwards  purchasing  the  land.  Here 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days.  The  third  member  of 
this  little  band,  was  Luke  Allphin,  also  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky. His  mode  of  conveyance  was  like  that  of  his  com- 
panions, with  whom  he  started  from  Morgan  county.  He 
brought  with  him  a  wife  and  children,  Zebedee,  and  Jane. 
He  settled  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  17  ;  building 
a  cabin  and  making  improvements.     Tiring  of  the  rapidly 


increasing  population,  he  migrated  to  California.  The  deep 
s'now  commencing  on  the  8th  day  of  December,  1830,  caused 
much  suffering  to  the  Browns  and  Allphins,  as  they  did  not 
have  sufficient  time  to  raise  a  crop  after  their  arrival,  and 
what  they  did  raise  was  devoured  by  the  crows  and  prairie 
chickens  which  would  surround  and  even  enter  the  house 
in  flocks.  Their  stock  of  corn  was  soon  exhausted,  and  to 
sustain  life  it  was  necessary  "for  John  and  Robert  Brown  to 
go  to  Rushville  for  a  new  supply.  During^  their  absence 
Mrs.  John  Brown,  kept  her  calves  from  starving  by  feediug 
them  with  straw  from  the  beds  ;  and  when  the  Browns  re- 
turned with  the  corn,  it  had  to  be  ground  upon  a  hand  mill, 
before  they  could  satisfy  their  hunger.  For  seveial  years 
their  most  convenient  mill  was  at  Quincy. 

Following  these  early  settlers  came  Ephraim  Eggleston  of 
Ohio,  who  had  been  living  in  the  county  since  1823,  bring- 
ing his  wife  and  children,  and  settling  on  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  15,  where  he  erected  his  cabin  and  spent 
his  life  in  toil.  The  number  of  these  early  settlers  was  far- 
ther augmented  by  the  arrival  in  the  fall  of  1831 ,  of  Thomas 
J.  Chapman  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  a  brother-in-law  of 
John  Brown,  who  had  come  from  his  native  state  with  the 
Browns  when  they  came  to- Morgan  county.  He  arrived 
in  an  ox  wagon  with  his  wife,  and  James,  Thomas  and 
Sarah,  his  children,  and  settled  on  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  30,  building  a  cabin  as  usual.  He  left  the  county 
many  years  ago  and  went  to  Iowa.  In  1833,  Ephraim 
Owens  located  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  24,  with  a 
wife  and  family  of  grown  children.  Ira  Owens  and  family 
made  a  home  on  the  southeast  of  section  26,  and  Heusen 
Marlow,  from  Indiana,  with  his  wife  and  children,  Agnes 
and  Richard,  built  his  cabin  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 22.  Jesse  Plunkett,  with  his  wife,  came  from  Kentucky 
in  a  one  horse  wagon,  and  settled  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  30.  The  arrivals  in  1835,  consisted  of  the  families 
of  Robert  Points,  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  5,  where 
he  started  a  saloon,  and  Drury  B.  Davis  from  Kentucky, 
on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  22.  Wm.  Allphin  from 
Indiana,  arrived  in  an  ox  wagon  after  a  journey  of  fourteen 
days,  bringing  his  wife  and  children,  Green,  Luke  P., 
Thomas,  Jackson,  Marion,  America  and  Margaret,  and  set- 
tled on  the  northeast  quarter  of  21.  Among  the  old  settlers 
were  Abel  Whiteman  who  made  his  home  on  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  21,  in  1837  ;  Isaac  Cady,  who  bought  the 
improvement  on  th6  northwest  quarter  of  section  19,  and  his 
eldest  son,  Isaac  G.,  at  the  same  time  selected  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  20,  in  1835  Benjamin  West  took  posses- 
sion of  the  southwest  of  26,  and  his  brother,  Willison  West, 
the  northeast  of  35,  iu  1834,  both  having  families.  Baalaiu 
Busby  and  family,  came  from  Kentucky  in  1833,  and  made 
an  improvement  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  26. 
Two  brothers,  named  Clark,  both  men  with  families,  came 
to  the  township  iu  1834,  from  Kentucky.  Harrison  Clark 
entered  the  S.  E.  of  section  36,  and  William  Clark  the.  S. 
W.  of  section  36.  Among  the  early  settlers  may  be  men- 
tioned Philander  Avery,  Robert  Brooks,  Adam  S.,  and  John 
Corrie,  M.  M.  Cleek,  Jolin  L.  Callison.Geo.  L.  Gray,  Robt. 
G.  McHatton,  R.  B.  Stubblefield,  B.  F.  Taggart,  the  Wells 


344 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


family,  Joseph  N.  Ward,  all  of  whom  by  their  industry  have 
made  the  township  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  prosper- 
ous in  the  county. 

The  first  birth  in  the  township  was  that  of  William  Egg- 
leston.  The  first  death  was  that  of  a  little  child  of  a  pioneer 
named  Raphael  Wilson,  who  rented  the  house  on  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  19,  where  burial  took  place. 

The  first  cemetery  was  located  on  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  17,  1834,  and  the  first  burial  in  it  was  that  of  a 
little  boy  of  Robert  Brown's.  The  first  school-house  was 
built  in  1836,  a  rude  log  cabin  on  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  18;  and  the  first  session  of  school  was  taught  in  the 
summer  of  1836,  by  John  Thornhill.  The  first  sermon  was 
preached  at  the  house  of  John  Brown  in  the  winter  of  1833, 
by  Rev.  Paten,  a  Methodist.  Drury  B.  Davis  or  Balaam 
Busby  was  the  first  justiceof  the  peace,  aud  Dr.  Samuel  Clark- 
son  was  the  first  physician.  Besides  the  churches  in  Cam- 
den the  United  Brethren  have  a  neat  edifice  known  as  Union 
Chapel,  Rev.  Cisely,  pastor.  The  first  bridge  built  in 
Camden  towu.'hip  was  the  one  across  Crooked  creek  on  the 
Rushville  road  at  an  early  day.  The  roads  of  the  present 
day  are  in  a  good  and  passable  condition,  and  the  water 
courses  are  spanned  in  many  places  with  substantial  bridges, 
making  all  points  accessible  and  convenient.  The  educa- 
tional interest  of  the  township  are  carefully  fostered,  and  in 
the  eight  white  frame  school  buildings  may  be  found  the 
youth  of  the  land,  six  months  of  each  year.  The  first  attempt 
to  build  a  mill  in  the  township  was  made  by  John  Taggart, 
who  came  to  the  township  with  his  father-in-law,  Wolber- 
ton  and  their  families  in  1833  and  located  on  the  S.  W.  k 
of  section  26,  commenced  building  a  dam  and  subsequently 
erected  a  two-story  frame  mill,  but  before  they  succeeded  in 
getting  it  into  operation  they  were  evicted  by  the  owner  of 
the  laud,  and  the  mill  was  allowed  to  go  to  ruin.  Being^a 
man  of  considerable  determination  he  applied  to  the  county 
authorities  for  permission  to  construct  a  dam,  not  to  exceed 
nine  feet  in  height,  across  Crooked  creek,  on  the  S.  W.  i  of 
section  11,  where  he  and  his  family  and  his  father-in-law 
moved.  He  was  successful  in  his  application,  and  permission 
was  granted  William  McKee  and  Thomas  Taggart,  on  the 
8th  of  December,  1835.  Work  was  at  once  begun,  and  early 
in  1836,  the  mill  was  put  into  operation,  and  served  the  sur- 
rounding country  for  many  years.  Wolberton  moved  away, 
but  Taggart  died  in  the  township.  There  are  now  three 
saw  mills  in  operation  in  the  township :  John  Pickenpaugh 
on  S.  E.  \  of  section  4 ;  Lewis  Craycraft  on  N.  W.  }  of  sec- 
tion 32  ;  and  Jacob  Chapman.  The  township  has  been  repre- 
sented in  the  Board  of  supervisors  by  the  following  named 
gentleman  :  I.  G.  Cady,  elected  in  1854  and  served  one  term  ; 
Luke  P.  Allphin,  elected  in  1855,  and  served  six  years  in 
succession ;  John  M.  Campbell,  elected  in  1862,  and 
served  one  term;  Cyrus  Morrell,  elected  in  1863  and 
served  one  year ;  Isaac  G-  Cady,  re-elected  in  1864-5 ; 
Abner  Murphy,  elected  in  1866  ;  Arthur  L.  Wells,  in  1867, 
one  year ;  E.  L.  Fuller  in  186S-9  ;  Eli  Unger  in  1870;  Phil- 
ander Avery,  1871  and  twice  re-elected  ;  George  E.  Harvey 
in  1874;  James  N.  Rigg,  in  1875-6 ;  Philander  Avery,  in 
1877-8;   James   N.    Rigg  in   1879;  M.  M.  Gleek  in  18s0; 


and  Philander  Avery  in  1881,  and  was  re-elected  in  1882, 
and  is  the  present  incumbent  The  census  of  1880  credits 
this  township  with  130  farms  and  1112  inhabitants. 

THE   VILLIAGE  OF   CAMDEN. 

This  pleasant  little  village  is  situated  on  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  17,  and  was  laid  out  by  Robert  Brown 
and  Joseph  N.  Ward,  January  28th,  1831,  and  surveyed 
and  platted  by  Samuel  M'jHitton,  Deputy  County  Surveyor. 
It  has  never  had  a  village  organization.  The  first  building 
erected  was  the  one  referred  to  in  a  previous  part  of  this 
article  as  built  by  Robert  Brown  in  1830;  and  the  first 
store  was  established  by  John  and  Jasper  N.  Ward  in  1838. 
The  post-office  was  established  in  1839,  soon  after  the  lay- 
ing out  of  the  town,  the  first  post-master  being  Alexander 
McHatton ;  R.  A.  Williams  is  the  present  incumbent. 
Joseph  N.  Ward  built  and  kept  the  first  hotel.  The  first 
mill  was  built  in  Camden  by  David  Campbell  in  1856,  and 
was  a  steam  saw-mill,  with  corn-cracker  attached.  The 
first  church,  built  in  1868,  belonged  to  the  M.  E  congrega- 
tion, and  was  a  neat  frame  building.  The  first  school-house 
was  a  rude  log  cabin,  built  in  1839. 

PRESENT   BUSINESS. 

Flour  Mill.—  This  mill  was  built  in  1865,  by  Mr.  E.  Cady, 
Joseph  N.  Ward,  John  A  James,  and  William  Clarkson  at 
a  cost  of  $6  000,  and  is  a  frame  building,  steam  power,  with 
a  3i  foot  wheat  burr,  and  a  3  foot  corn  burr,  doing  a  strictly 
custom  business,  grinding  on  shares.  It  is  now  owned  by 
David  Loop,  and  operated  by  Burnett  and  Wells.  Its  ca- 
pacity is  fifteen  barrels  a  day,  and  is  valued  at  §4,000. 

Hotel.— Dr.  Wm.  Parker. 

General  Store. — J.  N.  Rigg  &  Son. 

Groceries. — W  H.  Rader  &  Co. 

Drugs. — R.  A.  Williams. 

Groceries. — W.  T.  Morris. 

Blacksmith. — W.  H.  Cady. 

Blacksmith  and  Wagonmaker. — R.  G.  McHatton. 

Wagonmakers  and  Undertakers. — Daly  &  Evans. 

Produce  Dealer. — W.  B.  James. 

Shoemaker. — Thomas  Weightman. 

Carpenter. — Isaac  G.  Cady. 

Physicians.-  B.  P.  Watts,  W.  L.  King,  William  Parker, 
and  J.  J.  Rigg. 

Milliners   and  Dressmakers. — Mrs.    Hat  tie   Upson,   Miss 
Nellie  Fields,  and  Miss  Melissa  Allphin. 

Camden  Lodge,  No.  648,  A.  F.  and  A.  M ,  was  organized 
in  1869,  and  worked  under  dispensation  when  they  received  a 
charter.  The  original  charter  members  were  John  A.  James, 
Dr.  John  A.  Harvey,  John  Anderson,  Theodore  Hetrick,  J. 
N.  Ward,  A.  Murphy,  R.  G.  McHatton,  James  McHatton, 
Dr.  B  P.  Watts,  E.  B.  West,  and  W.  H.  Cady.  The  first  offi- 
cers were  E.  B.  West,  W.  M. ;  John  A.  James,  S.  W. ;  R. 
G.  McHatton,  J. W. ;  Theodore  Hetrick,  S.  D. ;  John  Ander- 
son, J  D. ;  Joseph  A.  Ward,  Secretary,  and  Dr.  B. 
P.  Watts,  treasurer.  This  lodge  owned  its  own  temple, 
a  neat  frame  building,  which  was  destroyed  by  the  tornado 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


345 


of  September,  1881,  and  which  took  fire  after  being  blown 
down,  and  was,  with  everything  belonging  to  the  lodge  de- 
stroyed. They  held  an  insurance  policy  of  five  hundred 
dollars,  but  received  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 
They  now  have  a  new  temple  under  course  of  construction. 
The  present  officers  are  I.  P.  Melvin,  W.  M. ;  Charles  King, 
S  W. ;  M.  E  Cady,  J.  VV. ;  \V.  H.  Rader,  S.  D. ;  Vint. 
Anderson,  J.  D. ;  E.  L.  Fuller,  Secretary;  George  Ander- 
son, Treasurer;  and  James  Hendricks,  Tyler.  The  present 
membership  is  sixty-five,  and  their  regular  night  of  convo- 
cation is  the  Saturday  night  on  or  before  the  full  of  the 
moon. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  town  is  one  of  neatness ; 
there  are  two  handsome  churches,  the  Methodist  Episcopal, 
Rev.  N.  A.  Kane,  and  the  Christian  ;  both  were  destroyed 
by  a  terrible  cyclone,  which  desolated  the  town  on  the  24th 
of  September,  1881,  but  have  been  rebuilt  since  then. 


ERWIJT 

Is  a  small  village  near  the  banks  of  Crooked  Creek,  on  the 
northwest  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  26, 
and  was  laid  out  by  Columbus  C.  Meeks,  and  the  plat  and 
survey  were  made  by  County  Surveyor,  Lsonidas  Ilorney, 
on  the  27th  of  March,  1860.  Columbus  C.  Meeks  built,  of 
hewed  log,  the  first  house,  in  1856,  and  kept  the  first  store 
and  first  blacksmith  shop,  was  the  first  justice  of  the  peace 
and  first  postmaster,  when  a  post-office  was  established  in 
1856.  The  first  school-house  built  in  the  village  was  a 
neat  frame,  erected  in  1866,  and  the  first  teacher  was  James 
Bliss.  It  is  still  in  use,  there  being  a  term  of  six  months 
each  year.  They  have  no  church  building,  but  there  is  a 
religious  sect  calling  themselves  "The  Holiness  Band." 
The  present  business  is  confined  to  a  General  Store,  Eugene 
Mallory  ;  Groceries  and  Postmister,  J.  T.  Stofer;  Black- 
smith, William  Conn.  The  town  has  never  been  organized 
as  a  village. 


•^^3s<SS9^- 


BUCKHORNT    TOWNSHIP. 


(BROWN    COUNTY.)! 


~¥3r- 


-%+- 


T  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  County  Commis- 
sioners, in  1854,  when  the  county  went  under 
township  organization,  it  was  declared  that 
township  two  south,  range  four  west,  should 
be  known  by  the  name  of  Buckhorn,  from 
the  fact  that  it  had  been  traditionally  handed 
down  from  the  early  settlers,  that  within  her 
borders  had  been  found  a  relic  consisting  of 
the  enormous  horns  of  a  buck.  It  is  situated 
in  the  extreme  southwest  corner  of  the  county,  bounded  north 
by  Lee,  east  by  Elkhorn,  south  by  Pike  county,  and  west  by 
Adams  county.  The  surface  is  very  broken,  being  the  most 
rugged  body  of  land  in  the  county.  McKee's  creek,  which 
enters  the  township  on  section  thirteen,  flows  in  a  south- 
westerly course  across  the  township,  and  with  its  affluents 
drain  and  water  the  lands.  Like  the  township  east,  it  con- 
tains considerable  timber,  principally  along  the  streams. 
The  prairies  are  small,  and  very  productive.  The  improve- 
ments aud  farms  compare  well  with  any  of  her  neighboring 
townships. 

EARLY   SETTLEMENTS. 

In  18 17  we  find  that  several  military  rights  were  settled 
44 


on  land  in  this  township,  and  the  following  are  the  names 
of  some  of  the  claimants  :  Luke  Purdy,  S.  E.  section  seven  ; 
John  Pierce.  N.  E.  section  seven ;  Thomas  Trice,  N.  W 
section  eight,  and  August  Winkler,  N.  E.  section  8,  were 
all  made  on  the  sixth  day  of  October,  1817;.  Thomas  Dodd, 
S.  W.  section  10,  November  29th,  1817,  and  Nathaniel 
Dickey,  S.  E.  section  12,  December  11th,  1817.  It  is  not 
known  that  any  of  these  men  ever  settled  in  the  township, 
or  even  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

The  first  permanent  resident  in  Buckhorn  township  was 
William  L.  Dehart,  a  native  of  Hart  county,  Kentucky. 
He  came  to  Illinois  in  1832,  locating  in  Morgan  county, 
where  he  remained  until  -February,  1833,  and  on  the  sixth 
day  of  March,  in  the  same  year,  moved  to  La  Grange,  in 
this  county.  In  1837  he  moved  with  bis  family  to  Buck- 
horn, settling  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  33,  on  the 
place  now  owned  by  James  Lewis.  Mr.  Dehart  had  been 
here  before,  and  had  erected  a  small,  rough,  unhewed  log 
cabin,  about  sixteen  feet  square,  with  roof  of  clap-boards, 
and  mother  earth  for  floor.  On  the  night  of  the  arrival  at 
their  new  abode,  it  snowed  to  a  depth  of  about  six  inches, 
and  grew  quite  cold.     They  built  a  large  fire  in  one  end  of 


346 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


the  cabin,  against  the  green  logs,  the  smoke  curling  out 
through  the  openings  between  the  logs  of  the  side  of  the 
cabin,  or  clap-boards  in  the  roof,  there  being  neither  fire- 
place nor  chimney.  This  rude  structure,  in  a  wilderness  on 
that  cold,  stormy  night,  was  a  palace  to  them.  It  is  related, 
that  during  the  first  summer  the  Deharts  lived  here,  that 
they  killed  over  forty  copperhead  and  rattle  snakes  in  the 
immcdia'e  vicinity  of  their  cabin,  it  seemingly  having  been 
built  over  a  den  of  these  reptiles.  Dehart  reared  a  family 
of  four  sous  and  four  daughters,  five  of  whom  are  yet 
living,  viz.:  Thomas  B.,  Julius  W.,  in  Nebraska;  Malinda 
Jane,  wife  of  Lewis  Flinn,  in  Adams  county  ;  Mary,  wife 
of  Daniel  Comer,  in  Adams  county ;  and  Thomas,  who 
resides  on  section  thirty  of  Buckhorn,  who  is  the  only  rep- 
resentative of  the  family  now  in  the  county.  He  is  an 
extensive  farmer,  has  been  justice  of  the  peace  for  eight 
years,  and  held  other  minor  offices,  and  is  among  the  prom- 
nent  and  influential  gentlemen  of  the  county.  The  next 
settler  was  John  B.  Houston,  a  brother-in-law  of  William 
L.  Dehart.  He  came  the  1st  of  April,  of  the  same  year, 
and  located  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  same  section. 
Mr.  Hous'on  was  also  from  the  same  county  in  Kentucky, 
and  came  to  this  state  in  1831,  and  stopped  for  a  short  time 
iu  Morgan  county.  He  and  Dehart  came  from  there  to  La 
Grange  together.  He  had  a  family  of  eight  children,  six 
of  whom  are  yet  living,  none  of  them,  however,  in  Brown 
county.  His  daughter  Sarah,  born  January  8th,  1838,  was 
the  first  birth  that  occurred  in  the  township.  Houston  left 
here  in  1847,  and  subsequently  moved  to  Missouri,  where  he 
died.  It  was  about  the  same  date  that  Elmer  Morrel  and 
Arthur  Martin  settled  in  section  thirty-six.  Morrel  is  a 
native  of  Ohio,  and  is  still  living  on  the  place  where  he  first 
settled  ;  has  reared  a  family,  some  of  whom  are  also  residing 
near  him.  Arthur  Martin  also  came  from  Ohio,  and  was 
quite  a  prominent  man  iu  Buckhorn.  He  was  a  blacksmith 
by  trade,  and  had  a  shop,  a  store,  and  cooper  shop  located 
on  a  small  piece  of  land  that  he  had  purchased  from  Mr. 
Morrel,  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  thirty-six.  He 
was  founder  of  the  White  Oak  Springs  Post-office,  the  first 
in  the  township,  at  a  very  early  day.  He  also  held  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace,  town  treasurer,  and  other 
minor  positions  of  trust,  and  died  here  about  1857-  At  this 
writing  there  is  no  business  carried  on  at  this  point,  except 
ing  a  blacksmith  shop,  by  Zebedee  Martin,  a  son  of  the  old 
settler.  His  mother  is  living  with  him,  at  a  good  old  age. 
The  post-office  has  been  moved  around  several  times  since 
Martin's  death,  and  is  now  kept  by  R  T.  Bratton,  who 
resides  on  section  twenty-four.  Squire  and  Uriah  Houston, 
brothers  of  John  B.  Houston,  were  also  eaTly  arrivals. 
Squire  Houston  came  from  his  Dative  State  to  Morgan 
county  in  1830,  and  to  Brown  with  his  brother  John  B.  in 
1833,  locating  at  La  Grange.  In  1838  he  purchased  and 
settled  on  land  in  section  twenty-two.  About  1845  he 
traded  this  place  for  the  Kerragan  mill,  on  section  thirty- 
four,  which  he  operated  until  1852.  He  died  in  March, 
1882,  in  the  eighty-second  year  of  his  age.  He  mired  a 
large  family.  Laac,  Uriah,  John,  Isom  G.,  and  Minerva, 
wife  of  P.  G.  Butler,  are  living  in  the  township,  and  Ma- 


linda, wife  of  Silas  Reaves,  resides  in  Elkhorn.  Uriah  Hous- 
ton moved  from  Kentucky  to  Illinois  in  1831,  and  located 
in  Buckhorn  in  1839,  and  still  resides  on  section  twenty-six, 
where  he  is  interested  in  farming  and  operating  a  steam  mill. 
Henry  Jerroll,  a  North  Carolinian,  and  his  wife  walked 
from  that  State  to  Kentucky,  and  from  there  rode  on  horse- 
back up  through  Illinois,  and  settled  here  in  1830.  He 
erected  his  cabin  on  the  line  separating  Brown  county  from 
Pike  county.  In  1838  he  exchanged  farms  with  John  B. 
Houston,  and  became  a  citizen  of  Brown,  and  in  1843  moved 
to  the  State  of  Missouri.  Two  brothers,  John  and  James 
McDannald,  Kentuckians,  came  here  together,  landing,  in 
Buckhorn  between  Christmas  and  New  Year's  of  1838.  John 
had  a  family  of  thirteen  children,  seven  of  whom  came  to 
this  county  with  him,  and  only  one  of  them  is  now  living  in 
this  State,  Nealy  McDannald,  Sr.,  residing  in  section  thir. 
teen  of  Buckhorn.      James  had  a  small  family,  none  of 

'whom  are  now  living.  Elijah  Reeves,  a  Kentuckian,  was  a 
very  early  settler  in  the  bottom  prairie,  where  he  resided  for 
many  yearj,  and  moved  to  Elkhorn,  where  he  died.  Abel 
H.  Lamphire  and  his  son-in-law,  George  Shineberger  set- 
tled on  section  thirty- four,  in  1839.  Lamphire  was  a  wheel- 
wright, and  erected  a  shop  there,  and  did  work  in  his  line 
for  the  old  settlers.     He  also  manufactured  wool  and  flax 

•spinning-wheels,  split-bottjm  chairs,  etc.  About  1844  he 
purchased  the  mill  and  distillery  owned  and  operated  by 
John  B.  Houston,  and  run  them  in  connection  with  his 
wheel  and  chair  factory  for  several  years.  He  died  in  the 
township  Shineberger  still  resides  where  he  first  settled. 
Joshua  Bowen,  of  Kentucky,  was  another  arrival  iu  1839. 
He  located  on  section  twenty-nine.  His  death  occurred  in 
1870,  and  members  of  his  family  are  still  residing  here. 
John  Bullard,  a  North  Carolinian,  was  an  early  settler  in 
Versailles  township,  and  located  here  about  1840,  on  section 
sixteen.  He  was  a  very  fine  marksman,  a»d  a  noted  game 
and  bee  hunter.  He  was  one  of  the  early  justices,  and  held 
other  minor  offices.  In  1840  Btthel  Colston  located  in  sec- 
tion seventeen,  where  he  resided  until  his  death,  a  few  years 
ago.  He  was  also  another  early  justice  of  the  peace.  His 
widow,  the  wife  of  William  Cole,  is  still  living  in  the  county. 
Silas  Johnson  also  settled  here  in  1840,  on  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  twenty,  and  died  here. 

Among  other  early  settltrs  we  will  mention  the  names  of 
John  Taylor,  Charles  Adams,  Nathan  Butler,  John  Severe, 
John  Wordwell,  Thomas,  Nathaniel  and  John  Dale,  Joseph 
Ferguson,  Samuel  Bowman,  John  Webb,  Jesse  Everett, 
Augu.-tus  McD.  New,  Adam  Davis,  the  Whiteside  family, 
the  Briggs,  Stevensons,  Coulson  Tucker,  Thomas  A.  Lewis, 
Elias  Bixler  end  others.  George  Myers,  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, better  known  as  "  Black  Hawk  Myers,"  became  a 
resident  in  the  county  in  1849.  Though  not  an  old  setthr 
he  was  quite  a  remarkable  character,  and  was  known  by  most 
of  the  older  citizens  of  the  county.  He  was  born  October 
16,  1781,  aud  was  the  hero  of  two  wars,  that  of  1812andthe 
war  with  Mexico.  He  was  all  his  life  a  very  active  man 
and  lived  to  the  remarkable  age  of  101  years.  His  death 
occurred  April  11,  1882.  Up  to  a  few  days  before  his  death 
he  walked  around  and  superintended  the  affairs  of  his  farm. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


347 


The  earliest  mill  was  built  and  operated  by  Thomas  Ker- 
ragen  in  1839.  It  was  a  saw  and  grist  mill  situated  in  sec- 
tion 34  and  propelled  by  the  water  of  McKee's  creek.  Ri- 
der, Doane  &  Co,  erected  a  water  saw  and  grist  mill  in  the 
same  year  on  the  S.  E.  }  of  section  32.  It  was  the  same  date 
also  that  John  B.  Houston  and  George  McDannold  erected 
a  horse  mill  and  distillery  on  section  36,  and  operated  it 
'until  1849. 

The  first  school  teacher  in  Buckhorn  township  was  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Rankin,  who  taught  at  what  is  now  Ben- 
ville,  on  section  28  in  the  winter  of  1839-40,  in  a  log  cabin 
16- feet  square,  erected  for  that  purpose  by  the  neighboring 
settlers.  The  cabin  was  a  very  rude  affair,  constructed  of 
rough  logs  just  as  they,  were  cut  from  the  woods,  with  the 
space  between  them  chinked  and  daubed  with  mud  and  a 
stone  chimney  built  oil  the  inside.  Light  was  had  by  cut- 
ting out  a  portion  of  one  log  along  the  side  of  the  cabin  over 
which  was  pasted  a  strip  of  oiled  paper.  This  cabin  was 
even  more  aristocratic  than  most  of  them  of  that  day  from 
the  fact  of  having  had  a  puncheon  floor.  The  whole  end 
was  used  as  a  fireplace.  Rankin  was  a  rather  old  man  and 
was  considered  a  good  teacher.  He  died  here  in  1841,  and 
was  one  of  the  first  persons  buried  in  the  township.  Josiah 
Benson,  taught  a  school  in  the  same  house  in  the  following 
winter.  At  this  writing  the  township  has  several  school  dis- 
tricts all  supplied  with  good  comfortable  houses  where  school 
is  taught  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  The  earliest  church 
was  organized  by  Reverends  John  Taylor  and  Thomas  Brock- 
man  about  1840,  and  erected  the  first  house  of  worship  a  few 
years  later  at  Benville.  It  was  a  Christian  church.  Ben- 
ville  is  located  on  section  28,  and  cousi3ts  of  a  general  store 


and  post  office.  The  store  is  kept  by  Benjamin  Akright,  and 
the  post  office  by  George  Alcorn. 

In  section  18  on  the  place  belonging  to  Quincy  Burgesser 
there  have  been  several  fine  mineral  springs  recently  opened, 
which  tend  to  rival  those  of  the  celebrated  watering  places. 
Mr.  Burgesser  has  named  them  the  Siloara  Mineral  Springs. 
The  properties  of  the  principal  spring  are  nearly  the  same 
as  those  of  the  Eureka  Springs.  A  small  hotel  was  erected 
there  in  the  spring  of  1882,  and  there  is  a  prospect  of  a  larger 
one  being  erected  at  an  early  day.  Buckhorn  has  been  repre- 
sented in  the  board  of  supervisors  by  the  following  named 
parties  :  Arthur  Martin,  elected"  in  1854,  Charles  B.  Adams 
in  1855,  Philip  Linn  in  1856,  Charles  B.  Adams,  in 
1857,  C  Vandeventer,  in  1858,  Alfred  Payne  in  1859 
and  by  re-election  served  until  1862,  when  William  Orr 
was  elected,  and  served  until  1865.  In  1865  Jesse  Harris 
served  one  term,  and  the  following  year  William  Orr  was 
re-elected  and  served  until  1869.  Abel  D.  Berry  was 
elected  in  1869,  being  succeeded  the  next  year,  by  William 
Orr.-  In  1871,  Abel  D.  Berry  was  re-elected,  and  again 
succeeded  in  1872  by  William  Orr.  Granville  B.  Scanlan 
served  in  1873,  followed  by  Abel  D.  Berry  in  1874,  who 
by  re-election  has  held  the  office  ever  since,  being  the 
present  incumbent. 

Although  this  township  is  not  among  the  old  settled  por- 
tions of  the  county,  nor  has  it  as  good  a  body  of  land  as 
some  of  the  others,  yet  within  her  borders  there  are  many 
fine  farms  and  good  improvements.  The  population  as  given 
by  the  census  of  1880  is  1,137.  They  are  an  energetic, 
thrifty  class,  who  are  using  their  united  efforts  in  the  im- 
provement and  advancement  of  their  township. 


*§3fi0^£S*JSg~-- 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


"  *v 


-%♦-» 


ROBERT  T.  BRATTEN. 
This  gentleman  is  a  Tennessetan  by  birth,  and  comes 
from  a  family  of  English  descent.  His  grandfather,  William 
Bratten,  resided  during  the  early  part  of  his  life  in  Mary- 
land. He  was  a  sailor,  and  served  on  board  one  of  the 
American  vessels  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  Some 
years  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  he 
bought  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  in  Tennessee,  on 
which  he  settled.  He  subsequently  moved  to  Brown  county, 
Ohio,  and  died  there  in  the  year  1839,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four.  Adam  Bratten,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  Maryland,  and,  when  a  boy,  accompanied  his 
father  to  Tennessee.  He  grew  up  there,  and  married  Mary 
Lewis,  a  native  of  East  Tennessee.     In  1837  he  moved  to 


Brown  county,  Ohio.  He  came  to  Brown  county,  of  this 
state,  in  1854,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Versailles  township, 
having  reached  the  age  of  nearly  one  hundred  years,  and  is 
believed  to  be  the  oldest  man  living  in  the  county. 

Robert  T.  Bratten  was  born  in  Smith  county,  Tennessee, 
on  the  9th  of  June,  1827.  He  was  in  his  tenth  year  when 
the  family  moved  from  Tennessee  to  Ohio,  in  December, 
1837.  Most  of  his  education  was  obtained  in  Brown  county, 
Ohio.  The  schools  which  he  attended  were  all  subscription 
schools,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  term,  when  he  attended 
a  school  conducted  under  the  free-school  system.  On  the 
6th  of  July,  1848,  he  married  Cynthia  A.  Hughes.  After 
his  marriage  he  engaged  in  farming  on  his  own  account. 

In  the  fall  of  1852  he  removed  from  Ohio  to  Illinois.    He 


348 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


remained  in  Pike  county  a  few  months,  and  then  settled  on 
section  23  of  township  2  south,  range  4  west  (Buckhorn), 
where  he  has  been  living  ever  since.  His  first  wife  died  on 
the  31st  of  December,  1878.  His  present  wife,  whom  he 
married  on  the  14th  of  January,  1882,  was  Mrs.  Rebecca 
Gray,  formerly  Miss  Rebecca  Linn,  a  native  of  Hamilton 
county,  Ohio.  He  had  six  children  by  his  first  marriage  : 
Chester  P. ;  Almira,  wife  of  Clark  Dale  ;  Elizabeth  J  ,  who 
married  Simon  Eyler,  and  is  now  deceased ;  Francis  M. ; 
Laura  A.,  who  died  when  an  infant,  and  Willie  D.  Bratten. 
His  political  affiliations  have  always  been  with  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  In  1848  he  voted  for  Lewis  Cass,  for  president, 
and  has  been  a  democrat  ever  since.  He  occasionally  votes 
for  candidates  of  the  opposite  political  faith,  when  he  believes 
them  to  be  best  qualified  for  office.  He  has  served  for  sev- 
enteen years  as  clerk  of  Buckhorn  township.  He  was  elected 
&  justice  of  the  peace  in  1870,  and  re-elected  four  years 
later.  He  is  now  the  oldest  postmaster  in  the  county,  in 
point  of  service,  having  had  charge  of  the  post  office  at 
White  Oak  Springs  twenty-one  years.  The  office  is  kept  at 
his  house.  He  has  been  iuteresttd  in  educational  matters, 
and  has  held  various  positions  in  connection  with  the  schools 
of  the  township.  He  assisted  Father  Paxson  in  organizing 
the  first  Sabbath-school  in  Buckhorn  township. 


GEORGE  SHINEBARGER, 

One  of  the  prosperous  and  substantial  farmers  of  the  south- 
west part  of  the  county,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  within 
forty  miles  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1814 ;  his 
grandfather  was  a  German,  and  a  soldier  in  the  wars  of 
Bonaparte.  His  father,  George  Shinebarger,  was  born  in 
Germany,  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  and  settled  and 
married  in  Pennsylvania.  When  the  subject  of  this 
biography  was  seven  days  old  his  mother  died.  The  first 
fifteen  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  the  same  part  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  which  he  was  born.  This  was  in  a  neighborhood 
inhabited  almost  altogether  by  families  of  German  descent. 
He  was  sent  to  a  German  school,  and  what  education  he 
obtained  was  in  the  German  language.  This  language  was 
the  only  one  spoken  in  the  neighborhood.  The  farmers 
were  accustomed  to  haul  their  produce  to  the  Philadelphia 
market  in  huge  covered  wagons,  usually  drawn  by  six  horses. 
When  he  was  a  boy  of  fifteen  his  father  moved  with  the 
family  to  Alleghany  county,  New  York.  He  there  attended 
school,  but  the  instruction  did  not  prove  of  much  advantage 
on  account  of  his  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  English  lan- 
guage. He,  however,  learned  to  speak  English,  and  has  now 
almost  entirely  forgotten  the  German.  When  he  was  eighteen 
he  left  home,  and  was  afterwards  employed  by  various  parties 
in  Alleghany  county,  New  York,  till  he  came  west.  He  was 
married  in  Alleghany  county,  New  York,  on  the  27th  of 
August,  1837,  to  Sarah  Ann  Lamphear. 

Shortly  after  his  marriage,  in  company  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Abraham  Lamphear,  he  set  out  for  the  western  states 


to  seek  his  fortune.  On  the  upper  Allegheny  river  they 
constructed  a  boat,  on  which  they  journeyed  to  Pittsburg. 
From  the  latter  place  they  took  passage  in  a  steamboat 
down  the  Ohio.  On  reaching  Aurora,  Indiana,  their  means 
became  exhausted,  and  stopping  in  that  town  they  cast  about 
for  some  means  of  obtaining  a  livelihood.  They  undertook 
work  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  of  which  neither  had  much 
previous  knowledge.  They  were  fortunate  in  securing  work  ; 
their  first  job  was  the  building  of  a  lawyer's  office.  They 
afterward  bought  a  corner  lot,  put  up  a  dwelling  and  store- 
house, and  sold  it  at  a  good  profit ;  they  were  industrious  and 
energetic,  and  during  the  one  year  of  their  stay  in  Aurora, 
cleared  twenty-seven  hundred  dollars.  Concluding  to  leave 
Aurora  and  go  farther  west,  they  took  a  boat  down  the  Ohio 
and  up  the  Mississippi  river  to  Davenport,  Iowa.  That  part 
of  Iowa  was  then  but  thinly  settled,  and  not  liking  the  pros- 
pect, they  returned  to  Quincy,  then  a  town  of  less  than  the 
presept  size  of  Mt.  Sterling.  Hazel  brush  grew  on  the  flat 
back  of  the  court-house.  Traveling  away  from  the  river, 
after  getting  eight  miles  out  of  Quincy,  they  passed  no  house 
till  they  struck  the  south  prairie  in  Pike  county.  He  and 
Mr.  Lamphear  built  a  saw  and  grist  mill  on  McKee's 
creek,  in  section  34,  of  what  is  now  called  Buckhorn  town- 
ship. His  was  the  first  water-mill  in  the  southwest  part  of 
Brown  county,  and  customers  used  to  come  to  it  from  Kings- 
ton and  Griggsville.  After  ruuning  it  about  a  year  it  was 
sold  to  other  parties.  Mr.  Shinebarger  afterward  worked  at 
the  carpenter's  trade  for  some  time,  and  then  went  to  farming 
in  Marion  county,  Missouri  ten  miles  west  of  Quincy.  He 
there  lived  on  rented  land. 

After  a  residence  in  Missouri  of  two  years,  he  came  back 
to  Illinois,  and  went  to  farming  on  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  28,  Buckhorn  township.  Subsequently  he  moved  to 
the  farm  on  which  he  now  lives,  in  section  34,  of  the  same 
township.  He  has  since  been  engaged  in  farming ;  he  was 
the  owner  at  one  time  of  six  hundred  acres  of  land ;  his 
present  farm  consists  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  His 
first  wife  having  died,  he  married  on  the  19th  of  September, 
1850,  Mary  Ann  Scouteu,  who  was  born  and  raised  in  the 
state  of  New  York.  Her  father,  Elias  Scouten,  came  from 
New  York  and  settled  in  Morgan  county,  this  state,  when 
she  was  a  child.  Mr.  Shinebarger  has  had  eight  children. 
The  oldest,  Alonzo  Shinebarger,  is  farming  in  Buckhorn 
township.  Sarah  Ann,  the  wife  of  John  Hobbs,  now  lives 
in  Kansas.  Abel  and  Harriet  Louisa,  died  when  infants. 
Rebecca  Adeline  married  Henry  Aurand,  and  is  now  living 
in  Buckhorn  township.  James  Nathaniel  is  also  a  resident 
of  Buckhorn  township.  The  above  are  children  by  his  first 
marriage.  He  has  two  children  by  his  second  marriage, 
Abel  and  Malvina  Jane.  The  last  is  the  wife  of  Isaac  Tay- 
lor. He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics  ;  he  commenced  life  with 
no  capital  except  his  own  energy,  good  health  and  an  iron 
constitution,  and  with  the  disadvantage  of  having  been 
raised  to  speak  a  foreign  language,  and  being  unacquainted 
with  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  country.  He  is  known 
as  a  shrewd  and  successful  business  man,  and  whether  at 
farming,  trading  or  dealing  in  stock,  he  has  uniformly  been 
successful. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER     AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


349 


EUFUS  G.  RAZEY. 

Among  the  representative  farmers  of  Buckhorn  township 
is  Rufus  G.  Razey.  He  is  a  native  of  Washington  county, 
Ohio,  and  was  born  on  the  1 2th  of  December,  1839.  He 
was  the  oldest  of  a  family  of  eight  children,  composed  of 
four  boys  and  four  girls,  of  Richard  Razey,  and  his  wife 
Harriet  W-.  whose  maiden  name  was  Mason.  His  father 
was  a  r.ative  of  Vermont,  and  his  mother  was  also  born  in 
one  of  the  eastern  States.  The  early  years  of.  his  boyhood 
were  spent  in  Ohio,  and  then  about  the  year  1850,  his  father 
moved  with  the  family  to  this  State.  After  living  in  Perry, 
Pike  county,  three  or  four  years,  his  father  moved  to  a  farm 
five  miles  west  of  that  town,  where  he  still  lives.  Mr.  Razey 
obtained  the  most  of  his  education  in  the  district  schools  of 
Pike  county.  On  the  18th  of  November,  1864,  he  married 
Lucy  A.  Newton,  a  native  of  Brown  county,  Ohio.  She  was 
three  or  four  ytars  of  age,  when  the  accompanied  her  father, 
Arad  Newton,  to  this  State.  Her  father  settled  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Perry,  Pike  county,  and  died  in  August, 
1870.  Her  mother,  Margaret  Knight,  was  born  in  Ohio. 
After  his  marriage,  Mr.  Razey  settled  on  his  present  farm  in 
sections  thirty-three  and  thirty-four  of  township  two  south, 
range  four  west.  His  residence  is  on  the  Pike  county  line. 
He  is  the  owner  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-three  acres  of 
laud.  He  has  three  children,  whose  names  are  Lauretta, 
Celia  Ann,  and  Ruth.  He  has  been  closely  occupied  with 
the  management  of  his  farm  and  his  business  affairs,  and  has 
taken  no  active  part  in  politics.  His  first  vote  for  President 
was  cast  for  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  he  commonly  votes  the 
Republican  ticket,  though  he  believes  in  being  iudependent 
as  to  the  choice  of  township  and  county  officers,  and  in 
supporting  the  man  best  qualified  for  the  position  without 
regard  to  party  affiliations.  He  is  known  as  an  enterprising 
farmer  and  a  good  citizen. 


THOMAS  B.  DEHART. 

Thomas  B.  Dehart,  one  ef  the  oldest  settlers  now  living 
in  Buckhorn  township,  was  born  in  Hart  county,  Kentucky, 
on  the  11th  of  October,  1825.  His  father  was  William  De- 
hart.  His  mother's  name  before  marriage  was  Jane  Hous- 
ton. In  October,  1830,  when  he  was  five  years  old,  his 
father  moved  with  the  family  from  .Kentucky  to  Harrison 
county,  Indiana,  twenty  miles  west  of  New  Albany,  where 
they  lived  till  April,  1832,  when  they  emigrated  to  this 
state.  Their  home  was  on  Indian  creek  in  Morgan  coun- 
ty, till  February,  1833,  when  they  crossed  the  Illinois  river 
on  the  ice  and  settled  on  the  bluffs  one  mile  west  of  La 
Grange.  This  was  then  in  Schuyler  county,  the  county  of 
Brown  not  being  organized  for  six  years  afterward.  In  the 
spring  of  1837  the  family  moved  to  the  present  Buckhorn 
township,  (two  south,  range  four  west)  and  settled  on  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  thirty-three.  The  cabin  which 
Mr.  Dehart's  father  built  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  ever 
erected  in  Buckhorn  township.  In  1844  the  family  moved 
to  section  sixteen  where  William  Dehart  died  in  the  year 
1852. ' 


When  the  subject  of  this  sketch  came  to  what  is  now 
Brown  county  he  was  in  his  eighth  year.  He  went  to  school 
some  little  in  the  neighborhood  of  La  Grange,  and  two  terms 
in  the  southwest  part  of  the  county,  but  most  of  his  educa- 
tion he  obtained  after  he  was  grown,  in  Adams  and  Pike 
counties.  When  he  was  twenty  years  old,  in  1845,  he  left 
home,  and  for  nearly  ten  years  was  employed  in  working  on 
a  farm  in  Pike  county.  While  living  in  Pike  county,  on 
lhe  30th  of  December,  1852,  he  married  Polly  Alist  New 
of  that  county.  In  1855  he  moved  to  a  farm  iu  Beverly 
township,  Adams  county,  on  which  he  lived  till  March, 
1865,  when  he  moved  to  his  present  farm  in  section  thirty 
township  two  south,  range  four  we3t.  He  has  been  a  farmer 
all  his  life,  and  is  the  owner  of  one  of  the  best  farms  in 
Buckhorn  township,  composed  of  two  hundred  acres  of  land. 
His  first  wife  died  on  the  26th  of  July,  1871.  He  had  nine 
children  by  this  marriage,  whose  names  are  as  follows  :  Wil. 
Ham  A.,  now  living  in  Minnesota;  Angus  N.,  who  died  in 
infancy  :  Mary  Jane,  now  Mrs.  William  Leeper ;  James  Al- 
fred, Stephen  A.,  George,  who  died  in  infancy  ;  Sarah  Cath- 
arine, Thomas  D.,  and  Minnie  A.  His  present  wife,  whom 
he  married  on  the  7th  of  January,  1872,  was  Mrs.  Malinda 
Meeks.  Her  maiden  name  was  Martin.  By  this  marriage 
he  has  three  children — Barton  AV.,  Edgar,  and  Cora  E. 
Airs.  Ddhart  had  three  children  by  her  former  marriage — 
William  W.  Meeks,  Eliza,  now  the  wife  of  John  Bullard,  a 
resident  of  Minnesota,  and  Osmer  Meeks. 

He  has  always  been  a  member  of  the  Democratic  party, 
and  has  been  one  of  the  strong  supporters  of  that  political 
organization  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  county.  In  1866 
and  in  1871  he  served  as  collector  of  Buckhorn  township. 
He  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  1873  and  was  re- 
elettsd  in  1877,  serving  till  1881.  He  is  now  one  of  the 
oldest  residents  of  the  southwest  part  of  the  county. 


GEORGE  W.  WILLIAMS. 

George  W.  Williams  was  born  in  Lancaster  county, 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  17th  of  March,  1823.  His  father, 
Thomas  Williams,  was  a  native  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  coming  to  Pennsylvania  when  a  young  man,  married 
Margaret  Young.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  third 
of  the  children,  and  the  youngest  of  those  who  grew  to  mature 
years.  When  he  was  six  months  old,  his  father  moved  with 
the  family  to  Missouri,  and  in  St.  Louis  and  St.  Charles 
counties  of  that  State,  Mr.  Williams  was  principally  raised. 
When  he  was  four  or  five  years  of  age  his  father  died. 
When  ten  years  old,  he  began  learning  the  trade  of  a  harness 
and  saddle  maker.  He  was  working  at  this  occupation  in 
St.  Louis  in  1849,  when  the  excitement  began  concerning 
the  discovery  of  gold  in  California.  He  started  for  the 
Pacific  coast,  but  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  turned  back  on 
account  of  the  cholera,  which  that  year  prevailed  to  an 
alarming  extent.  He  then  established  himself  in  the  harness 
and  saddle  business  at  St.  Charles,  but  in  a  short  time  came 
to  Versailles  in  this  county.  In  the  spring  of  1852,  a  party 
of  four,  of  which  Mr.  Williams  was  one,  started  from  this 


350 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


county  for  California.  One  gave  up  the  trip,  but  the  three 
others  crossed  the  plains,  driving  ox  teams,  reaching  Michi- 
gan bar  on  the  27th  of  August,  1852.  He  remained  in 
California  till  December,  18">7.  During  the  first  winter  he 
was  employed  in  mining  gold,  but  afterward  established 
himself  in  the  harness  and  saddle  business  at  Red  Bluff  on  the 
Sacramento  river.  He  put  up  the  third  building  ever  erec. 
ted  in  that  town,  and  carried  on  a  profitable  and  remunera. 
tive  business.  He  reached  Illinois  on  his  return,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year  1858,  and  resumed  work  at  his  trade 
in  Versailles.  In  the  fall  of  1858,  he  married  Juliett  Ross, 
daughter  of  Richard  -W.  Ross.  Her  parents  were  Ken- 
tuckians.  In  the  spring  of  1860,  he  moved  to  his  present 
farm  in  section  two,  of  township  two  south,  range  four  west, 
where  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  agriculture.  He  is  the 
owner  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  acres  of  land.  He 
has  four  children  living,  Franklin,  Lydia,  Charles,  and 
Edith.  Three  beside  are  dead.  He  was  a  Whig  formerly 
but  since  the  dissolution  of  the  Whig  party  has  acted  with 
the  Democrats. 


JOHN  FERGUSON. 

The  father  and  grandfather  of  Mr.  Ferguson  were  among 
the  earliest  settlers  of  this  part  of  Illinois.  His  grandfather 
was  Samuel  Ferguson,  and  his  father,  Joseph  Ferguson. 
Both  were  born  in  Ohio,  and  came  to  Illinois  about  the  year 
1827,  and  settled  near  Quincy,  in  Adams  county.  At  that 
time  there  were  only  twenty -seven  families  living  in  what  is 
now  Adams  couuty,  and  only  six  houses,  (shanties  built  of 
boards  and  logs),  in  the  pr<  sent  city  of  Quincy.  Samuel 
Ferguson  moved  to  Missouri  and  died  there.  Joseph  Fer- 
guson married  Cynthia  Dale,  a  native  of  the  Slate  of  In- 
diana. The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  third  of  a  family 
of  eight  cLildren,  and  was  born  on  the  10th  of  March,  1839. 


In  the  year  1845,  his  father  moved  to  Brown  county,  and 
settled  on  the  farm  where  Mr.  Ferguson  now  lives;  he 
died  there  in  December,  1869. 

From  the  time  he  was  six  years  of  age,  Mr.  Ferguson  has 
lived  in  Brown  county.  The 'advantages  for  securing  an 
education  were  poor  in  those  days  in  comparison  with  those 
of  the  present  time.  The  first  school  he  attended  was  on  the 
edge  of  Adams  county,  three  miles  from  his  home.  He  has 
lived  to  see  great  improvements  in  the  condition  of  the 
country  in  this  respect,  and  to  see  Buckhorn  township  well 
supplied  with  schools,  easy  of  access  to  all  the  children. 
September  4th,  1860,  he  married  Nancy  Blair,  a  native  of 
Indiana,  daughter  of  Robert  Blair.  After  his  marriage,  he 
bought  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  20,  township  two 
south,  range  four  west,  and  engaged  in  farming  on  his  own 
account.  In  the  fall  of  1881,  he  moved  to  the  old  home- 
stead farm  of  his  father,  section  19,  of  the  same  township 
where  he  now  lives.  He  has  been  a  successful  farmer,  and 
owns  380  acres  of  land,  all  in  one  body.  He  has  six 
children,  whose  names  are,  Lemuel,  Robert,  Cynthia,  Rhoda 
Ellen,  John  L.,  and  William  Henry.  Two,  beside,  died  in 
infancy. 

He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics,  voting  first  for  Douglas  for 
President  in  1860.  He  is  not,  however,  a  strict  and  blind  ad- 
herent of  his  party,  but  in  elections  for  local  officers  generally 
votes  for  the  mau  best  qualified  for  the  position  without  regard 
to  the  party  to  which  he  belongs.  He  has  stood  well  as  a 
citizen,  and  with  small  capital  has  reached  a  position  among 
the  foremost  farmers  of  Buckhorn  township.  His  time  has 
been  closely  devoted  to  his  business  affairs,  to  the  management 
of  his  farm,  and  the  raising  of  stock,  and  he  has  not  cared  to 
hold  public  office.  He  has  never,  in  the  course  of  his  whole 
life,  been  intoxicated,  but  for  several  years  past  has  never 
tasted  liquor,  has  never  bought  a  glass  of  liquor  at  a  bar  and 
has  never  been  accustomed  to  the  use  of  tobacco.  To  these 
temperate  habits,  he  attributes  partly  his  success  in  lie. 


BROOKLYN    TOWNSHIP. 

(SCHUYLER   COUNTY.) 


^0/2/to*-»— »— 


I  HIS  township  compiises  all  of  Congres- 
sional t  >wnship  3  north,  range  3  west  of 
the  4th  P.  M.,  and  contains  thirty-six 
full  sections,  being  in  form  a  perfect 
square.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
McDonough  cmnty,  on  the  east  by  Lit: 
tleton,  on  the  south  by  Camden,  and  on 
the  west  by  Birmingham.  Crooked 
creek  enters  the  township  from  the  west, 
in  secti"  n  18,  winds  its  course  through  sections  17,  20,  21, 
22,  28,  33,  and  passes  south  into  Camden,  through  the  south- 
east corner  of  32.  From  the  north  it  receives  a  large  stream 
which  supplies  water  and  affords  drainage  for  the  northern 
and  western  porti<  ns.  Prom  the  east  it  receives  the  waters 
of  Horn<  y  and  Fowler  branches,  besides  several  smaller 
ones  Along  Crooked  creek  and  vicinity  the  surface  is  very 
much  broken,  and  was  formerly  covered  with  heavy  timber. 
Small  patches  of  prairie  are  scattered  over  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  township.  Along  the  other  water  course  the 
country  is  more  or  less  broken  and  covered  with  timber 
where  not  cleared.  The  township  is  now  well  cultivated, 
and  the  land  yields  a  ready  recompense  for  labor.  The  rer i- 
dences  present  a  neat  appearance,  and  the  commodious  barns 
and  sheds  afford  shelter  for  sheep,  hogs,  cattle,  and  other 
stock,  with  which  the  township  abounds.  Ou  every  hand 
are  evidences  of  that  prosperity  and  wealth  which  invariably 
follow  industry  and  economy,  showing  that  tlie  example  of 
the  early  settlers  has  not  been  ignored  by  their  descendants. 
Orchards  abound  on  all  sides,  and  here  and  there  may  be 
seen  small  vineyards. 

The  following  are  the  first  military  patents  issued  to  land 
in  this  township:  November  29,  1817,  a  patent  was  issued  to 
Gideon  Gardner  for  the  N.  E.  }  of  section  30 ;  December 
10,  1817,  to  James  Kean,  for  the  N.  W.  }  of  section  29; 
December  11,  1817,  to  Christopher  McDonald,  for  the  S.  E. 
i  of  section  5 ;  March  5,  1818,  to  Jeremiah  Hester,  for  the 
N.  E.  }  of  section  24 ;  August  4,  1818,  to  Peter  Poorraan, 
for  the  S.  W.  \  of  section  20;  and  on  December  4,  1818,  to 
William  Bradish,  for  the  S.  E.  \  of  section  13. 

In  all  probability,  to  William  Owen  belongs  the  honor  of 
breaking  the  first  ground  and  building  the  first  cabin  in  this 
township.  He  was  a  native  of  KentucVy,  where  he  grew  to 
manhood,  and  married  Miss  Helen  Swan  in  1828;  and  in 
the  early  fall  of  1829,  with  his  wife,  started  on  horseback 
for  her  father's  home  in  Illinois,  where  they  arrived  after  a 
six  days'  tiresome  journey.  They  spent  the  winter  with  her 
father,  George  Swan,  in  Beuna  Vista  township,  and  in  the 


early  spring,  came  into  Brooklyn  and  built  a  cabin,  improved 
some  land  and  put  in  a  small  crop.  He  took  his  wife  back 
to  her  father's  in  the  fall,  and  returned  to  Kentucky  to  get 
his  household  goods,  which  he  had  left  there,  and  some  stock. 
Upon  his  return  from  Kentucky,  he  sold  out  his  preemption 
right,  together  with  the  crop,  in  Brook'yn,  believing  that  it 
was  not  a  healthful  place,  as  he  had  the  ague  from  almost 
the  first  day  he  arrived  in  the  township.  He  subsequently 
bought  laud  and  settled  in  Buena  Vista  township.  William 
Manlove  was  also  among  the  fi>st  to  settle  in  this  portion  of 
the  county.  He  was  a  brother  to  David  and  Moses  Man- 
love,  who  settled  in  Birmingham  township  in  1832,  and  in 
all  probability  came  to  Brooklyn  at  the  tame  time,  and  set- 
tled ( n  the  N.  E.  J  of  section  7,  with  his  famiy.  Here  he 
made  extensive  improvements,  and  succeeded  in  providing 
a  good  home  for  himself.  WMiam  Manlove  was  accompa- 
nied by  his  brother-in-law,  William  Huff,  who  was  a  native 
of  North  Carolina,  and  had  a  wife  and  fami  y,  but  had  been 
living  in  Indiana  before  his  arrival  in  this  section.  He  set- 
tled on  the  N.  W.  i  of  section  7,  built  his  cabin,  and  at  once 
began  improvements.  He  died  upon  his  original  improve- 
ment, which  he  bought  some  years  subsequent  to  his  settle- 
ment. With  William  Huff,  came  John  E^Rigsby  and  fami- 
ly from  Indiana,  and  for  his  home  selected  the  E.  J  of  the 
S.  E.  J  of  section,  building  the  cabin  of  those  days,  and 
making  the  usual  improvements.  Rigsby  gave  the  small 
prairie,  upon  which  he  settled,  the  name  of  "  Guiuea  Prai- 
rie," which  it  sti  1  bears.  William  C.  Ralls,  a  native  of 
Kentucky,  and  who  subsequently  raised  and  commanded  a 
company  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  came  into  the  township 
as  early  as  the  fall  of  1831,  and  on  the  6th  day  of  Decem- 
ber, 1831,  obtained  authority  from  the  cmnty  to  build  a  mill- 
dam,  not  to  exceed  nine  feet  in  height,  on  the  S.  W.  1  of 
section  20.  Being  unmarried,  he  made  his  home  in  Mc- 
Donough county,  the  greater  portion  of  the  time,  only  com- 
ing into  the  township  occasionally,  until  the  spring  of  1832, 
when  he  built  his  cabin  on  the  N.  E.  1  of  section  20.  He 
married  in  the  winter  of  1835,  and  settled  permanently  in 
the  township.  He  commenced  the  erection  of  a  fine  resi- 
dence, but  before  its  completion  died,  and  it  remained  un- 
finished. None  of  his  family  are  residents  of  the  township 
at  the  present  time.  Rev.  Samuel  L.  Dark,  who  is  still  liv- 
ing in  the  township,  came  into  it  in  1832.  He  was  born  in 
North  Carolina,  and  was  taken,  while  a  child,  to  Tennessee, 
by  his  parents,  where  he  remained  until  he  was  about  twenty 
years  of  age,  when  he  started  for  Schuyler  county  in  a  two- 
horse  wagon,  accompanied  by  his  father,  Samuel  Dark,  his 

351 


352 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


cousins,  Horace  and  Samuel  Dark,  Jr.,  and  his  brother-in- 
law,  Hugh  Hays.  They  crossed  the  river  at  Beard's  ferry, 
and  on  the  17th  day  of  February,  1830,  arrived  at  his  bro- 
ther's, Robert  L.  Dark,  who  had  come  some  years  prior,  and 
was  then  living  in  Buena  Vista  township.  Here  Samuel 
L.  remained  until  the  fall  of  1832,  employing  his  time  in 
workiug  for  farmers  in  the  summer  and  teaching  in  the  win- 
ter; at  which  time,  having  married  a  daughter  of  John 
Moore,  he  moved  into  Brooklyn,  built  a  cabin,  and  com- 
menced improving  the  N.  W.  }  of  section  5.  At  the  ekse 
of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  in  which  he  was  a  soldier,  Samuel 
L.  was  converted  to  Christianity,  and  since  that  time  has 
been  a  minister  of  the  denomination  known  as  Hard  shell 
Bapti-t,  and  his  life  has  been  consistent  with  his  calling.  He 
was  followed  by  his  father  to  Brooklyn  in  1833,  who  had  a 
wife  and  family  of  grown  children,  and  for  a  home,  Samuel 
Dark,  Sr.,  built  his  cabin,  and  entered  the  S.  W.  i  of  section 
1,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death.  Horace 
Dark,  with  a  wife  and  child,  came  soon  afterward,  and  made 
an  improvement  on  the  E.  £  of  the  N.  E.  k  of  section  15, 
by  building  a  cabin  and  cultivating  a  few  acres  of  land. 
After  living  here  a  year  or  two,  he  sold  his  improvement 
and  went  to  Missouri.  Hugh  Hays  and  family  also  came 
the  same  time  that  his  father-in-law,  Samuel  Dark,  Sr.,  did, 
and  improved  the  N.  W.  i  of  section  21,  where  he  died. 
One  of  the  pioneers  of  this  township,  who  has  witnessed  the 
wondrous  change,  wrought  by  converting  a  wilderness  into 
abodes  for  man,  is  William  Lewis,  who  is  now  living  in 
Brooklyn  village.  William  Le  a  is  comes  from  an  illustri- 
ous family  of  the  same  name,  his  grandfather  being  the  lead- 
ing jurist  in  Philadelphia  during  General  Washington's  ad- 
ministration. '  Mr.  Lewis  was  born  in  the  beautiful  Valley 
of  Wyoming,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  grew  to  manhood,  and 
received  a  thorough  education.  At  the  age  of  twenty-eight, 
consumption  seemed  to  claim  him  as  her  prey.  To  save  his 
life  he  came  west,  arriving  in  Rushville  in  1829. 

In  the  fall  of  1832,  in  company  with  a  young  man  named 
Samuel  Oliver,  whom  he  had  brought  to  the  county  with 
him  as  an  employee,  he  came  into  Brooklyn,  and  was  at  once 
impressed  with  the  natural  beauty  of  the  country,  and  as 
he  was  regaining  his  health,  he  and  Oliver  built  a  cabin 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  section  19.  It  was  not  his  in- 
tention at  first  to  make  his  home  in  the  West,  but  becoming 
more  attached  to  the  country,  and  rapidly  improving  in 
health,  at  the  solicitation  of  his  companion,  he  at  last  de- 
cided to  remain.  He  at  first  had  only  a  pre-emption  right, 
which  he  soon  converted  into  a  good  title  by  purchase  or 
entry.  Having  fully  recovered  his  health,  he,  at  the  solici- 
tation of  Oliver,  sought  a  wife.  To  this  end  he  went  to 
what  is  now  Beardstown,  purchased  a  suit  of  clothes,  went 
down  to  Jacksonville,  and  there  found  and  married  Miss 
Rebecca  Compton,  who  is  still  living  in  the  enjoyment  of 
excellent  health.  Samuel  Oliver  never  married,  but  made 
his  home  with  William  Lewis,  and  slightly  improved  the 
west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  19.  He  was 
drowned  in  the  Mississippi  river,  while  on  his  way  to  Iowa, 
to  locate  some  land.  James  Worthington,  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, came  to  Rushville,  with  his  parents,  at  an  early  day, 


and  sw:i  f  illowed  Mr.  Lewis  into  Brooklyn,  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  29,  built  a  com- 
modious two-story  frame  dwelling — the  first  in  the  township — 
where  he  resided  somi  years,  and  then  moved  to  Rushville, 
where  he  died,  a  bachelor.  Thomas  Deaves,  a  native  of 
Ireland,  with  his  young  wife,  arrived  in  the  fall  of  1833, 
and  entered  the  east  half  of  both  the  northwest  quarter 
and  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  30,  where  he  died  some 
years  ago.  A  company  from  Ohio,  composed  of  Obed  Grif- 
fith, Absalom  Willey  and  Robert  Frakcs,  all  bringing  fami- 
lies, arrived  in  1833.  Griffith  settled  on  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  5,  and  Frakes  on  the  west  half  of  section  3  built 
cabins,  but  did  not  remain  long.  John  Huff,  a  brother  of 
William  Huff,  with  his  family  came  in  1834.  He  and  his 
family  settled  on  the  east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  7  Samuel  Dark,  Jr.,  having  married  in  Buena 
Vista,  came  into  the  township  in  1834,  and  made  an  im- 
provement, and  died  in  the  township.  Nicholas  Pyle,  a 
Kentuckian,  came  from  Morgan,  with  his  wife  and  family, 
and  built  a  cabin,  made  some  improvement,  and  acquired 
a  pre-emption  right  to  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  10, 
but  soon  moved  away.  Fielding  Atchiuson,  with  a  wife 
and  several  children,  came  with  Pyle,  his  father-in-law,  and 
in  company  with  bis  brother-in-law,  William  Pyle,  then  un- 
married, improved  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  10, 
which  William  Pyle  afterwards  entered,  but  subsequently 
sold,  and  went  to  Kansas.  Madison  Bobbett  arrived  from 
Morgan  county,  a  young  man,  who  soon  after  married  Sarah, 
the  daughter  of  Nicholas  Pyle,  and  improved  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  10,  in  1835.  Dr.  Jani2s  S.  Blackburn, 
whose  earlier  history  may  be  found  in  the  chapter  on  Rash- 
ville,  where  he  lauded  in  1830,  came  to  Brooklyn  in  the 
spring  of  1836,  and  entered  and  improved  the  west  half  of 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  21,  where  he  died,  llis  so  n 
Robert  S.  Blackburn,  is  a  merchant,  and  the  present  post- 
master at  Brooklyn.  His  daughter,  Prudence,  the  widow  of 
Capt.  H.  E.  Hankins,  is  also  a  resident  of  the  same  village, 
and  Bryson,  another  son,  resides  on  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  20.         # 

The  first  death  of  which  we  have  any  information  was  that 
of  a  man  named  Defeubaugh,  who  died  in  the  village  in 
1836,  and  who  was  the  first  person  buried  in  the  cemetery, 
on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  20,  the  first  cemetery 
in  the  township.  Richard  Kelfough  taught  the  first  school 
in  the  township,  in  a  little  log  cabin,  which  was  also  the 
first  school-house  built  in  Brooklyn,  in  1837.  Rev.  Samuel 
L.  Dark  preached  the  first  sermon,  in  1831,  at  the  residence 
of  his  father.  A  blacksmith,  named  Redfield,  was  the  first 
in  the  township,  and  was  brought  here  in  1832,  while  Wil- 
liam Ralls  was  building  his  mill,  which  was  the  first  one 
built  in  this  section  of  the  county.  The  contract  for  build- 
ing the  dam  was  given  to  Joel  Tullis,  who  completed  his 
work  in  the  early  spring  of  1832.  It  was  a  grist-mill,  to 
which  a  saw  mill  was  subsequently  added.  The  bridge  over 
Crooked  creek  was  constructed  as  early  as  1837,  being  the 
first  in  the  township.  The  roads  and  bridges  of  the  town- 
ship are  kept  in, good  condition,  and  all  parts  of  it  are 
readily  reached  by  the   lightest  vehicles.     Education   re- 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


353 


ceives  proper  and  merited  attention,  and  the  six  neat  school- 
houses  are  occupied  six  months  in  the  year  by  the  children 
of  the  community.  The  financial  condition  of  the  schools 
is  excellent.  A  handsome  frame  church  building  stands  on 
the  southeast  quarter  of  section  36,  where  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  congregation  worship,  under  the  direction  of 
Rev.  W.  F.  Lowe,  of  the  Littleton  circuit.  The  building 
erected  in  1857,  is  worth  about  $2,000,  and  was  the  first 
church  erected  in  the  township  There  is  a  large  and 
•wealthy  congregation,  who  give  it  a  hearty  support. 

In  the  Bord  of  supervisors  the  township  has  been  ably 
represented  by  the  following  named  gentlemen :  C.  M. 
Leach  was  selected  in  1854  and  served  one  year,  and  was 
followed  by  Robert  S.  Blackburn  in  1855,  who  also  served 
one  term.  Samuel  Leotard  was  elected  in  1856  and  served 
twelve  consecutive  years  and  was  chairman  of  the  Board 
from  1858  to  1862,  both  inclusive.  Benham  Bristol  was 
elected  in  1868  and  served  until  1870,  when  Henry  W.  Tay- 
lor served  two  terms.  John  Glandon  was  chosen  as  Mr. 
Taylor's  successor  in  1872,  and  has  been  re-elected  annually 
ever  since,  being  not  only  the  present  incumbent,  but  also 
chairman  of  the  Board  for  1882.  The  number  of  improved 
farms  in  the  township  is  153,  and  the  population  1,135,  as 
shown  by  the  census  of  1880.  The  township  was  named  after 
the  village,  when  the  county  adopted  township  organization 
in  1853. 

BROOKLYN  VILLAGE. 

On  the  south  bank  of  Crooked  creek,  on  a  rolling  piece 
of  ground  sloping  gradually  towards  the  stream,  is  the  little 
village  of  Brooklyn,  with  pleasant  homes  nestled  beneath 
the  shade  of  elm  and  maple.  The  well-kept  lawns  and 
beds  of  flowers,  surrounded  by  neat  fences,  bespeak  the  good 
taste  of  its  inhabitants.  It  is  situated  in  the  westt  rn  part 
of  the  township  and  occupies  the  southea-t  quarter  of  section 
20;  and  was  laid  out  by  William  C.  Ralls,  October  26,  1836, 
and  surveyed  and  platted  by  Allen  Persinger,  the  county 
surveyor.  It  was  named  by  its  founder  in  honor  of  the  city 
of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  It  has  never  had  a  corporate  exist- 
ence. The  first  house,  a  rude  log  cahin,  was  built  in  the 
early  part  of  1832  by  William  (J.  Ralls,  who  soon  afterward 
built  several  more  for  the  accommodation  of  his  hands  en- 
gaged in  building  the  mill.  Mr.  Ralls  also  kept  the  first 
store  as  early  as  1832.  The  post  office  was  established  about 
the  year  1840,  and  William  Horney  was  the  first  postmaster. 
The  first  blacksmith  was  a  man  named  Redfitld  who  worked 
at  the  trade  as  early  as  1832,  and  a  few  years  later  Samuel 
Holloway  opened  a  shop  in  the  town.  The  first  mill  was 
built  and  operated  by  William  C.  Ralls,  and  has  been  as 
45 


fully  described  as  the  facts  in  our  possession  will  permit. 
The  first  physician  in  the  village,  as  well  as  in  the  township, 
was  Dr.  James  Blackburn.  William  Lewis  was  the  first 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  not  only  of  the  village  but  of  the  town- 
ship. A  Miss  Dodds  was  the  first  teacher  in  the  village. 
She  taught  in  a  small  frame  building  in  the  summer  of  1844, 
and  was  employed  by  Mr.  William  Lewis.  The  first  church 
built  in  the  village  was  the  Methodist,  in  1866,  and  is  still 
used  by  the  congregation.  The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  N. 
H.  Kane.  There  was  formerly  a  cooper  shop  carried  on  by 
David  Shanks,  but  he  has  long  since  passed  away. 

PRESENT  BUSINESS. — CHURCHES  AND  SCHOOLS. 

Flouring  Mill. — This  mill  was  built  in  1842,  on  the  south 
bank  of  Crooked  creek,  near  the  site  of  the  old  mill  of  Wil- 
liam C.  Ralls,  by  William  Lewis  and  George  M.  Wells.  It 
is  a  good,  substantial,  three-story  frame  building,  being  fur- 
nished with  three  run  of  burrs,  two  used  for  wheat,  and  the 
third  for  corn.  A  good  dam  spans  the  creek  and  furnishes 
a  water  supply  sufficient  to  run  the  mill  at  all  seasons  of 
the  year.  It  is  strictly  a  custom  mil),  and  has  been  sold  for 
$16,000.  It  is  undergoing  repairs,  being  refitted  and  furnish- 
ed with  all  the  latest  improvements.  Mr.  John  Glandon,  one 
of  the  enterprising  citizens  of  the  township,  bought  it  re- 
cently, and  is  having  the  changes  made.  It  will  be  worth  at 
least  $10,000  when  the  contemplated  improvements  are 
made.  It  is  the  most  important  industrial  establishment  in 
the  township. 

General  Stores. — Taylor  &  Hite,  Blackburn  &  Bissell. 

Drugs. — W.  H.  McCamish. 

Physicians. — George  Willis  and  J.  E.  Camp. 

Blacksmith. — O.  P.  Jackson. 

Wagon  Maker. — J.  C  Strong. 

Carpenters. — Orville  Blackburn  and  Bryson  Blackburn. 

Undertaker. — Jackson  &  Pelsor. 

Cabinet  Maker. — George  Pelsor. 

Barber. — Thomas  Atchley. 

Milliner. — Mrs.  Mary  Brickman. 

Dressmaker. — Mrs.  Sarah  Mullen. 

Watchmaker. — C.  L.  Bissell. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  has  a  neat  frame  edifice,  with  a 
spire,  and  enjoys  the  services  and  company  of  a  resident  pas- 
tor, Rev,  D.  T.  McAuley.  Their  building  was  erected  in 
1866.  A  public  school  is  maintained  eight  months  in  the 
year,  in  a  neat  and  commodious  frame  building.  No  liquor 
is  sold  in  the  village,  and  peace  and  good  order  are  leading 
characteristics  of  its  inhabitants. 


LEE    TOWNSHIP. 

BROWN    COUNTY. 


♦  V  o  ■*.* 


S  situated  in  the  central-western  part  of  the 
county,  its  northern  boundary  being  the 
base  line  of  the  original  survey.  It  re- 
ceived its '  name  in  honor  of  the  Lees, 
who  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  this 
portion  of  the  county.  For  general  pro- 
ductiveness' and  depth  of  soil,  there  U 
probably  no  body  of  land  within  the  boun- 
daries of  the  county  that  surpasses  it. 
Six's  Prairie  constitutes  nearly  two-thirds 
of  the  territory,  the  main  body  of  it  lying  in  the  north  and 
west.  A  portion  of  this  prairie  belt  extends  through  that 
part  of  the  township  lying  between  Dry  Fork,  and  a  trib- 
utary of  Well's  Fork,  and  is  commonly  known  as  Walker's 
Neck,  receiving  its  name  from  an  early  settler  by  the  name 
of  Walker,  who  settled  not  far  from  what  is  now  the  town  of 
Mount  Pleasant.  Six's  Prairie  was  so  called  from  the  pio- 
neer, "  Jack "  Six,  who  was  the  first  to  locate  upon  it  It 
extends  into  Mt.  Sterling  township,  and  it  was  here  that  he 
first  settled,  and  commenced  to  pave  the  way  for  a  future 
livelihood.  This  prairie  surface  is  composed  of  a  deep  allu- 
vial soil,  and  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  production  of  corn. 
Indeed,  it  is  claimed  that  this  township  produces  about  one- 
half  the  corn  raised  in  the  county.  There  are  three  small 
timber  tracts,  one  lying  in  the  east  along  the  banks  of  Dry 
Fork,  another  in  the  south  and  west  contiguous  to  Well's 
Fork,  and  a  small  belt  in  the  northwest.  Thisland  is  more 
or  less  broken,  but  with  the  exception  of  a  few  acres,  it  is 
excellent  for  wheat  culture.  Dry  Fork  is  a  tributary  of 
McKee's  creek,  and  heads  in  section  ten,  flows  in  a  south 
easterly  direction  and  passes  out  in  section  twenty-five. 
Well's  F^rk  rises  north  of  the  center  of  the  township, 
takes  a  southerly  course,  and  also  discharges  its  waters  into 
McKee's  creek.  Other  small  branches  abound,  constituting 
in  all  a  fair  surface  drainage.  The  Wabash,  St.  Louis,  and 
Pacific  railroad  extends  through  the  northern  part  of  the 
township  from  east  to  west,  entering  upon  section  twelve, 
and  crossing  the  base  line  into  Pea  Ridge  in  section  six. 
Mound  Station  is  situated  on  this  road,  while  Mount  Pleas- 
ant, another  small  town,  is  centrally  located.  The  little 
town  of  Buckhorn  lies  in  the  extreme  south  in  section  thirty- 
four.  Lee  is  a  full  township,  containing  thirty-six  sections, 
and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Pea  Ridge  township,  on 
the  east  by  Mt.  Sterling,  south  by  Buckhorn,  and  west  by 
the  county  of  Adams.  According  to  the  census  of  1880, 
it  contained  a  population  of  1465  inhabitants.  Mrs.  Cath- 
erine Thomas  was  then  the  oldest  inhabitant,  being  87  years 
of  age. 

354 


EARLY  SETTLEMENTS. 

The  honor  of  having  been  the  first  settler  belongs  to 
William  McDaniel  who  located  here  in  the  spring  of  1833. 
On  first  coming  to  Illinois  he  settled  in  section  17,  on  the 
present  site  of  the  city  of  Mt.  Sterling  in  1828,  and  was 
the  second  pioneer  of  that  township.  In  the  spring  of 
1830,  he  sold  out  his  improvement  to  Alexander  Curry, 
and  moved  to  this  part  of  the  county.  He  located  in  sec- 
tion five,  on  the  land  now  owned  by  the  widow  and  heirs 
of  Isham  Scoggin.  Being  of  a  restless  turn  of  mind,  he 
remained  here  but  a  short  time,  when  he  again  "pulled 
up  stakes  "  and  moved  with  his  family  to  the  state  of  Mis- 
souri. Several  settlements  were  made  the  same  year,  one  by 
a  young  Kentuckian  named  Walker,  familiarly  called 
«'  Jerry  "  by  the  early  settlers.  He  was  a  single  man,  but 
commenced  an  improvement  on  the  northeast  quarter  of 
section  22.  He  erected  a  small  cabin,  living  by  himself,  and 
improving  his  place  as  well  as  he  could  single  handed.  He 
remained  here  but  a  few  years,  when  he  moved  to  the 
state  of  Texas.  This  portion  of  the  township  was  called 
Walker's  Neck  in  honor  of  its  first  settler.  David  Sackett 
came  in  the  same  year,  and  located  in  section  three.  He 
was  an  eastern  man,  and  his  family  consisted  of  but  his  wife. 
His  stay  was  of  a  transient  character,  only  remaining  two 
or  three  years,  when  he  moved  further  west.  He  built  the 
only  sod  fence  in  the  county,  and  one  old  settler  says  that 
it  was  only  useful  in  fortifying  against  the  frog*  and  rat- 
tle snakes.  Rjmnants  of  it  might  have  been  seen  ai  late  as 
1851.  The  place  where  he  located  is  a  low  flat  piece  of 
ground,  marshy  in  places,  and  in  an  early  day  was  almost 
impassable  for  the  emigrant  teams,  and  it  became  widely 
known  as  "Sackett's  Harbor.  "  It  was  the  favorite  home 
of  the  green  headed  fly  and  rattle  snake,  and  it  is  said  that 
the  former  were  so  numerous  and  blood  thirsty,  that  horses 
and  cattle  became  almost  frantic  while  passing.  Another 
pioneer  of  1830,  was  Abraham  Brunk,  who  came  from  the 
south,  and  settled  in  section  five.  He  had  but  a  small  family 
at  his  coming,  and  like  the  rest  of  the  early  settlers  was  in 
meagre  circumstances.  He  remained  here  but  a  year  or  so, 
when  he  moved  to  Pea  Ridge  township.  He  went  to  Cali- 
fornia during  the  gold  fever  excitement,  where  he  died.  But 
one  of  the  family  is  a  resident  of  the  county,  the  widow 
Nolan,  who  lives  in  Pea  Ridge.  In  the  fall  of  1830,  Isaac 
Lee  came  from  Morgan  county  and  put  up  a  pole  cabin  pre- 
paratory to  moving  his  family  the  following  spring.  The 
house  was  built  in  section  19,  a  description  of  which  will 
not  be  inappropriate  in  this  connection.     Its  size  was  16x18 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


355 


feet,  and  the  logs  or  poles  were  selected  from  the  small  hick- 
ories, and  of  a  convenient  size  for  two  men  and  a  boy  to 
handle.  The  floor  was  constructed  of  puncheons,  and  the 
door  swung  upon  wooden  hinges.  The  fire  place  and  chim- 
ney were  of  the  kind  so  well-known  to  every  old  settler.  In 
the  spring  of  1831,  Mr.  Lee  brought  his  family,  moved  into 
his  cabin,  and  commenced  the  life  of  a  pioneer.  He  was 
born  in  North  Carolina,  and  was  used  to  the  hardships  of 
those  early  times.  In  1814,  he  married  Tamza  Horn,  and 
thirteen  years  later  moved  to  Tennessee,  where  he  remained 
one  year.  He  then  came  to  Illinois  and  first  stopped  in 
Morgan  county  until  his  removal  to  Lee  township  in  1831, 
as  already  stated.  The  family  then  consisted  of  his  wife  and 
five  children,  William,  Tamza,  Melinda,  Hetty  A.,  and 
Louisa.  Mr.  Lee  improved  a  good  farm  and  aided  his  chil- 
dren in  obtaining  good  homes.  Mrs.  Lee  died  about  the 
year  1857.  The  death  of  Mr.  L.  was  six  years  later  and 
was  attended  with  a  heart-rending  tragedy.  After  the 
death  of  his  wife,  he  remained  at  his  old  home,  but  took 
his  meals  with  his  son,  William,  who  lived  near.  Early  on 
Monday  morning  in  1863,  his  son,  on  looking  towards  his 
father's  house,  discovered  that  it  was  not  there,  but  the 
smoke  from  the  burning  embers  told  him  that  a  sad  affair 
had  occurred  during  the  night ;  hastening  to  the  spot, 
nothing  but  the  ashes  of  the  building  and  the  charred  re- 
mains of  its  occupant,  were  left  to  tell  the  tale  of  what  was 
probably  a  great  crime.  It  was  believed  from  certain  evi- 
dences, that  the  old  gentleman  had  been  murdered  for  his 
money,  and  that  the  house  was  fired  to  cover  the  crime. 
The  deed  is  yet  somewhat  shrouded  in  mystery,  perhaps 
time  will  yet  unfold  the  villainous  plot. 

There  is  but  one  of  the  family  now  residing  in  the  county, 
Esq.  William  Lee,  and  he  is  the  oldest  living  early  settler 
in  Lee  township  ;  he  resides  on  the  old  farm  of  his  father, 
in  section  19.  He  is  a  representative  man  in  the  county, 
having  served  one  term  as  school  commissioner,  and  in 
1873,  was  elected  county  clerk,  which  office  he  filled  four 
years  with  credit  to  himself,  and  satisfaction  to  the  people. 

Another  sett'er  of  1831,  was  William  J.  Davis.  He  was 
an  emigrant  from  Virginia,  and  came  to  the  state  in  1830, 
and  during  the  winter  of  the  deep  snow,  1830  and  '31, 
stopped  at  Versailles  and  in  the  spring  moved  into  Lee 
township  and  located  in  section  6.  He  had  a  wife  and  three 
children,  Jackson  G.,  Louisa,  and  Sophia.  He  died  at  the 
old  homestead  about  1850.  His  sou,  Jackson  G.,  now 
oeetipies  the  farm.  Oliver  Howes,  a  brother  in-law  of  the 
ahiwQ,  came  about  the  same  time,  and  settled  in  section  6, 
n/ir  Davis ;  he,  also,  was  from  Virginia,  and  his  family 
consisted  of  his  wife  and  two  daughters,  Olive  and  Rhoda ; 
he  remained  here  until  about  1870,  when  he  moved  to  Clay- 
ton in  Adams  county,  where  he  died ;  his  widow  and  one 
daughter,  Olive,  yet  reside  there. 

Quite  an  accession  was  made  to  the  little  colony  in  1832, 
among  whom  were  David  Bush,  Elijah  Owens,  Joseph  and 
Alexander  Strahan,  Peter  Ausmus,  John  Beckman,  William 
Campbell  and  Thomas  Davis.  The  former  was  a  brother- 
in-law"of  Oliver  Howes  and  William  J.  Davis,  and  came 
from  Virginia  to  Illinois  with   Howes  and  Davis,  and  first 


stopped  in  another  part  of  the  state,  but  in  the  spring  of 
1832,  he  joined  his  relatives  here,  and  located  in  the  same 
neighborhood.  He  was  a  married  man,  having  a  wife  and 
three  children,  Aaron,  David  and  Calvin.  He  remained 
but  a  short  time  when  he  removed  to  Adams  county,  and 
thence  to  Iowa.  A  younger  daughter,  now  the  widow  of 
Taylor  Smith,  yet  resides  in  the  township.  Elijah  Owens 
came  from  Tennessee,  and  settled  in  section  4.  He  had  but 
a  small  family,  a  wife  and  two  sons,  John  and  Thomas;  he 
died  at  his  farm  several  years  ago.  None  of  the  family  are 
now  living  in  the  county.  The  Strahans  were  from  Ken- 
tucky, and  settled  in  section  7.  Joseph  was  at  the  head  of 
a  family,  having  a  wife  and  two  children.  Alexander  was 
a  single  man.  They  remained  here  but  a  few  years,  when 
they  both  moved  to  Texas.  Peter  Ausmus  located  in  the 
same  section  as  the  Strahans ;  he  also  came  from  the  South. 
An  elder  son,  Frederick,  came  at  the  same  time  and  settled 
in  section  18.  Both  were  heads  of  families.  Peter  had  five 
children,  James,  David,  Jesse,  Samuel  and  Rhoda.  Fred, 
erick  had  but  two,  Martha  and  Lavina.  Both  father  and 
son  died  here.  G.  \V.  and  M.  L..  younger  sons  of  Frederick, 
reside  in  the  township.  John  Beckman  located  in  section  18. 
He  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  came  here  with  quite  a 
family.  He  moved  to  Minnesota  a  few  years  ago.  One  son, 
William,  is  a  resident  of  the  county.  William  Campbell 
came  from  Tennessee  a  single  man,  and  subsequently  married 
Sarah  McCormick,  and  located  in  section  6  ;  he  died  at  the 
old  farm  about  1872;  his  widow  survives  him,  and  resides 
at  the  homestead  in  section  6.  Thomas  Davis  settled  in  the 
same  neighborhood  ;  he  was  also  from  Tennessee,  and  had  a 
family;  he  moved  to  the  state  of  Missouri  several  years  ago. 
One  of  the  oldest  settlers  living  is  William  Thomas ;  he  was 
born  in  Ohio,  and  came  to  this  state  with  his  parents  when  a 
mere  lad  ;  his  father,  George  Thomas,  came  to  the  county  in 
1832,  and  located  in  what  is  now  Pea  Ridge  township.  The 
family  then  consisted  of  his  wife  and  seven  children,  Oliver, 
Jane,  William,  Mary  Amy,  John  and  George,  Jr.,  He  moved 
to  Iowa  about  1855.  One  son,  William,  above  mentioned, 
came  into  Lee  township  about  1850,  and  located  in  section  18, 
where  he  yet  resides,  and  is  the  only  one  of  the  family  in  the 
county.  Another  prominent  early  settler  is  Dr.  D.  R  Lucas, 
a  native  of  Butler  county,  Ohio.  While  a  young  man  he  went 
to  Indiana  and  commenced  the  study  of  medicine.  In  1836 
he  came  to  Illinois  and  stopped  at  Mt.  Sterling,  and  soon 
afterward  married  Sarah  Keith.  From  this  union  twelve 
children  have  been  born,  nine  of  whom  are  yet  living,  all 
residents  of  the  county.  William,  the  eldest,  lives  in  section 
19,  and  is  a  successful  faimcr.  The  old  doctor  and  his  wife 
are  yet  living  at  their  home  in  section  17,  a  little  south  of 
Mound  Station.  He  is  quite  active  for  one  of  his  age,  and 
is  still  a  practicing  physician.  Among  other  early  settlers 
were,  Anguish  McFail,  J.  W.  Edwards,  the  Jenningses, 
Woods,  the  "  old  man,"  Shafer,  Ward  and  others. 

Four  of  the  first  land  entries  were  made  as  fol- 
lows :  Francis  Moran  entered  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  1,  October  6th,  1817 ;  same  date,  John  J.  Dudley 
entered  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  3 ;  same  date,  Wil- 
liam Downs  entered   the  northeast   quarter  of  section  5 ; 


356 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


December  27th,  IS  17,  Philip  Fagan  entered  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  5.  These  were  all  military  claims,  and 
were  entered  thirteen  years  prior  to  any  settlement.  The 
first  land  improved  and  the  first  settlement  made  was  in 
section  6,  by  William  McDaniel.ashas  already  been  stated. 
The  first  born  was  a  child  of  Abraham  Brunk,in  1830  or '31, 
and  the  first  death  was  Rhoda  Howes,  a  daughter  of  Oliver 
Howes,  in  1833.  She  was  buried  in  what  is  known  as  the 
Howes'  grave-yard  in  section  6.  The  first  interment 
here  was  an  old  lady  by  the  name  of  Taylor.  She  was 
brought  from  Pea  Ridge  township,  and  buried  a  short  time 
prior  to  the  death  of  Rhoda  Howes.  This  cemetery  was 
commenced  some  time  before  the  road  was  laid  out,  so  that 
the  highway  makes  a  curve  at  this  point  in  order  to  pass 
around  this  city  of  the  dead.  It  contains  about  an  acre  of 
ground,  but  so  many  have  been  buried  here  that  it  will  soon 
have  to  be  abandoned  for  burial  purposes.  The  first  benefit 
of  a  school  that  the  pioneer  children  received  in  the  town- 
ship, was  in  the  winter  of  1832  and  '33.  The  teacher  was 
John  Lester,  and  the  school-house  was  situated  just  over  the 
line  in  Adams  county,  close  to  the  northwest  corner  of  sec- 
tion 6,  on  the  land  of  Jackson  G.  Davis.  John  Ausmus 
preached  the  first  sermon  at  the  log  house  of  Peter  Ausmus, 
in  the  summer  of  183  i.  The  congregation  gathered  under 
a  tree  that  was  situated  in  the  yard,  and  it  was  here  that 
they  first  listened  to  the  teaching  of  the  gospel  in  their  new 
fouud  home.  Elder  Ausmus  was  of  the  faith  known  in  those 
days  as  Vie  Emancipating  Baptist.  Apropos  of  the  fore 
going  we  will  here  relate  a  little  anecdote  that  is  given  by 
the  old  settlers.  The  house  or  cabin  of  Peter  Ausmus  was 
the  favorite  resort  for  these  early  gatherings.  One  Sunday, 
after  most  of  the  congregation  had  assembled,  a  disagreeable 
scratching  and  fussing  was  heard  in  the  loft  of  the  cabin. 
The  hens  had  been  allowed  to  go  there  and  made  their  nest. 
The  noise  was  nothing  uncommon,  nor  would  it  have  been 
out  of  the  way  if  it  had  not  been  Sunday,  and  a  quiet  audience 
waiting  below.  It  became  more  and  more  annoying  until 
"  Old  '*  Peter  broke  out  with,  "  Dave,  go  into  the  loft  and 
kick  that  old  hen's  tail  feathers  till  her  nose  bleeds !"  It 
was  like  a  thunder  clap  from  a  clear  sky,  but  every  one  pre- 
sent knew  it  was  only  one  of  Pe'er's  oddities. 

The  first  church  hou3e  was  built  in  1836,  and  entitled  the 
Old  Bethel  Church.  It  was  a  hewed  log  building  20x24 
feet  in  size,  and  was  situated  in  section  18,  on  the  land  now 
owned  by  William  Watters.  It  remained  here  for  many 
years,  until  it  nearly  fell  to  pieces  from  decay,  when  it  was 
torn  down,  and  the  sounder  timber  used  for  other  purposes. 
It  was  built  under  the  auspices  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
society.  The  first  justice  of  the  peace  was  Harvey  Lester. 
The  second  was  William  Lee.  Thomas  Davis  was  also  among 
the  first.  The  first  resident  physician  was  Dr.  D.  R.  Lucas 
The  first  to  practice  medicine  among  the  pioneers  was  Dr. 
Dearborn,  who  then  resided  in  Elkhorn.  The  first  post- 
office  was  established  about  1832,  at  the  private  house  of 
V  illiin)  J.  Davis  in  section  6.  Davis  was  the  postmaster, 
and  it  was  called  Davis'  posti  ffice.  The  second  was  es- 
tablished at  the  residence  of  William  Lee,  he  being  post- 
master, and  was  called  Walker's  Neck.     Michael  Flanders 


was  the  first  blacksmith,  and  his  shop  was  located  in  section 
18,  on  the  premises  now  owned  by  R.  J.  Osborn.  This  was 
about  1839  or  '40.  The  smith  and  shop  have  long  since  dis- 
appeared. Prior  to  this  the  people  went  into  Adams  county 
to  get  the  smithing  done.  The  first  mill  was  erected  l»y 
Jack  Six  in  1834.  It  was  what  is  known  as  a  horse  mill, 
and  was  situated  in  section  7,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by 
Mrs.  Marshall.  Its  capacity  was  about  25  bushels  of  meal 
daily.  It  was  the  custom  in  those  days  for  every  customer 
to  furnish  his  own  horse  to  do  the  grinding.  It  stood  here 
for  some  years,  and  wa3  a  very  convenient  auxiliary  to  the 
community.  The  first  goods  were  sold  by  Col.  E.  W.  B. 
Newby  about  1831.  His  store  w.vs  situated  at  Mount 
Pleasant.  He  sold  out  in  a  short  time  to  S.  C.  Raymond, 
who  brought  on  a  large  stock  of  goods,  and  made  it  one  of 
the  principal  trading  points  in  the  county. 

Supervisors. — The  following  named  persons  have  repre- 
sen'ed  the  township  on  the  county  board  since  township  or- 
ganization :  S.  C.  Raymond  was  elected  in  1854,  and  served 
one  term;  John  Maltby  was  elected  in  1855,  and  served 
until  1859.  The  last  term  he  was  chairman  of  the  board  ; 
John  L.  Briggs  was  his  successor,  and  served  one  term  ; 
William  Campbell,  elected  in  I860,  served  one  term  ;  Ishatn 
Scoggin,  elected  in  1861  ;  Alexander  Hedrick,  elected  in 
1862  ;  William  Campbell,  re-elected  in  1863  ;  King  Kerley, 
elected  in  1864 ;  and  served  five  terms  ;  Lewis  Briggs,  elected 
in  1869;  Alexander  Orr,  elected  in  ^70,  and  served  three 
terms  ;  Daniel  M.  Sides,  elected  in  1873  ;  King  Kerley,  re- 
elected in  1874,  and  served  four  terms,  and  was  appointed 
chairman  of  the_  board  for  the  years  1875  and  1877 ; 
Lewis  Briggs,  re-elected  in  1879,  and  served  two  terms; 
King  Kerley,  elected  in  1881,  re-elected  in  1882,  and  is  the 
present  incumbent.  The  county  poor  farm  is  situated  in  this 
township,  and  from  its  general  appearance,  one  would  con- 
clude that  those  who  have  the  misfortune  to  ask  the  aid  of 
the  county  for  support,  are  well  cared  for.  A  more  detailed 
account  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  Civil  chapter. 

MOUND  STATION 

is  situated  on  the  Wabash,  St.  Louis,  and  Pacific  railway, 
and  is  so  named  from  the  elevated  ground  in  the  prairie, 
about  a  mile  northwest  of  the  town.  It  was  laid  out  by 
Martin  McNitt,  the  19th  of  November,  1862,  and  lies  partly 
in  sections  4  and  5.  The  first  business  house  was  erected  by 
Martin  McNitt  in  1861.  It  is  a  frame,  two  stories  high, 
and  situated  on  Marion  street.  The  Masonic  Hall  ocevtoies 
the  second  story.  The  store  room  is  now  used  by  the  qrm 
of  Manny  &  Williams.  The  first  house  built  for  a  dwelling 
was  in  the  same  year  as  the  above,  and  was  erected  by  John 
D.  Patterson.  It  has  since  been  improved,  and  is  now  a 
good  house  for  a  private  residence. 

Incorporation — A  vote  was  taken  to  incorporate  the  town 
in  January,  1865.  The  first  elected  officers  were,  Chas.  Mc- 
Gee,  President  of  the  Board ;  John  M.  Long,  William 
Dreisegaher,  J.  F.  Gant,  and  David  Gristy.  W.  T.  Hobbs 
was  appointed  Clerk ;  M.  M.  McNitt,  Supervisor ;  R.  F. 
Tainter,  Constable;  and  W.  C.  Manny,  Treasurer.  The 
present  officers  are,  T.  C.  Laughlin,  President ;  R.  D.  Long, 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


357 


Dr.  Geo.  D.  Lucas,  Henry  Hodgson,  Wm.  H.  Bullraan, 
Members  of  the  Board  ;  Clerk,  Wm.  N.  Mumford ;  Police 
Magistrate,  Geo.  W.  Ebey ;  Street  Commissioner,  Wm.  R. 
Bond  ;  Treasurer,  S.  D.  Miller;  Town  Constable,  Wm.  A. 
Smith.  The  town  contains  two  good  frame  church  build- 
ings, the  Methodist  Episcopal  and  Christian.  Both  have 
spires  and  bells,  and  in  several  respects  are  in  advance  of 
the  town.  This  is  a  good  shipping  point  for  hay,  grain,  and 
fruit.     The  estimated  population  is  about  300. 

PRESENT    BUSINESS. 

Mound  Station  Steam  Flouring  Hill,  owned  and  operated 
by  J.  N.  Robinson.  This  mill  was  built  by  John  N.  Arras 
in  1867.  It  is  a  frame  huilding,  two  stories  high,  and  attic, 
and  is  situated  in  the  west  part  of  the  town,  south  of  the 
railroad.  It  is  purely  a  custom  mill,  with  two  run  of  burrs, 
and  has  the  capacity  of  manufacturing  30  barrels  of  flour 
and  100  bushels  of  meal  in  twenty-four  hours.  Two  men 
are  employed. 

Hay  Presses. — S.  C.  Raymond  operates  two  portable 
presses,  and  when  in  full  running  order  presses  ten  tons  per 
day,  giving  employment  to  6  men  and  2  teams.  He  ships 
mainly  to  St.  Louis.  John  Lee  owns  and  operates  three 
presses,  two  stationary  and  one  portable.  They  have  a 
capacity  of  pressing  five  tons  of  hay  each,  daily,  and  when 
in  operation  ten  men  and  three  teams  are  employed.  The 
hay  barns  have  a  capacity  of  storing  about  40  tons  of  hay 
each.     Mr.  Lee  ships  his  product  to  St.  Louis. 

The  other  business  men  are : 

General  Stores.—  Manny  &  Williams,  W.  O.  Whipple  & 
Co.,  S.  D.  Millen. 

Hardware  and  Tinware. — C.  Weaver  &  Co. 

Physicians. — W.  T.  Hobbs,  Geo.  D.  Lucas,  Augustus 
Mumford. 

Meat  Market. — Bennett  &  Swindel. 

Blacksmiths. — R.  D.  Long,  Jean  Sullivan. 

Shoe  Shop. — David  Prettyruan. 

Postmaster. — W.  O.  Whipple. 

Contractor  and  Builder. — George  Bradney. 

Painters  and  Glaziers. — Hudson  &  Sons. 

Lumber  Yard. — W.  O.  Whipple. 

Insurance  Agent. — James  Davidson. 

The  manufacture  of  pottery  was  once  quite  an  industry 
here,  but  has  been  recently  abandoned. 


SOCIETIES. 

Kendrick  Lodge,  No.  430,  A.  F.  and  A.  M  ,  was  chartered 
October  4th,  1865.  For  two  years  prior  to  this  it  operated 
under  a  dispensation,  so  at  the  time  of  the  granting  of  the 
charter  28  members  were  recorded.  The  total  numter  who 
have  taken  the  three  degrees  is  70 ;  whole  number  enrolled, 
89.  The  Lodge  meets  in  Masonic  Hall  every  Saturday 
night,  on  or  before  the  full  of  the  moon.  It  is  out  of  debt, 
and  has  money  in  the  treasury. 

MOUNT   PLEASANT 

is  a  little  town  situated  nearly  central  in  the  township,  being 
a  part  of  the  S.  E.  J  of  section  16.  It  was  laid  out  by  Wil- 
liam Frank,  and  placed  of  record  the  6th  of  May,  1857.  It 
is  also  known  as  Raymond,  or  at  least  appears  as  such  on 
the  records.  Prior  to  the  construction  of  the  railroad,  this 
was  the  business  center  of  the  township.  Mr.  S.  C.  Ray- 
mond had  an  immense  stock  of  goods  here  for  a  little  inland 
town,  and  his  customers  came  from  miles  around.  It  was  at 
this  point  that  the  first  goods,  were  sold  in  the  township. 
But  the  iron  horse  came  booming  through  the  land  a  little 
north  of  it,  and  lo !  Mt.  Pleasant  had  to  bite  the  dust.  A 
few  houses,  and  about  fifty  inhabitants  still  cluster  around 
this  nearly  extinct  town.  The  only  business  is  an  under- 
taker's shop,  conducted  by  Edward  S.  Frank,  and  a  black- 
smith shop  kept  by  Fred.  Arnold.  A  neat  little  church 
house  helps  to  adorn  the  town.  Situated  about  a  half  mile 
south  of  the  town  is  a  genuine  curiosity  for  this  day  of  steam 
power.  It  is  one  of  the  old-fashioned  inclined  tread  wheel 
grist  mill.  Two  of  these  wheels  are  utilized,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  mill  proper.  It  is  operated  by  the  use  of  oxen, 
horses,  cows,  mules,  or  anything  else  that  can  be  driven  on 
and  give  weight.     It  is  owned  and  operated  by  John  Miller. 

BUCKHORN 

is  another  little  town  situated  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
township  in  sections  34  and  35.  It  was  laid  out  by  John  L. 
Briggs,  the  14th  of  March,  1862,  and  now  contains  a  popu- 
lation of  about  75  persons.  The  business  is  one  general 
store,  kept  by  Daniel  Sides,  and  who  is  also  postmaster. 
Blacksmiths,  Alexander  Hedrick,  and  Patrick  Savage. 
Cooper,  M.  Kinney.  For  additional  history  relating  to  the 
churches  and  schools,  see  special  chapters  in  this  work. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


^^  ^r 


\\ 


WILLIAM    LEE. 


Among  the  old  residents  of  Brown  county,  none  better 
deserve  mention  in  this  work  than  William  Lee.  He  has 
lived  in  the  county  since  1£31.  In  honor  of  his  family,  Lee 
township  received  its  name.  His  ancestors  were  early  set- 
tlers of  Virginia,  and  from  there  his  grandfather,  Hillary 
Lee,  removed  to  North  Carolina.  His  father  was  Isaac 
Lee.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Tamza  Horn, 
was  born  in  Maryland,  though  a  resident  of  Rowan  county, 
North  Carolina,  at  the  time  of  her  marriage.  William  Lee 
•was  the  oldest  of  six  children,  and  was  born  in  Rowan  county, 
North  Carolina,  on  the  9th  October,  1816.  The  first  eleven 
years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  his  native  state,  and  then  in 
the  fall  of  1827,  the  family  moved  to  Warren  county,  Tenn., 
where  they  remained  one  year.  In  the  fall  of  the  next  year, 
1828,  the  family  came  to  Illinois,  and  first  settled  on  Indian 
creek,  east  of  Jacksonville,  in  Morgan  county.  They  lived 
there  two  years,  but  owned  no  land. 

In  the  autumn  of  1830  his  father  entered  land  in  sections 
eighteen  and  nineteen  of  township  one  south,  range  four 
west,  then  a  part  of  Schuyler  county.  The  same  fall  a  rude 
358 


house  was  corstructed,  into  which  the  family  moved  the  fol- 
lowing spring.  This  dwelling  was  built  of  logs  and  poles, 
and  was  such  a  structure  as  could  be  erected  by  his  father, 
with  the  only  help  of  Esq.  Lee,  then  a  boy  of  fifteen.  The 
subject  of  this  biography  went  to  school  as  he  had  oppor- 
tunity in  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee.  He  attended  school 
three  winters  in  Morgan  county,  and  had  good  instruction  in 
one  or  two  schools  after  coming  to  what  is  now  Brown  county. 
His  home  was  with  his  father  till  he  was  grown  to  manhood. 
On  the  9th  of  May,  1839,  he  married  Mary  Ann  Thomas, 
who  was  born  in  Switzerland  county,  Indiana.  Her  father 
was  George  Thomas.  After  his  marriage,  he  engaged  in 
farming  on  his  own  account  in  township  one  south,  range  four 
west,  of  which  he  has  since  been  a  resident,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  six  years,  during  which  he  has  lived  in  Mt.  Sterling. 
The  first  position  of  honor  which  Esq.  Lee  held  was  at  the 
age  of  nineteen,  when  he  was  elected  lieutenant  of  a  militia 
company  belonging  to  the  old  state  militia  organization. 
After  two  or  three  years  of  service  as  lieutenant  he  was  elected 
|   captain.     The  only  other  military  office  which  he  filled  was 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


359 


DANIEL  R.  LUCAS,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Lucas,  of  Lee  township,  has  been  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  medicine  in^Brown  county  longer  than  any  other 
physician  now  in  the  county.  The  family  from  which  he  is 
descended  was  of  England  origin.  His  great  grandfather, 
an  Englishman  by  birth,  on  coming  to  America  settled  at 
Richmond,  Virginia,  then  a  town  recently  started,  and 
practiced  medicine  there  till  his  death.     Samuel  Lucas,  the 


during  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  when  he  was  captain  of  a 
company  of  home  militia,  organized  in  this  county.  The  first 
civil  office  to  which  he  was  elected  was  that  of  constable. 
This  was  about  the  year  1840.  He  filled  this  position  eight 
years,  and  was  then  elected  justice  of  the  peace-  His  service 
as  magistrate  was  long  and  honorable,  and  covered  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century.  At  the  expiration  of  his  last  term 
as  justice  of  the  peace,  he  was  elected  police  magistrate  at 
Mound  Station,  and  acted  as  such  four  years.  By  appoint- 
ment of  the  Board  of  Supervisors,  he  filled  the  position  of 
School  Commissioner  of  Brown  county  one  year.  For  a  pe- 
riod of  fifteen  years  he  was  postmaster  of  the  Walker's  Neck 
post-office.  The  office  was  kept  at  his  house,  on  section 
eighteen  of  Lee  township,  and  was  discontinued  on  the  build- 
ing of  the  railroad  and  the  establishment  of  a  post-office  at 
Mound  Station.  In  November,  1873,  he  was  elected  Clerk 
of  the  County  Court  of  Brown  county,  and  filled  this  position 
for  a  term  of  four  years.  Beside  these  positions,  since  the 
organization  of  Lee  township,  he  has  at  various  times  filled  a 
number  of  township  offices,  such  as  assessor,  treasurer,  and 
clerk.  For  four  or  five  years  he  was  in  the  drug  business  at 
Mound  Station,  but  mostly  through  life  his  attention  has  been 
devoted  to  farming. 

The  land  which  his  father  entered  in  1830  forms  part  of 
his  present  farm.  The  names  of  his  five  children  are  as  fol- 
low : — Cordelia  M.,  wife  of  William  H.  Davis,  of  Lee  town- 
ship; Elizabeth  Ellen,  who  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen;  Het- 
tie  Ann,  wife  of  Dr.  Thomas  A.  Davison,  of  Adams  county  ; 
William  H.  Lee,  engaged  in  farming  in  Lee  township ;  and 
George  H.  Lee,  in  1882  superintendent  of  schools  in  Brown 
county. 

Since  old  enough  to  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage,  he  has 
been  an  earnest  and  sincere  supporter  of  the  principles 
of  the  Democratic  party,  with  which  he  has  always  acted 
when  political  issues  were  involved.  He  has  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  since  1837.  His  wife 
became  connected  with  the  church  at  about  the  same  date. 
For  some  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  Kendrick  Masonic  j 
Lodge,  No.  430,  at  Mound  Station.  With  possibly  one  ex- 
ception, he  is  the  earliest  settler  of  Lee  township  now  liv-  j 
ing.  The  numerous  positions  of  trust  and  honor  to  which 
he  has  been  chosen,  speak  well  for  the  regard  in  which  he  is 
held  by  his  fellow-citizens. 


grandfather  of  Dr.  Lucas,  was  born  in  Virginia.  He  emi- 
grated to  the  new  and  unsettled  country  west  of  the  moun- 
tains, now  included  in  the  state  of  West  Virginia,  and  was 
there  killed  by  the  Indians.  John  Lucas,  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  biography,  was  also  a  native  of  Virginia. 
He  was  sixteen  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of 
the  revolutionary  war  and  enlisted  in  the  Virginia  troops 
who  were  employed  in  fighting  the  Indians  on  the  fron- 
tier of  the  state.  He  was  in  the  army  six  years.  After 
the  conclusion  of  the  war  he  was  one  of  that  pioneer  band 
who  made  the  first  settlement  in  Kentucky,  driving  away 
the  Indians,  and  opening  up  the  way  for  civilization.  He 
moved  to  Butler  county,  Ohio,  in  the  year  1798,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  that  part  of  Ohio,  and  died  in 
1836.  His  life  had  been  spent  on  the  frontier,  and  he  was 
the  participant  in  many  a  conflict  with  the  Indians. 

Daniel  R.  Lucas,  the  youngest  of  twelve  children,  was 
born  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  on  the  21st  of  March,  1810. 
His  home  was  under  the  same  roof  under  which  he  was  born 
till  he  came  to  this  state  at  the  age  of  twenty-six.  His  ed- 
ucation he  obtained  in  the  schools  of  the  neighborhood.  He 
began  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  year  1833,  and  after 
qualifying  himself  for  the  practice  of  the  profession  he  de- 
termined to  select  a  location  in  some  state  farther  west.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1836  he  left  Ohio,  and  after  a 
short  stay  in  Indiana,  he  reached  Mt.  Sterling  in  the  spring 
•  if  the  same  year,  and  here  began  his  medical  practice.  Mt. 
Sterling  was  then  a  small  place,  and  then  in  Schuyler  coun- 
ty, the  county  of  Brown  not  yet  having  been  organized. 
After  a  year  of  two  he  moved  to  the  neighborhood  of  Rip- 
ley. He  subsequently  became  a  resident  of  Lee  township 
where  he  has  since  lived,  with  the  exception  of  the 
summer  of  1851  when  he  resided  in  Texas.  He  has  been 
continuously  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  for  forty- 
six  years.  In  September,  1836,  after  coming  to  this  county 
he  married  Sarah  Ann  Keith,  who  was  born  in  Hardin 
county,  Kentucky.  He  has  nine  children  living,  all  resid- 
ing in  the  county,  whose  names  are  William,  Newton,  Mary, 
George  W.,  John  H,  Ethan  Allen,  Daniel  W.,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  and  James  Edward.  George  W.  Lucas  served 
three  years  in  the  Third  Missouri  Cavalry  regiment  during 
the  war  of  the  rebellion,  and  is  now  practicing  at  Mound 
Station. 

His  first  vote  for  President  was  cast  for  Gen.  Harrison  in 
1 840.  He  was  loyal  to  the  principles  of  the  Whig  party  as 
long  as  it  had  an  existence,  but  before  the  war  became  a 
Republican,  and  has  acted  as  such  ever  since.  He  was  the 
first  probate  judge  of  Brown  county,  being  elected  to  the 
office  of  probate  justice  of  the  peace  on  the  organization  of 
the  county.  On  the  establishment  of  the  old  Walker's  Neck 
post  office,  in  the  western  part  of  the  county,  he  was  ap- 
pointed the  first  postmaster,  and  filled  that  position  for  some 
time.  He  also  served  one  term  as  justice  of  the  peace.  Beside 
the  practice  of  medicine,  he  has  been  largely  engaged  in 
farming  and  is  one  of  the  largest  land  owners  of  Lee 
township.  He  is  the  owner  of  four  hundred  and  ninety  acres 
of  land.     His  farm  is  composed  of  four  hundred  acres. 


360 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Capt.  S.  D.  Nokes  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  New 
York,  on  the  11th  of  February,  1835.  His  father,  John 
Nokes,  and  his  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Hannah 
Tworabley,  were  both  natives  of  Vermont.  He  was  the 
fourth  of  thirteen  children.  In  the  fall  of  1843  his  father 
moved  with  the  family  to  Illinois  and  settled  near  Mount 
Pleasant,  in  township  one  south,  range  four  west,  of  Brown 
county.  His  father  afterward  moved  to  Iowa,  and  is  now 
living  in  Missouri.  Capt.  Nokes  received  his  education  in 
the  district  schools  of  Lee  township.  On  the  27th 
of  July,  1854,  he  married  Anna  Jane  Dodd,  who  was  born  in 
Adams  county.  He  then  went  to  farming  on  his  own  account 
in  Lee  township.  In  the  year  1859  he  spent  some  months  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains  near  Pike's  peak. 

He  served  in  the  Union  army  during  the  war  of  the  rebel- 
lion. On  the  9th  of  August,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Nineteenth  regiment  Illinois  Volunteers, 
companies  E  and  D,  which  were  raised  in  Brown  county. 
On  the  organization  of  company  E  he  was  elected  second 
lieutenant.  The  regiment  was  for  a  great  part  of  the  time 
with  the  right  wing  of  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps  under  the 
command  of  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith.  From  Quincy  the  regiment 
was  dispatched  to  Columbus,  Kentucky,  and  for  the  first 
year  was  mostly  employed  on  guard  duty  on  the  railroad  from 
Columbus  to  Jackson,  Tennessee.  In  the  fall  of  1863  the 
regiment  was  on  duty  in  Memphis  and  vicinity ;  from  Mem- 


phis the  following  spring  was  sent  down  to  Vicksburg,  and 
was  with  Sherman  on  his  Meridian  raid  in  the  early  part  of 
1864.  The  regiment  was  subsequently  sent  to  reinforce 
Gen.  Banks  who  was  engaged  on  his  Red  river  expedition. 
Capt.  Nokes  was  in  the  engagement  at  Pleasant  Hill,  Loui- 
siana, and  the  fights  and  marches  that  followed  immediately 
afterward.  In  the  fight  of  Yellow  Bayou  he  with  eight 
others  of  the  company,  was  wounded.  He  was  shot  through 
the  leg  with  a  minnie  ball.  This  wound  necessitated  his 
absence  from  his  command  six  weeks,  part  of  which  time 
was  spent  in  the  hospital  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  Missouri. 
The  latter  pirtof  July,  1864,  he  rejoined  his  regiment,  and 
was  in  the  fight  with  the  rebel  General  Forrest  at  Tupelo, 
Mississippi.  He  was  commissioned  by  Gov.  Yates  Captain, 
on  the  18th  of  September,  1864,  and  had  command  of 
company  E  till  the  close  of  the  war.  Late  in  the  fall  of 
1864  the  regiment  was  sent  to  Missouri,  and  was  employed 
for  a  time  in  the  pursuit  of  Gen.  Price,  and  was  then  con- 
veyed to  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  the  men  arrived  in  time 
to  take  part  in  the  fight  with  Hood.  After  being  stationed 
for  a  time  at  Eastport,  Mississippi,  the  regiment  was  sent  to 
Dauphin  island  whence  operations  were  carried  on  about 
Mobile.  In  the  last  battle  of  the  war,  the  capture  of  Fort 
Blakeley  in  Mobile  harbor,  Cap.  Nokes  and  his  company 
participated.  The  regiment  was  in  service  in  Alabama  till 
the  26th    of  August,  1865,  when    the  men  were  mustered 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


361 


out  at  Mobile.     They  were  discharged  at  Springfield  in  this 
state  on  the  following  9th  of  September. 

On  his  return  to  Brown  county  Capt.  Nokes  resumed 
farming.  His  farm  residence,  on  section  thirty  of  Lee 
township,  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  county.  He  is  largely 
interested  in  the  raising  of  fruit.  Of  his  nine  children  six 
are  living :  Elmira,  Mary,  Carrie,  Oscar,  Birdie,  and  Grant. 
In  his  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 


JOHN  W.  MOORE. 

John  W.  Moore,  a  resident  of  Lee  township,  is  a  native 
of  Bloomington,  Monroe  county,  Indiana,  and  was  bom  on 
the  15th  of  August,  1847.  His  father,  Samuel  A.  Moore, 
was  born  in  Iredell  county,  North  Carolina  ;  came  to  Indi- 
ana at  the  age  of  thirteen,  grew  up  in  that  State,  and  mar- 
ried Sarah  Margaret  Goodnight,  a  native  of  Lincoln  county, 
Kentucky.  He  removed  from  Indiana  to  Adams  county, 
Illinois,  in  1849,  and  now  resides  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  Adams  county.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the 
oldest  of  a  family  of  eight  children.  He  was  about  two 
years  old  at  the  time  of  the  removal  of  the  family  to  this 
State.  He  was  raised  in  Adams  county.  He  attended  the 
common  schools,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  entered  Ab- 
ingdon college,  in  Kuox  county.  After  pursuing  a  course 
of  study  for  f>ur  years  in  that  institution,  he  graduated  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science  At  the  age  of  nineteen 
he  had  begun  teaching  in  Adams  county,  and  at  that  time 
taught  trwo  terms.  He  also  taught  one  year  in  Abingdon 
college.  During  the  winter  of  1873-1874  he  taught  school 
at  Mound  Station.  In  1874  he  purchased  land  which  forms 
part  of  the  farm  on  which  he  now  lives.  He  bought  addi- 
tional land  in  187G,  and  that  year  erected  buildings.  On 
the  11th  of  January,  1877,  he  married  Miss  M.  Ada  Byram, 
a  native  of  Abingdon,  Knox  county.  He  has  two  children, 
Carrie  Elva,  and  Samuel  Edward.  In  his  politics  he  has 
always  been  a  Democrat.  He  cast  his  first  Presidential 
vote  for  Horatio  Seymour,  in  1868.  He  is  an  active  and 
enterprising  farmer,  handles  large  quantities  of  hogs,  and  is 
especially  interested  in  rai  ing  fine  grades  of  stock.  He  has 
bred  short  horns  from  the  time  he  first  came  to  the  county, 
His  farm  is  composed  of  two  hundred  and  forty  acres.  As 
one  of  the  younger  agriculturists  and  business  men  of 
Brown  county,  his  name  is  given  a  place  in  this  work. 


KING  KERLEY. 

Kino  Kerley  was  born  in  Macon,  (then  Sumner) 
county,  Tennessee,  on  the  25th  of  September,  1814 ;  his 
father,  William  Kerley,  was  born  in  South  Carolina,  moved 
to  Kentucky  with  his  father  when  three  years  old,  and 
afterwards  to  Tennessee,  where  he  married  Jane  Carr; 
daughter  of  King  Carr,  who  was  a  Virginian  by  birth.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  fourth  of  ten  children.  In 
June,  1836,  then  in  his  twenty-second  year,  he  enlisted  in 
the  second  Tennessee  regiment  of  mounted  men,  and  served 
46 


six  months  in  the  Seminole  war  in  Florida  ;  he  was  in  three 
considerable  engagements,  in  the  last  of  which,  at  Wahoo 
swamp,  he  was  shot  through  the  left  thigh.  March,  1837, 
he  married  Elizabeth  Brown,  a  native  of  the  same  county 
with  himself.  He  served  as  major  in  the  Tennessee  militia  ; 
March,  1842,  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  Macon  county,  Ten- 
nessee, and  was  the  first  sheriff  elected  after  the  organization 
of  the  county  ;  he  ran  as  a  Democrat,  and  defeated  his  whig 
opponent,  Colonel  Jefferson  Bratton,  by  one  vote  ;  he  was 
re  elected  in  1844;  May,  1846,. he  enlisted  in  the  First  Ten- 
nessee regiment  for  service  in  the  Mexican  war  ;  he  was  a 
lieutenant ;  he  served  one  year,  and  was  in  the  battles  of 
Monterey,  Vera  Cruz,  and  Cerro  Gordo.  August  1847,  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  Tennessee  legislature  for 
Macon  county.  In  1851  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in 
Lee  township  of  Brown  county ;  he  was  the  first  assessor 
of  Lee  township  after  the  adoption  of  township  organiza- 
tion, and  held  the  office  five  years  ;  in  1856  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  legislature  from  Brown  and  Pike  counties, 
and  was  re-elected  in  1858 ;  he  was  again  chosen  a  member 
of  the  General  Assembly  from  Brown  and  Cass  counties  in 
1864.  He  was  first  elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Su- 
pervisors in  1864,  and  at  that  time  served  four  terms  in  suc- 
cession ;  he  was  afterward  supervisor  in  1874-75-76-77-81, 
and  '82  ;  he  is  a  Democrat  in  politics.  His  first  wife  died 
in  February,  1852,  and  he  was  married  to  Amanda  J.  Pell 
in  December,  1854;  she  was  born  in  Logan  county,  Ken- 
tucky ;  he  had  three  children  by  his  first  marriage,  of  whom 
one  is  living,  and  eight  by  his  second  marriage,  of  whom 
four  are  living. 


ALLEN  WEBB 

Was  born  in  Madison  county,  Kentucky,  July  25th,  1820, 
and  was  the  oldest  of  five  children  of  Joshua  and  Letty 
(Howard)  Webb.  His  ancestors  were  Virginians.  He  was 
raised  in  the  county  of  his  nativity.  The  schools  of  the 
neighborhood  were  poor,  his  father  was  in  limited  circum- 
stances, and  Mr  Webb,  who,  as  a  boy,  was  stout  and  vigor- 
ous, was  kept  at  home  to  assist  in  work  on  the  farm.  It 
thus  happened  that  he  had  only  six  months  schooling.  He 
acquired  his  education  by  himself,  after  he  was  grown.  At 
nineteen  he  became  an  apprentice  to  the  blacksmith  trade, 
at  which,  after  learning  the  business,  he  worked  thirteen 
years  in  Kentucky.  February  18th,  1844,  he  married  Emily 
Jane  Oliver,  of  Madison  county,  Kentucky.  In  the  spring 
of  1851  he  left  Kentucky  with  the  intention  of  settling  in 
Missouri.  He  owned  at  that  time  a  wagon  and  team,  and 
had  seven  hundred  dollars  in  money.  Stopping  at  Mt. 
Sterling,  he  rased  a  crop  of  corn  in  the  summer  of  1851, 
on  land  now  included  in  the  site  of  the  town.  In  '52,  he 
settled  in  Pea  Ridge  township.  He  subsequently  became  a 
resident  of  L>  e  township,  where  he  now  owns  a  farm  of  220 
acres,  which,  for  improvements,  will  compare  well  with  other 
farms  in  the  county. 

His  first  wife  died  May  1st,  1865.     On  the  12th  of  April, 
1866,  he  married  as  his  second  wife  Martha  A.  Harper, 


362 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


daughter  of  Stephen  Harper.  He  has  had  eleven  children : 
Othniel,  who  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  ;  Mary  Jane, 
wife  of  William  Rabb  ;  Elizabeth  Almarine,  and  Sarah  Al- 
len, twins,  who  died  in  infancy ;  Almarine,  who  married 
James  Long,  and  is  now  deceased  ;  John  Allen,  now  living 
in  Washington  county,  Kansas;  Emerine,  wife  of  Alexander 
Parker  ;  and  Isaac  Oliver,  who  resides  in  Linn  county,  Mis- 
souri ;  Josephus ;  William,  now  deceased  ;  and  Sarah  Eli- 
zabeth, deceased.  The  last  named  was  by  his  second  mar- 
riage. He  was  first  a  Whig,  and  in  1844  voted  for  Henry 
Clay  for  President.  He  has  been  a  Republican  from  the 
organization  of  the  party.  While  living  in  a  slave  state,  he 
was  opposed  to  slavery,  and  voted  there  for  a  congressional 
candidate  who  ran  on  the  platform  of  the  emancipation  of 
the  slaves.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church 
from  the  age  of  twenty-five  years.  He  helped  organize 
the  Christian  Church  at  Mound  Station,  of  which  he  is  now 
a  member,  and  liberally  assisted  in  the  erection  of  the  church 
building. 

ANGUS  McPHAIL. 

One  of  the  few  native  born  Scotchmen  in  Brown  county 
is  Angus  McPhail,  a  well-known  resident  of  Lee  township. 
He  was  born  in  the  city  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  on  the  25th 
of  April,  1810.  His  father,  Angus  McPhail,  was  born  in  Mull, 
one  of  the  western  islands  of  Scotland  and  served  an  appren- 
ticeship of  seven  years  at  the  mercantile  business  in  Glasgow, 
which,  however,  he  followed  afterward  to  so  great  extent. 
The  subject  of  this  biography  was  raised  in  the  city  of  Glas- 
gow. He  was  an  active  boy,  fond  of  out  door  life,  and  always 
disliked  the  confinement  of  the  school  room.  At  the  age  of 
seven  he  was  plaeed  under  the  care  of  his  uncle,  who  had  a 
large  cotton  factory  in  Glasgow.  At  nine  he  began  an  ap- 
prenticeship of  seven  years  to  the  tailor's  business.  After 
learning  his  trade  he  traveled  through  England,  Ireland, 
and  Scotland,  working  in  different  towns  and  cities  as  a 
journeyman,  and  gratifying  a  roving  disposition,  which  was 
part  of  his  nature.  At  twenty-one  he  settled  down  in  busi- 
ness as  a  tailor  in  Glasgow. 

In  the  fall  of  1832  he  married  Mary  Crawford.  In  1834 
he  emigrated  to  America.  Sailing  from  Greenock  in  April 
he  landed  at  New  York  city  in  June.  His  family  then  con- 
sisted of  a  wife  and  one  child.  From  New  York  he  went  to 
Toronto  in  Upper  Canada,  where  he  began  business  as  a 
tailor.  He  purchased  property  in  that  city,  but  the  rebel- 
lion of  1837  in  Canada,  with  which  he  sympathized,  made 
desirable  his  removal  to  another  locality.  He  witnessed  the 
hanging  of  Lount  and  Matthews  at  Toronto,  and   other  im- 


portant incidents  connected  with  the  unfortunate  and  unsuc- 
cessful revolt  against  the  government.  He  sold  property 
he  had  purchased  at  a  great  sacrifice,  and  in  1838  came  to 
Illinois.  He  first  lived  at  Rushville,  Schuyler  county,  but 
in  January,  1840,  thinking  that  the  county  seat  of  the  re- 
cently organized  Brown  county  would  become  a  prosperous 
and  thriving  business  place,  removed  to  Mt.  Sterling,  where 
he  carried  on  business  as  a  tailor  ten  years. 

In  1850  he  moved  to  his  present  residence  in  section  ten  of 
Lee  township.  His  first  wife  died  in  1852.  His  second 
marriage  was  on  the  20th  of  February,  1855,  to  Jane 
McGaskill,  a  native  of  Brown  county,  but  of  Scotch  descent. 
He  had  ten  children  by  his  first  marriage  and  eight  by  his 
second.  Four  of  the  children  by  the  first  marriage,  and 
six  by  the  second,  are  now  living,  and  their  names  are  as 
follows :  James  Thompson ;  Catharine,  wife  of  James  Thomas 
of  Clayton  ;  Mary,  wife  of  William  Elliott,  residing  in  Da- 
kota ;  Scotland  America,  wife  of  James  Walker  of  Kansas 
City;  Daniel,  William,  Charles,  John,  Esther  and  Ellen. 
His  eldest  son,  Enos  P.  McPhail,  was  captain  of  Co.  G  of  the 
Third  Illinois  Cavalry,  for  a  time  was  on  the  staff  of  Gen. 
Carr,  and  was  killed  at  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  shot  by  a 
minnie  ball  through  the  breast.  He  was  a  man  of  fine 
stature,  and  was  known  as  one  of  the  best  horsemen  in  the 
Union  Army.  The  next  eldest  son,  Archibald,  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  Third  Illinois  Cavalry,  and  died  after  his  return 
home  from  discise  contracted  jn  the  service.  The  next  sou, 
James  Thompson,  was  also  in  the  army. 

He  was  originally  a  Whig  in  polities.  His  first  presiden- 
tial vote  was  given  to  Gen.  Harrison  in  1840.  When  the 
Whig  party  becsr-ie  disrupted  he  became  a  Republican,  and 
has  since  stood  firm  and  steadfast  in  that  faith. 


EDWARD  SMITH  FRANK 

Was  born  in  Davidson  county,  N.  Carolina,  May  23d,  1848, 
and  came  to  Illinois  in  1852,  and  located  in  Lee  township, 
of  this  county,  in  1853,  where  he  has  resided  ever  since. 
In  1878  he  saw  the  need  of  a  furnishing  and  undertaking 
house  in  this  portion  of  the  county,  and  accordingly  estab- 
lished one  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  in  the  spring  of  1878,  in  a 
building  16x24  feet,  two  stories  high.  The  increase  in  his 
business  very  soon  made  it  evident  that  more  room  and  a 
better  grade  of  goods  than  had  ever  been  kept  in  the  county 
was  necessary  to  meet  the  demands  of  his  patrons,  and  to- 
day we  find  him  occupying  a  new  and  larger  building,  with 
all  the  facilities  of  a  first-class  furniture  and  undertaking 
establishment.  A  view  of  his  property  may  be  seen  on 
another  page  in  this  volume. 


HUJSTTSVILLE    TOWNSHIP. 


(SCHUYLER    COUNTY.) 


-H. — » — M-a 


|  HAT  division  of  Schuyler  known  as  Hunts- 
ville  is  situated  in  the  extreme  south- 
western portion  of  the  county,  and  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Birmingham, 
on  the  east  by  Camden,  on  the  south  by 
Brown  county,  and  on  the  west  by 
Adams  county.  Entering  the  township  at 
its  western  boundary,  near  the  southern 
part  of  section  seven,  is  Cedar  creek, 
flowing  across  the  entire  northern  portion,  in  an  easterly  and 
northeasterly  direction,  then  turning  southeast  it  passes  into 
Camden  township  at  the  southeastern  corner  of  section  twelve, 
receiving  tributaries  from  the  north  and  south.  Along 
its  channel  are  found  beds  of  coal,  fine  building  stone, 
and  valuable  timber,  furnishing  an  abundant  supply  of 
water,  and  affording  necessary  drainage  for  the  adjacent 
higher  lauds.  In  the  southwestern  portion  of  the  township 
three  large  tributaries  of  Big  Missouri  creek  drain  that 
section,  while  from  the  south  the  Big  Missouri  enters  the 
township  in  section  thirty-three,  and  winds  its  course  through 
the  southeastern  corner,  and  leaves  the  township  at  section 
twenty-five,  affording  equal  water-supplies,  coal,  and  timber 
for  that  part  of  the  territory.  Along  the  water-courses  the 
surface  is  broken,  and  was  formerly  covered  with  dense 
forests,  which  have  long  since  yielded  to  the  stroke  of  the 
woodsman's  axe,  and  have  been  converted  into  fertile  farms. 
In  the  central  portion  we  see  mound  after  mound,  with 
gentle  slopes,  in  all  directions.  Upon  many  of  these  dome-like 
hills,  handsome  residences  and  commodious  barns  may  be 
seen.  On  the  hillsides,  fields  of  golden  grain,  or  the  grow- 
ing corn ;  herds  of  horses  and  cattle,  and  flocks  of  sheep  are 
browsing  upon  the  rich  meadows,  or  resting  beneath  the 
shade  of  the  remaining  monarchs  of  the  once  predominant 
forest.  In  the  northeastern  portion  of  the  township  are 
many  highly-improved  farms.  Nearly  the  whole  township 
is  susceptible  of  cultivation,  and  much  attention  is  given  to 
grazing,  and  the  abundant  yield  of  corn  is  sent  from  the 
township  in  the  shape  of  fat  cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  and  horses. 
The  township  comprises  all  of  Congressional  township  two 
north,  range  four  west,  of  the  fourth  principal  meridian,  and 
contains  thirty-six  full  sections. 

■  The  following  were  the  first  patents  to  lands  in  this  town- 
ship, issued  to  soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812:  October  6th, 
1817,  to  Amos  Pitcher,  for  the  N.  E.  quarter  of  section 
thirteen;  October  17th,  1817,  to  Charles  Shepherd,  for  the 
S.  E.  quarter  of  section  one;  October  21st,  1817,  to  George 
W.  Duuton,  for  the  N.  E.  quarter  of  section  nine,  and  to 


Joseph  Jackaway  for  the  S.  E.  quarter  of  section  nine ; 
November  1st,  1817,  to  Joshua  Clark  for  N.  W.  quarter  of 
section  thirteen  ;  and  December  5th,  1817,  to  Benjamin 
Scriver  for  the  N.  E.  quarter  of  section  ten. 

To  William  Spangler,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  who  was 
taken  to  Kentucky  by  his  parents,  from  whence  he  went  to 
Indiana  and  married,  belongs  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
settler  of  the  wilderness  in  what  ie  now  one  of  the  best  im- 
proved sections  of  the  county.  In  the  summer  of  1832,  he 
concluded  to  leave  his  home  and  seek  an  abode  in  the  new 
country  of  Illinois.  With  his  wife  and  children,  Purlina, 
Margaret,  and  Mary,  he  took  passage  on  the  boat,  and 
landed  at  Quincy,  and  from  there,  with  his  span  of  horses 
and  wagon,  which  he  had  brought  along,  turned  towards  the 
east,  arriving  in  the  northern  part  of  the  township;  took 
out  a  pre-emption  right,  built  his  humble  log-cabin,  and  set- 
tled on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  five,  which  he  sub- 
sequently entered, — his  nearest  neighbor  being  six  miles 
distant.  Here  he  continued  to  reside  until  1851,  when  he 
moved  to  Hancock  county,  where  he  died  at  a  ripe  old  age. 

Immediately  following  William  Spangler,  came  Willis 
G.  Moffett,  of  Kentucky,  who  arrived  by  wagon,  bringing 
his  wife  and  family  of  children,  and  on  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  four  built  his  cabin  and  entered  the  land,  in 
1832.  We  might  add,  that  some  claim  Mr.  Moffit  as  the 
first  settler,  though  the  weight  of  authority  seems  to  accord 
to  Mr.  Spangler  that  honor. 

John  Thornhill,  of  Kentucky,  born  in  1786,  a  relative  of 
the  Browns,  of  Camden,  arrived  in  the  county  in  the  fall  of 
1834,  and  with  his  wife  and  a  large  family,  William,  Ellen, 
Martha,  Jackson,  Cynthia  Ann,  Achilles,  Sarah,  JaDe,  Eliza, 
and  Lucy,  in  a  four-horse  wagon,  moved  into  Huntsville,  and 
settled  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  twenty  two,  where 
he  spent  many  days  of  his  life  in  farming  and  teaching,  and 
where  he  died  in  1859,  at  an  advanced  age,  after  trying  his 
fortune  in  Texas.  Jamison  Wilson  accompanied  John 
Thornhill,  his  father  in-law,  having  only  a  wife,  and  settled 
on  the  northwest  of  section  twenty-two,  where  he  yet  lives. 
Henry  Moss  was  a  squatter  in  the  township  as  early  as  1831, 
and  made  a  small  improvement,  but  soon  left,  being  greatly 
annoyed  by  bears,  which  were  plentiful.  In  1833  there  were 
a  number  of  arrivals,  and  among  the  permanent  settlers 
were  Reuben  Allphin,  of  Kentucky,  who  came  in  the  fall, 
and  brought  a  wife  and  family,  and  settled  upon  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  ten,  buying  the  cabin  and  improve- 
ment of  Henry  Moss.  He  is  still  living  in  the  township,  at 
the  advanced  age  of  eightv-two  year*.     Robert  Clayton,  a 

363 


864 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Dative  of  Tennessee,  with  a  family  of  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren, arrived  in  the  spring,  and  squatted  on  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  thirteen,  but  never  acquired  a  title.  An- 
other Kentuckian,  David  Tyree,  and  two  grown  sons,  and 
his  son-in  law,  Hamilton  Anderson  and  wife,  sought  homes 
in  the  township  in  the  fall.  They  nought  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  eleven,  on  which  was  a  log-cabin,  some 
fence  and  ground  in  cultivation,  the  improvement  having 
been  made  by  a  single  man,  Madison  Clayton,  a  son  of 
Robert,  who  sold  to  David  Tyree,  and  went  to  Morgan 
county.  Tyree  improved  his  farm,  and  died  upon  it. 
Samuel  Warren,  from  Ohio,  with  a  family,  arrived  in  1833, 
coming  in  a  wagon,  and  located  on  and  entered  the  west 
half  of  northwest  quarter,  the  west  half  of  southwest  quar- 
ter of  section  four,  built  his  Cdbin,  improved  his  home,  and 
with  his  wife  have  long  since  passed  away  ;  and  their  chil- 
dren are  now  enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  parents'  toil. 
Stephen  Mendenhall,  of  North  Carolina,  arrived  from  In- 
diana in  the  fall,  and  with  his  wife  and  little  ones  made 
a  home  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  eighteen. 
Alfred  Jamison  came  with  John  Thornhill,  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  northeast  quarter  Of  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  fourteen,  which  Robert  Brown  had  entered  for  his 
mother,  Mrs  Jamison.  Alfred  Jamison  was  single  when  he 
came  to  the  county,  but  subsequently  married  a  daughter  of 
John  Thornhill.  Stephen  Perkins,  of  Kentucky,  came 
from  Indiana,  brought  his  wife  and  children,  two  of  whom 
were  grown  into  the  township  in  1832,  and  took  up  a  pre- 
emption right  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  six  ; 
built  a  double  log-cabin  and  a  smoke-house,  and  improved 
and  fenced  twenty-five  acres  of  land,  where  he  lived  until 
the  fall  of  1834,  when  he  sold  his  interest  and  moved  to 
Iowa.  A  squatter  by  the  name  of  Swope,  a  bachelor,  had 
made  his  appearance  in  the  township  about  the  same  time 
as  Perkins,  improved  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  five, 
but  soon  af  er  left.  Jesse  Burke,  of  Virginia,  and  family, 
came  into  the  southern  portion  of  the  township  in  1832,  and 
settled  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  thirty,  which  he 
improved,  and  subsequently  entered,  and  where  he  now 
lives.  Robert  and  William  Brooks,  brothers,  both  having 
families,  squatted  upon  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
twenty-four,  in  1831,  and  made  some  improvement,  but 
soon  afterward  moved  into  Camden.  On  the  sixth  day  of 
December,  1834,  there  arrived  a  pioneer,  Rev.  William 
Crain,  a  Methodist  clergyman,  who  has  ever  since  been  one 
of  the  sterling  citizens,  not  only  of  this  township,  but  of 
the  county.  He  and  his  wife  are  still  living  upon  the  orig- 
inal purchase.  In  August,  1834,  Mr.  Crain,  accompanied 
by  his  wife's  uncle  and  foster-father,  Abraham  Newfield, 
came  into  the  State  from  Missouri,  and  entered  sixty  acres 
in  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  six,  for  himself,  and  the 
southeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  six, 
for  Ezra  Dorsett.  After  bargaining  for  the  improvement  of 
Stephen  Perkins,  they  returned  to  Missouri,  gathered  to- 
gether their  effects,  and  with  two  span  of  horses,  two  yoke  of 
oxen,  and  an  old  fashioned  carryall,  started  for  their  new 
home,  and  arrived  in  Rushville  December  6th,  1834.  Here 
they  spent  the  winter,  completed  the  purchase  from  Perkins, 


and  in  February,  1835,  took  possession  of  their  homes.  Rev. 
William  Crain  was  born  in  Culpepper  county,  Virginia,  in 
1802.  He  left  his  native  State  for  Kentucky  ;  from  Ken- 
tucky he  went  to  Indiana,  and  thence  to  Missouri,  where  he 
married  Miss  Harriet  E  Tong.  He  brought  with  him 
three  children,  James  N.,  John  F ,  and  William  H.  Mr. 
Newfield  and  his  wife  died  upon  the  old  homestead.  Jacob 
Houts,  of  Kentucky,  came  into  the  township  from  Missouri 
in  the  spring  of  1834,  and  settled  on  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  five.  He  brought  with'  him  a  wife  and  nine  chil- 
dren. From  the  wilderness  he  carved  out  a  home,  built  his 
caSin,  improved  his  land,  and  in  the  fall  of  1834  he  had 
sixty  acres  of  wheat,  which  yielded  well,  and  for  which  he 
received  one  dollar  per  bushel.  He  subsequently  sold  out 
and  returned  to  Missouri. 

The  year  1835  brought  a  large  influx  of  pioneers  to  the 
township.  William  Anderson,  born  in  Kentucky,  May  14, 
1800,  was  ta\en  to  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  1822, 
when  he  returned  to  Kentucky,  where  he  resided  until  1831, 
when  he  returned  to  Ohio,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Pru- 
dence Wallingsford.  On  the  1st  of  October,  1835,  with  his 
wife  and  children,  Mary  Jane,  Cyrus,  Andrew  and  Vincent, 
in  an  ol  J -fashioned  wagon,  with  a  curved  bed,  behind  four 
good  horses  started  for  his  new  hom3  in  Illinois.  He  crosstd 
the  river  at  Beard's  ferry,  and  on  Oct.  16,  1835,  arrived  in 
Huntsville.  He  entered  the  S.  W.  i  of  S.  E.  i  of  section  18 
and  bought  the  claim  and  improvements  upon  the  N.  W.  J, 
of  section  13,  from  Robert  Clayton.  Mr.  Anderson  and 
wife  are  yet  living  on  the  old  homestead.  William  Nesbit 
an  uncle  of  William  Anderson,  came  from  Ohio  with  him. 
Mr.  Anderson  brought  his  goods  and  family  in  his  wagon. 
William  Nesbit  settled  on  the  N.  E.  i  of  the  N.  W.  i  of 
section  12.  He  was  a  cooper  by  trade.  Samuel  Smith,  a 
cousin  of  William  Anderson,  also  cama  at  the  same  time  in 
his  own  wagon,  bringing  a  wife  and  two  children.  He 
bought  the  improvement  right  of  Hamilton  Anderson,  who 
had  been  living  upon  the  E.  J  of  the  N.  E.  i  of  section  11 
since  the  fall  of  1833,  and  subsequently  entered  the  land. 
Hamilton  Anderson  went  to  Ohio,  after  selling  his  interests 
to  Smith.  Col.  Geo.  H.  Briscoe  and  family  also  came  to  the 
township  in  an  ox  wagon  from  Kentucky  in  1835,  and 
bought  out  the  interest  of  an  early  settler  by  the  nams  of 
Levin  Tadlock  in  an  eighty  acre  tract  of  N.  W.  i  of  section  3. 
About  the  same  time  John  L.  Ewing,  a  brother-iu-law  of 
Col.  Briscoe,  with  his  family  settled  on  the  N.  E.  i  of  section 
3.  Ezra  Dorsett  of  N.  C.  and  family  of  a  wife  and  ten 
children  arrived  in  1835,  and  took  possession  of  the  land 
which  had  been  previously  entered  for  him  by  Rev.  William 
Crain.  Joha  Allphin  cm3  from  Kentucky,  stopping  in 
Indiana  a  short  time,  and  with  hi*  wife  and  children,  and 
brother  Thomas,  arrived  in  Huutsville  township  and  built 
himselfa  cabin  on  the  N.  W.  i  of  section  16,  in  1835.  Dr. 
Samuel  Clarkson,  of  Kentucky,  though  not  a  resident  of 
the  township  until  1836,  is  deserving  of  mention  as  one  of 
the  early  settlers.  He  came  from  near  Mt.  Sterling  in  the 
adjoining  county,  where  he  had  been  living  many  years.  He 
brought  a  large  family  with  him,  and  entered  many  tracts 
of  land,  made  numerous  public   improvements,  borrowing 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


368 


money  to  carry  on  his  different  enterprises,  and  being 
dteply  involved  when  the  gold  excitement  began  in  Cali- 
fornia, left  his  home  for  that  section,  with  the  hope  of  re- 
trieving his  fortune,  and  on  his  return  home  died  at  sea, 
and  was  buried  in  the  Pacific. 

The  first  marriage  in  the  township  was  performed  by  Rev. 
William  Crain,  in  the  summer  of  1835,  and  the  parties 
were  a  Mr.  Cruikslianks  and  Keziah  Perkins.  The  first 
birth  was  that  of  a  child  of  William  Spangler,  in  1882  The 
first  person  who  died  in  the  township  was  John  Perkins,  a 
young  mau.  He  died  at  the  house  of  his  father,  Stephen 
Perkins,  on  S-  W.  quarter  of  section  6,  and  he  was  buried 
in  Camden.  The  first  graveyard  was  laid  out  in  1834,  on 
the  S.  E.  quarter  of  section  4,  and  the  first  interment  was 
that  of  a  little  child  of  a  family  of  strangers,  who  sought 
shelter  at  Willis  G.  Moffitt's  in  the  summer  of  that  year. 
The  first  school-house  was  a  small  log  cabin  on  the  S.  W. 
quarter  of  section  4,  and  was  built  in  the  summer  of  1835. 
The  first  school  was  taught  by  Jeremiah  Briscoe.  The  first 
sermon  preached  in  the  township  was  that  delivered  by  Rev. 
Milton  Kimball,  at  the  house  of  William  Spangler,  in  1833, 
though  the  Methodist  circuit  riders,  Revs.  W.  Pitner,  John 
P.  Richmond,  and  Peter  Borin,  preached  at  the  house  of 
Jacob  Houts  at  an  early  day.  Rev.  William  Craiii  may 
also  be  classed  with  the  pioneer  ministers  of  the  M.  E 
Church.  Among  the  early  physicians  who  practiced  in  the 
township  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  North,  the  earliest ;  Dr. 
John  P.  Richmond,  Dr.  Samuel  Clarkson,  and  Dr.  A.  J. 
Meade.  John  L.  Ewing  was  the  first  justice  of  the  peace; 
and  a  man  named  McDaniels  was  the  first  blacksmith  The 
first  mill  in  the  township  was  built  by  Dr.  Samuel  Clarkson, 
on  the  S.  E.  quarter  of  section  25,  upon  the  south  bank  of 
Big  Missouri  Creek,  in  the  spring  of  1837.  It  was  a  frame 
building,  undershot  wheel,  with  one  run  of  stones.  After 
running  several  years,  it  was  abandoned,  owing  to  the  insuf- 
ficiency of  the  water  supply,  and  it  has  since  rotted  down, 
and  washed  away.  About  the  same  time  Willis  G.  Moffitt 
built  a  sawmill  with  undershot  wheel  on  Cedar  creek,  just 
south  of  the  village  of  Huntsville,  and,  shortly  afterwards, 
added  a  run  of  burrs  for  grinding  corn.  At  ihe  present 
time  there  is  not  a  mill  in  the  township.  The  first  bridge 
in  the  township  was  the  one  over  Cedar  creek,  south  of  the 
village.  The  roads  and  bridges  of  the  town  hip  at  the 
preseut  day  are  in  good  condition.  The  township  is  sup- 
plied with  excellent  school  facilities,  there  being  nine  school 
buildings,  all  comfortably  furnished  and  occupied  by  schools 
six  months  annually.  An  abundance  of  coal  of  a  superior 
quality  is  found  on  the  N.  W.  quarter  of  section  8,  along 
Cedar  creek,  the  vein  being  two  and  a-half  feet  thick,  and 
easily  obtained  by  stripping  the  dirt  from  the  top.  This 
mine  is  operated  by  W.  L.  Carter.  The  same  vein  is  found 
on  the  S.  E.  quarter  of  section  5,  and  in  fact  on  both  sides  of 
Cedar  creek  throughout  its  course  in  the  township.  A 
quarry  of  valuable  sand-stone  is  located  on  the  N.  E.  quarter 
of  section  7.  The  stone  is  very  hard,  admits  of  a  high  de- 
gree of  polish,  and  is  extensively  used  for  monumental  work 
and  building  purposes. 

The  following  are  the  supervisors  who  have  represented 


the  township  in  the  county  board  since  township  organiza- 
tion. William  T.  Clark  was  elected  in  1854,  and  died 
during  his  term  of  office ;  and  P.  E.  Veatch  was  appointed 
in  March,  1855,  to  serve  the  balance  of  the  term — he  was 
chosen  at  the  next  election,  and  served  until  1856  ;  Thomas 
J.  Poe  in  1856,  three  terms  in  succession.  James  Baxter  in 
1859,  two  terms.  William  S.  Nelson  in  1861,  three  terms. 
Henry  Cady  in  1864,  two  terms.  Samuel  S.  Benson  in  1866, 
two  terms.  John  W.  Scott  in  1868,  two  terms.  Zebulon 
Allphin  in  1870,  two  terms.  A.  J.  Anderson  in  1872.  Wil- 
liam H.  H.  Rader  in  1873,  two  terms.  Zebulon  Allphin  in 
1875.  Andrew  J.  Anderson  in  1876.  Zebulon  Allphin  in 
1877.  William  H.  H.  Rader  in  1878.  Nathaniel  Milby  in 
18?9-'80.  Nicholas  Burmood  in  1881,  and  the  present  in- 
cumbent, Zebulon  Allphin,  in  1882. 

The  census  of  1880  shows  172  farms  in  the  township,  and 
places  the  population  at  1193 

VILLAGE    OF   HUNTSVILLE. 

This  little  village  is  pleasantly  situated  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  township,  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
four,  and  was  laid  out  by  Willis  G.  Moffitt,  John  T.  Gast, 
William  Spangler,  George  H.  Briscoe,  Samuel  Warren,  and 
John  L.  Ewing,  February  2i,  183&;  and  was  surveyed  and 
platted  by  Allen  Persinger.  The  village  is  without  organi- 
zation at  the  present  time.  Dr.  A.  J.  Mead,  one  of  the 
oldest  citizens,  informs  us  that  it  was  chartered,  and  had 
regular  officers  at  an  early  day  ;  that  a  square,  now  the  site 
of  the  public  school  building,  was  reserved  for  a  city  hall, 
but  was  afterwards  converted  to  public  school  purposes.  As 
the  records  have  been  lost,  the  particulars  can  not  be  given, 
although  diligent  search  has  been  made.  The  appearance 
of  the  village  is  neat  and  clean,  and  there  are  a  number  of 
handsome  private  residences,  surrounded  by  shade  trees  and 
well-kept  lawns.  There  are  two  frame  church  buildings, 
which  belong  to  the  Presbyterian  and  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal congregations.  The  Presbyterians  are  without  a  regular 
pastor,  and  the  Methodists  are  supplied  by  Rev.  N.  H  Kane. 
The  Band  of  Holiness  also  have  a  congregation.  A  neat 
two-story  frame  school  building  adorns  the  town,  in  which 
two  teachers  are  employed  for  a  term  of  nine  months  in  the 
year. 

The  first  house  built  in  the  village  was  a  frame  bu;lding; 
erected  in  1835  by  T.  A.  Burton.  The  first  store  was  opened 
by  Willis  G  Moffitt  in  1835,  who  was  also  the  first  post- 
master. In  1837  a  man  named  Morris  kept  the  first  hotel. 
One  McDauiels  was  the  first  blacksmith  in  the  village  as  well 
as  township.  No  mill  has  ever  been  built  within  the  limits 
of  the  village.  Dr.  North  was  the  first  resident  physician, 
as  early  as  1837.  John  L.  Ewing  was  the  first  justice  of  the 
peace.  The  first  church  built  in  the  township  was  a  frame 
building  ere«ted  by  the  Presbyterians  in  1841,  and  was  located 
in  the  village.  The  first  school-house  was  a  log  building, 
and  Jeremiah  Brisc.oe  was  the  first  teacher.  The  town  was 
named  by  Col.  George  H  Briscoe,  after  Huntsville,  Alaba- 
ma, where  the  colonel's  brother  resided.  The  township  sub- 
sequently took  the  name  of  the  village.  The  village  has  a 
wtll-kept  cemetery  of  two  acres,  in  which  are  many  hand- 


36G 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


some  monuments,  marking  the  resting-place  of  loved  ones. 
It  is  situated  on  gently  sloping  ground,  surrounded  by  a  neat 
fence,  and  shaded  by  forest  trees.  It  was  laid  out  in  1872, 
on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  4,  and  is  a  credit  to  the 
citizens  of  that  section. 

« 

PRESENT  BUSINESS. 

General  Stores.— Thomas  W.  Watts.  H.  Worden  Watts, 
William  O.  Watts,  and  George  Richardson. 

Groceries- — John  T.  Watts. 

Drugs. — Harvey  T.  Robinson. 

Harness  and  Shoemaker. — Thomas  Ellis. 

Shoemaker. — David  Ross. 

Barber. — B.  L.  Davis. 

Carpenters. — Henry  Hillyer,  Reese  Moore,  and  John  Se- 
bright. 

Blacksmiths. — William  Langdon,  John  Waner,  and  Lewis 
Labrash. 

Stonecutter  and  Mason. — Reese  Moore. 

Manufacturers  of  Washing  Machines. — J.  Waner  &  Co. 

Wagon-maker. — Jacob  Alter. 

Milliners  and  Dress-makers. — Mrs.  Mollie  Baxter,  and 
Mrs.  Eliza  Joms. 

Hotels. — Daniel  Y.  Miller,  and  David  H.  Ross. 

Freighter. — Alexander  Alter. 

Notary  Public—  William  O.  Watts  and  Daniel  Y.  Miller. 


Painter. — Samuel  Alter. 

Jtweler. — John  Harris. 

Postmaster. — William  L.  Brumback. 

Physicians. — A.  J  Mead,  and  Horace  F.  Coe. 

Huntsville  Lodge,  No.  465,  A.  F.  and  A.  M. — This  lodge 
was  organized  in  1864,  and  worked  several  years  under  dis- 
pensation, and  its  charter  is  dated  October  3,  1866.  The 
names  of  W.  C.  Stokes,  W.  H.  Kirk,  J.  C.  Moore,  A.  G. 
Bacon,  J.  B.  Overstreet,  B.  J.  Vertner,  H.  Van  Buskirk, 
John  Moore,  J.  R.  Fackler,  William  Moore,  J.  A.  Bilder- 
back,  James  Baxter,  J.  A.  Moore,  William  G-  Deviney, 
John  Bilderback,  N.  Burmood,  J.  W.  Scott,  William  H. 
Crain,  James  Baxter,  jr.,  J.  A.  James,  and  Jacob  Kleppler, 
appear  as  charter  member?.  W.  C.  Stokes,  W.  M. ;  W.  H. 
Kirk  S.  W.;  and  J.  C.  Moore,  J  W.,  are  named  in  the  char- 
ter as  the  principal  officers.  The  lodge  owned  their  hall, 
the  second  story  of  a  business  house,  and  had  it  haud- 
somely  furnished,  and  everything  complete,  but  they  met 
with  the  misfortune  of  having  their  hall  and  the  entire  con- 
tents burned  during  a  severe  thunder  storm.  They  received 
an  insurance  of  six  hundred  dollars,  and  have  tince  built  a 
handsome  two-story  frame  building,  and  are  virtually  out  of 
debt.  The  present  membership  is  fifty,  and  the  officers  are: 
Charles  H.  Phelps,  W.  M.  John  Moore,  S.W.  A.J.An- 
derson, J.  W.  Elmer  Simons,  S.  D.  William  Villers,  J.  D. 
W.  P.  Croxton,  secretary ;  Zebulon  Allphin,  treasurer,  and 
Daniel  Y.  Miller,  tyler. 


¥=$2~ 


PEA    RIDGE    TOWNSHIP. 


(BROWN    COUNTY.) 


-wg-o  -•;-  f 


HIS  township  receives  its  name  from  a 
ridge  of  ground  passing  through  the 
northern  part  of  its  territory.  In  an 
early  day — about  1835 — a  man  settled 
here  by  the  name  of  Henry  Pell.  He 
was  asked  by  some  of  his  neighbors 
what  he  thought  he  could  best  raise  on 
his  place.  He  icplied  that  it  was  ex- 
cellent for  the  cultivation  of  peas.  Hence 
it  is  said  that  it  has  passed  down  the  line  as  Pea  Ridge 
Another  version  is  given  of  the  origin  of  the  name,  and  with 
some  show  of  authenticity,  which  is  as  follows:  That  when 
the  commissioners  met  after  the  adoption  of  township  or- 


ganization, it  devolved  upon  them  to  declare  the  lines  of  the 
township  and  to  name  them.  One  of  these  commissioners 
suggested  the  name  of  Pea  Ridge  for  this  township,  as  in  an 
early  day  the  wild  pea  vine  grew  in  great  abundance  in  this 
particular  part  of  the  county. 

It  contains  36  sections,  or  one  full  Congressional  township, 
and  lies  in  the  extreme  northwestern  part  of  the  county,  and 
is  bounded  as  follows  :  On  the  north  by  Schuyler  county,  on 
the  east  by  Missouri  township,  south  by  Lee,  and  west  by 
Adams  county.  The  surface  is  considerably.broken,  espe- 
cially in  the  north,  east,  and  some  portions  of  the  center.  The 
south  and  west  is  mainly  prairie,  interspersed  with  small  belts 
of  timber.     The  soil  in  the  north  and  east,  where  it  is  not 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


367 


t>o  much  broken,  is  excellent  for  wheat  and  grazing,  while 
the  prairie  land  of  the  south  and  west,  is  well  adapted  to  the 
cultivation  of  corn  or  wheat.  For  the  most  part,  there  is 
but  little  demand  for  tile  or  ditching,  as  the  natural  surface 
drainage  is  adequate  for  all  practical  purposes.  Little  Mis- 
souri creek  forks  iu  section  12,  its  tributaries  leading  in  from 
various  points  iu  the  south  and  east.  Its  main  course  is 
northeast,  extending  along  the  east  line  of  section  12,  and 
finally  passing  out  in  section  1.  A  tributary  of  the  same 
also  drains  the  northwest.  The  Wabash,  St.  Louis  and  Pa-  i 
cific  Railway  crosses  the  extreme  southwest  corner  of  the 
township.  The  main  shipping  and  marketing  points  are  at 
the  towns  of  Clayton  and  Mound  Station,  which  are  situated 
but  a  few  miles  distant. 

EARLY  SETTLEMENTS. 

The  honor  of  the  first  settlement  of  Pea  Ridge  is  due  to 
Obediah  Nix.  a  more  extended  account  of  whom  will  be 
found  among  the  first  settlers  of  Mt.  Sterling  township.  Mr- 
Nix  was  a  native  of  Tennessee,  and  iu  1828,  came  with  his 
family  and  settled  a  little  southwest  of  Mt.  Sterling.  He 
remained  here  only  about  a  year,  when  he  moved  to  the 
Mounds  iu  Pea  Ridge,  and  located  in  section  32,  ou  the  land 
now  owned  by  Fielding  T.  Glenn.  This  was  in  1829,  when 
he  could  claim  no  neighbor  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
township.  He  was  one  who  desired  no  fixed  abiding  place, 
and  a  few  years  later  we  find  him  residing  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  William  Lee,  in  Lee  township.  He  moved  to  Texas 
about  1840.  since  which  time  his  whereabouts  have  been  lost 
to  those  in  this  part  of  the  world.  None  of  his  descendants 
are  here  to  throw  any  light  upon  his  subsequent  career. 
Probably  the  second  upon  the  ground,  and  among  the  most 
prominent  of  the  pioneers,  was  Granville  Bond.  He  was 
born  iu  Kentucky,  and  partook  of  the  spirit  and  persever- 
ance of  the  Daniel  Boone  stripe  of  Kentuckians,  making  his 
mark  wherever  he  might  be.  Before  leaving  his  native 
State  he  married  Elizabeth  Gristy,  and  with  his  young  wife, 
he  started  to  the  then  sparsely  settled  State  of  Illinois,  with 
but  a  small  one  horse  wagon  and  a  few  dollars  in  his  pocket. 
He  fin-t  stopped  in  Sangamon  county,  having  gone  as  far  as 
his  means  would  permit.  At  this  time  he  had  but  twenty- 
five  cents  left,  and  some  of  the  old  settlers  have  heard  h  m 
relate,  that  iu  order  for  him  to  procure  the  necessities  of  life 
until  he  could  make  some  arrangement  for  work,  his  wife 
took  the  tucking  comb  from  her  hair  ami  sold  it  for  what  it 
would  bring.  Early  in  the  sp,ring  of  1830,  he  removed  to 
what  is  now  Browu  county,  and  settled  in  section  36,  Pea 
Ridge  township.  He  built  a  small  log  cabin,  and  com- 
menced the  struggle  for  a  livelihood  in  the  wilds  of  the  new 
State  of  Illinois.  During  a  series  of  meetings  in  an  early 
day,  held  at  the  house  of  Levin  Green,  he  became  converted, 
was  baptized,  and  joined  the  M.  E.  church.  For  several 
years  he  preached  in  his  neighborhood  and  the  surrounding 
settlements.  He  subsequently  sold  his  possessions  in  Pea 
Ridge  and  engaged  in  the  services  of  different  Methodist 
literary  institutions  as  a  solicitor  in  their  behalf,  preaching 
in  the  meantime.  This  was  about  the  year  1850,  and  his 
services'  were  extended  in  this  direction  for  nearly  twenty 


years.  No  man  probably  was  better  known  throughout  the 
military  tract  than  the  Reverend  Bond.  Prior  to  his  itin- 
erant ministerial  career,  he  had  occupied  several  places  of 
trust  in  the  c<  unty.  He  was  twice  elected  couuty  treasurer, 
was  appointed  district  marshal  under  President  Fillmore, 
besides  jiolding  other  minor  offices.  Ten  children  were  born 
to  the  family,  seven  of  whom  are  now  living,  and  three  are 
residents  of  the  county.  Dr.  J.  Bond  lives  at  Versailles, 
and  Wm.  R.,  and  Rebecca,  wife  of  Mr.  Mumford,  are  resi- 
dents of  Mound  Station.  Mr.  Bond  located  at  the  latter 
pl«ce  a  short  time  before  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the 
summer  of  1878.  His  widow  still  survives  him,  and  resides 
at  their  home  in  Mouud  Station. 

Another  prominent  pioneer  was  Benjamin  Gristy,  the  fa- 
ther-in-law of  Bond.  He  was  born  in  Maryland,  in  1780. 
When  a  mere  boy  he  moved  with  his  parents  to  Kentucky, 
where  he  grew  to  manhood.  Early  in  1807,  he  married 
Nancy  Duncan.  The  family  remained  here  until  the  fall  of 
1830,  when  they  came  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  section  26, 
Pea  Ridge  township,  not  far  from  Bond's.  Their  mode  of 
tran>it  was  the  old  style  Kentucky  wagon  drawu  by  four 
horses.  On  arrival  he  built  a  cabin,  and  soon  prepared  to 
make  further  improvements.  The  family  then  consisted  <5f 
his  wife  and  10  children,  James,  Benjamin  D.,  Rebecca, 
Mary  Joseph  Leah,  Catharine,  Stephen,  Joshua,  and  John 
D  Mr.  Gristy  became  a  prominent  farmer,  having  entered 
nearly  a  section  of  land  while  it  was  bearing  but  a  small 
price  in  the  market.  He  lived  to  see  the  fruits  of  his  labor, 
and  his  children  comfortably  located  in  life.  He  died  at  the 
old  home  the  28th  of  May,  1858.  His  wife  survived  him 
but  five  years.  All  the  children  are  living  except  James. 
Elizabeth,  widow  of  Granville  Bond,  Benjamin  D.,  Leah, 
wife  of  Thomas  Simmons,  and  Joseph,  are  residents  of  the 
county.  Benjamin  lives  iu  section  26,  and  Iris  land  includes 
a  part  of  the  old  farm  that  his  father  first  settled  upon.  He 
is  a  thrifty  farmer  and  an  excellent  citizen. 

Berry  Orr  was  also  an  immigrant  of  1830.  He  came  from 
Tennessee  late  in  the  fall,  and  located  in  section  27,  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  John  Simpkins.  Six  children  repre- 
sented the  family  at  his  coming,  Sarah*  Arminta  Polly, 
John,  James,  and  David.  Two  other  children  were  born  to 
the  family  after  coming,  Margaret  and  Eunice.  Mr.  Orr 
was  one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of  the  day,  and  lived  here 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  many  years  ago.  His  wife 
survived  him  for  some  years  and  died  in  Mt.  Sterling  about 
the  year  1873.  '  Three  of  the  children  are  residents  of  the 
county,  David,  Sarah,  wife  of  John  McDonald,  and  Eunice. 
Mr.  Orr  was  elected  county  collector  of  revenues  for  some 
years,  and  filled  some  minor  offices  of  trust.  Benjamin 
Gristy  relate!  the  time  of  his  first  seeing  Mr.  Orr,  which 
was  about  the  commencement  of  the  "  deep  snow,"  late  in 
1830.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  neighbors  were  few 
and  far  between  in  those  days,  aud  to  see  the  face  of  a 
stranger  was  almost  like  attending  a  menagerie.  One  blus- 
tery morning  the  family  descried  something  in  the  distance 
approaching  their  cabin.  On  a  nearer  view  it  was  d  scov- 
ered  to  be  a  man  aud  woman,  making  their  slow  and  weary 
way  through  the  drifts  of  snow.     Ever  and  anon  one  would 


368 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


go  down  in  the  drift,  and  be  aided  out  by  the  other.  Their 
efforts  were  finally  rewarded  by  reaching  the  cabin  of  Mr. 
Gristy.  Of  course  the  latch-string  was  out,  and  the  strang- 
ers were  joyfully  received,  as  was  wont  among  the  early  pio- 
neers. They  were  nearly  exhausted  by  their  long  and  hard 
journey,  but  with  the  warm  hearts  to  receive  them,  they  soon 
forgot  their  fatigue  of  battling  with  the  snow-storm.  It 
would  be  needless  to  add  that  the  friendship  here  formed) 
lasted  for  a  life-time,  and  that  these  neighbors  had  the  plea- 
sure of  enjoying  each  other's  confidence  while  they  sojourned 
together  down  the  lapse  of  time.  Eli  Hartley  came  about 
the  same  time  as  Orr,  and  located  near  him  in  section  27. 
He  hailed  from  Kentucky,  and  had  a  wife  and  two  children, 
Melissa  and  Nathan.  His  wife  died  here,  and  he  afterwards 
married  again  and  reared  quite  a  family  of  children.  He 
was  always  known  as  Esquire  Hartley,  as  he  had  held  the 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace  for  many  years,  and  was  the  first 
one  in  the  township.  He  was  a  representative  man  in  his 
day,  and  had  the  confidence  of  his  acquaintances.  He 
moved  to  Menard  county  about  1850,  where  it  is  said  that 
he  died. 

In  1831  there  was  quite  an  addition  to  the  settlementi 
among  whom  were  three  brothers  and  their  families,  Jacob, 
William  and  Conrad  Long.  They  were  from  Tennessee,  and 
all  settled  near  each  other  in  section  32,  around  the  Mounds. 
The  former  had  a  family  of  eight  children.  William  had 
seven  children,  and  Conrad  nine.  They  were  all  excellent 
citizens,  and  were  liked  by  their  neighbors.  Jacob  remained 
here  until  his  family  had  all  grown  up  and  married,  and 
then  he  and  his  wife  went  to  the  state  of  Missouri  to  live 
with  one  of  his  children  that  had  moved  to  that  state.  They 
both  died  there  a  few  years  ago.  William  sold  his  place  on 
the  Mounds,  and  moved  to  Lee  township.  He  died  here  in 
1872,  age  80  years.  His  wife  had  died  several  years  before. 
In  an  early  day  he  Commanded  a  company  of  militia  on 
muster  day,  and  was,  therefore,  known  as  Captain  Long. 
Several  of  his  descendants  reside  in  the  county.  Conrad 
also  died  in  the  county,  about  three  years  ago.  He  was  then 
living  at  the  old  homestead  near  the  Mounds.  His  wife  died 
several  years  ago.  Some  of  their  children  reside  in  the 
county.  Another  settler  of  1831,  was  James  Hamilton,  a 
native  of  Kentucky.  He  came  to  the  state  in  1830,  and 
stopped  with  many  others  in  the  "  Sangamo  "  settlement,  and 
the  following  spring  came  to  the  Pea  Ridge  and  located  in 
section  1 9.  He  had  a  large  family,  and  many  were  the  hard 
struggles  he  experienced  to  keep  them  supplied  with  the 
necessities  of  life.  Mr.  Hamilton  was  the  father  in-law  of 
Esquire  Hartley.  The  place  he  settled  on,  is  now  owned 
by  James  S.  Beall.  He  died  at  the  old  homestead  many 
years  ago,  One  of  the  children,  wife  of  Mr.  Beall,  is  yet  liv- 
ing here,  and  resides  on  the  farm  where  her  father  settled  in 
sec.  19.  Abraham  Brunk  located  here  in  1831,  on  section 
22.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Granville.Bond.  He  moved 
over  from  L3e  township,  in  the  history  of  which  will  be 
found  a  further  account  of  this  pioneer. 

Joseph  Marrett  settled  here  in  1832.  He  was  a  native  of 
Maryland,  and  moved  with  his  parents  to  Ohio  in  1804. 
Twenty-five  years  later  he  came  to  the  state  of  Illinois,  and 


first  stoiped  in  Scott  county.  Here  he  married  Rebecca 
Davis,  and  in  the  spring  of  1832,  moved  to  Pea  Ridge  and 
settled  in  section  31.  Six  children  have  been  born  to  the 
family,  only  two  of  whom  are  residents  of  the  county.  Mrs. 
Marrett  died  in  the  fall  of  1874.  Mr.  M.,  is  yet  living  and 
is  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age.  He  resides  with  his  s>n, 
John  B.,  in  Lee  township.  A  little  later  the  "  Old  man 
Johnson  "  and  his  family  settled  in  section  20.  He  was  also 
from  the  South.  He  resided  here  for  many  years,  when  he 
went  to  the  state  of  Missouri,  arid  it  is  said  he  is  yet  living 
there  with  one  of  his  children.  Two  sons,  David  and  Willis, 
are  living  at  cr  near  the  old  home.  Another  early  settler  is 
J.  J.  Pevehouse.  He  came  to  the  county  a  single  man  in 
1833.  The  family  were  from  Kentucky.  An  uncle  of  the 
above  located  in  section  19,  and  afterwards  moved  to  Clay- 
ton. J.  J.  married  one  of  his  daughters,  and  also  settled  in 
section  19,  where  he  yet  resides,  and  is  a  successful  farmer. 
He  has  represented  his  township  on  the  County  Board  one 
term.  Archibald  McCaskill  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and 
came  to  America  a  single  man.  He  afterwards  married, 
and  about  1835,  came  to  the  county  and  first  stopped  in 
Missouri  township,  where  he  taught  school  for  a  time. 
About  1839  or  1840,  he  moved  to  Pea  Ridge  and  settled  in 
section  12.  He  acted  in  the  capacity  of  a  local  Methodist 
preacher,  and  frequently  held  church  services  in  this  vicinity. 
It  is  said  that  for  honor  and  integrity  he  had  no  superiors. 
He  died  about  1858,  at  his  home  in  section  12.  His 
wife  survived  him  but  a  few  years.  Two  of  the 
family  are  residents  of  the  county,  W.  H.  McCaskill 
and  Mrs.  McPhail  of  Lee  township.  The  former  lives  on  the 
horn  stead  farm  in  section  12.  The  northern  part  of  the 
township*  was  not  ssttled  until  1836,  when  the  follow- 
ing persons  came.  They  were  from  the  south  and  made 
their  advent  about  the  same  time.  They  were  James  Pell, 
Wade  Blansett,  Tillet  Blansett,  and  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Lindsey.  Among  other  early  settlers  are  Robert  Lester, 
John  Brown,  Roderick  Crisp,  Thomas  McDannold,  D.  K. 
Watson  and  others. 

The  first  lands  conveyed  were  by  the  United  States  to 
soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812.  The  most  of  these  grants  were 
made  in  1817  and  '18,  under  the  administration  of  James 
Monroe.  The  following  are  a  few  of  the  first  as  shown  by 
the  records:  United  States  to  Festus  L.  Thompson,  the  S. 
W.  \  of  section  29,  made  August  5,  1818.  Thomas  Ball  re- 
ceived the  S.  W.  \  of  section  3),  November  3,  1817.  Joseph 
Allen  the  N.  W.  i  of  section  32,  Nov.  29,  1817.  D.  cember 
1 5,  following,  Oliver  Thomas  entered  the  S.  W.  i  of  section 
32.  Alvin  Boyden  entered  the  S.  E.  J  of  section  31,  Janu- 
ary 21,  1818.  At  the  same  date,  the  heirs  of  N.  Young 
received  a  patent  of  the  N.  E.  J  of  sec.  31.  Chas.  Hyler 
jfieS.  E.  1  of  section  30,  August  25,  1818.  The  first  child 
born  in  the  township  was  a  daughter  of  Granville  and  Eliz- 
abeth Bond.  The  interesting  event  took  place  in  1830  or 
'31.  The  first  to  teach  the  children  of  the  pioneers  was  a 
young  man  by  the  name  of  John  Lester  in  the  winter  of 
1832-'33.  The  school-house  was  situated  just  over  the  line 
in  Adams  county  near  where  Pea  Ridge  and  Lee  townships 
corner  on  the  west.     The  first  house  erected  in  the  township 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


369 


for  school  purposes  was  situated  in  section  36,  on  the  land 
now  owned  by  Thomas  McDonnald.  It  was  a  hewed  log 
building,  and  about  twenty  feet  square.  It  was  roofed  with 
clapboards,  and  the  seams  between  the  logs  were  chinked 
and  plastered.  The  expenses  of  building  were  jointly  de- 
frayed by  the  people  of  the  settlement,  with  the  understand- 
ing that  it  should  be  utilized  for  both  school  and  church 
purposes.  It  was  furnished  with  the  old-fashioned  benches, 
and  a  rude  pulpit.  This  was  in  1837  or '38.  Levin  Green, 
a  local  Methodist  minister,  did  the  first  preaching  as  early 
as  1831.  He  then  resided  in  Missouri  township.  The  first 
circuit  rider  was  the  Rev.  Wilson.  Among  other  early 
preachers  were,  Thomas  Williams,  Granville  Bond,  and  the 
Rev.  Ralston.  The  first  justices  of  the  peace  were  Eli 
Hartley  and  Esquire  Pevehouse.  Dr.  Clarksou  was  the 
first  to  practice  medicine  in  this  part  of  the  county.  He  re- 
sided a  little  north  of  Mt.  Sterling.  Doctors  Trabue  and 
Window  were  also  early  practitioners.  The  latter  was  also  a 
local  preacher.  He  is  said  to  be  yet  living  in  the  state  of 
Minnesota.  The  first  mill  that  the  pioneers  had  access  to  in 
this  settlement  was  a  band  mill,  brought  here  in  1831,  by 
Benjamin  Gristy.  He  had  been  down  to  Logan's  creek, 
and  came  across  it,  then  in  the  possession  of  Abraham 
Logan.  They  soon  struck  up  a  bargain,  and  Mr.  Gristy 
purchased  it  for  ten  dollars.  He  brought  it  to  his  settle- 
ment, and  it  proved  a  perfect  God-send  to  his  neighbors. 
All  had  access  to  it  free  of  charge  or  toll.  They  came  for 
miles  around  to  grind  their  meal.  At  times  it  was  kept  in 
operation  day  and  night.  They  would  sit  up  all  night  and 
grind  in  order  not  to  delay  other  parties  in  waiting.  It 
47 


was  laborious  work,  but  was  far  better  than  cracking  it  in 
a  pestle,  or  grating  it  with  a  tin  pan  grater.  The  little 
stone  burrs  of  this  mill  may  yet  be  seen  on  the  premises  of 
the  old  Gristy  homestead. 

This  township  contains  many  natural  advantages,  having 
good  coal  veins  lying  but  a  few  feet  from  the  surface  in  va- 
rious parts  of  its  territory.  Excellent  sand  stone  is  to  be 
found  in  all  parts  of  the  township.  Considerable  attention 
is  paid  to  stock  raising.  The  first  blooded  stock  was  intro- 
duced by  D.  K.  Watson.  It  was  the  Durham  breed  of 
cattle,  imported  from  the  state  of  Ohio. 

Supervisors. — The  following  are  those  who  have  repre- 
sented the  county  board  since  township  organization  :  Daniel 
Roberts  was  elected  in  1854,  and  served  one  term.  D.  K. 
Watson,  elected  in  1855,  and  served  two  terms.  Isaac 
Parker,  elected  in  1857.  D.  K.  Watson  re-elected  in  1858, 
and  served  until  1862.  Thomas  Dawson,  elected  in  1862, 
and  served  three  terms ;  was  appointed  chairman  of  the 
board  in  1864.  John  P.  Richmond,  elected  in  1865,  and 
served  one  term.  D.  K.  Watson,  re-elected  in  1866.  J.  J. 
Pevehouse,  elected  in  1867,  served  one  term.  James  Brady, 
elected  in  1868.  Joseph  E.  Mann,  elected  in  1869,  and 
served  five  terms.  D.  K.  Watson,  re-elected  in  1874, 
served  one  term,  and  was  chairman  of  the  board.  Joseph 
E  Mann  was  re-elected  in  1875,  and  served  one  term. 
Thomas  J.  Nolan,  elected  in  1876.  James  Brady,  re-elected 
in  1877,  and  served  two  terms.  T.  C.  McMurry,  elected  in 
1879,  served  one  term.  James  Brady,  re-elected  in  1881. 
Thomas  C.  McMurry,  re-elected  in  1881,  re-elected  in  1882, 
and  is  the  present  incumbent. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES. 


-**-♦—%-♦- 


&  .Jr.sW&Gz**- 


Nine  miles  west  of  Chillicothe,  in  Ross  county,  Ohio,  was 
born  David  K.  Watson,  on  the  20th  day  of  July,  1818. 
Irish  and  German  blood  are  mingled  in  his  veins.  His 
father,  Alexander  Watson,  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and 
coming  to  America  with  his  mother  when  young,  settled  in 
Ohio.  His  mother,  Jane  Kehr,  was  of  German  descent, 
and  was  born  in  Northumberland  county,  Pennsylvania. 
The  Kehr  family  were  early  settlers  of  Madison  county, 
Ohio.  David  K.  Watson  was  the  next  to  the  oldest  of  a 
family  of  five  children  composed  of  four  sons  and  one 
daughter.  His  home  was  in  Ross  county,  Ohio,  till  he  was 
sixteen  years  of  age.  His  education  was  principally  ob- 
tained in  the  schools  of  the  vicinity  in  which  he  lived  in 
Ohio.  He  attended  school  one  winter  after  coming  to  Illi- 
nois. His  father  having  died,  his  mother  moved  with  the 
family  to  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1834,  and  settled  near  Na- 
ples, in  Scott  county,  then  a  part  of  MorgaD.  In  1837  the 
family  moved  to  Pike  county,  and  took  up  their  residence 
'  370 


three  miles  southeast  of  Griggsville.  Mr.  Watson  being 
the  oldest  son,  and  his  mother  a  widow,  he  had  the  manage- 
ment of  the  farm  and  the  care  of  the  family  from  an  early 
age. 

In  the  year  1843  he  went  back  to  Ohio,  and  married  Ruth 
W.  Kirkpatrick,  daughter  of  Abraham  Kirkpatrick.  She 
was  born  and  raised  near  New  Holland  in  Pickaway  county, 
Ohio.  After  his  marriage  he  went  to  farming  in  Scott  coun- 
ty, where  also  part  of  the  time  he  was  employed  in  a  mill. 
He  at  that  time  had  no  capital,  and  owned  no  land.  By  the 
year  1848  he  had  saved  enough  means  to  purchase  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  twenty-nine,  township  one  north, 
range  four  west,  in  Brown  county.  He  continued  to  live  in 
Scott  county  till  July,  1850,  and  then  moved  on  this  land. 
His  home  has  been  in  Pea  Ridge  township  from  that  time  to 
the  present.  He  has  been  an  enterprising  and  energetic 
farmer,  and  now  owns  three  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of 
land,  all  under  fence  and  in  one  body,  in  the  southwest  part 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


371 


of  Pea  Ridge  township,  two  miles  northwest  of  Mound  Sta- 
tion. The  death  of  his  wife  occurred  on  the  9th  of  August, 
1874.  He  has  had  six  children.  Abraham  M.  Watson, 
the  oldest,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight.  The  oldest 
daughter,  Mary,  died  in  infancy,  and  the  next  son,  James 
E.,  at  the  age  of  twenty.  Emma  A.  is  the  wife  of  C.  J. 
Davis  of  Pea  Ridge  township.  Almarine  R.  is  now  mana- 
ging the  home  farm  ;  and  Marcus  H.  is  carrying  on  the  drug 
business  at  Clayton,  in  Adams  county. 

He  won  an  honorable  record  as  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the 
rebellion.  In  the  summer  of  1862  he  enlisted  in  company 
E.  One  Hundred  and  Nineteenth  regiment,  Illinois  Volun- 
teer Infantry.  On  the  organization  of  the  company  he  was 
elected  first  lieutenant.  He  was  mustered  in  the  United 
States  service  on  the  19th  of  November,  1862.  His  regi- 
ment was  with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  in  Western  Ten- 
nessee ;  was  on  the  Meridian  raid  with  Sherman  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year  1864 ;  and  was  part  of  the  force  sent 
to  reinforce  Gen.  Banks  in  Louisiana.  Mr.  Watson  was  at 
the  taking  of  Fort  Derussy,  near  the  mouth  of  Red  river. 
At  the  engagement  at  Yellow  Bayou,  on  the  18th  of  May> 
1864,  he  was  shot  through  the  left  leg  by  a  minnie  ball  and 
severely  wounded.  The  bones  of  the  leg  were  shattered. 
He  was  confined  in  the  hospital  at  Jefferson  Barracks,  Mis- 
souri, and  Quiucy,  Illinois,  three  months.  He  returned  to 
his  regiment  the  last  of  September,  1864,  but  his  wound  in- 
capacitated him  from  active  service.  He  resigned,  and  was 
mustered  out  on  the  5th  of  November,  1864.  After  his  re- 
turn home  his  oldest  son,  Abraham  M.,  volunteered  and 
served  till  the  close  of  the  war  in  company  G.,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Forty-Eighth  Illinois  regiment. 

In  his  political  belief  Mr.  Watson  was  at  first  attached  to 
the  Whig  party.  In  the  famous  Presidential  campaign  of 
1840,  when  the  Whigs  swept  the  country  triumphantly  and 
elected  their  candidate,  he  cast  his  first  vote  for  President 
for  Gen.  Harrison,  the  Whig  nominee.  After  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Whig  party  he  became  a  Republican.  He  has 
liberal  views,  and  in  elections,  where  political  issues  have 
not  involved,  he  has  frequently  supported  candidates  who 
belonged  to  a  different  political  faith.  He  has  been  one  of 
the  representative  men  of  Pea  Ridge  township.  He  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Board  of  supervisors  from  this 
township  in  1855,  the  second  year  after  the  adoption  of  town- 
ship organization,  acting  as  chairman  of  the  Board  in  that 
year,  and  has  been  several  times  reelected.  His  connection 
with  the  Methodist  church  extends  back  forty  years,  having 
become  a  member  of  that  denomination  in  Pike  county  in 
1842.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order  at  Naples, 
in  1 848.  He  is  now  connected  with  the  Masonic  lodge,  chap- 
ter and  commandery  of  Knight  Templars  at  Clayton,  Adams 
county.  His  residence  is  now  with  his  son-in-law,  C.  J. 
Davis,  in  Pea  Ridge  township. 


ALMOREEN  B.  RATCLIFF. 

The  ancestors  of  Mr.  Ratcliff  were  Englishmen,  who  came 

to  America,  and  settled  in  Rockbridge  county,  Virginia, 

while  the  thirteen  American  colonies  were  yet  subject  to  the 

British  crown.     His  grandfather,  Thomas  Ratcliff,  was  a 


native  of  England.  He  married  in  Virginia,  Susan  McClure, 
who  was  born  in  Ireland.  About  the  year  1790,  he  removed 
to  Kentucky,  and  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Woodford 
county.  Joseph  Ratcliff,  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  Rockbridge  county,  Virginia,  in  the  year  1781, 
and  was  about  nine  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  removal  of 
the  family  to  Kentucky.  In  Woodford  county,  of  the  latter 
State,  he  grew  to  mature  years,  and  married  Mary  Bryant, 
a  native  of  Shelby  county,  Kentucky,  and  a  daughter  of 
Peter  Bryant. 

Almoreen  B.  Ratcliff  was  the  fourth  of  a  family  of  eight 
children,  of  whom  five  are  now  living.  He  has  one  brother 
living  in  Adams  county,  a  sister  in  Morgan  county,  and  two 
other  sisters  in  Texas.  He  was  born  in  Woodford  county, 
Kentucky,  within  four  miles  of  Versailles,  on  the  28th  of 
December,  1814.  He  was  raised  in  his  native  county.  His 
early. educational  advantages  were  the  same  as  those  common 
in  Kentucky  at  that  time,  and  consisted  of  primitive  and 
inferior  subscription  schools.  From  the  time  he  was  four- 
teen, till  after  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  was  employed  in 
a  rope  walk.  He  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
business,  and  was  offered  a  good  salary  to  assume  charge  of 
an  establishment  in  Kentucky,  but  instead  resolved  on 
coming  to  Illinois,  to  which  State  his  father  had  removed 
in  the  fall  of  1835,  residing  in  Morgan  county  till  1837,  and 
then  removing  to  a  farm  in  Adams  county,  three  or  four 
miles  west  of  the  Brown  county  line,  where  he  died  in  1855 
Mr.  Ratcliff  came  to  this  State  in  the  spring  of  1837.  He 
had  saved  $500  in  Kentucky,  and  with  this  his  father  had 
purchased  for  him  a  quarter  section  of  land  in  township  one 
north,  range  four  west,  in  Brown  county.  The  improve- 
ments consisted  of  a  cabin,  a  well,  and  ten  or  twelve  acres 
in  cultivation.  December  28th,  1840,  he  married  Elizabeth 
M.  McCoy,  who  died  April  2d,  1843.  The  latter  year,  after 
his  first  wife's  death,  he  went  to  Jacksonville,  and  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  for  two  years  was  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  hemp,  April,  1845.  He  married  as  his 
second  wife  Sarah  Lackey,  a  native  of  Pike  county  in  this 
State.     Her  death  occurred  in  the  fall  of  1847. 

In  the  spring  of  1849,  in  company  with  five  comrades 
from  Adams  county,  he  set  out  for  California  to  search  for 
gold.  Leaving  Adams  county  the  last  of  March,  the  party 
reached  the  gold  regions  on  the  tributaries  of  the  American 
river  on  the  3d  of  September.  While  in  California,  he  was 
digging  for  gold  on  Amador  river,  a  branch  of  the  San 
Joaquin,  and  on  the  Yuba.  Returning  by  way  of  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  Havana,  Cuba,  and  New  Orleans,  he 
reached  Illinois  in  June,  1851.  On  his  return,  he  purchased 
his  present  farm  in  section  thirty,  township  one  north,  range 
four  west,  (Tea  Ridge  township).  On  the  25th  of  November, 
1852,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Agnes,  daughter  of 
Henry  Cohenour.  He  died  on  the  16th  of  November,  1881. 
He  has  five  children  living,  John  H.,  Edwin  E.,  Clara  B., 
Eva  G.,  and  Horace  G.  Seven  are  deceased.  In  the  fall 
of  1881,  four  children,  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  (William 
L ,  aged  twenty-five,  Joseph,  aged  twenty-one,  Mary  Emma, 
eighteen  years  old,  and  Lanora,  aged  thirteen),  with  their 
mother,  died  within  a  month's  time.     Mr.  Ratcliff  has  been 


372 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


a  successful  farmer,  and  is  the  owner  of  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  land.  As  a  Whig,  his  first  vote  for  President 
was  cast  for  Henry  Clay  in  1836.  He  was  an  early  Repub- 
lican, and  before  the  organization  of  the  Republican  party, 
was  accused  of  holding  abolition  doctrine.  Since  the  year 
1840  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 
He  has  served  as  township  collector,  and  as  a  member  of  the 
board  of  supervisors. 


BENJAMIN  D.  GRISTY 

B.  D.  Gristy,  now  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  living  in  Pea 
Ridge  township,  was  born  in  Hardin  county,  Kentucky, 
April  27th,  1813.  His  father,  Benjamin  Gristy,  who  was 
born  in  Maryland  in  1781,  went,  when  a  boy,  with  his 
father's  family  to  Kentucky,  where  he  grew  up  and  married 
Nancy  Dunn,  who  was  born  in  1782  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
whose  father  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  third  of  a  family  of  eleven 
children,  of  whom  all  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood. 
All,  except  one,  are  now  living,  and  four  reside  in  Brown 
county.  In  the  fall  of  1830,  the  family  moved  from  Ken- 
tucky to  Illinois,  and  settled  on  section  twenty-six  of  town, 
ship  one  north,  range  four  west,  (Pea  Ridge).  Here  Mr. 
Gristy's  father  improved  a  farm,  and  lived  till  he  died,  May 
27th,  1858.  His  widow  survived  till  September,  1863.  He 
was  a  man  of  fair  education,  and  both  in  Kentucky  and  this 
State  held  a  license  as  exhorter  in  the  Methodist  church,  of 
which  he  was  a  member  for  many  years.  He  assisted  in 
organizing  an  early  Methodist  church  in  the  southwest  part 
of  Missouri  township. 

Mr.  Gristy  was  seventeen  years  of  age  when  he  came  to 
this  county.  After  his  father  died,  his  home  was  with  his 
mother  till  her  death.  On  the  21st  of  February,  1866,  he 
married  Margaret  Colleasure,  a  native  of  Westmoreland 
county,  Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Illinois  with  her  father, 
John  Colleasure,  in  1857.  He  owns  a  farm  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty-five  acres  in  Pea  Ridge  township.  He  was 
originally  a  Whig  in  politics,  and  voted  for  Gen.  Harrison 
in  1840.  He  was  a  Whig  as  long  as  that  party  lasted,  and 
then  became  a  Republican.  In  county  and  township  elec- 
tions he  is  accustomed  to  vote  for  the  best  man  for  office 
without  regard  to  politics.  For  a  number  of  years  he  has 
been  connected  with  the  Methodist  church,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  church  of  that  denomination  at  Mound  Station. 


JAY  BROWN 

Was  born  at  Bloomington,  McLean  county,  Illinois,  May  9th, 
1843.  His  father,  Josiah  Brown,  was  a  native  of  Connec- 
ticut, but  was  raised  in  Albany  county,  New  York.  In  1833, 
he  came  to  Chicago,  and  was  present  at  the  first  sale  of  lots 
in  that  then  infant  town.  The  Indians,  at  that  time,  out- 
numbered the  whites  three  to  one,  and  he  had  little  faith  in 
the  future  of  the  settlement,  and  so  lost  a  magnificent  oppor- 
unity  of  making  a  fortune.     His  first  wife  had  died  in  New 


York.  His  second  marriage  took  place  in  Tazewell  county, 
of  this  State,  to  Mrs.  Phebe  Margaret  Houghtaling.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Burhans.  After  living  in  various  places 
in  this  State,  he  went  to  Iowa,  thence  to  Macon  county,  Mis- 
souri, and  in  1861  came  to  Brown  county,  where  he  died  in 
1874.  He  had  a  good  education,  and  filled,  for  some  years, 
the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace,  having  also  acted  in  that 
capacity  in  New  York  and  Missouri.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  eighteen  when  he  came  to  this  county  He  went 
to  school  but  six  months  altogether,  and  obtained  his  educa- 
tion by  his  own  efforts  at  home.  October,  1869,  he  married 
Anna  Vancil,  who  was  born  and  raised  in  Liberty  township, 
Brown  county.  He  has  three  children,  Mary,  Ray,  and  Iva. 
He  has  always  been  a  Democrat,  and  has  taken  an  active 
interest  in  politics  from  the  time  he  first  came  to  the  county, 
though  he  was  then  not  old  enough  to  exercise  the  right  of 
suffrage.  He  has  served  as  collector  of  Pea  Ridge  town- 
ship. He  was  elected  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  1873,  and 
again  in  1877. 


J.  M.  LONG. 

Conrad  Long,  father  of  J.  M.  Long,  was  of  German 
descent.  His  parents  moved  at  an  early  date  from  the  Caro- 
linas  to  East  Tennessee  where  the  early  part  of  his  life  was 
spent.  He  was  married  in  East  Tennessee  to  Lucretia 
Warren,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and  whose  parents  had 
died  when  she  was  a  child.  A  few  years  after  his  marriage 
he  came  to  Illinois,  residing  for  a  few  months  in  Morgan 
county,  and  then  coming  to  what  is  now  Brown  county,  at 
that  time  still  a  part  of  Schuyler ;  soon  after  coming  to  the 
county  he  raised  a  crop  of  wheat  on  ground  now  covered  by 
the  town  of  Mt-  Sterting,  renting  the  land  from  Mr.  Curry ; 
he  subsequently  entered  eighty  acres  of  land  in  section 
thirty-three  of  township  one  north,  range  four  west ;  mak- 
ing the  journey  to  Quincy,  where  the  land  office  then  was, 
on  horseback  ;  at  that  time  only  a  few  cabins  marked  the 
site  of  the  present  city  of  Quincy ;  he  lived  on  this  land 
till  his  death,  which  oc  curred  in  Septembtr,  1879;  his  wife 
died  in  December,  1878.  He  was  a  good  citizen,  a  Demo- 
crat in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church.  He 
had  ten  children;  all  of  them  grew  to  mature  years,  married, 
and  had  families.  All  are  living  except  the  oldest  son, 
William  Riley  Long.     Five  reside  in  Brown  county. 

Jacob  M.  Long  was  the  sixth  of  the  children ;  he  was 
born  on  the  farm  on  which  he  now  lives,  in  section  thirty- 
three  of  Pea  Ridge  township,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1837,  and 
was  raised  in  Brown  county.  In  the  spring  of  1859,  in 
company  with  his  brother,  John  LoDg,  he  went  to  Pike's 
Peak,  Colorado,  and  the  succeeding  summer  was  spent  in 
looking  for  the  gold  with  which,  it  was  supposed  at  that 
time,  that  locality  abounded  ;  the  Indians  stole  their  cattle, 
and  the  trip  did  not  prove  a  success.  November,  1866,  he 
married  Catharine  Noland,  a  native  of  Brown  county.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Long  have  three  children,  Arthur,  Luella,  and 
Carrie  Anna.     He  is  a  Democrat  in  politics. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


373 


THOMAS  I.  McDANNOLD. 

Thomas  I.  McDannold,  one  of  the  old  residents  of 
Brown  county,  is  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  was  born  at 
Owiugsville,  the  county  seat  of  Bath  county,  on  the  5th  of 
July,  1826.  His  ancestors  on  his  father's  side  were  Scotch  ; 
Alexander  McDannold,  his  great-grand  father,  came  from 
Aberdeen,  Scotland,  to  America  prior  to  the  year  1750,  and 
settled  in  Culpepper  county,  Virginia ;  Reuben  McDannold, 
son  of  Alexander  McDannold,  removed  at  an  early  period 
from  Virginia  to  Kentucky,  and  settled  near  Mt.  Sterling 
iu  Montgomery  county ;  John  McDannold,  father  of 
Thomas  I.  McDannold,  was  born  in  this  part  of  Kentucky, 
a  Unit  the  year  1800;  he  was  raised  in  Montgomery  county. 
After  his  marriage  to  Elizabeth  lies,  he  became  a  resident 
of  Owingsville,  Bath  county  ;  his  wife,  the  mother  of  the 
f-ubj-  ct  of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Bath  county,  and  wa8 
ihe  daughter  of  Thomas  lies,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
an  early  resident  of  Kentucky.  John  McDannold  was  the 
proprietor  of  a  store,  and  was  interested  in  other  busiuess 
*  ntcr  prises  in  the  town  of  Owingsville  ;  he  was  an  ardent 
member  of  the  Whig  party,  and  took  much  interest  in  poli- 
tics and  public  affairs ;  it  is  said  that  he  held  at  different 
times  all  the  county  offices  in  Bath  county,  serving  several 
years  as  clerk  and  sheriff.  While  on  a  visit  to  New  York 
city  for  the  purpose  of  buying  some  goods,  he  was  exposed 
to  the  cholera  and  immediately  after  his  return  home,  was 
taken  sick  with  that  disease  and  died  ;  this  was  in  the  year 
1833 ;  he  left  six  children,  of  whom  Thomas  I.  McDannold 
was  the  next  to  the  oldest. 

In  the  year  1835,  his  mother  moved  with  the  family  to 
Springfkld  Illinois;  Mr.  McDannold  was  then  nine  years 


of  age.  He  remembers  the  Springfield  of  that  period  as  a 
small  town  of  less  than  the  present  size  of  Mt.  Sterling. 
His  education  was  obtained  principally  in  Springfield, 
though  the  town  then  had  only  small  schools  of  an  inferior 
description.  His  mother  having  married  a  second  time 
moved  ten  miles  north  of  Springfield.  Mr.  McDannold's 
home  was  in  that  part  of  Sa  igam.in  county  till  1844,  when 
he  went  to  Pike  county,  Missouri,  where  his  grandfather, 
Reuben  McDannold,  at  that  time  resided.  He  was  then 
eighteen  years  of  age.  In  the  fall  of  1815,  he  came  to 
Brown  county,  and  made  his  home  with  General  James 
Singleton,  who  had  married  his  only  sister,  Parthenia.  and 
who  had  taken  up  his  residence  in  Mt.  Sterling,  to  engage 
in  the  practice  of  law.  March,  1818,  he  married  Mary  Eliza- 
beth Means,  daughter  of  Maj.  John  Means  ;  she  was  a  native 
of  Lewis  county,  Kentucky,  and  c.ime  to  Brown  county  with 
her  father  iu  1835.  After  his  marriage  he  purchased  two 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  three  miles  and  a  half  north- 
west of  Mt.  Sterling,  engaged  in  farming,  and  has  been  living 
at  this  place  ever  since.  He  is  the  owner  of  five  hundred 
acres  of  land,  the  greater  part  of  which  lies  in  Pea  Ridge 
township.  He  has  four  children.  John  J.  McDannold,  the 
oldest,  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  at  Mt.  Sterling,  and 
Thomas  R.  McDannold  is  a  farmer  of  Pea  Ridge  township  ; 
the  two  younger  children  are  George  and  Clara.  The  old 
Whig  party  enlisted  his  support  when  he  became  old 
enough  tointerest  himself  in  the  politics  of  the  country.  He 
afterwards  became  a  Republican,  and  was  one  of  that  pio- 
neer band  of  Republicans  in  Brown  county,  who  in  lb56 
supported  Fremont,  the  first  Republican  nominee  for  the 
presidency. 


BIRMINGHAM    TOWNSHIP. 


SCHUYLER    COUNTY. 


Lygv 


«-fV 


ITUATED  in  the  extreme  Northwestern 
part  of  the  county  is  Birmingham  town- 
ship, its  nearest  railroad  station  and 
town  being  Plymouth  a  few  miles  distant 
from  its  Northeast  corner,  in  Hancock 
county,  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and 
Quiucy  Railway.  It  is  bounded  on  the 
North  by  McDonough  county,  on  the 
East  by  Brooklyn,  on  the  South  by 
Huntsville,  and  on  the  West  by  Han- 
cock county.  Entering  the  towship,  between  sections  3  and 
4,  from  McDonough  county   on  the  North,  Crooked  creek 


winds  its  course  through  the  Northeastern  portion  of  its  terri- 
tory and  passes  into  Brooklyn  near  the  Southern  line  of  section 
13.  Along  its  whole  route  affluents  pour  their  waters  in- 
to it.  The  principal  tributary  is  Flower  creek,  which  traverses 
the  township  from  west  to  east,  and  receives  near  the  cen- 
tral part,  the  waters  of  Flower  branch.  Farther  south  and 
flowing  in  a  northeasterly  direction,  are  Harrison  and  Lewis 
branches,  tributaries  of  considerable  size  and  of  great  value 
as  reservoirs  and  for  drainage  for  that  portion  through  which 
they  flow.  The  township  is  nearly  equally  divided  between 
undulating  and  fertile  prairie  land  in  the  south  and  north  ; 
and  heavy    timber  land   along  the   water  courses,  though 


£74 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


much  of  which  wssfcimeily  forest, is  now  cleared.  The 
entire  township  is  well  supplied  with  timber,  and  well  watered, 
and  is  sufficiently  rolling  to  drain  well,  and  throughout  the 
township  are  well  improved  farms,  with  pleasant  houses ; 
and  prosperity  on  all  tides  is  the  result  of  many  years  of  toil 
and  privation.  The  first  patents  to  land  in  Birmingham 
were  issued  October  6,  1817,  to  James  Whitney  for  the  N. 
E.  i  of  section  12  ;  Abraham  Mulett  for  the  S.  W.  i  of  sec- 
tion 28 ;  and  Patrick  McGinness  for  the  S.  E.  i  of  section 
28.  October  14, 1817,  to  Winthrop  Dodge  for  the  S.  E.  I 
of  section  25  ;  November  29,  1817,  to  Elias  Duly  for  the  S. 
W.  i  of  section  3. 

The  first  to  seek  a  home  on  the  hills  of  Crooked  creek  in 
Birmingham,  was  Brummel  Sapp,  an  old  friend  and  neigh- 
bor of  the  Manlove  family  in  Nurth  Carolina,  some  of  whom 
had  left  their  homes  iu  that  state  and  arrived  in  Schuyler 
county  as  early  as  1821;  and  had  written  back  glowing  de- 
scriptions of  the  richness  of  the  soil  and  the  beauty  of  the 
country,  which  information  scattered  among  their  old  neigh- 
bors induced  many  to  seek  homes  in  this  and  adjoining 
townships,  throughout  the  county.  Brummel  Sapp  was  born 
in  North  Carolina,  in  1790,  where  he  grew  to  manhood  and 
married.  Hearing,  through  the  Manloves  of  the  beautiful 
country,  which  offered  to  all  a  home,  almost  free  of  charge, 
in  the  early  fall  of  1831,  he  loaded  his  few  household  effects 
iuto  a  one-horse  wagon,  drawn  by  an  old,  worn-out  blind 
horse,  began  his  long  and  tiresome  journey,  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  children,  Harmon,  Jefferson,  Jacob,  Adam  and 
Newell,  twins,  William  P.,  S.  R.,  and  Sarah.  After  many 
weeks'  travel,  he  reached  Rushville  late  in  fall  of  1831. 
It  being  late  in  the  season,  and  the  necessaries  of  life  being 
scarce,  he  thought  it  wiser  to  remain  in  the  settlement,  until 
spring,  than  to  attempt  a  settlement  in  the  wilderness,  at  the 
beginning  of  winter.  He  remained  in  the  settlement  at 
Kushville  until  the  spring  of  1832;  and  then  moved  direct 
to  Birmingham  and  in  the  timber  within  a  half  mile  of 
Crooked  creek,  on  the  S.  W.  }  of  the  N.  E.  i  of  section  3,  on 
vhich  he  subsequently  built  his  cabin  and  cleared  his  fields. 
He  was  the  first  settler  in  the  township ;  and  away  from 
friends  and  neighbors  he  toiled  day  after  day.  He  sowed 
the  first  wheat  in  the  township,  a  field  of  three  acres,  which 
produced  the  bountiful  yield  of  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
bushels.  On  his  old  homestead  he  spent  his  declining  years, 
surrounded  by  a  large  family  of  children,  having  witnessed 
the  transformation  from  a  wilderness  to  a  thickly  settled  and 
intelligent  community,  many  of  whom  had  shared  with  him 
the  hardships  and  privations  of  the  same  frontier  life,  and 
assisted  in  making  nature  the  servant  instead  of  the  master 
of  man.  Mr.  Sapp  died  on  the  31st  day  of  March,  1872, 
at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-two  years,  and  left  a  large  family  of 
.  children,  many  of  whom  are  highly  respected  citizens  of  the 
township.  David  Manlove,  an  old  neighbor  of  Mr.  Sapp, 
was  the  first  to  follow  him  into  Birmingham,  ouly  two  months 
later.  He  had  left  his  home  in  North  Carolina,  with  his 
father,  and  arrived  in  Schuyler  county,  in  the  fall  of  1824, 
and  had  been  living  in  what  is  Rushville  prior  to  his  removal 
to  Birmingham.  He  brought  his  effects,  and  a  wife,  and 
his  thildien,  Elizabeth,   Annie,  William  and  Franklin   in 


a  one  horse  wagon,  and  selected  for  his  home  the  N.  W.  }  of 
section  3,  which  he  subsequently  entered,  and  upon  which  he 
continued  to  reside,  until  he  bought  an  interest  in  a  mill  and 
moved  to  Birmingham  village.     Moses  Manlove,  a   brother 
of  David,  with  his  wife  and  family,  came  into  the  township 
and  settled  on  the  N.  E  }    of  section  5,  where  he   built   his 
cabin  and  made  his  home  for  some  years.    He  came  to  Bir- 
mingham at  the  same  time  as  David  ;  and  an  elder  brother, 
Jonathan  D.,  also  came  with  his  family  and  made   an  im- 
provement on  the  N.  W.  i  of  section  9,  where  his  son,  Wil- 
liam B.,  still    resides.     This  same  year   Peter   Popham,  a 
bachelor,  with  his  father,  came  from  Kentucky  in  the  sum- 
mer and  settled  on  the  N.  W.  i  of  section  29.     A  man  named 
Haggard  with  family  took  possession  of  the  N.  W.  i  of  sec- 
tion 30.       He  was  a  practical  wheelwright,  and  came  in- 
1832.     Among  the  number  moving  into  and  assisting  in  the 
development  of  the  country  in  1833,  was  a  man  named  Ren- 
shaw,  who  arrived  with  his  wife  and  a  family  of  children  and 
settled  on  the  N.  W.  }  of  section  31,  and  Edward  Wade  and 
family,  from  Morgan  county,  residents  of  Tennessee.    Wade 
built  his  cabin  on  the  W.  %  of  the  N.  W.    t    of  section  4, 
bought  the  land  and  lived  there  for  many  years.     He  was  a 
soldier  of  the  war  of  1812  ;  and  participated  in  the   battle 
of  New  Orleans.     He  is   now  residing  at  Plymouth,   Han- 
cock county,  Illinois.     David  Wade,  a  brother  of  Edward, 
with  a  wife  and  family,  came  from  the  same  place  as  Edward, 
and  made  his  home  on  the    S.  E.    i  of  section  5.      Isaac 
Pigeon  and  family  were  near  neighbors  of  Mr.  Sapp  in  1833, 
and    improved    an    adjacent    farm.     William    and    Jesse 
Bodenhammer,  brothers,  old  neighbors  of  Mr.  Sapp  and  the 
Manloves,  came  from  North  Carolina  with    their  families  in 
the  spring  of  1833.     William  Bodenhammer  selecled  theS. 
W.  I  of  section  3,  built  his  cabin,  and  by  years  of  unceasing 
toil  died  possessed  of  a  fine  farm,  on  which  some  of  his  descen- 
dants now  reside.     Jesse   Bodtnhammer  at  first  lived  with 
William  but  afterward  moved  to  the  N.  W.    1   of  section  9, 
made  some  improvements  and  then  sold  and  emigrated  to 
Arkansas.     The    father-in-law   of   Brummel  Sapp,   Adam 
Wier,  with  his  children,  Jacob,  Daniel,  Barbara  and  Mar- 
garet, and  Bernard  and  Samuel,  two  married  sons,  arrived 
from  North  Carolina,  in  the  spring  of  1833.     Adam  Wier 
bought  the  forty  acres  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the  S.  E.  I 
of  section  3,  and    there  spent  the    remainder  of  his  days. 
Bernard  rented  a  farm,  while  Samuel  improved  the  S.  I  of 
the  N.  E.  i  of  section  15,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until 
his  death.     The   Wiers  left  many  descendants  in  the  town- 
ship, George  H.  Wier  being  one  of  the  number. 

The  following  year  (1834)  witnessed  the  arrival  and  set- 
tlement of  a  large  number  of  families  in  different  parts  of 
the  township.  Among  the  number  were  three  brothers, 
Alexander,  John  and  Charles  Bilderback,  who  came  from 
Adams  county,  where  their  father  had  arrived  from  Ken- 
tucky some  years  previously  and  settled  in  this  county. 
They  came  in  the  spring,  and  located  land,  building  their 
cabins  and  improving  their  farms.  Alexander  settled  on 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  28;  John  on  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  29,  and  Charlei  on  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  28.     All  have  children  living  in  the  townsnip. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


375 


Those  three  brothers  were  followed  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year 
by  two  other  brothers,  William  H.  and  James  Bilderbaek. 
William  H.  selectel  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  29,  and 
James  built  his  cabin  and  made  his  improvements  on  the 
adjoining  quarter.  James  G.  King  also  settled  in  the  town- 
ship the  same  year,  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  4, 
where  he  now  resides.  Alpheus  Oliver,  a  young  unmar- 
ried man,  whose  parents  resided  in  Adams  county,  improved 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  31.  Jonathan  Thorp,  a 
native  of  North  Carolina,  and  a  relative  of  the  Manloves, 
moved  into  Birmingham  in  the  spring  of  this  year.  He  had 
been  in  other  parts  of  the  county  since  1829,  and  when  he 
came  here  he  had  a  wife  and  family  of  children.  He  made 
a  pre-emption  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  6,  but  did 
not  remain  long,  moving  back  to  Rushville.  David  Gra- 
ham, a  native  of  Virginia,  was  another  arrival  this  year;  he 
was  a  young  unmarried  man  of  considerable  education  and 
much  energy.  He  came  from  Rashville  in  the  spring  of 
1834,  where  he  had  been  living  the  previous  year.  He 
squatted  on  the  northeast  quarter,  of  section  11,  where  he 
built  a  cabin,  and  afterwards  married  a  widow  lady,  Mrs. 
Frances  M.  Stout,  in  January,  1835,  and  then  moved  to  the 
site  of  the  present  village  of  Birmingham,  and  built  a  mill. 
He  lived  in  the  village  the  remainder  of  his  days,  and  reared 
a  large  family  of  children.  Robert  Wilson,  unmarried,  a 
practical  mill  vvright,  arrived  a  short  time  after  Mr.  Gra- 
ham, and  noticing  the  superior  facilities  for  a  mill,  sug- 
gested them  to  David  Graham,  who  was  favorably  impressed 
by  them.'  Mr.  Graham  and  Wilson  at  once  made  prepara- 
tions to  build  the  mill.  Mr.  Wilson  sold  his  interest  to 
Moses  and  David  Manlove  in  1838,  and  went  further  west. 
Two  families  from  Virginia  made  settlements  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  township  in  1834.  They  made  the  journey  in 
an  ox  cart.  One  was  Thomas  Twidell,  with  a  wife  and  large 
family  of  boys,  and  settled  in  Round  Prairie;  the  other  was 
Simeon  Morris.  John  T.  Gash  and  family  came  from 
Kentucky  at  the  saire  time  that  Col.  Geo.  H.  Briscoe 
and  John  L.  Ewing,  of  Huntsville,  arrived  in  1835, 
settled  in  Birmingham  township,  built  his  cabin,  and  cul- 
tivated the  southwest  quarter  of  section  33.  His  family 
WM  composed  almost  entirely  of  boys.  He  moved  to  Macomb, 
Illinois,  some  years  ago,  where  he  died.  William  Ed*ards 
and  family  followed  their  old  neighbors  from  North  Carolina, 
and  came  into  the  township  in  the  spring  of  1835,  improved 
a  farm,  after  building  a  cabin  on  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  6,  where  they  spent  many  years ;  subsequently  sold 
out,  moved  to  Hancock  county,  and  finally  returned  to 
the  village  of  Birmingham,  where  the  old  gentleman  died. 
The  ora  nunity  was  still  further  increased  in  1836.  by  the 
anival  of  James  and  Harrison  Graham,  brothers  of  David 
Graham,  who  brought  their  mother,  and  made  their  homes 
in  the  village  with  their  brother.  They  cams  direct  from 
Virginia,  and  were  accompanied  by  Jonathan  Tucker,  a 
MethodUt  minister  and  a  native  of  Kentucky,  who  also 
made  his  home  in  the  village.  John  L.  Carden  and  family 
also  came  with  the  Grahams  from  the  same  place,  and  after 
building  his  cabin,  he  purchased  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section   14,  which  he  made  oue  of  the  finest  farms  in  the 


county.  His  son,  John  S.  Carden,  now  owns  and  occupies 
th-i  old  homestead,  with  his  family.  The  old  gentleman  has 
been  dead  several  years.  Among  those  who  found  homes 
in  this  romantic  and  fertile  section  of  the  township  in  18*i7 
was  a  well-educated  young  man,  William  Noel,  who  was 
single  when  he  came  to  the  village  of  Birmingham,  but 
soon  afterwards  found  a  wife  in  the  person  of  Sarah  Graham. 
He  bought  and  improved  the  south  half  of  section  11,  and 
spent  his  days  in  enriching  his  home.  His  widow  survives 
him  and  resides  upon  the  home-place,  with  her  son,  C.  C. 
Noel.  S.  S.  Walker  and  Edward  Whipple  were  in  the 
county  as  early  a-<  1838,  and  may  be  classed  among  those 
known  as  old  settlers— the  pioneers  who  struggled  with 
nature  and  improved  the  township. 

The  marriage  of  David  Graham  and  Mrs.  Frances  M. 
Stout,  on  the  15th  day  of  January,  1835,  was  the  first 
wedding  ceremony  in  the  township.  An  infant  daughter, 
born  to  Mrs.  Bruramel  Sapp,  was  the  first  birth,  and  by  the 
subsequent  death  of  the  child  while  a  mere  babe  in  1834, 
together  with  its  burial  upon  the  home-place,  was  chronicled 
the  first  death,  and  the  location  of  the  first  graveyard,  in  the 
township.  Peter  Borin,  a  Methodist  minister,  preached  the 
first  sermon  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Sapp,  in  the  summer  of 
1833.  Revs.  W.  Pitner  and  John  P.  Richmond,  both 
Methodists,  were  the  pioneer  preachers  ;  and  the  first  physi- 
cians to  practice  were :  Drs.  North,  John  P.  Richmond  and 
Hubert  Grizzle.  David  Manlove  was  the  first  justice  of  the 
peace,  and  dealt  out  justice  to  all  in  a  fair  and  even-handed 
manner.  Austin  Wheeler  had  the  first  forge  in  the  town- 
ship, where  the  village  now  stands,  as  early  as  1834.  We 
have  previously  alluded  to  the  first  mill  in  the  recital  of  the 
arrival  of  Robert  Wilson.  Upon  the  acceptance,  by  David 
Graham,  of  the  proposition  made  by  Robert  Wilson  to  build 
a  mill,  work  was  at  once  commenced  on  the  dam.  It  was 
vigorously  prosecuted,  and  by  the  spring  of  1836,  the  first 
grist  was  ground.  The  mill  was  a  neat  two-story  frame 
building,  the  first  erected  in  the  township,  and  the  motive 
power  was .  obtained  through  the  medium  of  an  undershot 
water-wheel.  The  burrs  were  brought  from  St.  Louis.  When 
first  completed,  the  mill  was  purely  a  grist-mill,  and  at  a 
later  period  a  saw-mill  was  added.  After  serving  the  people 
of  this  township  for  nearly  half  a  century,  the  high  water  of 
1882  undermined  it,  and  on  the  5th  day  of  May,  it  was 
carried  down  Crooked  creek,  and  the  only  vestige  that  now 
remains  is  the  dam,  over  which  the  waters  roll,  singing  a 
requiem  of  the  past.  The  roads  of  the  township  at  the 
present  day  are  in  a  good  condition,  and  conveniently  located. 
The  numerous  streams  are  spanned  by  substantial  bridges, 
making  it  convenient  in  getting  to  all  parts  of  the  town- 
ship. Outside  of  the  village  there  is  a  handsome  frame 
edifice  belonging  to  the  United  Brethren  congregation.  It 
was  built  in  1857,  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  18, 
but  has  since  been  removed  to  the  northwest  quarter  of  Sec.  17. 
It  is  worth  about  "$500.  Rev.  John  Carr  is  the  present 
pastor.     The  building  is  known  as  Mount  Harmony  Chapel. 

The  schools  of  the  township  are  eight  in  number,  all  pro- 
vided with  neat  and  comfortable  frame  buildings,  well  tup- 
plied  with  furniture  and  the  necessary  apparatus  for  their 


376 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS.' 


successful  operation.  The  annual  term  is  six  months.  The 
fiirancial  condition  is  of  the  most  flattering  character.  The 
timber  of  the  township  is  of  the  most  valuable  species  and 
abundant  in  supply,  while  building  stone  of  all  kinds  is 
plentiful  along  the  banks  of  Crooked  creek.  A  quarry  has 
been  opened  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  11,  from 
which  a  superior  quality  of  limestone  has  been  taken,  and  of 
which  the  piers  of  the  bridges  over  Crooked  and  Flower 
creeks  were  constructed,  and  they  have  withstood  the  erosion 
of  the  waters  for  many  years  without  perceptible  efl*ect.  A 
portable  steam  saw  mill  now  situated  on  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  9,  belonging  to  and  operated  by  George  \V.  Smith, 
is  now  the  only  manufacturing  establishment.  The  citizens 
of  Birmingham  are  social,  courteous  and  progressive,  re- 
specting the  laws  and  observing  the  Golden  Rule.  Nature 
has  bestowed  her  bounties  upon  them  liberally.  The  census 
report  of  1880  gives  the  number  of  improved  farms  as  201, 
and  places  the  population  at  1,074. 

The  township  has  always  been  represented  in  the  board  of 
supervisors  by  some  of  its  most  intelligent,  progressive  and 
representative  men,  whose  influence  has  been  felt  in  every 
work  of  a  substantial  and  beneficial  character.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  list  of  supervisors  from  the  time  that  the  county 
adopted  township  organization  to  the  present  time.  The 
first  to  represent  the  township  was  Col.  James  G  King,  who 
was  elected  in  1854  and  served  until  1857.  Solomon  Twidell 
was  elected  in  1857,  and  was  succeeded  by  Col.  James  G. 
King  in  1858,  who  was  followed  by  Solomon  Twidell  in 
185:4-60.  William  Dron  was  elected  in  1861,  and  was 
chosen  as  the  representative  for  five  consecutive  terms.  His 
tenure  of  office  expired  in  1867.  when  William  T.  McCreery 
was  chosen  and  served  one  year.  John  T.  Wycoff  was 
elected  in  1868,  and  served  one  term  ;  and  then  William  T. 
McCreery  was  the  representative  until  1871.  Edward 
Whipple  was  elected  in  1871,  and  served  one  year.  William 
T.  McCreery  was  again  returned  three  years  in  succession, 
and  in  1873  and  '74,  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  board, 
Marcus  Whetstone  was  elected  in  1875  and  served  one  year, 
and  was  succeeded  by  William  T.  McCreery,  who  served  a 
year.  A.  L.  Beard  was  the  representative  in  1877-78. 
Marcus  Whetstone  was  again  chosen  in  1879,  and  has  per. 
formed  his  duties  with  such  ability  that  he  has  been  the 
supervisor  ever  since,  and  is  the  present  incumbent  The 
township  took  its  name  from  the  village. 

BIRMINGHAM   VILLAGE. 

Nestled  in  a  pretty  and  romantic  valley,  upon  the  east 
bank  of  Crooked  creek,  in  the  northeastern  corner  of  the 
township  bearing  the  same  name,  is  the  pleasant  little  village 


of  Birmingham,  with  its  neat  little  houses,  well-kept  lawns, 
and  quiet  beauty.  The  bridge  spanning  Crooked  creek,  and 
below,  the  old  mill  dam,  over  which  the  clear  waters  flow 
with  a  ceaseless  roar,  add  to  its  beauty  and  break  what 
would  otherwise  be  a  painful  silence;  while  south  of  the 
village  lies  the  silent  city  of  the  dead — the  Birmingham 
Cemetery — on  a  beautiful  knoll,  shaded  by  the  trees  of  the 
forest,  and  ornamented  with  white  monuments,  marking  the 
resting  place  of  the  departed  loved  ones.  The  cemetery  was 
located  in  1835,  and  is  handsomely  kept. 

The  waters  of  the  creek  rush  pa-t  the  village  with  great 
velocity  and  with  sufficient  volume  to  make  the  place  one  of 
the  most  desirable  manufacturing  sites  in  the  state.  The  site 
of  the  village  was  surveyed  and  platted  by  county  surveyor 
Allen  Persinger,  July  1st,  1836,  for  David  Graham,  David 
Manlove  and  Moses  Manlove,  the  original  proprietors.  It 
is  situated  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  11.  The 
village  at  one  time  gave  promise  of  reaching  some  promi- 
nence, as  there  were  located  some  years  ago,  a  large  tannery, 
a  harness  shop,  employing  five  hands,  two  large  stores,  two 
cooper  shops  and  a  large  fanning  mill  manufactory,  but 
they  have  long  since  disappeared,  and  no  sounds  of  manufac- 
turing interests  now  greet  the  ears  of  the  residents.  The 
first  house  built  in  the  town  was  the  double  log-cabin  of 
David  Graham  and  Robert  Wilson,  which  they  built  and 
occupied  together  while  constructing  the  mill  in  1835. 
Harrison  Graham,  in  1S38,  opened  the  first  store,  and  had 
for  a  partner  either  Elihu  or  Cyrus  Meredith.  The  first 
post-office  was  established  about  the  year  1839,  and  William 
Noel  was  the  first  postmaster.  The  first  hotel  was  kept  by 
Jonathan  Tucker,  in  1845.  The  first  school  was  taught  by 
William  Noel,  in  a  small  log  building  in  the  village,  in  the 
year  1837.  The  first  church  ever  built  in  the  township,  was 
the  small  frame  building  erected  by  the  Protestant  Metho- 
dists in  the  village,  in  1852. 

PRESENT   BUSINESS,  CHURCHES,  SCHOOLS,  &C 

General  Store. — Wilson  &  Myers. 

Postmaster.— G.  W.  Howell. 

Physician. — Nicholas  Wilson. 

Blacksmiths. — Groves  &  Casey. 

Wagonmaker. — William  Alters. 

Shoemaker. — Solomon  C.  Sell. 

Justice  of  the  Peace. — David  Sapp. 

There  is  a  handsome,  little  frame  church  in  the  village 
belonging  to  the  Protestant  Methodists,  and  was  built  in 
1865.     The  present  pastor  is  Rev.  Winans. 

The  school-house  is  a  neat  frame  building,  and  the  annual 
session  of  school  is  seven  months.  But  one  teacher  is  em- 
ployed. 


PARTIAL    LIST    OF    PATRONS. 


[SCHUYLER  COUNTY.] 


CITY  OF   RUSHVILLE. 


NAME. 


Anderson,  Edwin  M., 

Bogue,  Mark, 

Bagby,  John  S., 

Loucilla  Walker, 

Brannstool,  George, 

Elizabeth  Reiffy, 

Bagby,  John  C, 

Mary  A.  Scripps, 

Baker,  George  W., 

Man-  L.  Rose, 

Oariin,  S.  E., 

Josephine  Boozle, 

Craske,  Henry 

Ellen  M.  Jones 

Crosier,  William  A 

Susan  C.  Boileau, 

Campbell,  J.  Nelson, 

Susan  Washabaugh, 

Dyson,  Edwin, 

Mary  F.  Irwin, 

Fowler,  William, 

Jane  Cochran, 

Foote,  J 

Martha  A.  Childs, 

Greer,  R.  L., 

Jane  E.  McMaster, 

Griffith,  Reese  H., 

Susan  Stebbins, 

Hutton,  F.  J., 

EllaFrisby, 

Hall,  George  E., 

Belle  R.  Baird, 

Hammond,  Jacob, 

Sarah  M.  Lawler, 

Jackson,  Ezra. 

Emily  Brunk, 

Jackson,  Felix, 

Mary  A.  Greer, 

Knowles,  John, 

Cornelia  H.  Reno, 

Larash,  W.  I., 

Emilia  A.  Homey, 

Leaton,  James, 

Lockerby,  Sarah  E., 

Little,  George, 

Lloyd,  Mary  J.,  dec'd, 

Lydia  E.  Scripps, 

Leach,  E.  D 

Harriet  J.  Patterson, 

Lee,  Frank, 

Elizabeth  Morrell, 

Montgomery,  S.  B., 

Jennie  F.  Worthington,... 

McCreery,  James  G., 

Anna  M.  Putman, 

Nell,  Augustus, 

Mary  E.  Beard, 

Neill,  John, 

Eliza  A.  Jones, 

Niemann,  Hr  A 

Anna  M.  Clark, 

Palmer,  Samuel  C, 

Annie  J.  Goodman, 

Packard,  Nathan, 

Bella  M.  O'Dell, 

Rader,  William  H.  H., 

Rader,  Clara, 

Ray,  Dwight  E., 

Snivelv,  E.  A 

Scott,  Thomas  W., 

Smith,  H.  A 

Alice  S.  Jefferson, 

Webster,  Daniel, 

Fanny  F  Kaufman, 


POST  OFFICE. 


Rushville, 


Rushville, . 


RESIDENCE. 


Rushville, . 


Rushville,. 


Springfield, Springfield,, 

Rushville, Rushville,.. 


OCCUPATION. 


Drugs,  Books  and  Stationery, 

County  Clerk, 

Student  at  Law, 

Wife  of  John  S.  Bagby 

Livery,  Feed  and  Sale  Stable, 

Wife  of  George  Brannstool, 

Attorney  at  Law, . 

Wife  of  John  C.  Bagby, 

Deputy  Sheriff  and  Constable, 

Wife  of  George  W.  Baker 

Attorney  at  Law, 

Wife  of  S.  E.  Carlin, 

Grocer  and  General  Produce, 

jWife  of  Henry  Craske, 

'Dealer  in  Marble  and  Granite, 

jWife  of  William  A.  Crosier, 

;Prop.  of  Steam  Saw  Mill,  Dealer  and  Shipper  in  Hard  Wood  Lumber 

Wife  of  J.  Nelson  Campbell, 

Editor  and  Publisher  Rushville  Times, 

Wife  of  Edwin  Dyson, 

Family  Groceries, 

jWife  of  William  Fowler, 

Owner  and  Proprietor  Knitting  Factory, 

[Wife  of  J.  Foote, 

Groceries,  Glass  and  Queensware, 

jWife  of  R.  L.  Greer 

'Hardware  Merchant, 

jWife  of  Reese  H.  Griffith,.... 

Dealer  in  Marble  and  Granite, 

jWife  of  F.  J.  Hutton, 

'Hardware  and  Farm  implements, 

Wife  of  George  E.  Hall, 

Postmaster, 

'Wife  of  Jacob  Hammond, 

Proprietor  City  Hotel, 

'Wife  of  Ezra  Jackson, 

Salesman, : 

[Wife  of  Felix  Jackson, 

Minister  Baptist  Church, 

[Wife  of  John  Knowles 

Ed.  and  Pub'r  of  Schuyler  County  Citizen,.... 

IWife  of  W.  I.  Larash, 

(Minister  M.  E.  Church, 

Wife  of  James  Leaton, 

Banker, 

First  Wife  of  George  Little, 

Present  Wife  of  George  Little, 

Drv  Goods,  Boots  and  Shoes, 

Wife  of  E.  D.  Leach, 

[Harness  Manufacturer, 

iWife  of  Frank  Lee, 

Attorney  at  Law 

Wife  of  S.  B.  Montgomery, 

Drugs  and  Books 

Wife  of  James  G.  McCreery 

Hardware  and  Farm  Implements, 

Wife  of  Augustus  Nell, 

Sheriff, 

Wife  of  John  Neill, 

Barber  and  Hair-dresser, 

Wife  of  H.  A.  Niemann, 

Minister  Presbyterian  Church, 

Wife  of  Samuel  C.  Palmer, 

Proprietor  Flour  Mill, 

Wile  of  Nathan  Packard, 

Circuit  Clerk, 

Wife  of  William  H.  H.  Rader, 


NATIVITY. 


Lewisburg,  Va...... 

Schuyler  Co.,  111.,. 


Germany, . 


Cape  Girardeau  Co.Mo 
Schuyler  Co.,  111.,... 


Fulton  Co.,  111.,. 


Suffolk,  England, 

Herkimer  Co.,  N.  Y.,.. 

Juniata  Co.,  Pa., 

Montgomery  Co.,  Pa., 
Westmoreland  Co.,  Pa. 

Fayette  Co.,  Pa., 

England, 

Kentucky, 

Virginia, 

Belmont  Co.,  Ohio,.... 

England, 

Maine, 

Ireland, 

Ohio, 

Wales, , 

Hartford,  Conn., 

Adams  Co.,  111., 

Schuyler  Co.,  111.,... 


1862 
1862 
1873 
1874 
1841 


Knox  Co.,  111., 

Knox  Co.,  Ohio,... 
Schuyler  Co.,  111.,. 
Scott  Co.,  Ind...... 

Morgan  Co.,  111.,.. 
Schuyler  Co.,  111.,. 


England, 

Green  Co.,  111., 

Allentown,  Pa., 

Schuyler  Co.,  111.,.. 

England, 

Tioga  Co.,  N.  Y.,... 
Lancaster  Co.,  Pa.,. 


Cape  Girardeau  Co.Mo 
Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio,. 
Adar  Co.,  Kentucky 
Mahoning  Co.,  Ohio,.. 

Germany, 

Schuyler  Co.,  111.,... 


Clerk  Supreme  Court, 

Retired  Capitalist, 

Principal  of  Rushville  Common  School,. 

Wife  of  H.  A.  Smith, 

Confectioner  and  Oyster  House, 

Wife  of  Daniel  Webster, 


Ireland, 

Montgomery  Co.,  N.  Y 

Germany, 

Schuyler  Co.,  111., 


Germany, 

Schuyler  Co.,  111.,., 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,.., 

Knox  Co.,  111., 

Schuyler  Co.,  111.,., 
Rush  Co.,  Ind., 


Montgomery  Co.,  Ind. 
Grafton  Co.,  N.  H...... 

Cook  Co.,  111., 

Cayuga  Co.,  N.  Y., 

Lancaster  Co.,  Pa., 


1852 
1852 
1876 
1851 
1854 
1871 
1863 


1829 


1849 
1849 
1846 
1856 
1875 
1857 
1881 
1881 
1836 
1840 
1836 
1845 

1848 
1861 
1849 
1854 
1828 
1832 
1853 
1841 
1846 
1846 
1869 
1859 
1882 
1882 
1872 
1860 
1868 
1864 


1829 
1875 
1875 
1873 
1873 


48 


878 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


CITY  OF  RUSHVUXE-costim-kd. 


NAME. 


POST  OFFICE. 


Wells,  Charles  H., 

Tede  Turny, 

'  Warren,  Augustus, 

Mary  Speed, 

Walker,  P.  H 

i  Susan  MeCrosky, .. 

1  Wilson,  Thomas,... 
Susan  Clark, 


Rushville, . 


RESIDENCE. 


OCCUPATION. 


NATIVITY. 


jWHES 
|  CAME 
TO  CO. 


Rushville, Clothier, Schuyler  Co.,  111., 1846 

Wife  of  Charles  H.  Wells, 1879 

"         Banker, Winchester,  Tenn., 1833 

"         Wife  of  Augustus  Warren, Danville,  Kv., 1855 

"         Judge  Supreme  Court, Adair  Co.,  Ky., 1834 

Wife  of  P.  H.  Walker, Adair  Co.,  Ky., 1834 

"         JGeneral  Merchandise, Ireland, 1837 

"         Wife  of  Thomas  Wilson, Westmoreland  Co.,  Pa.  1837 


RUSHVILLE  TOWNSHIP. 


C  Benton,  L.  M.  (nee  Dupuy) 
J  Benton,  George  R.,  m.  d.,.. 

|  A.  G.  Dupuy, 

|  C.  A.  Dupuy  (nee  Metz),.. 

!  Barnes,  Amanda  P., 
Barnes,  James  W., 
Bellomy,  George  W., 
.Frances  A.  Greer 

f  Brewer,  James  M., 

I  Sebra  A.  Shore, 

(Crandall,  Harvey  F., 


Pleasant  View,.  Pleasant  View, 

Died  Oct.  28,'64! 

Pleasant  View,.  Pleasant  View, 


Rushville, . 
Died  April  3,76 
Pleasant  View, 


Mary  Agnes  Sands,. 

Dimmick,  Ebenezer, , 

Margaret  Philips, 

Sarah  Lord, . 

Mallory,  Warren, 

Clementine  Gardner, 

Mary  E.  Race, 

McMaster,  Robert  B., 

Rachel  Quinn, 

Portwood,  Stephen, 

Jenett  Lawler, 

Potts,  John  T 

Sadie  E.  Goodwin, 

Serff,  A.  H 

Catherine  Trone, 

Amanda  E.  Pierce, 

Teel,  James  A., 

Elizabeth  Smith 

Vance,  John  S., 

Vance,  Lucv  A., 

Wliitson,  Wilbur  P., 

•;  Marv  A.  Tavlor 

|  Eliza  E.  Bellomy, 

(  Wheelhouse,  Samuel  D.,.. 

^Ida  McKee, 

I  Nancy  J.  Black, 


•Sect.  21,.. 


Sect.  35, 

Sect.  35, 

Rushville Sect.  31, 

Sect.  31 

Sect.  12, 

Sect.  12 

Pleasant  View,.  Pleasant  View, 

Deceased, ' 

Pleasant  View,.  Pleasant  View, 
(i  a  u  tt 

Died  Dec.  16,73' 

Pleasant  View,  Pleasant  View, 
Rushville, Sect.  22, 

Sect.  22 

Sect.  19 

Sect.  19 

Sect.  19, 

Sect.  19, 

Sect.  28, 

Died  May  29,72 

Rushville, iSect.  28 

'Sect.  2 

"  Sect.  2  ... 

Pleasant  View,  Sect.  36, 

"       iSect.  36 

Rujhville, Sect.  28, 

Died  Dec.  26,'61 

Rushville, Sect.  28 

ISect.  19, 

Died  April  4,'80| 

Rushville, Sect.  19 


Retired  Teacher ;Greentrp  Co.,  Ky., 

Late  husband  of  L.  M.  Benton, Adams  Co.,  111., 

Father  of  L.  M.  Benton, Greenup  Co.,  Ky., 

Mother  of  L.  M.  Benton, Harrison  Co.,  Va., 

Farming  and  Stock  Raiser, Westmoreland  Co.,  Pa 

Late  husband  of  Amanda  P.  Barnes "  " 

Farmer,  Stock  Raiser  and  T'ship  Supervisor  Schuyler  Co.,  111., 

Wife  of  George  W.  Bellomy, , Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Farmer Muskingum  Co.,  Ohio, 

Wife  of  James  M.  Brewer, Clay  Co.,  111., 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser, Fulton  Co.,  111., 

Wife  of  Harvey  F.  Crandall jSchuyler  Co.,  111., 

General  Merchant  and  Postmaster, Ontario  Co.,  N.  Y., 

First  wife  of  Ebenezer  Dimmick ' 

Present  wife  of  Ebenezer  Dimmick, England, 

General  Merchandise, Brown  Co.,  Ill 

First  wife  of  Warren  Mallory, Morgan  Co.,  111., 

Present  wife  of  Warren  Mallory, Schuyler  Co.,  111., 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Highland  Co.,  Ohio,... 

Wife  of  Robert  B.  McMaster, Hardin  Co.,  111.,.. 

Farmer  and  Coal  Mining, Kentucky, 

Wife  of  Stephen  Portwood, Schuyler  Co.,  111., 

Farmer  and  Prop,  of  Rushville  Nurseries,...  Ross  Co.,  Ohio,... 


1834 
1852 
1834 
1834 
1857 
1857 
1850 
1848 
1867 
1854 
1867 
1859 
1829 


1840 
1846 


Rushville,  111.,. 
York  Co.,  Pa.,.. 
York  Co.,  Pa.,.. 


Wife  of  John  T.  Potts, 
Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser, 
First  wife  of  A.  H.  Serff,.. 

Present  wife  of  A.  H.  Serff, Schuyler  Co.,  111., 

Farmer  and  Short  Horn  Breeder, Washington  Co.,  Pa.,. 

Wife  of  Jumes  A.  Teel Schuyler  Co.,  111., 

'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser, Schuyler  Co.,  111.,..,.. 

Sister  of  John  S.  Vance, Livington  Co.,  Ky.,... 

Farmer  and  Breeding  of  Fine  Stock, Lancaster  Co.,  Pa., 

First  wife  of  Wilber  F.  Whitson, | 

Present  wife  of  Wilber  F.  Whitson, Schuyler  Co.,  111., 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser, California. 

First  wife  of  Samuel  D.  Wheelhouse, Schuyler  Co.,  111., 

Present  wife  of  Samuel  D.  Wheelhouse Schuyler  Co.,  111., 


1862 
1838 
1836 
1858 
1856 
1852 
1848 
1866 
1866 
1842 
1835 
1834 
1832 
1829 
1837 


1839 
1859 
1860 
1861 


BAINBRIDGE    TOWNSHIP. 


f  Burnsidc,  Thomas, 

\  Sarah  J.  Henry, 

(  Bell,  Emily  (nee  Mason),.J 

<  James  Cokenour, 

I  Bell,  Andrew  J 

(Chord,  James, 

-{  Lucinda  A.  Edmonston,... 
(  Sophrona  A.  Naught, 

Dawson,  Solena,  nee  Black 

William  J.  Clark 

George  H.  Reddick, 

Joseph  Day 

Dawson,  William, 

Davis,  John  W., 

I  Alice  J.  Mead, 

(  Howell,  Jacob 

f  Rachael  A.  Parker 

Hatfield,  Hugh  E., 

Louisa  M.  Swan, 

Hatfield,  Charles 

Mary  Lamaster, 


Rushville, 

14 

Frederick, 

Died  Ap'l  23,'57 

"  July  28,79 

Rushville, 

Died  July  20,'60 

Rushville 

u 

Died  July  17/80 
"  Sept.  22,'65 
"    Jan.  29,73 

Rushville 


Sect.  8 

Sect.  8 

Sect.  27 

Sect.  30,..!. 

Sect.  30 

Sect.  6,1  s.R.l  w 

Sect.  6,1  S.R.I  W 

Sect,  7, 

Sect.  7 

Sect.  19 

Sect.  19 

Sect.  20 

Sect.  20 

Sect.  20 

Sect.  20, 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser, Co.  Fermanagh,  Ir'nd,  1841 

Wife  of  Thomas  Burnside, Allegheny  Co.,  Pa 1842 

Farming Beaver  Co.,  Pa., 1841 

'First  husband  of  Emily  Bell,.. Perry  Co.,  Ill 1834 

Late  husband  of  Emily  Bell, Schuyler  Co.,  111., 1829 

Carpenter  and  Farmer, Jacksonville,  111., 1842 

First  wife  of  James  Chord, Schuvler  Co.,  111., 18S3 

Present  wife  of  James  Chord "         "      "    1832 

Farming, Rushville,  111., 1827 

First  husband  of  Solena  Dawson Allegheny  Co.,  Pa......  1855 

Second  husband  of  Solena  Dawson, North  Carolina, 1885 

Third  husband  of  Solena  Dawson, Ohio,... 1836 

Present  husband  of  Solena  Dawson, Wayne  Co.,  Ohio, 1854 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Brown  Co.,  111.,.. 

'Wife  of  John  W.  Davis Schuvler  Co.,  III.,. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser,.. 

Wife  of  Jacob  Howell, 

'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser... 
'Wife  of  Hugh  E.  Hatfield,. 
(Retired, 


Mercer  Co.,  Kv.,- 
Wife  of  Charles  Hatfield Henry  Co.,  Ky'.,... 


1851 
1853 
1833 
1837 
1830 
1837 
1826 
1826 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


379 


BAINBRIDGE  TOWNSHIP.-«>ntinued. 


NAME. 


Howell,  Thomas  S 

Sarah  C.  Newbury....: 

'  Harris,  Aaron  V 

Rebecca  Naught 

Hunter,  George  R 

Jacobs,  Lewis  H 

Jacobs, CynthaA.  nee  Black 

Krohe,  Lewis  E 

Korte,  Sophia  M 

Kuhn,  William 

Hannah  E.  Lawler 

Lawler,  John  Hugh 

Alvira  Edmonston 

Almira  E.  Perry 

vMary  O'Connor 

i  Lawler,  John  W 
Sossie  M.  Patterson 
Rittenhouse,  Enoch 
Lucinda  Terril 

f  Stover,  Samuel 

■j  Maria  Campbell 

(Saloam  E.  Vaughan 

f  Strong,  Frances,  nee  Quinn 

)  Strong,  George  W 

C  Tyson,  William  T 

Sarah  J.  Scott 

Tomlinson,  Samuel 

Tomlinson,  Em.,  nee  Clark 

Cassandry  Clark 

'  Underhifl,  W.  B 

Jane  Robinson 

Ward,  James  M 

Hannah  E.Saylor,  nee  Sisk 

Ward,  Major  A 

Emily  J.  Davis 

Ward,  E.  M 

Margaret  J.  Baldwin 

Lydia  J.  Bridgman 


POST  OFFICE. 


RESIDENCE. 


Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


Frederick  . 
Frederick  . 
Rushville .. 
Rushville .. 
Pleasant  ViewJSect. 

Rushville Sect. 

Died  Feb.  20,71 1 

Rushville Sect. 

ISect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Centre Sect. 

Died  April  8/48 

Died  May  9/71 

Centre ;Sect. 

Rushville Sect. 

:Sect. 

'Sect. 

{Sect. 

"        'Sect. 

Died  Sep.  29/74J 

Rushville Sect. 

Pleasant  View..  Sect. 

Died  Oct.  4, '69 

Frederick Sect. 

Died  Feb.  22,78 

Rushville Sect. 

DiedMay  10/48]  

Rushville Sect. 

!Sect. 

[Sect. 

Pleasant  View..  Sect. 
Died  Jan.  12/74 
Pleasant  View. 


OCCUPATION. 


28 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

28 |Wife  of  Thomas  S.  Howell 

30 'Farmer 

30 Wife  of  Arron  Harris 

1 jDealer  in  Real  Estate 

20 Farmer 

Late  wife  of  Lewis  H.  Jacobs 

32 : Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

32 {Wife  of  Lewis  E.  Krohe 

18 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

18 iWifeof  William  Kuhn 

22 jFarmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

{First  wife  of  John  Hugh  Lawler 

[Second  wife  of  John  Hugh  Lawler.. 

22 Present  wife  of  John  Hugh  Lawler.. 

18 Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser., 

18 

21.... 


NATIVITY. 


...  Wife  of  John  W.  Lawler 

...  Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

21 Wife  of  Enoch  Rittenhouse.. 

4 [Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

...  First  wife  of  Samuel  Stover. 


20 


Died  April  3/6* 
Pleasant  View. 


Sect. 
Sect. 

Sect. 


Sect. 


4 Present  wife  of  Samuel  Stover 

1 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  husband  of  Frances  Strong 

11 {Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

....  Late  wife  of  William  T.  Tyson 

....  Farmer 

iFirst  wife  of  Samuel  Tomlinson 

20 {Present  wife  of  Samuel  Tomlinson.. 

30 Carpenter  and  Farmer 

30 [Wife  of  W.  B.  Underhill 

11 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  wife  of  James  M.  Ward 

10 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

10 Wife  of  Major  A.  Ward 

10 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  wife  of  E.  M.  Ward 

10 Present  wife  of  E.  M.  Ward , 


Guilford  Co.,  N.C... 
Washington  Co.,  Ohio 

Dubois  Co.,  Ind 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Rushville,  111 

Vermillion  Co.,  111.. 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Cass  Co.,  Ill 

Germany 

Westmoreland  Co.,  Pa. 
Muskingum  Co.,  Ohio, 

Fauquier  Co.,  Va 

Dubois  Co.,  Ind 

St.  Lawrence  Co.,  N.Y. 

France 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Switzerland  Co.,  Ind... 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

West  Virginia....? 

Ohio 

Virginia 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Portsmouth,  Ohio, 

Floyd  Co.,  Ind 

Floyd  Co.,  Ind ... 

Washington  Co.,  Ohio 

Meadsville,  Pa 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Indiana 

Hamilton  Co.,  Ind.. 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Morgan  Co.,  Ill 


WIIKN 
CAME 
TO  CO. 


1829 
1835 
1829 
1833 
1836 
1830 
1835 
1859 
1859 
1849 
1841 
1835 
1834 
1843 
1848 
1845 
1853 
1849 
1845 
1845 
1845 
1855 
1844 
1842 
1841 
1832 
1861 


1861 
1847 
1847 
1840 
1870 
1836 
1842 
1843 


1868 


FREDERICK  TOWNSHIP. 


f  Bellomy,  Josiah  F 

j  Maggie  Furbee 

j  Brines,  Rosuell 

j  Delilah  Norton 

i  Darnell,  Jesse 
Louisa  Utter 
Deane,  Hudson  M 
Elizabeth  Messerer 

Darnell,  John  M 

'Farwell,  Maro 

Ann  L.  Fellows 

[Gillespie,  James  E 

Sarah  J.  Stansbury 

Grimwood,  Wesley  M. 
Alice  A.  Bartholow.... 
Grimwood,  Charles  M 
Grimwood,  Anna  E.... 

(  llinton,  John  B 

(Polly  Rice 

!Jocoba,  Andrew 
Margaret  Sudetb 
Linn,  David  C 
Delia  C.  Truitt 

Utter,  John 


Fredericksville  Sect, 
Sect, 
Pleasant  View. 


Died  Oct.  1,  '47 
Fredericksville 
Fredericksville 


Sec.31,2N.R.lE 
Sec.31,2N.R.lE 
Sect.  6 


Fredericksville 
Fredericksville 


Pleasant  ViewJSect.  6. 


Fredericksville. 

Fredericksville. 

it 

Fredericksville. 

it 

Fredericksville. 

u 

Fredericksville. 

u 

Fredericksville. 

u 

Fredericksville. 

Died  Ju'e  25,78 
Died  Oct.— ,'68 
Fredericksville. 
Fredericksville. 

Sect.  5 

Sect.  5 

Fredericksville.]  Fredericksville. 
Fredericksville/ Fredericksville. 
Fredericksville.  Fredericksville. 
Fredericksville.  |  Fredericksville. 
Fredericksville.! Sect.  6 


Farmer  and  Township  Assessor , 

Wife  of  Josiah  F.  Bellomy , 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Rosuell  Brines 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  wife  of  Jesse  Darnell 

Hotel  and  Justice  of  the  Peace 

i  Wife  of  Hudson  M.  Dean 

'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

{Retired  Merchant , 

{Wife  of  Maro  Farwell 

Physician  and  Surgeon 

{Wife  of  James  E.  Gillespie 

Wagon  Manufacturer 

Wife  of  Wesley  M.  Grimwood 

Father  of  Wesley  M.  Grimwood 

Mother  of  Wesley  M.  Grimwood 

Farmer  and  Township  Supervisor 

Wife  of  John  B.  Hinton 

Groceries,  Queensware  and  Hardware. 

Wife  of  Andrew  Jocoba 

Physician  and  Surgeon 

Wife  of  David  C.  Linn 

Farmer 


Gallia  Co.,  Ohio 

Tyler  Co.,  Va 

Connecticut 

Ohio 

Wayne  Co.,  Ohio 

Wabash  Co.,  Ill 

Dutches  Co.,  N.  Y 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Chesire  Co.,  N.  H 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Beaver  Co.,  Pa 

Vermillion  Co.,  Ill 

Acron,  Ohio 

Knox  Co.,  Ohio 

England 

Mackinaw,  Mich 

Maryland 

Mercer  Co.,  Ohio 

Butler  Co.,  Ohio 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Franklin  Co.,  Ind 

Baltimore,  Md 

Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y.... 


1834 
1837 
1827 
1829 
1834 
1829 
1855 
1841 
1843 
1848 
1828 
1882 
1882 
1861 
1878 
1859 
1861 
1837 
1840 
1834 
1852 
1858 
1859 
1837 


BIRMINGHAM   TOWNSHIP. 


f  Bilderback,  Charles Huntsville 

I  Sarah  L.  Crawford Died  Aug.26/81 

(Carden,  John  S Birmingham  ... 

\  Carden,  John  L Died  July  4,71 

|  Carden,  Polly,  nee  Stodgell  Died  Oct.  4,  '57 


Sect.  28.. 


Sect.  14.. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  wife  of  Charles  Bilderback 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Father  of  John  S.  Carden 

Molher  of  John  S.  Carden 


Lewis  Co.,  Ky 

I  Lewis  Co.,  Ky 

'Schuyler  Co,  111.. 
;  Botetourt  Co.,  Va 
[Monroe  Co.,  Va  .. 


1834 
1857 
1839 
1837 
1837 


380 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


BIRMINGHAM 

TOWNSHIP.— COST1SBKD. 

FAME. 

POST  OFFICE. 

RESIDENCE. 

OCCUPATION. 

NATIVITY. 

WBE» 
CAME 
TO  CO. 

Birmingham.... 
Died  Jan.  8, 79 
Birmingham.... 

Died  Feb.  9, '82 

Birmingham.... 
DiedJu'e  20/63 
Birmingham.... 

Sect.  4 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Ired«U  Co.,  N.  C 
Iredell  Co.,  N.  C 

1834 

Marv  A  Hall  

Sect.  4 

1835 

Noel  C.  C 

Sect.  9 

Farmer,  Stock  Raiser  and  Dealer 

Schuyler  Co.,  111..         1830 
Davidson  Co.,  N.  C...  1846 

Wife  of  Wm.  B.  Manlove 

Sect  11 

SchuVler  Co.,  Ill 1856 

Noel   William 

Father  of  C.  C.  Noel 

Lancaster  Co.,  Pa 1834 

Noel,  Anna  (nee  Totten)... 

Sect.  11 

Sect.  6 

Mother  of  C.  C.  Noel 

1834 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Davidson  Co.,  N.  C... 
Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Cecil  Co.,  Md 

1846 

Sect.  6 

1844 

Walker  S  S 

Sect.  5 

1838 

■ 

T,nte  wife  of  S.  S_  Walter  

1837 

Shaftsbury,  Yt 

1838 

Sect.  6 

Bethlehem,  Conn I8SS 

Sect.  15 

Srhnvler  f!o     Til 11841 

Martha  E.Wells 

First  wife  of  George  H.  Wier Adams  Co.,  I1L 1862 

Present  wife  of  Georee  H.  Wier. Rmwn  On.  Til  ;18R7 

Sect.  15 

rieseui,  wue  in  weurfee  xi. 

HICKORY  TOWNSHIP. 


(Gregory,  J.  H Sheldons Grove 

I  Lovina  Shelden Sheldons  Grove 

'  Kelly,  James  M Sheldons  Grove 

Kelly,  Emily 'Sheldons  Grove 

'  Schu'ltz,  H.  C Sheldons  Grove 

Anna  Heidenreich Sheldons  Grove 

I  Thompson,  Wakeman Sheldons  Grove 

Elizabeth  Hooton jDied  M'h  13/51 

Mahala  Hooten IDied  Oct  6,  75 

'Jones,  J.  S IBader 


Pricie  M.  Robertson.. 
'Jones,  William  B.. 
Anna  Gieraan 


Died  Oct.  23,77 

Bader 

Bader 


Sect.  8 (Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  8 [Wife  of  J.  H.  Gregory 

Sect.  17 i  Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  17 iWife  of  James  M.  Kelly 

Sect  9 Farmer,  Stock  Raiser  and  Grocer.  . 

Sect.  9 Wife  of  H.  C.  Schultz 

Sect.  4 !  Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  wife  of  Wakeman  Thompson.. 

Late  wife  of  Wakeman  Thompson.. 

Sect.  7 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  wife  of  J.  S.  Jones 

Sect.  7 [Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser — 

Sect.  7 Wife  of  William  B.  Jones 


.Montgomery  Co.,  Ind. 

.Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 

.Fulton  Co.,  Ill 

.Fulton  Co.,  Ill 

.  Prussia,  Ger 

.'Saxen-Weimer,  Ger... 
.(Washington  Co.,  Pa... 

JCarroll  Co.,  Ohio 1844 

.Carroll  Co.,  Ohio 1844 

JMonroe  Co.,  Ky 1836 

jMcDonough  Co.,  111...  1848 

.'Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 1858 

.Fulton  Co.,  Ill 1860 


1836 
1840 
1857 
1858 
1857 
1857 
1844 


LITTLETON  TOWNSHIP. 


Applegate,  Madison 

Mary  A.  Ross 

Agnew,  David 

Margaret  L.  Tucker. 

Davis,  Hosea 

-  Maria  C.  Marks .' 

S.  Abby  Stevens 

De  Witt,  James 

Ellen  Little 

Dodds,  E.A.,nee  Ainsworth 

Dodds,  Webster 

Ewing,  John 

Elizabeth  Mallernee 

Garrison,  George  F 

Margaret  E.  Peston 

Garrison,  George 

Sarah  Vail 

Garrison,  William  E 

Ellanora  Legg 

Garrison,  Henry  W 

Jemima  A.  Justus 

Harshey,  Amos 

Narcissa  Rebecca  Prather.. 

Homey,  William  J 

Anna  Park 

Horney,  Jane,  nee  Crawford 

Leonidas  Horney 

Kirkham,  George  H 

Ann  E.  Garrison 

Lambert,  William 

Josephine  Rose 

McLain,  Joseph 

Marv  Dodds 

Pollock,  Wm 

Sarah  M.  Walker 

{Runkle,  James  I 
Caroline  Leg:: 
Runkle,  Charles  W 
Emma  E.  Legg 


Littleton... 

Littleton... 

Littleton... 

Littleton... 

Littleton... 

Died  Sep.  23/56 

Littleton... 

Littleton... 

Died  Ap'l  19/81 

Doddsville 

Died^Tune  5/81 

Littleton... 

Died  Dec.  10/73 

Littleton 

Littleton 

Rushville 

Rushville 

Rushville 

Rushville 

Littleton 

Littleton 

Doddsville 

Doddsville 

Littleton 

Littleton 

Littleton 

Died  May  16/63 

Rushville 

Rushville 

Littleton 

Littleton 

Industry 

Industry 

Doddsville 

Doddsville 

Doddsville 

Doddsville 

Doddsville 

Doddsville 


Sect  27... 
Sect.  27... 
Littleton. 
Littleton. 
Sect.  15... 


Sect.  15.. 
Sect.  22.. 


Doddsville . 

Sect's!!".!".! 


Sect  23.. 
Sect.  23.. 
Sect.  26.. 
Sect  26.. 
Sect  25.. 
Sect  25.. 
Sect.  23.. 
Sect.  23.. 
Sect.  8... 
Sect.  8... 
Sect.  29.. 
Sect.  29.. 
Sect.  20.. 


Sect.  35.. 
Sect.  35.. 
Sect.  22.. 
Sect.  22.. 
Sect.  2... 
Sect  2... 
Sect  5... 
Sect.  5... 
Sect  4... 
Sect.  4... 

Sect  4... 
Sect.  4... 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 'Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Wife  of  Madison  Applegate Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Hotel,  Boot  and  Shoe  Maker,  and  P.  M jErie  Co.,  Pa 

Wife  of  David  Agnew Spencer  Co.,  Ind 

Physician  and  Surgeon I  Worcester  Co.,  Mass.. 

First  wife  of  Hosea  Davis [Burlington,  Conn 

Present  wife  of  Hosea  Davis Petersham,  Mass 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Warren  Co.,  N.  J 

Late  wife  of  James  DeWitt [Lancaster  Co.,  Pa 

Farming  and  Stock  Raising Sangamon  Co.,  Ill 

Late  husband  of  Emily  A.  Dodds [Dayton,  Ohio 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser [Jefferson  Co.,  Ohio.... 

Wife  of  John  Ewing [Jefferson  Co.,  Ohio.... 


Butler  Co.,  Ohio- 
Tom  pkins  Co.,  N.  Y... 

Butler  Co.,  Ohio 

Butler  Co.,  Ohio 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Loudon  Co.,  Va 

Butler  Co.,  Ohio 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 
Wife  of  George  F.  Garrison.. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  George  Garrison 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  William  E.  Garrison 
Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser..... 
Wife  of  Henry  W.  Garrison.. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser I  Westmoreland  Co.,  Pa. 

Wife  of  Amos  Harshey 'Jefferson  Co.,  Ohio 

Farmer,  Stock  Raiser  and  County  Surveyor,  Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 

Wife  of  Wm.  J.  Horney Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Farming  and  Stock  Raiser [Breckenridge  Co.,  Ky. 

Late  husband  of  Jane  Horney Guilford  Co.,  N.  C 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser.....' Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 

Wife  of  George  H.  Kirkham Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser. Washington  Co.,  Kv... 

Wife  of  Wm.  Lambert Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Montgomery  Co.,  Ohio 

Wife  of  Joseph  McLain Montgomery  Co.,  Ohio 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser. Dearborn  Co.,  Ind 

Wife  of  Wm.  Pollock Adams  Co.,  Pa 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser McDonough  Co.,  111... 

Wife  ofJarr.es  I.  Runkle Schuyler  Co..  Ill 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser McDonough  Co.,  111... 

Wife  of  Charles  W.  Runkle Schuyler  Co.,  Ill , 


1838 
1839 
1848 
1843 
1850 
1853 
I860 
1839 
1837 
1847 
11844 
'1853 
11853 
1847 
1852 
1833 
1833 
1851 
1871 
1847 
1839 
1858 
1851 
1849 
1848 
1833 
1825 
1841 
1846 
1836 
1833 
1846 
1843 
1X49 
1840 
1*77 
1MI> 
1880 
1849 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


381 


LITTLETON  TOWNSHIP.-wntinued. 


NAME 


Runkle,  Joseph  C..'. 

Susan  Little „ 

Snyder,  Joseph  W 

Amanda  B.  Finch 

Snyder,  John  F 

Harriet  F.  Park....! 

Brunett  Spragg 

Wells,  Ranslaer 

Rebecca  Jane  Rose 

Walker,  Joseph 

Sarah  T.  Snyder 

Walker,  John  S 

Elizabeth  Huckelby 

Walker,  Charles  W 

Walker,  Andrew 

Walker,  Ann  (nee  Wilson) 

Wyckoff,  Samuel  D 

Margaret  A.  High  tower.... 

Weaver,  David 

Wood,  Melvina  J 

Ida  I.  Enfield 


POST  OFFICE. 


RESIDENCE. 


Littleton |Sect.  35., 

Sect.  15., 
Sect.  28.. 
Sect.  28. 
Sect.  21.. 


Died  Sep.  24/79 
Littleton... 


Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


Died  Sep. —,'43 
Died  Oct.  —,'70 
Littleton 


Died  Oct.  30,75 
Littleton 


21.. 
25., 
25., 
17.. 
17.. 
17.. 
17., 
20. 


Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


80. 
80. 
19. 


Sect.  19. 


OCCUPATION. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Joseph  C.  Runkle 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Joseph  W.  Snyder 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  Wife  of  John  F.  Snyder 

Present  Wife  of  John  F.  Snyder. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Ranslaer  Wells 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser , 

Wife  of  Joseph  Walker 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  John  S.  Walker 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Father  of  Charles  W.  Walker 

Mother  of  Charles  W.  Walker.... 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Samuel  D.  Wyckoff. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser , 

First  Wife  of  David  Weaver 

Present  Wife  of  David  Weaver.... 


NATIVITY. 


McDonough  Co.,  111... 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Virginia 

Prince  Wm.  Co.,  Va... 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Lewis  Co.,  Ky 

Lawrence  Co.,  Ohio... 

Sangamon  Co.,  Ill 

Adams  Co.,  Pa 

|Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

'Adams  Co.,  Pa 

JBreckenridge  Co.,Ky. 

Adams  Co.,  Pa 

■Adams  Co.,  Pa 

■Adams  Co.,  Pa 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Illinois 

St.  Louis,  Mo 


WHEN 
CAM! 
TO  CO. 

1869 

1853 
1856 
1855 
1849 
1852 
1862 
1837 
1832 
1840 
1831 
1840 
1836 
1840 
1840 
1840 
1835 
1840 
1854 
1872 
1860 


BROWNING  TOWNSHIP 


(Bollman,  W.  C 

{Amanda  I.Preston 

Blankenship,  J.  S 

Bader,  William 

Mary  A.  Hunt 

Bates,  W.  J 

Matilda  A.  Reno 

Campbell,  J.  P 

Sarah  Garrison 

'Fowler,  G.  W 

Julia  P.  Hunter 

Hoi  lings  worth,  Abram. 

Amanda  Lancaster 

Hagans,  Z.  T 

Laura  A.  Bates 

Ivins,  Daniel 

Sarah  Fowler. 

'Justus,  M.  L 

Martha  Stepp 

f  Lancaster,  Thomas  T... 

(Elizabeth  Jackson 

(Perkins,  H.  P 

<  Rosa  Wisdom 

|  Maria  Wisdom 

Powell,  William 

Martha  Barron 

Reno,  William  C 

Rebecca  A.  Wallace...., 
1  Royer,  Peter 

Elizabeth  Keller 

f  Robertson,  Joel 

(  Lydia  Walton 

Robertson,  George 

{Ventres,  Asa 
Mary  W.  Dixon 

(Ventres,  Henry ., 
Elizabeth  Jones 


Browning. 


Bader 

Browning. 


Bader 

Died  Jan.  31,'80 
Browning 


Bader 

DiedAug.23,'66 

Iirowning 

DiedMar.20,'77 

Browning 

Bader 


Browning . 


Bader. 


Sect.  28.... 
Sect.  28.... 
Browning. 


Sect.  22. 
Sect.  22. 
Sect.  11. 


Browning. 

II 

Sect.  10...., 


Sect.  21. 


Browning . 

H 

Bader 

Browning . 


Sect.  21... 

Sect.  2 , 

Sect.  2 

Browning . 


G.  Prairie,  Dal.  CO.,  Tex. 

Bader 


Sect.  10 

Sect.  10 

Sect.  16 

Sect.  16 

O.  Prairie,  Dal.  Co.,  Tax. 

Sect.  3 

Sect.  3 

Sect.  3 

Sect.  3 


Hotel  Keeper  and  Grocer 

Wife  of  W.  C.  Bollman 

Physician  and  Surgeon 

Fanner  and  Merchant 

Wife  of  William  Bader 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  W.  J.  Bates 

Hotel  Keeper  and  Carpenter 

Wife  of  J.  P.  Campbell 

General  Merchant 

Wife  of  G.  W.  Fowler 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Abram  Hollingsworth 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser , 

Wife  of  Z.  T.  Hagans , 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  Wife  of  Daniel  Ivins 

Prop.  Browning  Mills 

Wife  of  M.  L.  Justus 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  Wife  of  Thomas  T.  Lancaster. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  Wife  of  H.  P.  Perkins 

Present  Wife  of  H.  P.  Perkins 

Phvsician  and  Surgeon 

Wife  of  William  Powell 

Farmer.    Member  of  Legislature.... 

Wifeof  William  C.  Reno 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser ■. 

Wife  of  Peter  Royer 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Joel  Robertson 

Farmer 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Asa  Ventres 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Henry  Ventres 


Pike!  Co.,  Ill 

Washington  Co.,  O.... 

Jefferson  Co.,  Ind 

Preble  Co.,  Ohio 

Randolph  Co.,  Ind 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Fulton  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Fulton  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

McDonough  Co.,  111... 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Burlingtan  Co.,  N.  J.. 

Preble  Co.,  Ohio 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Tenn 

Tenn 

Cumb.  Co.,  Tenn 

Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Tuscarawas  Co.,  Ohio. 

Hardin  Co.,  Ky 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Carroll  Co.,  Md 

York  Co.,  Pa 

Schuyler  Co,,  111 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

St.  Clair  Co.,  Ill 

Jackson  Co.,  Tenn 

Smyth  Co.,  Tenn 

Monroe  Co.,  Ky 


1859 
1849 
1864 
1857 
1857 
1846 
1846 
1845 
1848 
1848 
1854 
1853 
1842 
1871 
1858 
1850 
1850 
1831 
1857 
1828 
1830 
1844 
1846 
1846 
1840 
1338 
1838 
1841 
1853 
1853 
1844 
1846 

1850 
1850 
1834 
1834 


CAMDEN  TOWNSHIP. 


f  Agans,  Stephen  EL 
(  Louisa  C.  Eifert 

1  Avery,  Philander... 
Elizabeth  Meeks 
Avery,  James 
Martha  Dixon 

(  Black,  William  H... 

(  Bovle,  Rachel 

f  Collins,  Thomas  E.. 

J  Frances  J.  Clark 

I  Collins,  Willie  C... 
I  Agnes  A.  Dunlavv.. 


Irwin. 


Wayland . 


Sect.  26....: Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  26 Wife  of  Stephen  H.  Agans 

Sect.  26 Farmer  and  Township  Supervisor.. 

Sect.  26 Wife  of  Philander  Avery 

Sect.  27 Son  of  Philander  Avery 

Sect.  27 IWife  of  James  Avery.. 

Sect.  13 

Sect.  13 

Sect.  10 

Sect.  10...., 

Sect.  10 

Sect.  10 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  William  H.  Black... 
Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser.... 
Wife  of  Thomas  E.  Collins. 
Son  of  Thomas  E.  Collins.... 
Wife  of  Willie  O.  Collins 


Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

New  Orleans,  La 

Franklin  Co.,  Ohio.... 

Stokes  Co.,  N.  C 

Hancock  Co.,  Ill .-. 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Geauga  Co.,  Ohio 

Chittenden  Co.,  Vt.... 

Mason  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 


1856 
1861 
1836 
1851 
1851 
1870 
1851 
1854 
1859 
1859 
1852 
1860 


382 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,  ILLINOIS. 


CAMDEN  TOWNSHIP.-™^""™ 


SAME. 


'  Corrie,  Adam  S 

Jerusha  P.  Bristol 

Dunlavv,  Amanda ~ 

Dunlavv,  James ..'. 

Dunlavv,  Lueretia 

(  DeCounter,  Fred.  S. 

<  Dotha  J.  Seholl 

j  Catherine  Roonev 

j  Dunlavv.  \\\  A  .' 

\  Ethe  Gabriel 

)  Fetch,  Wm 
Elizabeth  M.  Lawson 

i  Forkum,  John 
Forkum,  Allan 
Forkum,  E*'r,  nee  Kerseey 
_  Jones,  Joseph  V 

(  Lydia  A.  Mason 

(  Loop.  John  H 

Perlina  Price 

McHatton,  R.  G 

Mourning  A.  Watts 

Pickinpaugh,  John 

Rachel  Gragsr... 

Mary  J.  Rodgers .-. 

(  Points,  John  A 

■<  Mary  A.  Weightman 

1  Paulina  Brown 

{Rigg,  James  K 
Emily  J.  Wafts 

Rigg,  Frank  M 


POST  OFFICE. 


RESIDENCE. 


OCCUPATION. 


NATIVITY. 


WHE* 
CAVE 


Wavland Sect.  1 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Wabash  Co  ,  111 1835 

Died  Julv  3,72 Late  wife  of  Adam  S.  Corrie Niagara  Co..  N.  Y 1843 

Wayland' Sect.  9 School  Teacher Schuyler  Co.,  D.1 

Died  Jan.  18,'69 Father  of  Amanda  Dunlavv Tuscarawas  Co.,  Ohi< 

Wavland Sect,  9 Mother  of  Amanda  Dunlavv Tuscirawas  Co.,  Ohi' 

Wavland Sect.  9 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser....' Brown  Co.,  Ill I860 

Died  Nov.  6,73 First  wife  of  Fred.  S.  DeCounter Pike  Co.,  Ill 1872 

1 878 
1857 
1879 
1851 


Wayland Sect.  9 Present  wife  of  Fred.  S.  DeCounter McDonough  Co.,  111... 

Wavland Sect  9 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Harrison  Co.,  Ohio.... 

Wayland Sect.  9 Wife  of  W.  A.  Dunlavv Adams  Co.,  Ill 

Camden Sect.  17 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser X.  Hamptonshire,  Eng 

Camden Sect.  17 Wife  of  Wm.  Fetch X.  Hampton*hire,  Ei. 

Camden Sect.  2 Farmer  and  Saw  Mill  Fireman Sussex  Co.,  Del 

Died  Jan.  26,73 Father  of  John  Forkum Delaware 

Died  in  Sussex  Co.,  Del.,  1828..  Mother  of  John  Forkum Delaware 

Camden Sect.  8 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Madison  Co.,  Ind U866 

Sect.  8 Wife  of  Joseph  V.  Jones Morgan  Co.,  Ohio 1866 

Sect.  6 Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser Vermillion  Co.,  Ind...  1849 

Sect.  6 .'.  Wife  of  John  H.  Loop Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 1839 

Camden Wagon,  Plow  Mfrs.  and  Gen'l  Blacksmithing  Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 1S36 

Camden Wife  of  R.  G.  McHatton Madison  Co.,  Ky 1858 

Sect  4 Farmer  and  Lumber  Manufacturer Morgan  Co.,  Ohio 

Died  Oct  14,'23 First  wife  of  John  Pickinpaugh Morgan  Co.,  Ohi*....       - 


Camden Sect.  4 Present  wife  of  John  Pickinpaugh Jefferson  Co.,  Va-. 

Camden Sect  20 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Grant  Co.,  Ky 

Died  Sep. — ,'53 First  wife  of  John  A.  Point- Indiana. 

Camden Sect.  20 Present  wife  of  John  A.  Points Schuyler  Co.,  El... 

"        Camden General  Merchandising Shelby  Co.,  Ky.... 

"        Camden Wife  of  James  X.  Rigg ~ Madison  Co..  Ky... 

"        Camden General  Merchandising. Brown  Co.,  Ill 


1880 

1834 
1846 
1S33 
1S69 
1868 
1868 


BUENA  VISTA   TOWNSHIP. 


f  Dunlap,  Adams 

•  Su^in  ML  Hanlev 

( Cyntha  Carter..." 

(  Eifert.  George 

1  Sarah  M.  Hale 

j  Eifert,  Charles  W 

(Mead,  Richard  H 

-  Mary  J.  Burmood 

j  Emma  M.  Cady 

{Pearson,  Barnett 
Lueinda  Finch 

i  Snyder,  John  W 
Cyntha  Blaekley 

("Sweeney,  Martin 

1  Sweeney,  Michael— 

j  Sweeney,  Mar'et,  nee  Gavin 

(Scripps,  Fred.  T 

i  Scripps,  James  M 

I  Scripps,  Jul.  A.,  neeOsborn 

|  Turner,  Allen  R 

<  Isabella  A.  Sparks..  .: 

)  Warrington,  George  M 
Mary  E.  Snyder ; 

(Young,  John  A 

-  Man-  L.  Clark 

(  Elizabeth  DeWitt 


Rushville Sect. 

Died  Jlv  14.34 

Died  Dec.  15,73 

Rushville Sect 

Sect 

Sect 

"  ...Sect 

Died  Jan.  18,'56  "...... 

Rushville Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect 

Sect 

Sect 

"  Sect 

«  Sect 

Sect 

Sect 

Died  May  12,73 

Rushville........  Sect. 

Sect 

Sect 

Sect. 

Sect 

"  Sect 

Died  Mav  14,78 

Rushville Sect. 


^ 


....  Retired  Farmer Mercer  Co.,  Pa 

....  First  wife  of  Adams  Dunlap Fauquier  Co.,  Va. 

Late  wife  of  Adams  Dunlap Tenn 

19 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser. Preble  Co.,  Ohio... 

19. Wife  of  George  Eifert Schuyler  Co.,  111... 

19 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Schuyler  Co.,  111... 

26 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Henry  Co..  Ky 

First  wife  of  Richard  H  Mead Perm 

26 Present  wife  of  Richard  H.  Mead Oswego  Co..  N.  Y 

17 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Prince  William  Co.,  Va 

17 Wife  of  Barnett  Pearson Fauquier  Co.,  Va. 

20 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser. Frederick  Co.,  Va 

20. 'Wife  of  John  W.Snyder Tenn 

31 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser , Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

31 Father  of  Martin  Sweeney Ireland 

31 Mother  of  Martin  Sweeney Ireland 

36 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser. Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 

Father  of  F.  T.  Scripps England 

36 Mother  of  F.  T.  Scripps St.  Lawrence  Co..  X.  Y 

11 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser. Schuvler  Co.,  111..'. 

11 Wife  of  AUen  R.  Turner 

20„ Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

20 Wife  of  George  M.  Warrington 

21 Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  wife  of  J.  A.  Young 

21 Present  wife  of  J.  A.  Young 


1831 
1832 
1834 

I-.-..; 

1858 
1861 
1-44 
1846 
1-41 

1859 

1859 
1835 
1840 
1859 
1849 
1855 
1851 
1<44 
1886 

1888 

1831 
1851 
I  SSfj 
1881 
1847 
1866 


OAKLAND  TOWNSHIP. 


1873 
1873 

i  Bsa 

1842 
1845 

Co.,  Ill 1836 

(Bauer,  Charles Rushville Sect.  19 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Germanv 1848 

',  Susanna  Stanbach... Rushville Sect.  19 Wife  of  Charles  Bauer York  Co.,  Pa 1849 

j  Daugherty.  James Littleton Sect.  18 Farmer  and  "Stock  Raiser Hardin  Co.,  Ky 1843 

i  Julia  A.  McKee Littleton Sect.  18 Wife  of  James  Daugherty Sangamon  Co.,  Ill 

(Hill,  Israel Vermont Beet  1 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Perrv  Co.,  Ind 

j  Louisanna  Pemberton Vermont Sect.  1 Wife  of  Israel  Hill Knox  Co..  Kv 1836 


f  Barnes,  R.  M Rav Rav Phvsician  and  Surgeon Park  Co.,  Ind 

I  Susan  Halbert ""  Rav Wife  of  R.  M.  Barnes Hancock  Co.,  Ind.. 

I  Baxter,  William  H "    Ray Druggist  and  Postmaster Brook  Co..  W.  Va.. 

I  Sarah  McMillen "    Ra"v Wife  of  Wm.  H.  Baxter Schuvler  Co.,  111.... 

[  Baxter.  John  H ■     Sect  28 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Brook  Co.,  W.  Va. 

Man-  E.  Bell "     Sect  28 Wife  of  John  H.  Baxter.. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


383 


OAKLAND  TO  WNSHIP.-  continued. 


NAME. 


Lovell,  AVilliam 

Elizabeth  Barver 

Besther  Mathenev 

Nail,  Elizabeth  (nee  Chick) 

"  Nail,  Charles  H...... 

Pittenger,  John 

Mary  Allnian 

Pittenger,  Nicholas  T 

Pittenger,  Samuel 

Pittingcr,  Winilercnee  Ronem) 

Pemberton,  Henry  C 

Peraberton,  Thomas 

Deborah  Moore 

Schroder,  Samuel 

Smith,  Libbie 

Sullivan,  J.  A 

Henrietta  Kemper 

Thompson,  Isaiah  D 

Thompson,  William  T 

Thompson,  Elizbll  [nee  Dennis] 


POST  OFFICE. 


Vermont 

Died  Jan.  C,  '49 

Vermont 

Rushville 

Died  Mar.  8,  '81 

Vermont 

Died  Oct.  12, 55 

Bay 

Died  Feb.  15,'82 
Died  Feb.  8,  '82 

Vermont 

Died  Dec.31,'70 
Died  Jun. — ,'73 
Vermont 


RESIDENCE. 


Sect.  2. 


Sect, 
Sect. 


2... 
29. 


Sect.  12.. 


OCCUPATION. 


Ray. 


Died  Apr.  15, '80 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  Wife  of  William  Lovell 

Present  Wife  of  William  Lovell.. 

Farming  and  Stock  Raising 

Late  Husband  of  Elizabeth  Nail.. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  Wife  of  John  Pittenger 

Sect.  23 [Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

iFatherof  Nicholas  T.  Pittenger.. 

Mother  of  Nicholas  T.  Pittenger.. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Father  of  Henry  C.  Pemberton.... 

Mother  of  Henry  C.  Pemberton... 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Samuel  Schroder 

Blacksmith 

Wife  of  J.  A.  Sullivan 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Father  of  Isaiah  D.  Thompson..... 

Mother  of  Isaiah  D.  Thompson.... 


NATIVITY. 


Sect.  11. 


Sect.  1... 
Sect.  1... 

Ray 

Ray 

Sect.  34., 
Sect.  34.. 


Monong'la  Co.,  W.  Va. 
Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio... 
Washington  Co.,  Pa... 

Rush  Co.,  Ind 

Woodford  Co.,  Ky 

Brook  Co.,  W.  Va 

Morrow  Co.,  Ohio 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Knox  Co.,  W.  Va 

Indiana 

Knox  Co.,  Ky 

Sullivan  Co.,  Tenn 

Knox  Co.,  Ky 

McDonough,  Co.,  111., 

Fulton  Co.,  Ill 

McDonough  Co.,  111.., 

Cass  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

New  York 

Ohio 


WBBH 

CAME 
TOCO. 

1840 
1840 
1835 
1836 
1836 
1837 
1849 
1857 
1837 
1837 
1836 
1836 
1836 
1864 
1877 
1874 
1877 
1841 
1833 
1833 


BROOKLYN  TOWNSHIP. 


Brooklyn 

Died  Oct.  29/61 
Died  Oct.  30,74 

Jamestown,  Dakota  Ter. 

Littleton 


Died  Aug.  8,  '69 
Brooklyn 


Died  Jul.  22,'54 
Brooklyn.. 


f  Blackburn,  R.  S 

■I  M.  A.  Compton 

(T.  C.  Harmon 

Collins,  Thomas  S 

(  Folev,  Henry  H , 

\  Foley,  Thomas  G 

I  Foley  Elizabeth  D 

)  Glandon,  John 
Delila  Banister 

(  Homey,  Cyrus 

<  Ann  Eliza  Hays 

I  Meriba  J.  Abercrombie 

f  King,  Charles  D 

-  Jane  McKee 

I  I'lube  E.  Lewis 'Brooklyn 

(  Pregson,  Edwin  W Wayland 

I  Benham  Bristol 

I  Martha  Bristol 

f  Sparks.  B.W 

j  Sarah  L.  Smith 

(  Sparks,  L.  C 

|  Manzclla  Brown 

j  Taylor,  II.  W 

\  Cornelia  Manlove 

|  White,   William  P.... 
I  Harriet  J.  Glandon... 


Brooklyn. 


Jamestown,  Dakota  Ter 

Sect.  25 

Sect.  25 1 


Sect. 

16 

Sect. 

16 

'Sect. 

12.-. 

Sect. 

12 

Merchant  and  P.  M Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio.. 

First  Wife  of  R.  S.  Blackburn iMorgan  Co.,  Ill 

Late  Wife  of  R.  S.  Blackburn 

Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser , 

County  Superintendent  of  Schools.. 

Father  of  Henry  H.  Foley 

Mother  of  Henry  H.  Foley , 

Farmer  and  County  Supervisor 

Wife  of  John  Glandon 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser , 

Pint  Wife  of  Cyrus  Homey. 


Zanesville,  Ohio 

Cook  Co.,  Ill 

Daviess  Co.,  Mo 

Lincoln  Co.,  Ky 

Wayne  Co.,  Ky 

Harrison  Co..  Ohio.... 
Tuscarawas  Co.,  Ohio. 

Guilford  Co.,  N.  C 

Wilson  Co.,  Tenn 


Died  Feb.— ,'62  , 


.  Sect.  19. 


Brooklyn. 


Sect.  19.... 
Sect.  35.... 
Sect.  35.... 
Sect.  35..., 
Sect.  30.... 
Sect.  30..., 
Sect.  30... 
Sect.  30.* 
Brooklyn. 


Sect.  15. 
Sect.  15. 


Present  Wife  of  Cyrus  Homey Shelby  Co.,  Ohio.. 

Farmer  and  School  Director 

First  Wife  of  Charles  D.  King 

Present  Wife  of  Charles  D.  King 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Father,  by  adoption,  of  Edwin  W.  Presson... 
Mother,  by  adoption,  of  Edwin  W.  Presson., 

Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  B.  W.  Sparks 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  L.  C.  Sparks 

Merchant,  Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  H.  W.  Taylor 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  William  P.  White 


Orange  Co.,  N.  Y 

Hartford,  Conn 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Tazewell  Co.,  Ill 

Genesee  Co.,  N.  Y..., 
Franklin  Co.,  Ohio..., 

Franklin  Co.,  Ind 

New  Madrid,  Mo 

Schuyler  Co.,  111.. 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Trumbull  Co.,  Ohio.. 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Harrison  Co.,  Ohio... 
Harrison  Co.,  Ohio... 


1830 
1837 
1856 
1850 
1865 
1865 
1865 
1854 
1854 
1829 
1830 
1856 
1841 
1843 
1842 
1861 
1843 
1830 
1827 

1851 
1855 
1847 
1832 
1866 
1866 


WOODSTOCK  TOWNSHIP. 


iBedenbender,  J.  Henry.... 
Mary  Messersmith 

IBrody .  Eugene 
Lucinda  Abbott 

(  livers,  Henderson 

■;  livers,  Will 

(   IiycTS,    Eleanor,   Inee  Stutsman] 

(  Black,  William  T 

(  Matilda  Matheney 

J  lirown,  Robert 

I  Mary  M.  S.  Hoffman 

j  Griffith,  Joshua 

i  Margaret  Hoffman 

J  Herche,  Henry 

(Mary  Rilker 

(  Hess,  August 

(  Catharine  Herche 

J  Harris,  Nathaniel 

(  Augusta  Jonte 

I  Hermetet,  James  F 

1  Mary  E.  Logsdon 

(  Ingels;  Bartlet  H.,  Sr 

|  Margaret  Allison 


Ripley. 


Rushville 

Died  Feb.24,'62 

Rushville 

Sylva 


Sect. 

Sect. 
Sect. 

Sect. 
Sect. 


23.. 
23. 
26. 
26. 
36. 


Sect.  36  . 
Sect.  10.. 
Sect.  10.. 

Rushville Sect.  10  , 

Sect.  10.. 

"        !Sect.  16.. 

"        'Sect.  16., 

Ripley Sect.  22.. 

"      Sect.  22.. 

"      Sect.  21. 

"      'Scot.  21. 

Rushville ISeet,  25., 

Sect.  25., 

"        Sect.  3... 

"        Sect.  3... 

"        Sect.  12. 

"        Sect,  12. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  J.  Henry  Bedenbeudcr.. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Eugene  Brody 

Fanner  and  Stock  Kaiser 

Father  of  Henderson  Byers 

Mother  of  Henderson  Byers 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  William  T.  Black 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Robert  Brown 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Joshua  Griffith 

Farmer  and  Stock  Btiiscr 

Wife  of  Henry  Herche 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  August  Hess 

Farmer  and  Carpenter 

Wife  of  Nathaniel  Harris 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  James  F.  Hermetet 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Bartlet  II.  Ingels,  Sr 


Nassau,  Germany 

Dillenburg,     "      

Arboyo,  France 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Kentucky 

Indiana 

Dubois  Co.,  Ind 

Morgan  Co.,  Ohio 

Sclmvler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill , 

Tuscarawas  Co.,  Ohio, 
Pickaway  Co.,  Ohio... 

Beaver  Co.,  Pa 

Germany 

Hesse,  Germany , 

Hesse,  Germany , 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co  ,  111 

Fayette  Co.,  Ky 

Muskingum  Co.,  O  ... 


1856 
1866 
1864 
1839 
1861 
1847 
1834 
1825 
1835 
1835 
1845 
1841 
1837 
1849 
1852 
1860 
1849 
1853 
1857 
1844 
1865 
1830 
1840 


384 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER  AND  BROWN   COUNTIES,  ILLINOIS. 


WOODSTOCK   TOWNSHIP.-™"isci». 


NAME. 

POST  OFFICE. 

RESIDENCE. 

H 

tt 

M 

tt 

Sec.  11,  1r.  2w 

\  Elizabeth  Park 

Sec.  11,1r.2w 

f  Kruse,  Franz  Henrv 

1  Hattie  E.  Beard....*. 

Sect.  1 

Sect.  1 

Sect.  28 

(Susan  T.  Houser 

Sect.  28 

(Luthv,  Wm.  R 

Sect  27 

tt 

Rushville 

« 

tt 
H 
tt 

Died  Feb.22,'77 

Sect.  27 

j  Logsdon,  Perry 

Sec.  1,1s.  R.  2  w 

(  Lizzie  Bvers 

Seel,  Is. R.  2w 

|  Long,  Joseph  J 

(  Rosanah  C.  Reddick 

Sect.  29 

Sect  29 

Sec.ll,lsR2w 
Sec.ll,lsR2\v 
Sect.  29 

Sect  29 

Sect.  36 

Sect  36 ^ 

Scott.  Richard  M 

Sect.  2 

J  Lizzie  Harris 

Sect  2 

Sect  2 

{  Scott,  Lizzie  (nee  Scott),... 
(Margaret  E.  Grosclaude... 

Sect  36. 

Sect.  36 

OCCUPATION. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Thomas  J.  Kearby 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Franz  Henry  Kruse.. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  John  P.  Long 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  William  R.  Luthy.... 

'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

.Wife  of  Perry  Logsdon 

'Farmer  and  Miller.. 

jWife  of  Joseph  J.  Long 

I  Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Overton  Park 

I  Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

iMother  of  Isaac  Reiley , 

|  Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

JWife  of  John  S.  Stutsman 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  R.  M.  Scott 

jFather  of  R.  M.  Scott 

Mother  of  R.  M.  Scott 

■Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser 

:Wife  of  James  D.  Thompson. 


NATIVITY. 


Orange  Co.,  Ind 1856 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1850 

Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 1852 

Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 1855 

Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 1843 

Nashville,  Tenn 1860 

Switzerland 1849 

Beaver  Co.,  Pa 1849 

Madison  Co.,  Ky 1865 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 1850 

Crawford  Co.,  Pa 1855 

Crawford  Co.,  Pa J1839 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 11850 

Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 185fl 


WHEN 
CAME 
TO  CO. 


, 'Schuyler  Co.,  111., 

.Indiana 

.Dubois  Co.,  Ind.. 


.Pike  Co.,  Mo 1848 

.Jackson  Co.,  Ky 1857 

.Montgomery  Co'.,  Md..'l831 
.'Montgomery  Co.,  Md.Jl831 


1856 
1838 
1834 


^Crawford  Co.,  Pa.. 
Bussurel,  France.. 


1839 
1833 


HUNTSVHXE  TOWNSHIP. 


Allphin,  Zebulon 

Mary  L.  Calvin 

Allphin,  Reuben 

Allphin,  S.,  nee  Brumback 

Burmood,  Nicholas 

Mary  E.  Nelson 

Amanda  Loop 

Burke,  J.  V 

Burke,  M.  J.,  n.  Shoemaker 

Clark,  H.M 

Lydia  Coffman 

Cady.  Henry 

Emeline  Plunkett 

Cady,  Horace 

Cady,Fkinice 

Creamer,  Philip 

Hulah  Jinnings 

Crain,  William 

Harriet  E.  Tong 

Howk,  B.  D 

Permelia  Wilson 

Marv  Mitchell 

Mead,  R.  H., 

Victorv  Miller 

J  Wood,"Mitchell  C 

Esther  L.  Robison 


Sect.  22.. 
Sect.  22.. 
Sect.  22.. 


Sect.  3., 


Sect  3  .. 
Sect  30.. 


Sect  36. 


Huntsville 

Huntsville 

Huntsville 

Died ,  1852 

Huntsville 

Died  March,'53 

Huntsville 

Elm  Grove 

Died ,  1877 

Camden 

Died  in  Schuvler  Co.,  1860 

Camden Sect  25 

Camden 'Sect  25 

Died  Jan.  10,'5F 

DiedNov.14,'73; 

Huntsville Sect  3 

Huntsville jSect  3.. 

Augusta. Sect.  6 

Augusta Sect  6 

Huntsville Sect  28 

D'd  in  Johnson  Co., Ind.,  Dec'45 

Huntsville Sect.  28 

Forrest  C'y,Ark  Forrest C"y. Ark 
Forrest  C'y, Ark  Forrest  C'y, Ark 

Huntsville  Sect.  3 

Huntsville Sect  3 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Zebulon  Allphin 

Father  of  Zebulon  Allphin 

Mother  of  Zebulon  Allphin 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  wife  of  Nicholas  Burmood 

Present  wife  of  Nicholas  Burmood 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  wife  of  J.  V.  Burke 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  wife  of  H.  M.  Clark 

Farmer,  Stock  Raiser  and  Blacksmith 

wife  of  Henry  Cady 

Father  of  Henry  Cadv 

Mother  of  Henry  Cady 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wiie  of  Philip  Creamer 

Farmer  and  Minister  of  M.  E.  Church 

Wife  of  William  Grain 

Farmer  and  Minister  of  Christian  Church 

First  wife  of  B.  D.  Howk 

Present  wife  of  B.  D.  Howk 

Physician  and  Surgeon 

Wife  of  R.  H.  Mead 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Mitchell  C.  Wood 


Grant  Co.,  Ky 

Ohio 

Kentucky 

Virginia 

Germany 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Russell  Co.,  Va 

Russell  Co.,  Va 

Logan  Co.,  Ky 

Hardin  Co.,  Ky 

New  York 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

New  York 

New  York 

Somerset  Co.,  Pa..... 

Carl  Co.,  Ohio 

Culpeper  Co.,  Va.... 

St.  Genevive,  Mo 

Fayette  Co.,  Ky 

Virginia 

Henry  Co.,  Kv 

Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 

Pike  "Co.,  Ill 

Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 


1835 


1835 
1835 
1845 


1856 
1831 
1831 
1834 
1834 
1840 
1836 
1840 
1840 
1847 
1865 
1834 
1884 
1851 


1851 
1847 


1855 
1855 


PARTIAL    LIST    OF    PATRONS. 


[BROWN   COUNTY.] 


CITY  OF  MOUNT  STERLING. 


NAME. 


IBroekman,  Eugene  C 
Bertha  S.  Littlefield 
Black,  Moses 
Mary  E.  Winslow 

(  Bowers,  William  W 

I  Catharine  Ettinger 

(  Brooks,  M 

-(Sophia  8.  Price 

j  Nancy  A.  Kendrick 

(  Bloomtield,  William 

■j  Hester  Burns : 

|  Sallie  Snodgraaa . 

J  Crane,  Elias  F 

]  Catharine  B.  Priest 

Clifford,  Michael 

f  Curry,  F.  M 

{  Mary  A.  Clements 

(  Curry,  Robert  N 

|  Amanda  M.  Price 

(Curry,  J.  V 

\  Ida  English 

<  Davis,  H.  K 

{  Davis,  Marv 

(  Dunlap,  CM 

)  Helen  McCreery 

(Glass,  J.  B 

I  Clarinda  Yanwev 

(Gray,  William  G 

•I  Lyd'ia  Kellogg 

|  Susan  R.  McNutt 

{Givens,  J.  A 
Maria  J.  Putman 

Henry,  George  N 

(Harper,  John 
Amanda  J.  Means 

(Jennings,  David 

-j  Margaret  Patterson 

I  Rebecca  J.  Logan 

{Lowrie,  James  G 
Caroline  F.  Gale 

j  Lowrv,  A.  K 

<  Sarah  E.  McCartney 

(  Martha  .1.  Means 

Lochcr,  Joseph 

(  Lambert,  M.  J.,  <„„  Bn>c*..i,> 

I  Lambert,  John 

(  Marrctt,  Joseph 

|  Rebecca  Davis 

(  McDannold,  John  J 

(  Cora  Han-is 

f  Moore,  Joseph  .1 

j  Josephine  <  terriab 

( ( )rr,  Prank 

|  Sarah  Rulon 

(Ross,  R.  II 

i  Nancy  Moore 

I  Catharine  Lake , 

I  Kottger,  F.  W 

1  Eugenia  S.  Peters 

(Snodgraas,  R.  B 

|Phebe  H.  Welding 

Simon  Alois 

1  Smith  James  T 
Marinda  C.  Anderson 
Stewart,  A.  P 
Nancy  A.  Harris 

~ 497~ 


POST  OFFICE. 


Mount  Sterling 


Died  Jul.  24/07 
Mount  Sterling  Mount 


RESIDENCE. 


Mount  Sterling 


OCCUPATION. 


Dec'd 

Mount  Sterling  Mount 


Died  Feb.  11, '57 
Mount  Sterling  Mount 


DiedJun.11,'60 
Mount  Sterling 


Mount 


Died  May23,'63 

Mount  Sterling  Mount 


DiedNov.10/70 
Mount  Sterling  Mount 


Died  Jun. 24/80 
Mount  Sterling 
Died  Sent.  1/74 
Mount  Sterling 


Mount 

Mount 


Died  Mar.  1,77 
Mount  Sterling  Mount 

Dec'd I 

Mount  Sterling  Mount 


Died  Jan.22,'81 
Mount  Sterling 


Editor  and  Publisher  Illinois  Message 

Wife  of  Eugene  C.  Brockman 

( 'utility  Surveyor 

Wife  of  Moses  Black 

Physician  and  Surgeon 

Wife  of  William  W.  Bowers 

Deputy  Circuit  Clerk 

First  Wife  of  M.  Brooks 

SterlingjPresent  Wife  of  M.  Brooks 

"        Farmer  and  Stock  Dealer 

First  Wife  of  Win.  Bloomfield 

Sterling  Present  Wife  of  Win.  Bloomfield 

Banker  and  Merchant 

Wife  of  Elias  F.  Crane 

Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Church 

Merchant  and  Dealer  in  Real  Estate 

Wife  of  F.  M.  Curry 

Retired 

Late  Wife  of  Robert  N.  Curry 

SterlingPork  Packer  and  Stock  Dealer 

Wife  of  J.  V.  Curry 

Editor  and  Publisher  Mt.  Sterling  Democrat 

Wife  of  H.  K.  Davis 

Lumber  Dealer 

Wife  of  C.  M.  Dunlap 

Banker 

Wife  of  J.  B.  Glass 

"       Phvsician  and  Surgeon 

First  Wife  of  William  G.  Gray 

Sterling  Present  Wife  of  William  G.  Gray 

Groceries  and  Provisions 

Wife  of  J.  A.  Givens 

Count  v  Clerk 

Sheriff. 

Wife  of  John  Harper '. ; 

"       [Tonsorial  Artist 

'First  Wife  of  David  Jennings 

Sterling  Present  Wife  of  David  Jennings 

"       ;Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church 

"       [Wife  of  James  G.  Lowrie , 

"       Attorney  at  Law 

First  Wife  of  A.  K.  Lowry 

Sterling  Present  Wife  of  A.  K.  Lowrv 

"       ;Rector  of  St.  Joseph's  Church 

"       iProprietress  of  Lambert  House , 

Late  Husband  of  Mary  J.  Lambert 

Sterling  Retired 

I  Former  Wife  of  Joseph  Marrett 

Sterling  Attorney  at  Law  and  Citv  Mayor 

"       Wife  of  John  J.  McDannold 

"       Grain  Dealer 

"       AVife  of  Joseph  J.  Moore 

"       jCireuit  Clerk 

'Late  Wife  of  Frank  Orr 

Sterling  Miller 

First  Wife  of  R.  H.  Ross 

Sterling  Present  Wife  of  R.  H.  Ross 

"  Arpui  W.  St.  I.-  ft  I*.  R.  Ft.  Co.'.  Kxprc.s,  md  Brick  Maker.... 

"      IWife  of  F.  W.  Rottger 

Livery,  Feed  and  Sale  Stable , 

Wife  of  R.  B.  Snodgrass 

Saloon  and  Boarding  House 

Retail  Liquor  Dealer 

I.ate  Wife  of  James  T.  Smith 

Pastor  Christian  Church '. 

Wife  of  A.  P.  Stewart 


NATIVITY. 


Mount  Sterling,  111.. 
ii  « 

Brown  Co.,  Ill '.' 

<<  u 

York  Co.,  Pa.........! 


Jacksonville,  111., 
Brown  Co.,  Ill 


Crawford  Co.,  Pa 

Columbiana  Co.,  Ohio 

Mahaska  Co.,  Iowa 

New  York  City 


Co.  Limerick,  Ireland 

Scott  Co.,  Ky 

Kentucky 

Scott  Co.,  Ky 


Mount  Sterling,  111... 

Missouri 

Winchester,  Va 

Hagerstown,  Md 

Fayette  Co.,  Ky 

Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Pike  Co.,  Ill 

Bourbon  Co.,  Ky 

Dearborn  Co.,  Ind 

Adams  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 


WHSH 

ouu 

TU  CO. 

1851 
1858 
1845 
1853 
1857 
1857 
1863 
1844 
1844 
1856 
1856 
1861 
1846 
1846 
1872 
1830 
1834 
1830 
1831 
1882 
1860 
1874 
1874 
1838 
1S52 
1847 
1864 
1850 
1850 
1869 
1835 
1842 
1845 
1837 
1844 
1838 
1835 
1835 
1876 
1878 
1861 
1861 
1841 
1874 
1841 
1855 
1833 
1833 
1851 
1873 
1S53 

"     "  1867 

Harrison  Co.,  Ohio....  1875 

Brown  Co.,  Ill ^1851 

Kentucky 1889 

1839 

New  York 1833 

Prussia 1865 

Steubenville,Ohio 1865 

Stark  Co.,  Ohio |l863 

Delaware 1863 

Alsace,  Germany 1872 

Green  Co.,  Tenn (1852 

Ohio 1861 

Tyler  Co.,  W.  Va J1877 

Macoupin  Co.,  Ill J1877 

iJ80~~ 


Harrison  Co.,  Ky.... 

Lexington,  Ky 

Adair  Co.,  Ky 

Wellsville,  Ohio 

Galesburg,  111 

Armstrong  Co.,  Pa. 


Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Wurtcml.erg,  Germ'y. 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Ohio 

Maryland 

Pickawav  Co.,  Ohio... 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

McDonoughCo.,111... 
Brown  Co.,  Ill 


386 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


CITY  OF  MOUNT  STERLING.- ^ disced. 


SAME. 


Turner,  C.  B. 

Teefey,  John  J 

Mary  K.  Kenned; 

Tinnen,  Hugh 

Sink  M.  Shugle,   (MM  Viain.)..  . 

Tebo,  George  H , 

Mary  E.  Glenn 

Vandeventer,  Joseph  F,.... 

Lutitia    Givens 

Vandeventer,  W.  L 

Wetzel,  Henry 

Justinia  C.  Ritter 

Wallace,  Thomas  M 

Carrie  A.  Israel 

Weaver,  Mattie  L 

Weaver.  W.  W 

R.  H.  Talbot 


POST  OFFICE. 


RESIDENCE. 


OCCUPATION". 


NATIVITY. 


Died  May  13,79.... 
Mount  Sterling  Mount  ! 


Mount  Sterling  Mount  Sterling  Editor  Publisher  Brown  Co.  Gazette 

Attorney -at-Law  and  States  Attorney 

Wife  of  John  J.  Teefey 

Proprietor  of  Tinnen  House 

Late  Wife  of  Hugh  Tinnen 

Sterling  Physician  and  Surgeon 

Wife  of  George  H.  Tebo 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Joseph  F.  Vandeventer 

Attorney-at-Law 

Shomaker 

Wife  of  Henry  Wetzel 

Proprietor  of  Mt.  Sterling  Marble  Works.. 

Wife  of  Thomas  M.  Wallace 

Teacher 

Father  of  Mattie  L.  Weaver 

Mother         


CAMS 
TO  CO. 


.  Dunkline  Co.,  Mo 1880 

.  Ireland 1850 

.Quincv,  111 1853 

.Logan  Co..  Kv 1830 

.  Tompkins  Co",  N.  Y...  1861 

.Greensburg,  Ind 1838 

.  Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 1857 

.  Highland  Co.,  Ohio...  1832 

.Brown  Co.,  Ill 1837 

.Brown  Co.,  HI 1836 

.Germany 

.  German  v 1864 

.  Mason  Co.,  Ky 18(56 

.  Illinois 1*06 

.  Brown  Co.,  Ill 1863 

.Champaign  Co.,  Ohio..  1850 
.Champaign  Co.,  Ohio..  1850 


MOUNT  STERLING  TOWNSHIP 


Adams,  W.  T Mount  Sterling  Sect.  32 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser.. 

Ann  Eliza  Bubinger "  "       jSect.  32 Wife  of  W.  T.  Adams 

|  Alexander,  J.  H "  "       Beet  2d Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser.. 

.Man -Ann  Jones j       "  "        Sect.  20 Wife  of  J.  H.  Alexander.. 

Baxter.  W.  W Hersman 'Hereman Pbvsician  and  Surgeon 

Sarah  E.  Hersman "         \       "        Wife  of  W.  W.   Baxter 

'  Briggs,  John  H Mount  Sterling  Sect  31 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser., 

Lizzie  Wilson 

Brandenburg,  Eli. 

Baxter,  William  B.. 


Sect  31 Wife  of  John  H.  Briggs 

"  "      ISect  20 Fanner  and  Stock   Raiser 

Hersman Sect.  34 Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser 

Judith  J.  Means Died  Jan.  1,  '40 First  Wife  of  William  B.  Baxter 

Susan  A.  Parker Hersman Sect.  34 Present  Wife  of  William  B.  Baxter., 

Curry,  James  M Mount  Sterling  Sect.  16 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

IllhiOB  Winchel j    "  "         Sect.  16 :...  Wife  of  James  M.  Curry 

Frv,  G.  W Hersman Sect.  22 Farmer  and    Stock  Raiser 

Margaret  Vandeventer Died  Mar  29,'S0| Late  Wife  ofO.  W.  Fry 

Fry,  Jefferson Hersman Sect.  27 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Abbie  Baxter "  iSect  27 Wife  of  Jefferson   Fry 

Frv,  John  Q Mount  SterlinglSect  23 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Matilda  Putman !      "  "       Sect.  23 Wife  of  John  Q.  Fry 

Gordlev,  Edward  A "  "       Sect.  14. Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Ann  Maria  Hickox I       "  "       Sect  14. Wife  of  Edward  A.  Gordlev 

Gruetter,  William Hersman Quincy,  111 Miller. 


Gruetter,  George Quincy,  111 

Elizabeth   Tribbe j       " 

Grover,  Joseph  B Hersman 

Elizabeth  J.  Johnson 

Hersman,  George , 

Rebecca  Ann  Knox... 

Hersman,  Jacob I 

S.  A.  Craig Died  Sep  21,71 

Nancy  Elkin Hersman 

Hense,  William j       "         

Agnes  Milliron. 
Harper,  Joseph 
Sarah  Simmons. 

Hersman,  G.  J "         Hersman... 

Hersman,  Jacob 

Hersman,S.A.(NeeCraig)..Died  Sept— .'71  

Howes,  P.  A Mount  Sterling  Seet  12. 

Jane  McCormick Died  Juh-23,'76 

Hense,  Frank Mount  Sterling  Sect.  29. 

(intrude  Homberg Died  Jan.  9,  '80 

Honefenger,  Herman  R....  Versailles Beet 


Father  of  William  Gruetter 

" Mother  of  William  Gruetter 

Sect  26 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser. 

Sect.  26 Wife  of  Joseph  B.  Grover 

Sect.  27 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser  and  Packer.. 

Sect.  27 jWifeofGeorge  Hersman 

Hersman Farmer  and  Merchant , 

First  Wife  of  Jacob  Hersman 

Hersman Present  Wife  of  Jacob  Hersman 

Miller 

"         I  Wife  of  William  Hense 

Sect  2-"> Farmer  and   Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  25 Wife  of  Joseph  Harper.. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Father  of  G.  J.  Hersman 

Mother  of  G.  J.  Hersman 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  Wife  of  P.  A.  Howes 

Farmer  and  Miller 

Late  Wife  of  Frank  Hense 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Hermann   R.  Honefenger*.., 
Minister  of  Regular  Baptist  Church.. 


36 

Elizabeth  McCoy I     "  Sect  86 

Harper,  James Hersman Sect.  2» 

M-ihala  Grover Died  Feb  11, '54 First  Wife  of  James  Harper. 

Matilda  Taylor Hersman Sect.  25 Present  Wife  of  James  Harper 

Jones,  Thomas Mount  Sterling  Sect.  13 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Jane  Preece Died  Mar27.'71 First  Wife  of  Thomas  Jones... 

Nancy  M.  Gillenwaters Mount  Sterling  Sect.  13 Present  Wife  of  Thomas  Jones 

Owens,  D.  W Hersman Hersman Phvsifian  and  Surgeon 

NannieBoggs ;       "        '      "        Wife  of  D.  \Y.  Owens 


'Logan  Co.,  Ky 1833 

Martinsburg,  Va J1852 

jTennessce 1832 

Kentucky J1849 

Boston,  Mass 1^'7 

Fayette  Co,  Ky 1854 

Brown  Co.,  111". 1849 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1853 

Huntingdon  Co.,  Ind.   1864 

Francestown,  N.  H 1871 

Canada — — 

Hillsboro,  N.  H 1871 

Mercer  Co.,  Ky 1835 

Schuyler  Co.,111 1?65 

Harrison  Co,  Ky 1836 

Virginia 

Brown  Co.,  Ill '1853 

Pike  Co,  111 1868 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1643 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1846 

Lexington,  Kv 1837 

Geauga  Co.,  Ohio 1856 

jSt  Louis,  Mo 1882 

Germany 

Germany 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1847 

.  Sangamon  Co.,  Ill 

.Harrison  Co,,  Kv 1834 

Henry  Co.,  Kv..." 1838 

'Bouibon  Co.,  Ky 1834 

Harrison  Co.,  Ky 

'Vermont 1868 

jAdams  Co.,111 1K>36 

Butler  Co.,  Pa. 1864 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1840 

Adams  Co.,  Ohio 1S50 

Brown  Co,  111 1853 

BouibonCo..  Kv 1834 

Harrison  Co.,  Kv 1834 

Franklin  Mass...." 1830 

Fayette  Co.  Pa 1832 

Germany 1866 

Germany 1866 

Hanover,  Germany*;...  1869 

.  Adams  Co.,  Ohio 

Lewis  Co.,  Kv 1835 

Mason  Co.,   Kv 1835 

Smythe  Co.,  Tcnn 1855 

Herefordshire,  Eng... 
.'Herefordshire,  Eng....  1851 

Schuyler,  Co.,  Ill 

Lewis  Co.,  Kv 

Lewis  Co.,  Ky 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


387 


MOUNT  STERLING  TOWNSHIP.- continued 


NAME. 


POST  OFFICE. 


Hersman. 


Mount  Sterling 


DiedJun.  22,71 


(Orr,  Arthur 

I  Mary  Martin 

J  Putman,  A.  B 

<  Putman,  John 

|  Sophia  Weaver 

(Rouse,  T.J 

|  Isabella  M.  Larkin 

Ritchey,  Robet  S 

J  Lydia  Cotfman 

]  Ritehey,  James 

(Ritchey,  Eliza  A.,  {neeMoKeam  Mount  Sterling 

iSix,  Daniel... 
Ann  Quinn 
Tavlor,  Ca)>t.  William 
Harriet  P.  Curry 

f  Taylor,  George  A 

j  Frances  E.  Hamilton.. 

Wilson,  George  W 

Wilson,  F.M". 

Wheat,  L.  B 

Wheat,  M.  A 

Keifer,  W 

(  Keifer,  Frederick 

{  Kattio  Herman 

t  Kendriek,  Stout 

I  Elizabeth  E.  Wilson... 

I  Larkin,  Abel 

\Adalino  L.  Iladlcy Died  Mar.8, '81 

I  Montgomery,  John Hersman 

X  America,  Hersman 

f  Means,  George  W 

X  Remetha  Hersman 

f  .Means,  John  R TMount  Sterling 

\  Isabel  Hersman i      "  " 

/  McCabe.  Joseph "  " 

I  Mary  E.  Fry !      " 

(  McCoy- ,  G.  W Hersman 

Died  Nov.  2, '68 

Hersman 

Mount  Sterling 


LeavenYv'th,  Ks 
u  u 

Mount  Sterling 


RESIDENCE. 


4  Sarah  Harper. 

I  Lucinda  Harper 

f  McGovern,  Lorenzo 

I  Lucy  Means 

I  McCoy,  Patrick 

X  Ann  E.  Bowe 

f  Nighswonger,  A.  J 

\  Mollie  A.  Hums 

(  Xewby,  Phcbe,  (nee  Jones) 
I  NeYvby,  Thomas  W 


M 

i. 

a 

tt 

Versailles- 

U 

Mount  Sterling 
Died  Feb.  22,79 


Sect.  33 

Sect.  33.... 

Sect.  8 

Sect.  8 

Sect.  8 

Sect.  30.... 
Sect.  30.... 

Sect.  18 

Sect.  18.... 

Mount  Sterling 
Sect.  16 

Sect.  16 

Sect.  20 

Sect.  20 

Sect.  20 

Sect.  20 

Sect.  32 

Sect.  32 

LeavenYv'th,  Ks 
it  a 

Sect.  29 

Sect.  29 

Sect.  29 

Sect.  30 

Beet  30 

Sect.  16 

Hersman... 

Sect.  27.."! 

Sect.  27 

Sect.  6 

Sect.  6 

Sect.  21 

Sect.  21 

Sect.  34.... 

Sect  84.." 

Sect.  6 

Sect.  6 

Sect.  6 

Sect.  6 

Sect.  36.... 

Sect.  36 

Sect.  10.... 


OCCUPATION. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser.. 

Wife  of  Arthur  Orr 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser., 
Father  of  A.  B.  Putman.. 


NATIVITY. 


Belfast,  Ireland. 
Brown  Co.,  111... 


Mason  Co.,  Kv... 
Mother  of  A.  B.  Putman ;Clark  Co.,  Ohio. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser.. 

Wife  of  T.  J.  Rouse 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Roberts.  Ritchey 

Father  of  Roberts.  Ritchey 

Mother  of  Robert  S.  Ritchey 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Daniel  Six 

Farmer,  Stock  Raiser  and  Brick  Mason. 

Wile  of  William  Taylor 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser , 

Wife  of  George  E.  Taylor , 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser..... 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Attornev-at-LaYV , 

Wife  of'L.  B.  Wheat 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser , 

Father  of  W.  Keifer 

Mother  of  W.  Keifer , 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser..". 

Wife  of  Stout  Kendrick , 

Farmer 

Late  Wife  of  Abel  Larkin 

I  leneral  Merchandise 

Wife  of  John  Montgomery , 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  George  W.  Means 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  John  R.  Means 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Joseph  McCabe 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  Wife  of  G.  W.  McCoy..... 

Present  Wife  of  G.  W.  McCoy 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Lorenzo  McGovern 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Patrick  McCoy 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  A.  J.  Nighswonger 

Farming  and  Stock  Raising 

Late  Husband  of  Phebe  Newby 


Brown  Co.,  111. 


Fayette  Co.,  Ky 

Ireland 

Green  Co.,  Ill 

Rockcastle  Co.,  Ky.. 

Fayette  Co.,  Ky 

Scott  Co.,  Kv , 

Brown  Co., 'ill 

Union  Co.,  Ohio 

Brown  Co,  111 


Cayuga  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Harrison  Co.,  Ky. 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Germany 


Scott  Co.,  Ky... 
Adams  Co.,  111. 
Rutland,  Vt..... 


Belfast,  Ireland.. 
Brown  Co.,  III... 
LeYvis  Co.,  Ky..., 
Brown  Co.,  111... 


Dauphin  Co.,  Pa.... 
Harrison  Co.,  Ky... 
Adams  Co.,  Ohio.... 

Ohio 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Bertie  Co.,  N.  C 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Ireland 

Schuyler  Co.,  111.... 

Dade  Co.,  Mo 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Guilford  Co.,  N.  C. 
Fauquier  Co.,  Va... 


WHrN 

CAMB 
TO  CO. 

1863 
1851 
1846 
1837 
1837 
1841 
1844 
1850 
1856 
1834 
1838 
1829 
1851 
1832 
1830 
11835 
1 1850 
1837 
1839 
1852 
1836 
|1853 
1836 
1836 
1835 
1842 
1829 
1833 
1858 
1837 
!1858 
1840 
11838 
1844 
1850 
1850 
1840 
1835 
1817 
1868 
1860 
1857 
1850 
1 854 
1843 
1839 
1838 


VERSAILLES   TOWNSHIP. 


f  Adams,  Joel  H 

X  Syrena  Turner 

<  Adams,  Oliver  P 

I  Eliza  Wainman, 

J  Allstot,  John 

I  Fanny   Biran 

J  Bund,   John 

X  Julia  A.  Casteen 

f  Brady,  .lames 

I  Ellen  McCormick 

I  Bates,  G.  W 

1  Estalline  Burgeaser... 

(  Burgesser,   Arthur.... 

J  Sarah  Chenowoth 

|  Burgesser,  Catharine 
(.  Burgesser,  Harrison.. 

J  Boat,  Henry 

t  Susanna  Hettrick 

/  Brown,  R 

1  Mary  II.  Hume 

J  Briggs,  John  R 

I  Nancv  Hargus 

Casteen,  T.  II 


Versailles. 


Died  Get,  86,  '80 

Versailles.. 


Sect.  17 
Sect.  17 

Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect 


18. 


Beet.  12 'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  12 Wife  of  Joel  H.  Adams 

Beet.  1 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  1 Wife  of  Oliver  P.  Adams 

Versailles Cooper 

Wife  of  John  Allstot 

■'        Physician  and  Surgeon 

Wife  of  John  Bond 

Dry  Goods  Merchant 

Wife  of  James  Brady 

Lumber  Dealer  and  Farmer 

Wife  of  G.  W.  Bates 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

18 Wife  of  Arthur  Burgesser 

17 Mother  of  Arthur  Burgesser 

Father  of  Arthur  Burgesser JAdams  Co.,  Ohio 

Sect.  2 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 'North  Carolina 

Sect.  2 Wife  of  Heury  Boss j     "  "       

Sect.  28 Farmer  and  Blacksmith jOhio 

Sect.  28 Wife  of  R.  BroYvn jSangamon  Co.,  111.... 

Sect.  18 ....Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Davidson  Co.,  N.  C. 

Sect.  18 Wife  of  John  R.  Briggs Tenn 

Versailles Druggist [BroYvn  Co.,  Ill 


Brown  Co.,  111. 

u               a 
it             .it 

Yorkshire,  Eng 
Clark  Co.,  Ind. 
Brown  Co.,  111. 
Sangamon  Co., 
Brown  Co.,  111. 
Ireland 

1837 

184? 

1838 

land... 

1862 
1858 
1844 

Ill 

1830 
18X4 

IRfW 

it 

1840 

Scott  Co.,  Ky.. 

Brown  Co.,  111. 
a              a 

Pike  Co.,  111.... 
Brown  Co.,  111. 

1 85? 

1849 

1857 
1879 
1838 

1851 
1851 
1 1844 
1834 
1831 
1X34 
1844 


388 


HISTORY  OF  SCHUYLER  AND  BROWN  COUNTIES,  ILLINOIS. 


VERSAILLES  TOWNSHIP.-conti.noed. 


NAME. 


POST  OFFICE. 


RESIDENCE. 


OCCUPATION. 


NATIVITY. 


(  Dunklebnrg,  J.  H Versailles Versailles Dry  Goods  Merchant ;  Livingston  Oo.,N.  Y. 


\  Julia Burgesser 

EcklerW.ll 

(  Flattery,  John  A 

j  Maggie  F.  Glaze 

(  (.laze,  W.  W > 

I  Elizabeth  Coleman 

(  Graves,  Thomas  H 

\  Lueindia  J.  Ravenscroft... 

J  Gifford,  Joseph 

I  Lueindia  Hovis 

Gamble,  J.  N 

LuzenaHurd( Nee  Gamble)         "        

Samuel  Hurd Died  Aug.6,77 

Hartman,  J.P Versailles 

Eliza  J.   Vandeventer !        "        

Hoffmann,  J.  C J        "        

Margaret  Eads '        '•        

Hume.J.F "        

Sarah  A.  Edward "        

'  Henry,  Lavinia  in«  B«pker)....|        "        


Wife  of  J.  H.  Dunkleburg Brown   Co.,  111. 

Dltwist Pike  Co.,  Ill 

"        Merchant Brown   Co.,  Ill 

Wife  of  John  A.  Flattery Brown   Co..  Ill 

Sect.  17 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Sioto  Co.,  Ohio.... 

Sect.  17 Wife  of  W.  W.  Glaze Maryland 

Versailles Proprietor  of  Maple  Grove  House.    I.iverj  and  Feed  Stabla Lafayette  Co..    Mo. 

Wife  of  Thomas   H.  Graves Brown   Co.,  Ill 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Cambria  Co.,  Pa. 

Wife  of  Joseph  Gifford Venango  Co.,  Pa. 

Farmer  and   Stock  Raiser Brown  Co.,   Ill 


Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


10.. 
10.. 
21.. 
21.. 


Versailles.. 


Sect,  18.. 
Sect.  18. 


Sister  of  J.  N,   Gamble jNorth  Carolina 

Late  Husband  of  Luzena  Hurd Kentucky 

P.M.  and  Merchant :Hampshire  Co.,  Va. 

Wife  of  J.   P.  Hartman Brown  Co.,  Ohio.... 

Carpenter  and    Builder Rockbridge  Co..  Va. 

Wife  of  J.  C.  Hoffman Madison  Co.,  Ky.... 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Brown   Co.,  Ill 

Wife  of  J.  F.  Hume New  York 


WBKK 
CAMK 
TOCO 

1868 
1845 
1868 
1856 
1860 
1856 
1856 
1864 

1868 

1868 
1839 
1830 


s«*  «.  E.i.weM. Farming  and  Stock  Raising Fayette  Co.,  111. 


Henry,  As  her    F DiedFeb.23,'63; Late  Husband  of  Lavinia  Henry. 


|  Hambaugh,  J.  M.... 
'l  Frances  A. Cullinan 

(Hall,  John  A 

\  Eliza  Hamilton 

Halk,  Samuel 

f  Littler,  J.   N 

(  Margaret  E.  Hume 

J  Lan'ier,  John 

1  Elizabeth  Heftlin... 
(  Martin,  W.  B 


Versailles Sect,  28 Farmer  and   Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  28 Wife  of  J.  M.  Hambaugh 

Sect.  31 'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  21 Wife  of  John  A.  Hall 'Brown  Co.,  I 

Sect.  18 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Pike  Co.   Ill 


New  York. 

Brown    Co.,  Ill 18-46 

Adams  Co.,    Ill 1850 

Brown.  Co.,  Ill 1856 

1858 
1863 


Fairfield  Co.,  Ohio...  1861 

Brown  Co.,    Ill 1839 

Davidson  Co..  N.  C...  1841 


Versailles General   Insurance  Agent  , 

Wife  of  J.  N.  Littler 

Spring  Station..  Sect.  33 1  Farmer  and  Stock   Raiser.. 

"        Sect.  33 ] Wife  of  John  Lanier jBrown   Co.,  Ill 1840 

"        Sect.  32 {Farmer  and   Stock  Raiser I  Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio...  1837 

Martin,  John Died  Sep.  23,'54 (Father  of  W.  B.  Martin Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio...  1837 

Martin,  Rachael Spring  Station..  Sect.  32 Mother  of  W.  B.  Martin 'Pennsylvania 1837 

Murray,  J.  M jVersailles Sect.  10 Farmer  arid  Proprietor  of  Saw  Mills 'Kentucky 1862 


Sect.  10.. 


\  Anna  Rosenbery 

(  Perry,  D.   If I        "        

\  Melvina  Drummond !        "        

|  Russell,  Thomas  J I         "        

1  Sarah  E.  Vandeventer "        

j  Rowland,  B.  L "        

|  Cyrene   Edmonson "        

f  Ravenscroft,  Mary  F !         "         

i  Ravenscroft,  Ashford  D Died  Ap'l  19/72 

(Reid,  J.  Robert Versailles Versailles 

X  Priscilla  Peters 

I  Reisch,  J.  H 

(  Amanda  J.  Briggs 

(Reid,   W.  M 

1  Belle  Vandeventer 

(  Ravenscroft,  W.  II 

I  Amanda  Vandeventer 

(Root,  S.  C 

(  Nancy  J.  Boitnifield... 

j  Robinson.    Oscar 

{  Mary  E.  Curry 

/  Robinson,  Jo.   A 

\  Carolina  McDonald.... 

Root,  Thomas  E 

Paulina  Withers 

Robinson,  George  M.. 

Robinson,  Benjamin... 

Somerville  Withers... 

Roberts,  G.  W 

M.  E.  Patty 

RaveDacroft,  Charity  Nee  WaUoo. 


'Wife  of  J.  M.  Murrav Tuscarawas  Co.,  Ohio.  18il2 


Sect.    7 'Farmer  and   Stock  Raiser |Morgan  Co.,  Ill 1832 

Sect.    7 Wife  of  D.M.Perry JTennessee 1862 

Versailles County    Judge [Hamilton  Co.,  Ill 1>4"> 

'  Wife  of  Thomas  J.  Russell Ross  Co.,  Ohio 1845 

"        Dealer  in  Agricultural  Implements Licking  Co.,  Ohio 1867 

"        'Wife  of B.   L.  Rowland Adams  Co,  111 1867 

"         |  Widow  of  Ashford  Ravenscroft IWoodford  Co.,    Ky...  1832 

Late  Husband  of  Mary  F.  Ravenscroft Loudon   Co.,   Va 1884 

Dry  Goods  Merchant Brown  Co.,    Ill 1842 

Wife  of  J.  Robert  Reid Brown   Co.,  Ill 1816 

"        - Carriage  and  Wagon  Maker Brown 

Wife  of  J.  H.  Reisch Brown 

"         Traveling   Agent Brown 

"        Wife  of  W.    M.  Reid Brown 

Sect.  17 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Brown 

Sect.  17 Wife  of  W.  H.  Ravenscroft {Brown  Co., 

Sect.  11 Farmer  and  Proprietor  of  Saw  Mill Brown  Co., 

Sect.  21 iWifeofS.  C.  Root Iowa 

Sect.    9...' Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Brown  Co., 

Sect.    9 Wife  of  Oscar  Robinson iBrown  Co., 

Sect.    4 iFannerand   Stock  Raiser iBrown 

Sect,    4 Wife  of  Jo.   A.  Robinson {Brown 

Sect.    8 Farmer  and   Stock  Raiser Brown 


Co.,  Ill 1853 

Co.,  Ill ! 

Co.,  Ill 1853 


Co., 
Co., 


111. 
111. 
111. 
11). 


1858 
.  1843 



.1835 


.Sect. 
.Sect. 


Brown 


Co., 
Co., 
Co., 
Co., 


8 iWife  of  Thomas   E.  Root 

8 -...Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

"         Father  of  George  M.  Robinson 

Died  May2,  '79  Versailles Late  Wife  of  Benjamin  Robinson 

Versailles i        "        Laborer 

!        "         Wife  of  G.  W.  Roberts Randolph  (  ... 

Farming  and  Stock  Raising Frankfort,  Ky 


111. 
111. 
III. 
111. 

111. 
111. 
III. 


.Sect,  15.. 


Isaac  W.  Martin Died  Nov.  1,'62 First  Husband  of  Charity    Ravenscroft ( >hio. . 


Brown  Co., 

Virginia 1828 

Virginia 

Jersey  Co., Ill 1861 

....  1849 
....  1848 


Ravenscroft,  Edward  M. 

(Six,   A.    D 

X  Rachael  Osborne... 

(Stone,  S.  E 

1  Nancy  A.  Turner. 
(Stone,  Arthur  E.... 
X  Lydia  A.    Raney.. 


Died  Mar.  5,'SO' Late  Husband  of  Charity  Ravenscroft Virginia 

Spring  Station.  Sect.  28 Farmer,  Stock  Raiser  and  Physician Brown   Co.,  Ill 1830 

Sect.  28 Wife  of  A.  D.  Six .". Pike  Co.,  Ill 


Versailles.. 


Sect.  22....." {Farmer  and   Stock  Raiser Brown  Co.,   111. 

Sect.  22 Wife  of  S.    E.  Stone Brown   Co.,  111. 

Sect.  22 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Brown  Co.,  111. 

Sect.  22 Wife  of  Arthur    E. 


Stone .Jefferson  Co.,  Ohio. 


1851 
1844 
1844 

1851 
1856 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,   ILLINOIS. 


389 


VERSAILLES  TOWNSHIP— «""»«»• 


NAME. 


Versailles.. 


Spring  Station.. 
u 

Versailles 


Died  Oct.  4.  '00 
"  May  1856 
Versailles 


f  Sargent,  J.  M 

\  Anna  Bassett 

(  Taylor,  John  E 

t  Frances  J.  Martin 

f  Taylor,  John  J 

I  Sophia  Reger 

IVamloventer,  S 
Clarissa  Nighswonger 
Charolotte  Nighswonger.. 
Mary  Sullens 

I  Vandeventer,  B.  B 

I  Lucinda  J.  Reid 

|  Vandeventer,  W.  11 

•<  Margaret  Curran 

(Jane  Walker 

f  Wainman,  C.  W 

I  Ann  Rowland 

(  Wight,  Westbrook 

"I  Sarah  S  Barnett 

f  Withrow,  C.  C 

I  Withrow,  S.  J Died  Feb.  9, '72 


POST  OFFICE. 


RESIDENCE. 


Versailles.. 


OCCUPATION. 


NATIVITY. 


Stock  Dealer Morgan  Co.,  Ill 

Wile  of  J.  M. Sargent Coshocton  Co.,  Ohio... 

Sect.  33 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 'Brown  Co.,  Ill 


Sect.  33 

Sect.  5 

Sect.  5 

Versailles 


Wife  of  John  E.  Taylor Brown  Co.,  111. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Brown  Co.,  111. 


WHEN 
I'AMB 

TO  CO. 

1867 
1863 

1849 
1851 
1852 


Died  July  22,78 
Versailles 


Wife  of  John  J.  Taylor.. 

Physician  and  Surgeon 

First  Wife  of  S.  Vandeventer 

[Second  Wife  of  S.  Vandeventer. 

Versailles Present  Wife  of  S.  Vandeventer., 

Sect.  15 IFarmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  15. 
Sect.  14 


St.  Louis  Mo.. 
Madison  Co.,  Ohio. 
Gallatin  Co.,  III.... 

Gallatin  Co.,  Ill 

Howard  Co.,  Mo.... 
Fayette  Co.,  Ohio... 

Brown  Co.,  Ill , 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 


Esther,  Alexander.. 
Wainman,  George.... 

Elizabeth  Turner 

Walsh,  Edward 

Lucinda  Rutherford. 

Wilkerson,  J.   W 

Jane  McCoy 

White,  F.  0 

Ella  Flattery 


Versailles. 


Wife  of  B.  B.  Vandeventer 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  Wife  of  W.  11.  Vandeventer 

Sect.  14 Present  Wife  of  W.  H.  Vandeventer 

Versailles Dealer  in  Agricultural  Implts.,  &  Blacksmith 

"        Wife  of  C.  W.  Wianman 

"        Liverv  and  Feed  Stable 

"        Wife  of  Westbrook  Wight 

Sect.  2 Farmer  and  School  Teacher Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 

Father  of  C.  C.  Withrow Kentucky.. 

Mother  of  C  C  Withrow Brown  Co.,  111.. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Morgan  Co.,  Ill 

Wife  of  George  Wainman [Brown  Co.,  111.. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Ireland 


1832 
,1826 
.1826 
.1858 
.'1832 
,1844 
.1841 


Pike  Co.,  Ill 

Morgan  Co.,  111. 

Iowa 

Ross  Co.,  Ohio.. 
Brown  Co.,  111. 


Sect.  2.. 
Sect.  1.. 
Sect.  1.. 
Sect.  32 
Sect.  32 


....  Wife  of  Edward  Walsh... 

Sect.  5 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser. 

Sect.  5 Wife  of  J.  W.  Wilkerson., 

Versailles.. Drayman 

jWifeof  F.  C  White 


Hancock  Co.,  111.. 
Madison  Co.,  Ky  , 
Brown  Co.,  111..!.. 

Perry  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 


1861 
1874 
1867 
1866 
1851 
1861 
1858 
1832 
1855 
1853 
1802 


1851 
1851 
1 866 
1855 


COOPERSTOWN  TOWNSHIP. 


Alexander,  Sarah 

f  Howe.  John   H 

(  Harriet  E.  HowelJmBmirl. 

(  Bowe,  Thomas 

I  Bowe,  Margaret 

(  Boss,  Mesas 

^Boss,  William 

|  Anna  C.  Frank 

Clark,  Klias 

Elisabeth  Thorn pk ins 

Eliza   Logsdon(nc«Corlieu) 

Cox,  Stephen  D 

Candes,  Henry 

Cox,  James  A 

Martha  Pitt igre  w 

Dunbar,  MalindaOiee<.og.d.m> 

Dunbar,  Martin 

Ensor,  Benjamin  F 

Nancy  E.  Tebo 

Greeuwell  William  M 

Mary  A.  Bates 

Henry,  Hiram  E 

Sarah  Putman 

Hlnman,  Mluerva  (nee  Alexander). 

Gideon,  llininan 

Howell,  Ira 

Anna  Thomas , 

Hills,  Richard 

Rhoda,  Reddick 

Louisa  B.  Edmonstou 

Hurst,  James 

Elizabeth  Perry 

Belle  Long 

( Jones,  Isaac 

•<  Margaret  Howell 

(  Nancy  Howell  <»<*  cnitan). 

<  Mobley,  Julius 

jRuth   McMillen....... 

(  Mcl'herson,  Benjamin 

\  Mary  Ann  M.  Giddings.. 


White  Rock 'Jewell  Co.  Ks. 

Cooperstown Sec.  20,  R.  1  W 

....Sec.  20,  R.  1  W 
....Sec.  18,  R.  1  W 
....Sec.  18.  R.  1  W 

"  ....Sect.35 

"         ....Bect.85 

"  ....Sect.35 

Versailles Sect.  33 

DiedAug.27,'78 

Versailles ;Sect,33 

Cooperstown. . . .  Cooperstown . . 


Brown  Co.,  111. 

Ireland 

Brown  Co.,  111. 


Versailles Sect.  28. 


Died  Dec.  2, '62 

Ripley Sect.  6 

"      Sect.  6 

Cooperstown Sect.  34 

....Sect.  34 

"  ....  Cooperstown. 


"  ....Sect.  21 

Died  May  3,  '75 
Cooperstown.... 


Sect.  16. 
Sect.  16.. 
Sect.  36. 


Died  May  (i,  '65 

Cooperstown 

llersman 

Died  May  8, '79 
I  lersman... 

Ripley 

Died  Feb.  12/68 

Ripley 

Cooperstown.... 

"         ....  Beet.  20 

Mount  Sterling.  Sect.  5.. 

"  "        Sect.  5.. 


Sect.  36.. 

Sect.  80.. 

Sect. "30.'. 
Sect.  4... 


Sect.  4... 
Sect.  2H. 


Farmer  and  J.  P 

Wife  of  John  H.  Bowe 

'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 'Ireland 

Sister  of  Thomas  P.owe Ireland 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Davidson  Co.,  X-  C. 

Father  of  Moses  Boss Davidson  Co.,  N.  O. 

Mother  of  Moses  Boss [Davidson  Co.,  N.  C... 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser [Culpepper  Co.,  Va.... 

First  wife  of  Elias  Clark [Culpepper  Co.,  Va.... 

Present  wife  of  Elias  (lark Kentucky 

General  Merchant  and  Farmer Bond  Co.,  Ill 

|Wife  of  Stephen  D.  Cox Bond  Co.,  Ill 

Genera]  Merchant  and  P.  M Hrown  Co.,  Ill 

Wife  of  James  A.  Cox [Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Farming Madison  Co.,  Ky 

Late  Husband  of  Malinda  Dunbar 'Madison  Co.,  Ky 

Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wile  of  Benjamin  F.  Ensor 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  William  M.  Greenwell 

Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Hiram  E.  Henry 

Fanning 

Late  Husband  of  Minerva  llinman 

Farmer  and  Stock  Kaiser 

Wife  of  Ira  Howell 

Farmer  and   Blacksmith 

First  Wife  of  Richard  Hills 

Present  Wife  of  Richard  Hills 

Farmer,  Stock  Raiser  and  School  Director 

First  Wife  of  James  Hurst 

Present  Wife  of  James  Hurst 

Retired  Fanner  and  Gun  Smith 

First  Wife  of  Isaac  Jones 

Present  Wife  of  Isaac  Jones 

Farmer Brown  Co.,  II 

Wife  of  Julius  Mobley Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Fanner  and  Stock  Raiser [Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Wife  of  Benjamin  G.  McPherson Brown  Co  ,  III 


Washington  Co.,  Tenn 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Meade  Co.,  Kv 

Brown  Co.,  111*. 

Brown  Co.,  III 

Champaign  Co.,  Ohio 

Brown  Co  .  Ill 

Oneida  Co,  N.Y 

Monroe  Co.,  Ind 

Champaign  Co.,  Ohio 

Schuvler  Co.,  Ill 

Schuyler  Co..  Ill 

McDonongh  Co.,  111... 

Brown  Co  ,  111 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Tenn 

Guilford  Co.,  N.  C 

Roan  Co.,  N.  C 


1828 
IS49 
1849 
1849 
1849 
1857 
1857 
1S57 
1849 
1849 
1849 
1843 
1X51 
L859 
1852 
1 854 
1854 
187  7 
1851 
1845 
1S45 
1838 
1845 
1832 
1836 
1 888 
1886 
1873 


1873 
1842 
1851 
L856 
1839 
1839 
1838 
1845 
1848 
1853 
1855 


890 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


COOPERSTOWN   TOWNSHIP.-continued. 


NAME. 


(O'Connell,  Edward 

t  Mary  Bowe 

(  Pnrks,  Sarah  H.,o«eHobiii«m> 

\  Parks,  Absalom 

f  Perry,  Luke  W 

■!  Caroline  Graver 

I  Susan  D.  Friday  (nee  flush) 

J  Petri,  Charles 

\  Emma  Reich 

I  Perry,  .Tames 

I  Eliza  Hills 

f  Perry,  E.  A 

I  Cordelia  C.  Sharon 

{Rose,  Sarah  A.  (nee  Barton  I 
Rose,  Charles. 

f  Reger,  Frank  II 

(.Sue  A.  Cox 

Reger,  Casper 

fSeckman,  J.  W 

\  Nancy  P.  Taylor 

t  Stout,  Francis  M 

i  Margenia  Alexander 

(  Nancy  C.  Alexander 

(  Sarver,  Benjamin  F 

X  Margaret  Dunbar 

I  Snyder,  Jacob  H 

X  Margaret  Rush 

I  Smevers,  George  B 

I  Barbarv,  Whited 

f Thomas,  W.  A...)      _. 
I  Sarah  A.  Shelly,  I  w* 

I  Thomas,  P I   Th 

I  Irena  A.  Glenn..  J 

f  Vance,  Ellison 

I  Susannah  Davis.  .. 

J  Whited,  John 

X  Elizabeth  Gilford.. 


POST  OFFICE. 


RESIDENCE. 


Cooperstown.. ..Sec.  20,  R.l  W. 
....jSec.  20,  It.  1  W. 

....Beet  17 

DiedMar.22,75i 

Hersman... Sect.  30 

Died  Sep.  17,76 

Hersman 'Sect.  30 

Cooperstown....  Sect.  30 

"  ....Sect.  30 

Mount  Sterling  Sect.  18 

"  "      :Sect.  18 

"       Sect.  18 

"  '  Sect.  18 

Cooperstown.. . .  Sect.  23 

Died  Mar.  4,  77 

Cooperstown....  Sect  23..... 

....Sect.^3 

"  ....|Sect.  24 

Mount  Sterling  Sect.  18 

"       Sect.  18 

Riptev Sect.  4 

Died  Sep.  12,'51 

Riplev Sect.  4 

"     Sect.  9 

"     Sect.  8 

Cooperstown....  Sect.  13 

Sect.  13 


OCCUPATION. 


NATIVITY. 


WHEN 
CAME 
TO  CO. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Ireland 1857 

Wife  of  Edward  O'Connell -. '        "      1849 

Farming  and    tock  Raising Fayette  Co.,  Kv 1835 

Late  Husband  of  Sarah  H.  Parks Madison  Co.,  kv 1887 

Farmer Brown  Co.,  111... '1833 

First  Wife  of  Luke  W.  Perrv "  "     L836 

Present  Wife  of  Luke  W.  Perry Perry  Co.,  Ohio 1854 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Cass  Co.,  Ill 1869 

Wife  of  Charles  Petri St  Louis,  Mo L859 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser '. Clairborne  Co.,  Tenn..  1833 

Wife  of  James  Perrv Indiana 1826 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 'Brown  Co.,  Ill 1847 

Wife  of  E.  A.  Perry "  "    1849 

Farming  and  Stock  Raising Bond  Co.,  Ill 

Late  Husband  of  Sarah  Rose [Kentucky 


Brown  Co.,  111.. 


1843 
1829 
1858 
1858 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 
Wife  of  Frank  H.  Reger. 

Farmer 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 
Wife  of  J.  W.  Seckman... 

Farmer,  Merchant  and  Man'Prof  Stoneware  Scott  Co.,  Ky 1844 

First  Wife  of  Francis  M.  Stout (Tennessee 1838 

Present  Wife  of  Francis  M.  Stout Schuyler  Co.,  Ill 1839 


Germany '1857 

Virginia !1844 

Bourbon  Co.,  Ky 1844 


Sect.  31 

Sect.  31 

Cooperstown... 


.«.1P; 


Versailles 

Cooperstown.. 


Sect. 
Sect 

Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect 


15.. 
15. 
32.. 
32.. 
30. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser.. 

Wife  of  Benjamin  F.  Sarver , 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Jacob  H.  Snyder 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  George  B.  Smeyers 

General  Merchandise 

Wife  of  W.A.  Thomas 

Farmer  and  General  Merchant. 
Wife  of  P.  Thomas 


Peoria  Co.,  Ill 1869 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1851 

Perrv  Co.,  Pa 1872 

Prebble  Co.,  Ohio 1872 

Indiana  Co.,  Pa 1871 

Bedford  Co.,  Pa 1871 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1840 

"  1K48 

"     "    1842 

"  !".'.'.".".!!  i860 

Farmer Clairborne  Co.,  Tenn..  1852 

Wife  of  Ellison  Vance JBrown  Co.,  Ill 1887 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 'Bedford  Co.,  Pa 1856 

Wife  of  John  Whited Cambria  Co.,  Pa ;1856 


MISSOURI   TOWNSHIP. 


Mount  Sterling  Sect. 
«       Sect. 

"        Sect. 

"       Sect. 
"      ISect. 
Sect. 


f  Bell,  Ira 

X  Emeline  Bates 

J  Brown,  William  H 

X  Marv  C.  Lynn 

fBeli;  Hardin 

I  Brown,  Rosean .... 

"I  Bell.  John DiedFeb.l2.'82 

I  Bell,  Elizb'th,  (nee  Carter)  Mount  Sterling  Sect. 

"        Sect. 
"  "      |Sect. 

Died  Sept.  7. 77 

Mount  Sterling  Sect. 
"  Sect. 
"  jSect. 
"  Sect. 
"       Sect. 

Died  Jul.  19,'81  

,'39 


Bvrns,  J.  M 
Byrne,  E.  F 

Bvrns,  Harvey 

Bvrns,  Kate 

(  Clark,  John  T 

X  Carter,  Amanda  C 
"Hill,  Alonzo  A 

Mary  R.  Bolnrts.. 

Hill,  Benjamin  F._ .. 

Doratha  Short Died 

f  Healv,  E.  J Mount  Sterling  Sect. 

I  Alicia  0.  Fitzsimmon "  "       Set. 

f  Jones,  John,  Jr '       "  "       Sect. 

■j  Jones,  Sarah  I.  («•  b*«ii....  Died  Sept.6,78' 

(Kate  Black Mount  Sterling  Sect. 


28.... 
28... 
23... 
23... 
29... 
29... 

29.'.'. 
3.... 


17. 
17. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Ira  Bell 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  William  H.  Brown 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Hardin  Bell 

Father  of  Hardin  Bell , 

Mother  of  Hardin  Bell 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Father  of  E.  F.  and  J.  M.  Bvrns... 
Mother  of  E.  F.  and  J.  M.  Byrns.. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  John  T.  Clark 


29 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser.. 

29 


Died- 


Sect 
jSect. 

Sect. 


{Kerr,  Robert. 
Mary  Mockton 

(  McPhail,  Eugene  E. 

\  McPhail,  Enos  P 

'.  Minerva  J.  Pettigrew Mount  Sterling  Sect. 

I  Owens,  Benjamin  F. 

IDelila  Watts 

f  Henry  Parker 

I  Margaret  A.  Bell 

r  Parker  George  W.... 
\  Martha  A.  Boggs 


Wife  of  Alonzo  A.  Hill. 

Father  of  Alonzo  A.  Hill 

Mother  of  Alonzo  A.  Hill 

16 Farmer,  Slock  Dealer  and  Ex-Supervisor.. 

16 WTifeof  E.J.  Healy 

5 {Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  Wife  of  John  Jones,  Jr 

5 Present  Wife  of  John  Jones,  Jr 

23 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

23 Wife  of  Robert  Kerr 

17 Farmer  ami  Stock  Raiser 

-,'63 Father  of  Eugene  E.  MePhail 

17 Mother  of  Eugene  E.  McPhail 

"Sect.  20 Blacksmith  and  Town  Clerk 

Sect.  20 Wife  of  Benjamin  F.  Owens 

'Sect.  28 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Sect.  28 Wife  of  Henry  Parker 

Sect.  30 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

[Sect.  30 Wife  of  George  W.  Parker 


Brown  Co.,  Ill 1830 

.  Scott  Co.,  Ill 1839 

Pickaway  Co.,  Ohio...  1841 

Brown  Co.,  HI 1S53 

,1      "  "    1852 

1       "  "    1857 

Virginia 1S29 

McDonough  Co  ,  111... ■ 

Hancock  Co.,  Ill '..  1856 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1859 

Ohio 1856 

Germanv 1856 

.  Brown  Co.,  Ill 1844 

,       "  "     1861 

.  Bradford,  N.  H 1837 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1839 

.Sutton,  N.  H 1837 

,      "  "    1837 

.  Woodford  Co.,  Kv 1854 


Herefordshire,  Eng....  1850 

.  Marblehead 1832 

.  Highland  Co.,  Ohio...  1841 
.Co.  Antrim,  Ireland...  1857 

.  Sclmvler  Co.,  Ill 1866 

.  Brown  Co.,  Ill 1861 

.Scotland 1887 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1839 

.        "  "    ....1844 

J       «  "    18J0 

.  Wavne  Co.,  Tenn 187« 

.  Bro"wn  Co.,  Ill 1858 

.1      "  "    1857 

.  Lewis  Co.,  Kv 1878 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


301 


MISSOURI  TOWNSHIP -continued. 


NAME. 


(Parker,  Edward 

\  Parker,  Olando  M 

I  Susan  J.  Whitaker 

(Roberts,  John 

\  Mary  Bartlett 

(Juliette  Bartlett 

/  Kigg,  Peter 

I  Mary  E.Clark 

/  Higg,  William  Travis... 

I'Purlina  Clark 

(Rash,  David  J 

\  Margaret  Crummy 

j  Roberts,  George  H 

\  Susan  Keith 

f  Bigg,  Abner  Clark 

\  Mary  Jane  Singleton.... 
J  Seckman,  Jonathan  F.. 

I  Sophia  Howell 

/  Spencer,  Edward  M 

I  Elizabeth  C.  Burns 

/Scott,  Frank 

\  Isabell  Oatman 

/  Weigand,  Adam 

I  Christian  E.  Routhons.. 

/  Yakle,  Krhard 

\  Christine  Bensink 


POST  OFFICE. 


Mount  Sterling 


RESIDENCE. 


Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 

Died  Oct.  2,  '59 
Mount  SterlingSect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect, 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Rushville Sect. 

"        JSect. 

Mount  Sterling  Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 

Sect. 


OCCUPATION. 


30 Farmer  and  Teacher 

30 Father  of  Edward  Parker 

30 Mother  of  Edward  Parker.... 

20 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  wife  of  John  Roberts.... 

20 Present  wife  of  John  Roberts 

20 iFarmer  and  Stock  Raiser  and  School  Tres'r 

20 Wife  of  Peter  Rigg 

32 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

32 jWife  of  William  Travis  Rigg 

35 'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

35 Wife  of  David  J.  Rash 

20.... 

20 

30 

30 

34 

34 

11 

11 

11 


NATIVITY. 


WHKN 

CAME 
TO  CO. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  George  H.  Roberts 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Abner  Clark  Rigg 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Jonathan  M.  Seckman. 

Farmer  and   tock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Edmund  M.  Spencer.... 

Prop'r  of  Scotts  Mills 

11 IWife  of  Frank  Scott '. 

36 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

36 IWifoof  Adam  Weigand 

6 IFarmer  and  Coal  Miner 

6...„ iWife  of  Erhard  Yakle 


Wayne  Co.,  Tenn 1870 

Mason  Co.,  Ky 1835 

Halifax  Co.,  N.  C 1370 

Essex  Co.,  Mass 1832 

Essex  Co.,  N.  Y J1852 

Essex  Co.,  N.  Y J1852 

Mercer  Co.,  Ky J1830 

Logan  Co.,  Ky !1837 

Anderson  Co.,  Ky J1831 

Logan  Co.,  Ky 11835 

Fulda,  Germany 1854 

Co.,  Armagh,  Ireland  1852 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1832 

1852 
1837 

Kentucky 1807 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1852 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1852 

Portage  Co.,  Ohio !l848 

Stark  Co.,  Ohio 1853 


Schuyler  Co.,  III. 


Ohio 


1868 
1875 
1853 
1869 


Muskingum  Co 

Quincy,  111 

Wurtemburg,  Ger J1878 

Germany 1878 


BUCKHORN  TOWNSHIP. 


f  Berry,  A.  D 

I  Mary  A.  Stephens 

/  Briggs,  Philip  R 

I  Nancy  Ilissel 

{Bratten,  Robert  T 
CynthaA.  Hughes 
Rebecca  C.  Lynn 

f  Briggs,  W.W 

I  Sarah  O.  Adams , 

./  Bom,  Andrew 

I  Geroma  Miller 

Carter,  Norman  R 

/Dean,  William  M 

(.Nancy  J.  Johnson 

i  Dehart,  Thomas  D 

-J  Alissa  New , 

(  Malinda  Martin 

/  Ferguson,  John 

I  Nancy  Blair 

/  Lewis,  Thomas  A , 

I  Mary  E.  McMeius , 

{Orr,  David 
Nancy  A.  Morrell 
Almyra  J.  Morrell 

/  Razey,  RufusG 

I  Lucy  A.  Newton , 

f  Shineberger,  <  leorge , 

■I  Sarah  A.  Lanpher 

I  Mary  A.  Scouten 

J  Stevenson, ( ieorgc  L 

I  Mary  E.  Six , 

/Smith,  James  P 

I  Elmina  J.  McCoy 

/Taylor,  Peter  O 

t  Sarah  E.  Clinard 

<  Tucker,  Coulson 

\  Sarah  K.  Bean 

/Williams,  George  W 

\  Juliett  Ross 

I  Whiteside,  Charles  C 

I  Martha  Dean 

{Whiteside,  Lee 
Whiteside,  Isaac 
Whiteside,  G.  A.  (N<*MecoD 

/  Waller,  Thomas  M 

\  Lucy  J.  Kemper , 


Buckhorn.. 


White  Oak  Sp'g 
Died  Dec.  3178 
White  Oak  Sp'g 
Buckhorn 


Sect. 
Sect, 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


Bcnville... 
Buckhorn 


lienville 

Died  July  16 '71 
Bcnville 


Died  July  23 '77 
Bcnville 


Died  May  12 '50 
Bcnville 


Kellc-rviUo  Adams  Co. 

II  n  II 

Bcnville 


9... 

2... 
2... 
28.. 


Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


28. 

2... 

■2... 
ir>.. 

15.. 

88.. 

4... 

4... 

80.. 


Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


80.. 
19.. 
17.. 
82. 
82. 
26.. 


Sect, 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect, 


26.. 

33.. 
33,. 
34.. 


Buckhorn., 


KelltrvUla  Ad»mi  Co. 


Buckhorn 


Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Seet. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


34. 
34.. 
34., 
6... 
6... 
23., 
23. 
29.. 
29.. 
2... 
2... 
4... 
4... 
6... 
6.. 
6... 
14.. 
14.. 


Farmer  and  Township  Supervisor.... 

Wife  of  A.  D.  Berry 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Philip  It.  Briggs 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser  and  P.  M. 

First  wife  of  Robert  T.  Bratten 

Present  wife  of  Robert  T.  Bratten... 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  W.  W.  Briggs 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Andrew  Boss 

Farmer 

Farmer  and  Stoclf  Raiser 

Wife  of  William  M.  Dean 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  wife  of  Thomas  B.  Dehart 

Present  wife  of  Thomas  B.  Dehart... 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  John  Ferguson 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Thomas  A.  Lewis...-. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  Wife  of  David  Orr 

Present  Wife  of  David  Orr 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Rufus  G.  Razey 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  wife  of  George  Sineberger 

Present  wife  of  George  Shineberger. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  George  L.  Stovenson 

Farmer 

Wife  of  James  P.  McCoy 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Peter  O.Taylor 

Farmer 

Wife  of  Coulson  Tucker 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  George  W.  Williams 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Charles  W.  Whiteside 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Father  of  Lee  Whiteside 

Mother  of  Lee  Whiteside 

Farmer  and  Stock  Kaiser :. 

Wife  of  Thomas  M.  Waller 


Brown  Co.,  Ohio 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Davidson  Co.,  N.  C... 

Madison  Co.,  Ill 

Smythe  Co.,  Tenn 

Rockbridge  Co.,  Va... 

Butler  Co  ,  Ohio., 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Davidson  Co.,  N.  C... 

Roan  Co.,  N.  C 

Adams  Co.,  Ill 

Minnesota 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Hart  Co.,  Ky 

Morgan  Co.,  Ill 

Nicholas  Co.,  Ky 

Adams  Co.,  Ill 

Indiana 

Pike  Co.,  Ill 

Adams  Co.,  Ill 

Harrison  Co.,  Ohio.... 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Washington  Co.,  Ohio 

Brown  Co.,  Ohio 

Peon 

Allegheny 

New  York 

Pike  Co.,  Ill 

Pike  Co.,  Ill 

Adams  Co.,  Ohio 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Pike  Co.,  Ill 

Iowa 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Lancaster  Co.,  Pa...... 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio... 

England 

Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio... 

Orange  Co.,  N.  Y 

Gent  Co.,  Ky 

Pendleton,  Co.,  N.  Y.. 
Marion  Co.,  Ind 


1857 
1841 
1849 
1849 
1852 
1852 
1872 
1856 
1857 
1858 
1858 
1864 
1866 
1860 
1833 
18-15 
1864 
1845 
1860 
1840 
1846 
1863 
1837 
1857 
1866 
1865 
1839 
1839 
1850 
1867 
1867 
1865 
1847 
1855 
1860 
1844 
1841 
1850 
1840 
1844 
1866 
1844 
1844 
1844 
1868 
1868 


392 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


PEA.  RIDGE  TOWNSHIP 


NAME 


Bond,  Charles  J 

Lizzie  E.  MeNeff. 

Bond,  Sanford - 

Margaret  A.  Whelan 

f  Brown,  Jay 

!  Annie  Vancil 

1  Brown,   Josiah , 

LPhebe  M.  Burbans 

Crisp,  John  and  Brothers.. 

J  Chainberlin,  Noah 

I  Mary  J.  Rilev 

fGristy,  B.  D." 

t  Margaret  Collasure 

{Hunsaker,  A.  J 
Hunsaker,  Elijah , 
Hunsaker,  M.  A  («« simp**) 

J  Hersman,  Will 

IKateMcCabe 

j  Long,  J.  M 

(.Catherine  Noland 

Lester,  Robert 

Rachel  J.  Crabb 

Lester  Col.  H 

{  Mary  H.  Trabue 

I  Merritt,  Daniel  M , 

t  Sarah  Crooks 

(  McCaskiU,  W.  H 

\  Jane  Crook 

I  McDannold,  Thomas  I 

t  Mary  E.  Means , 

J  Pevehouse,  J.  J 

I  Pevehouse,  Susana 

Ratcliff,  John  H 

Gnely  E.  Giddings 

'  Ratciiff,  A.  B 

.  Rlteliff,  A.  E.    C«  Cohenour) 

I  Watson,  D.  K 

\Ruth  Kirkpatrick 


P03T  OFFICE.         RESIDENCE. 


Mount  Sterling  Sect. 
Sect. 
•      "       Sect 
"       Sect. 
"       Sect. 
Sect. 


OCCUPATION. 


Died  Aug  20,74 

Died  Mar  15,'49 

Mount  Sterling  Sect. 

"       jSect. 

Died  Mar  21/82J 

Mound  Station  Sect 

"       Sect. 

"       Sect. 

"       Sect, 

"       Sect. 

"       Sect. 

•'       Sect. 

"  Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


Died  Aug  11/56. 

D'B.tes  Co.Mo.Aug.  9T»  _ 


26 Fanner  and  Stock  Baiser 

26 Wife  of  Charles  J.  Bond 

26 Father  of  Charles  J.  Bond 

26 Mother  of  Charles  J.    Bond 

35 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

36 Wife  of  J.  Brown        

Father  of  Jay  Brown 

Mother  of  Jay  Brown 

14 Farmers  and  Stock   Raisers 

25 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  Wife  of  Noah  Chamberlin 

26 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

26 Wife  of  B.  D.  Gristy 

26 iFarmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

26 Father  of  A.  J.  Hunsaker 

26... 
33... 
33... 
35... 
33... 
33... 
33... 


NATIVITY. 


vtnti 

'AMI 
TOCO. 


Brown  Co.,    Ill 1857 

Brown   Co.,  Ill 1S61 

Nelson  Co.,  Kv 1849 

Nelson  Co.,  Ky 1849 

McLean  Co.,  Ill 1861 


111. 


Mount  Sterling  Sect 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect, 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 


Clayton.. 


Died  Nov  16,'81 
Mound  Station 
Died  Aug.  7,74 


Mother  of  A.  J.  Hunsaker 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Will  Hersman 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  J.  M.  Long 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Robert  Lester 

Father  of  Robert  Lester 

Mother  of  Robert  Lester 

24 Farmer  and  Stock   Raiser 

24 Wife  of  David  ML  Merritt 

12 'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 


III. 
111. 
III. 


12.. 
36.. 
36. 
19.. 
19.. 
SO- 
SO., 
30. 


Sect.    29. 


Wife  of  W.  H.   McCaskill. 

Farmer  and  Stock   Raiser 

Wife  of  Thomas  I.  McDannold. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  J.  J.  Pevehouse 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser.' 

Wife  of  John  H.  Ratcliff. 

Father  of  John  H.  Ratcliff. 

Mother  of  John  H.  Ratcliff. 

Farmee  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  Wife  of  D.  K.   Watson.... 


Adams  Co. 

Connecticut 

New   York 

Brown   Co.,  Ill 

Pickaway  Co.,  Ohio... 

Ross  Co.,  Ohio 

Hardin  Co.,  Ky 

Pennsylvania 

Adams   Co.,  Ill 

Christian  Co.,  Ky 

Illinois 

Brown  Co.,   Ill 

Brown   Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co., 
Brown  Co., 
Brown  Co., 
Pickaway  Co.,  Ohio... 

Adair  Co.,   Ky 

Adair  Co.,   Ky 

Rockbridge  Co.,  Va... 

Pittsburg,  Pa 

Sangemou  Co.,  Ill 

England 1848 

Bath  Co.,  Ky 1845 

Lewis  Co.,   Ky 1835 

Wayne  Co.,  Ky 1833 

Wayne  Co.,  Ky 1832 

Brown  Co.,   Ill 1853 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 1853 

Woodford  Co.,Ky 18:7 

Pennsylvania 1S47 

Ross  Co.,  Ohio f860 

Pickaway  Co.,  Ohio...  1850 


1869 
1861 


1866 
1866 
1830 
1857 
1867 
1867 
1867 
1855 
1855 
1837 
1842 
1832 
1852 
1829 
1829 
D56 
1848 
1835 


LEE  TOWNSHIP. 


{Bradney,   Louis    Q Mound  Station 
Martha' M.  Nokes Died  Apr.  3,'80 

f  Bush,    Richard Mount  Sterling 

(.  LuciudiaSlagle " 

f  Bradnev,  G    H Mound  Station 

I  Elizabe'th  Nokes j      '*  " 

J  Dunn,  Maurice '..       " 

I  Man-  A.  Hair '       " 

J  Ebev,  George   W " 

1  Matilda   Miller 

f  Flanders  H    M '■      " 

I  Flora   Robison !      "  " 

J  Frank  Edward  Smith "  " 

I  Martha  J.  Moorhead I      "  " 

f  Kerley,  King ]      " 

i  Elizabeth    Brown ...Deid 

(.A.   J.  Pell Mound  Station 

(Lee,  William 

I  Mary  Ann   Thomas 
f  Lucas,  Daniel    R... 

\  Sarah  A.  Keith 

J  Lucas,  William 


Sect. 

30 

Sect. 

11 

Sect. 

11 

Sect. 

30 

Sect. 

30 

Sect. 

10 

Sect. 

10 

Mound  Station 

K 

M 

Sect. 

9 

Sect. 

9 

Mount  Pleasant 

H 

it 

Sect. 

17 

S.-ct 

17 

Sect. 

19 

Sect. 

19 

Sect. 

17 

Sect, 

17 

Sect. 

19 

(.Margaret  E.  Miller Died  July 9, '66 

(Long,  James  F 'Clayton, Ad»i».  co-Clayton,  Ad»m.c« 

\  Bens    Webb Died  Aprl4,72 

I  Felinda  A.  Herman Clayton, >i»m« 


(  Mu  in  ford,  Augustus Mound  Station 

j  Manifold.  William  N. 

(  Mary  J.   Davis 

f  Murphy,  Michael Mount  Sterling 

(.Murphy,  Mary 
l  Moses,  William 
\  Rhoda  Justice. 


Clayton,  Ad«m.  co. 
Mound  Station 


Sect.  12.. 

Sect.  12. 

Sect.  11'.. 

Sect.  11. 


Farmer 

Late  Wife  of  Louis  Q.  Bradney.... 
Farmer  and  Stock   Raiser 

jWife  of  Richard  Bush 

Farmer  and  Carpenter. 

Wife  of  G.  H.  Badney 

Superintendent  of  County  Farm. 

Wife  of  Maurice  Dunn 

Potter 

Wife  of  George  W.  Ebey 

Farmer  and  Stock   Raiser 

jWife  of  H.  M.  Flanders 

Undertaker 

[Wife  of  Edward  Smith  Frank.... 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

First  Wife  of  King  Ferley 

Present  Wife  of  King  Ferley 

Farmer 

Wife  of  William  Lee 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  ofDaniel  R.  Lucas 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Late  Wife  of  William  Lucas 

Proprietor  of  Steam  Mill 

First  Wife  of  James  F.  Long 

Present  Wife  of  James  F.  Long... 

Physician  and  Surgeon 

I  Merchant 

iWife  of  William  M.  Mumford.... 

Farmer , 

Wife  of  Michael  Murphy 

Farmer 

Wife  of  William  Moses .•„., 


..  Brown  Co.,  Ill 

.Brown  Co.,  Ill 

.  Kuskingmn  Co.,  111... 

.'Morgan  Co.,  Ill 

jAdams  Co.,  Ohio 

.  New  York 

.Brown   Co.,  Ill 

.  Brown  Co.,    Ill 

.  Sangamon  Co.,  Ill 

.Brown   Co.,  Ill 

.  Brown. Co.,  Ill 

.Pike Co.,  Ill 

.  Davidson  Co.,  N.  C... 

.]  Butler  Co.,  Pa 

.Sumner  Co.,  Tenn 

.Sumner  Co., Tenn 

.  Logan  Co.,    Ky 

.  K..\van  Co.,  N.  C 

.  Switzerland  Co.,Ind.. 

.Butler  Co.,    Ohio 

'Hardin  Co.,  Ky 


.Brown   Co., 


111. 
III. 
III. 
111. 
111. 
111. 


Brown  Co 
.  Brown   Co., 
.  Brown    Co., 
.  Adams  Co., 

Brown  Co., 
.  Newport,   Nova  Scotia 

JScottCo.,  Ill 

.Co.  Galway,  Ireland... 

!Co.  Cavan,    Ireland... 

Ross  Co.,  Ohio 

Bedford  Co.,  Pa 


1851 
1855 
1848 
1848 
1N44 
1845 
11843 
!l847 
'1836 
1837 
1859 
1881 
1852 
1859 
1851 
1851 

1880 
1*32 
1836 
1885 

1837 
1846 

1S48 


1855 
18-54 
1844 
1848 
1849 
1851 
1851 


HISTORY   OF    BROWN  AND    SCHUYLER    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


393 


LEE   TOWNSHIP.— CONTINUED. 


NAMES. 


f  Manny  H.  A 

{  Mary  J.  Scrogg'in 

f  MeGovern,  Michael... 

|  Francis  Butler 

(  McPhail,  Angus 

t  Eliza  J.  McCaskill 

JNokes,  S.  D 

(Anna  J.  Dodd 

(New,  A.  D 

|  Cora  Wiliiams 

(  Orr,  Lewis  H 

^Orr,  1).  W 

(  Osborn,  Patience  H... 

1  Osborn,  Lewis 
Amelia  Corwin 

f  Patterson,  William  II. 

(  Mary  J.  Glaze 

j  Raymond,  Sidney  C... 

j  Emily  M.  Nokea 

j  Rioth,  Francis 

\  Mary  Sullivan 

[  Scroggan,  William  D.. 
J  Louisa  Clendenning... 

1  Scroggan,  Isham 

[  Eliza  J.  Arnold 

Sullivan,  E.  0 

<  Sarah  A.  Smith 

I  Marv  Nolan 

{Smith,  G.  F 

|  Littie  Y.  Young 

(Thomas,  William 

|  Mahnda  Lee , 

(Webb,  Allen 

\  Emily  J.  Olive 

I  Martha  A.  Harper 

f  Williams,  Alexander.. 

|  Lydia  A.  Smith 

j  Williams,  Peter  S 

j  Dora  Campbell 

j  Williams,  Stephen 

|  Jemima  J.  Morehead. 


POST  OFFICE. 


Mound  Station 

Mount  Sterling 

u  it 

a  a 

Mound  Station 
Buckhorn , 

n 

Mound  Station, 


RESIDENCE. 


Mound  Station 


OCCUPATION. 


DiedFeb.10,'75 
Mound  Station. 


Sect.  12. 
Sect.  12.. 
Sect.  10.. 
Sect.  10.. 
Sect.  30.. 
Sect.  30.. 
Sect.  26.. 
Sect.  26.. 
Sect.  2... 
Sect.  2... 
Sect.  2... 
Sect.  2... 


Sect.  4 

Sect.  4 

Mound  Station 


Mount  Sterling  Sect.  26. 
Sect.  26... 
Sect.  5.... 


Mound  Station. 

Died  Apr.23,'77 

Died  Sept.  1861 

Mound  Station. 
(l  *( 

Died  Nov.  7,  '76 
Mound  Station. 


DiedSept.16,'53 
Mound  Station. 
Died  May  l,'6f 
Mound  Station. 


Sect.  5 

Mound  Station 


Mound  Station 


Sect.  18. 


Sect.  3 


Merchant 

Wife  of  H.  A.  Manny .*.. 

Farmer 

Wife  of  Michael  McGovern 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Angus  McPhial 

Farmer  and  Fruit  Grower 

Wife  of  S.  D.  Nokes 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

W7ifeof  A.  D.  New 

Farmer 

Father  of  Lewis  H.  Orr , 

Wife  of  D.  W.  Orr 

Minister  Missionary  Baptist  Church. 

Late  Wife  of  Lewis  Osborn 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  William  H.  Patterson 

Dealer  in  Grain  and   Produce 

Wife  of  Sidney  C.  Raymond 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  Francis  Rioth 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 


NATIVITY 


Addison  Co.,  Vt 
Brown  Co.,  111..., 

Co.  Cavan  Ireland 

Bertie  Co.,  N.  C- 

Scotland 

Sangamon  Co.,  Ill 

Franklin  Co  ,  N.  Y... 

Adams  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Hancock  Co.,  Ill 

Sumner,  Tenn 

Lebanon,  Ohio 

Warren  Co.,  Ohio 

Warren  Co.,  Ohio 11851 

Brown  Co.,  Ill Il853 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 'l857 

Onondago  Co.,  N.  Y..J1842 

Franklin  Co.,  Vt !1840 

France il849 

Lowell,  Mass J1840 

Brown  Co.,  Ill !l842 

Jo  Davis  Co.,  111.. 
Shelby  Co.,  Kv... 
Woodford  Co.,  Ky 


WHEJJ 

CAME 
TO  CO. 


1864 
1843 
1868 
1868 
1840 
1885 
1842 
1837 
1852 
1858 
1874 
1831 
1851 
1851 


■Sect.  3. 
Sect.  8., 
Sect.  8., 
Sect.  6., 
Sect.  6., 
Sect.  8., 
Sect.  8. 


Late  wife  of  William  D.  Scroggan. 

Fatherof  William  D.  Scroggan 

Mother  of  William  D.  Scroggan 

Blacksmith  and  Farm  Impliments 'Brown  Co.,  Ill 

First  Wife  of  E.  O.  Sullivan Cedar  Rapids  Iowa.... 

Present  Wife  of  E.  O.  Sullivan JBrown  Co.,  Ill 

Dry  Goods  Clerk 'Bradley  Co.,  Tenn 

Wife  of  G.  F.  Smith Adams  Co.,  Ill 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 'Hamilton  Co.,  Ohio.. 

Late  Wife  of  William  Thomas Rowan  Co.,  N.  C 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Madison  Co.,  Ky 

First  Wife  of  Allen  W7ebb Madison  Co.,  Ky 

Present  Wife  of  Allen  Webb Champaign  Co.,  Ohio. 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Clermont  Co.,  Ohio... 

Wife  of  Alexander  Williams I         "  "        "... 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser "        "   ... 

Wife  of  Peter  S.  AVilliams JBrown  Co  ,  111.- 

Farmer Clermont  Co.,  Ohio... 

Wile  of  Stephen  Williams |         "  "        "... 


1840 
1840 
1844 


1850 
1851 
1864 
i832 
1830 
1851 
1851 
1845 
1856 
1856 
1856 
1855 
I860 
1881 


RIPLEY  TOWNSHIP. 


j  Bowman,  Hiram 

|  Emma  Robins 

(Effort,  Frank 

|  Casan,  McNeil 

(  Friday  John  Jr 

{  Margaret  Quails '. 

|  Hardin,  W.  H.  H. 

}  Margaret  A.  Burton.... 

JHetrick,  N.  S 

(Rebecca  J.  Reddick.... 

Irwin,  Harvey 

Margaret  Robison 

Keith,  Homer  H 

Keith,  Charles  W 

Kankins,  Amanda 

f  .Martin,  A.  E 

\  Amanda  M.  M.  O'Neil 

(Stoffer,  L.  D 

|  Mary  Elizabeth  Clark.. 

(Stoffer,  I.  E 

1  Lucy  Hurd 

Stout,  I.  N 

Sarah  M.  Moore 

Stout,  John  M 

Stout,  Charles 

Marv  J.  Smith 

(Smith,  Olie 

<  Smith,  George 

( Smith,  Martha 


Ripley. 


Ripley. 


JDied.... 
|Ripley. 


Sect.  32. 
Ripley... 


Physican  and   Surgeon • 

Wife  of  Hiram  Bowman 

Dealer  in  Stone  Ware 

Wife  of  Frank  Fffert 

Potter 

Wife  of  John  Friday  Jr 

Potter 

Wife  of  W.  H.  H.  Hardin 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser 

Wife  of  N.  S.  Hetrick 

Manufacturer  of  Stone  Ware 

Wife  of  Harvey  Irwin 

Potter , 

Manufacturer  of  Stone  Ware 

Wife  of  Charles  W.  Keith 

Merchant  and  Post  Master 

Wife  of  A.  E.  Martin 

Merchant  and  Manufacturer  of  Stone  Ware. 

Wife  of  L.  D.  Stofler 

Manufacturer  of  Stone  Ware 

Wife  of  I.  E.  Stoffer 

General  Merchandising 

Wife  of  I.  N.  Stout 

Deaf  Mute  Artist 

Father  of  John  M.  Stout 

Mother  of  John  M.  Stout 

Farming  and  Stock  Raising 

Fatherof  Olie  Smith 

Mother  of  Olie  Smith 


Venango  Co.,  Pa.... 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Bavaria,  Germany.. 
Terre  Haute,  Ind.... 

Stark  Co.,  Ohio 

Blue  Springs,  Tenn. 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Fulton  Co.,  Ill 

Crawford  Co.,  Pa.... 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Clermont  Co.,  Ohio., 
Jefferson  Co.,  Ind..., 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Harrison  Co.,  Ind.... 

Floyd  Co.,  Ind 

Stark  Co.,  Ohio 

Brown  Co.,  111......... 

Summit  Co.,  Ohio.... 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Summit  Co.,  Ohio.... 
Portage  Co.,  Ohio.... 

BrownCo.,  Ill 

Adams  Co.,  Ill 

Madison  Co.,  Ill 

Richland  Co.,  Ohio.. 

Green  Co.,  Ill 

Brown  Co.,  Ill 

Kentucky 

Kentucky 


1869 
1840 
1856 


1856 
1863 
1836 
1838 
1847 
1832 
1844 
1850 
1859 
1849 
1849 
1852 
1837 
1847 
1841 
1847 
1851 
1855 
1854 
1865 
1853 
1856 
1849 
1836 
1834 


894 


HISTORY    OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


ZLKHORN   TOWNSHIP. 


I  Brown,  John Versailles 

X  Martha  Herl 


f  Baker,  Noah  W 

I  Margaret  Greenleaf. 

f  Hanks,  L.  J 

1  Mary  Brown 

J  Hanks,  Jacob  M 

I  Martha  Behymer 

fHill,  J.  W 

\  Anna  Riley 

f  Ingram,  S.  F 

I  Louisa  Fagan 

(Mills,  Franklin,  Sr 

I  Mary  Gilbreth 

I  Mehl,  Andrew 

I  Elizabeth  Schaub 

J  McCoy,  George 

I  Hulda  Riggs 

{Nighswonger,  W.  H 
Fannie  V.  Kingston 

f  Newenhaui,  Sylvester Hersman Sect 

I  Alma  Lisenbee "       Sect. 

f  Ritter,  Henry  D Versailles ISect 

\  Lucinda  E.  Hall. "        |Sect 

iRusk,  C.  R Perry Sect. 

I  Martha  L.  Leitner "     Sect. 

fSwihart,  Richard Versailles. Sect. 
Anna  Hulett "        jSect. 

.1  Thompson,  William "        Sect. 

Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect- 


Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
'Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
Sect. 
iSect. 
Sect. 


25 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Prussia 

25 Wife  of  John  Brown Brown  Co.,  111.. 

22 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Ohio 

22 Wife  of  Noah  W.  Brown Illinois 

26 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser "       

26.... 
26.... 
26.... 
20.... 
20.... 
35.... 


18.54 


(  Maria  Varner, 

f  Vandeventer,  Isaac |         "        

I  Belle  Walker !        "       

(  Willey,  Wateman '         "        

<  Sarah  Nighswonger Died  Oct. — ,'78 

(Lucy  Jane  Nighswonger...  Versailles Sect. 

f  Zimmerman,  George  YV...J        "       |Sect. 

"(.Elizabeth   Winters "        Sect. 


..  Wife  of  L.  J.  Hanks j      "      

..  Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser !      "      

..  Wife  of  Jacob  M.  Hanks *      "      

..Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser North  Carolina.... 

..  Wife  of  J.  W.  Hill "  "       .... 

..Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Illinois 

35 Wife  of  S.  F.  Ingram "      

34 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser iConnecticut 

34 Wife  of  Franklin  Mills Ohio 

32. Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Alsace,  Germany.. 

32 (Wife  of  Andrew  Mehl Bavaria. 

11 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser. Illinois 

11 Wife  of  George  McCoy... [Brown  Co,  111 

25 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser "  "      

25 Wife  of  W.  H.  Nighswonger Hancock  Co.,  111... 

7 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Illinois 

7 Wife  of  Sylvester  Newenham |       "      

23 Farmer  and  Stcck  Raiser Hesse  Caesel,  Ger., 

23. Wife  of  Henry  D.  Ritter (Virginia 

34 .'Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Illinois 

34 Wife  of  C.  R.  Rusk Ohio 

25 IFarmer  and  Stock  Raiser Pennsylvania 

25 1  Wife  of  Richard  Swihart Kentucky 

27 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Ohio 

27 jWifeof  William  Thompson Pike  Co.,  Ill 

25 Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Brown  Co.,  Ill 

25, Wife  of  Isaac  Vandeventer Missouri 

26.. 


26.. 

28.. 
28.. 


Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Ohio. 

.  First  Wife  of  Wateman  Willey Brown  Co.,  111. 

Present  Wife  of  Wateman  Willey i     "  "     ., 

Farmer  and  Stock  Raiser Illinois 

Wife  of  George  AV.  Zimmerman "      


.1840 

..  1847 
..1868 

'.'.  1857 
..1866 
.1866 
.1866 
.  1857 
.1848 
.1856 
.1860 
.  1866 
.1866 
.  1*39 
.1843 
.1842 
.1870 
.1854 
.1855 
.1854 
.1854 
.1852 
.1853 
.1846 
.1857 
J1848 
.1875 
.1850 
.1862 
.11858 
.1837 
.  1844 


CONSTITUTION  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Adopted  in  Convention  at  Springfield,  May  13,  a.  d.  1870;  Eatified  by  the  People  July  2,  1870;  in 
Force,  August  8,  1870 ;  and  Amendments  thereto,  with  the  Hates  of  Ratification. 


PREAMBLE. 

We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois — grateful  to  Almighty 
God  for  the  civil,  political  and  religious  liberty  which  He  hath  so 
long  permitted  us  to  enjoy,  and  looking  to  Him  for  a  blessing 
upon  our  endeavors  to  secure  and  transmit  the  same  unimpaired 
to  succeeding  generations — in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  gov- 
ernment, establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide 
for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure 
the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity  ;  do  ordain 
and  establish  this  constitution  for  the  State  of  Illinois. 

ARTICLE  I. 

BOUNDARIES. 

The  boundaries  and  jurisdiction  of  the  State  shall  he  as  fol- 
lows, to  wit :  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  river ; 
thence  up  the  same,  and  with  the  line  of  Indiana,  to  the  north- 
west corner  of  said  State ;  thence  east,  with  the  line  of  the  same 
State,  to  the  middle  of  Lake  Michigan ;  thence  north,  along  the 
middle  of  said  lake,  to  north  latitude  42  degrees  and  30  minutes  ; 
thence  west  to  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  thence 
down  along  the  middle  of  that  river  to  its  confluence  with  the 
Ohio  river,  and  thence  up  the  latter  river,  along  its  northwestern 
shore,  to  the  place  of  beginning :  Provided,  that  this  State  shall 
exercise  such  jurisdiction  upon  the  Ohio  river  as  she  is  now 
entitled  to,  or  such  as  may  hereafter  be  agreed  upon  by  this 
State  and  the  State  of  Kentucky. 

ARTICLE  II. 

BILL  OF  EIGHTS. 


8    3 
i    4 

\l 

8    7. 


8    9 


1.  Inherent  and  Inalienable  Rights. 
B.  Dae  Process  of  Law. 

Liberty!' Coii-ri.  nee  Guaranteed. 

freedom  <>f  the  Press  Libel. 

Right  of  Trial  by  Jury. 

Unreasonable  Searches  and  Seiz- 
ures. 

Bail  allowed— Writ  of  Habeas  Cor- 
pus. 

Indictment  required— Grand  Jury 
Abolished. 

Rights    of    Persona   Ace  used    of 
Crime. 


1 10.  Self-C  imination— Former  Trial. 

i  11.  Penalties  proportionate— Corrup- 
tion— Forfeiture. 

\  12.  Imprisonment  for  Debt. 

j  1 1.  Compensation  for  Properly  taken. 

i>  14.  Bx  post  facto  laws— Irrevocable 
Grants. 

\  IS.  Military  Power  Sulxirdinate. 

*  in.  Quartering  of  Soldiers. 

i  17.  Right  of  Assembly  and  Petition. 
2  is.  Elections  t<>  he  Free  and  Kqual. 
i  ]•'.    What  Laws  ought  to  I.e. 

*  SO,  Fundamental  Principles. 


1  I.  All  men  are  by  nature  free  and  independent,  and  have 
certain  inherent  and  inalienable  rights — among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  To  secure  these  rights 
and  the  protection  of  property,  governments  are  instituted  among 
men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned. 

2  2.  No  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or  property, 
without  due  process  of  law. 

|  3.  The  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  religious  profession 
and  worship,  without  discrimination,  shall  forever  be  guaranteed ; 
and  no  person  shall  be  denied  any  civil  or  political  right,  privi- 
lege or  capacity,  on  account  of  his  religious  opinions;  but  the 
liberty  of  conscience  hereby  secured  shall  not  be  construed  to 
dispense  with  oaths  or  affirmations,  excuse  acts  of  licentiousness, 
or  justify  practices  inconsistent  with  the  peace  or  safety  of  the 
State.  No  person  shall  be  required  to  attend  or  support  any  min- 
istry or  place  of  worship  against  his  consent,  nor  shall  any  pref- 
erence be  given  by  law  to  any  religious  denomination  or  mode  of 
worship. 

i  4.  Every  person  may  freely  speak,  write  and  publish  on  all 
subjects,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  that  liberty;  and  in 
all  trials  for  libel,  both  civil  and  criminal,  the  truth,  when  pub- 
lished with  good  motives  and  for  justifiable  ends,  shall  be  a  suffi- 
cient defense. 


I  5.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury  as  heretofore  enjoyed  shall  re- 
main inviolate;  but  the  trial  of  civil  cases  before  justices  of  the 
peace  by  a  jury  of  less  than  twelve  men,  may  be  authorized  by  law. 
\  6.  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons, 
houses,  papers  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and 
seizures,  shall  not  be  violated  ;  and  no  warrant  shall  issue  with- 
out probable  cause,  supported  by  affidavit,  particularly  describ- 
ing the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  person  or  things  to  be 
seized. 

\  7.  All  persons  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient  sureties,  except 
for  capital  offenses,  where  the  proof  is  evident  or  the  presump- 
tion great ;  and  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall 
not  be  suspended,  unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion 
the  public  safety  may  require  it. 

$  8.  No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  criminal  offense, 
unless  on  indictment  of  a  grand  jury,  except  in  cases  in  which 
the  punishment  is  by  fine,  or  imprisonment  otherwise  than  in  the 
penitentiary,  in  cases  of  impeachment,  and7in  cases  arising  in  the 
army  and  navy,  or  in  the  militia  when  in  actual  service  in  time 
of  war  or  public  danger  :  Provided,  that  the  grand  jury  may  be 
abolished  by  law  in  all  cases. 

§  9.  In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  have  the 
right  to  appear  and  defend  in  person  and  by  counsel  ;  to  demand 
the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation,  and  to  have  a  copy  there- 
of; to  meet  the  witnesses  face  to  face,  and  to  have  process  to 
compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses  in  his  behalf,  and  a  speedy 
public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  county  or  district  in  which 
the  offense  is  alleged  to  have  been  committed. 

\  10.  No  person  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal  case  to  give 
evidence  against  himself,  or  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  for  the  same 
offense. 

k  11.  All  penalties  shall  be  proportioned  to  the  nature  of  the 
offense ;  and  no  conviction  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or  for- 
feiture of  estate;  nor  shall  any  person  be  transported  out  of  the 
State  for  any  offense  committed  within  the  same. 

\  12.  No  person  shall  be  imprisoned  for  debt,  unless  upon  re- 
fusal to  deliver  up  his  estate  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors,  in 
such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law ;  or  in  cases  where 
there  is  strong  presumption  of  fraud. 

|  13.  Private  property  shall  not  be  taken  or  damaged  for  public 
use  without  just  compensation.  Such  compensation,  when  not 
made  by  the  State,  shall  be  ascertained  by  a  jury,  as  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law.  The  fee  of  land  taken  for  railroad  tracks,  with- 
out consent  of  the  owners  thereof,  shall  remain  in  such  owners, 
subject  to  the  use  for  which  it  is  taken. 

\  14.  No  ex  pod  J'atio  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of 
contracts,  m  making  any  irrevocable  grant  of  special  privileges  or 
immunities,  shall  he  passed. 

|  15.  The  military  shall  be  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil 
power. 

\  16.  No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any 
house  without  the  consent  of  the  owner  ;  nor  in  time  of  war  ex- 
cept in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law. 

|  17.  The  people  have  the  right  to  assemble  in  a  peaceable 
manner  to  consult  for  the  common  good,  to  make  known  their 
opinions  to  their  representatives,  and  to  apply  for  redress  of  griev- 
ances. 

\  18.  All  elections  shall  he  free  and  equal. 
|  19.  Every  person  ought  to  find  a  certain  remedy  in  the  laws 
for  all  injuries  and  wrongs  which  he  may  receive  in  his  person, 
property  or  reputation  ;  he  ought  to  obtain,  by  law,  right  and 
justice  freely,  and  without  beingobliged  to  purchase  incompletely 
and  without  denial,  promptly  and  without  delay. 

395 


396 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


|  20.  A  frequent  occurrence  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
civil  government  is  absolutely  necessary  to  preserve  the  blessings 
of  liberty. 

ARTICLE  IIL 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  POWERS. 

The  powers  of  the  Government  of  this  State  are  divided  into 
three  distinct  departments — the  Legislative,  Executive  and  Ju- 
dicial; and  no  person,  or  collection  of  persons,  being  one  of  these 
departments,  shall  exercise  any  power  properly  belonging  to 
either  of  the  others,  except  as  hereinafter  expressly  directed  or 
permitted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 


LEGISLATIVE   DEPARTMENT. 


I  13. 

lis. 

I  IK. 

In. 


General  Assembly  elective. 

Time  of  Election  — Vacancies. 

Who  are  Eligible. 

I>isqiia!ification  by  Crime. 

Oath  taken  by  member*. 

Senat  -rial  Apportionments. 

&  8.  Minority  Representation. 

Time  of  meeting— General  Rules. 

Secretary— Adjournment  —Journ- 
als, Protests. 

Style  of  Laws. 

Origin  and  passage  of  Bills. 

Reading— Printing-Title— Amend- 
ments. 

Privileges  of  members. 

llisabilities  of  members. 

Bills  making  Appropriations. 

I'ayniciit  of  money  —  Statement 
of  Expenses. 


1  18.  Ordinary  Expenses— Casual  Defi- 

cits—Appropriations limited. 

2  19.  Extra  Compensation  XHC  Allowance. 
\  20.  Public  Creak  not  loaned. 

:  21.  Pay  and  mileage  of  members, 
jj  22.  8peeial  Legislation  prohibited. 
'6  2:1.  Against  Relea  e  from  Liability. 
\  24.  Proceedings  on  Impeachment. 
^  25.  Fuel,  Stationery,  and  Printing. 
\  2(>.  State  not  to  beVll-d. 
i:  27    Lottery  and  Gift  Enterprises, 
js  28.  Terms  of  Office  not  Extended. 
'i  2<t.  Protection  of  operative  miners. 
i  30.  Concerning  Roads— public  and  pri- 

vat  . 
§31.  Draining  and  Ditching. 
\  32.  Homestead  and  Exemption  Laws. 
\  33.  Completion  of  the  State  House. 


\  1.  The  legislative  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  General  As- 
sembly, which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, both  to  be  elected  by  the  people. 

'election. 

\  2.  An  election  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  shall 
be  held  on  the  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  November, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy, 
and  every  two  years  thereafter,  in  each  county,  at  such  places 
therein  as  may  be  provided  by  law.  When  vacancies  occur  in 
either  house,  the  governor,  or  person  exercising  the  powers  of 
governor,  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies. 

ELIGIBILITY  AND  OATH. 

|  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  senator  who  shall  not  have  attained 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  or  a  representative  who  shall  not 
have  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  No  person  shall  be 
a  senator  or  a  representative  who  shall  not  be  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  shall  not  have  been  for  five  years  a  resi- 
dent of  this  State,  and  for  two  years  next  preceding  his  election 
a  resident  within  the  territory  forming  the  district  from  which  he 
is  elected.  No  judge  or  clerk  of  any  court,  secretary  of  state, 
attorney  general,  state's  attorney,  recorder,  sheriff,  or  collector  of 

Eublic  revenue,  member  of  either  house  of  congress,  or  person 
olding  any  lucrative  office  under  the  United  States  or  this  State, 
or  any  foreign  government,  shall  have  a  seat  in  the  general  as- 
sembly :  Provided,  that  appointments  in  the  militia,  and  the  offi- 
ces of  notary  public  and  justice  of  the  peace,  shall  not  be  con- 
sidered lucrative.  Nor  shall  any  person,  holding  any  office  of 
honor  or  profit  under  any  foreign  government,  or  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  (except  postmasters  whose  annual 
compensation  does  not  exceed  the  sum  of  $300,)  hold  any  office 
of  honor  or  profit  under  the  authority  of  this  State. 

$  4.  No  person  who  has  been,  or  hereafter  shall  be,  convicted 
of  bribery,  perjury  or  other  infamous  crime,  nor  any  person  who 
has  been  or  may  be  a  collector  or  holder  of  public  moneys,  who 
shall  not  have  accounted  for  and  paid  over,  according  to  law,  all 
such  moneys  due  from  him,  shall  be  eligible  to  the  general  as- 
sembly, or  to  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  in  this  State. 

{!  H.  Members  of  the  general  assembly,  before  they  enter  upon 
their  official  duties,  shall  take  and  subscribe  the  foilowing  oath 
or  affirmation  : 

"I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  support  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  constitution  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  will  faithfully 
discharge  the  duties  of  senator  (or  representative)  according  to  t  e  best  of  my 
ability:  and  that  I  have  not,  knowingly  or  intentionally,  paid  or  contributed 
anything,  or  made  any  promise  in  the  nature  of  a  bribe,  to  directly  or  Indi- 
rectly influence  any  vote  at  the  election  at  which  I  was  chosen  to  fill  the  paid 
office,  and  have  not  ROo*pted.  ttor  .ill  I  secept  or  receive,  directly  or  indirect- 
ly, any  money  or  other  valuable  thing,  from  anv  corporation,  company  or  per- 
son, for  any  vote  or  influence  I  may  give  or  withhold  on  any  bill,  resolution  or 
appropriation,  or  for  any  other  official  act." 


This  oath  shall  be  administered  by  a  judge  of  the  supreme  or 
circuit  court,  in  the  hall  of  the  house  to  which  the  member  is 
elected,  and  the  secretary  of  state  shall  record  and  file  the  oath 
subscribed  by  each  member.  Any  member  who  shall  refuse  to 
to  take  the  oath  herein  prescribed,  shall  forfeit  his  office,  and 
every  member  who  shall  be  convicted  of  hiving  sworn  falsely  to, 
or  of  violating,  his  saitl  oath,  shall  forfeit  his  office,  and  be  dis- 
qualified thereafter  from  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  in 
this  State. 

APPORTIONMENT — SENATORIAL. 

\  6.  The  general  assembly  shall  apportion  the  State  every  ten 
years,  beginning  with  the  year  1871,  by  dividing  the  population 
of  the  S.ite,  as  ascertained  by  the  federal  census,  by  the  number 
51,  and  the  quotient  shall  be  the  ratio  of  representation  in  the 
senate.  The  State  shall  be  divided  into  51  senatorial  districts, 
each  of  which  shall  elect  one  senator,  whose  term  of  office  shall 
be  four  years.  The  senators  elected  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1872, 
in  districts  bearing  odd  numbers,  shall  vacate  their  offices  at  the 
end  of  two  years,  and  those  elected  in  districts  bearing  even  num- 
bers, at  the  end  of  four  years;  and  vacancies  occurring  by  the 
expiration  of  term,  shall  be  filled  by  the  election  of  senators  for 
the  full  term.  Senatorial  districts  shall  be  formed  of  contiguous 
and  compact  territory,  bounded  by  county  lines,  and  contain  as 
nearly  as  practicable  an  equal  number  of  inhabitants;  but  no 
district  shall  contain  less  than  four-fifths  of  the  senatorial  ratjo. 
Counties  containing  not  less  than  the  ratio  and  three-fourths, 
may  be  divided  into  separate  districts,  and  shall  be  entitled  to 
two  senators,  and  to  one  additional  senator  for  each  number  of 
inhabitants  equal  to  the  ratio,  contained  by  such  counties  in  ex- 
cess of  twice  the  number  of  said  ratio. 

Note— By  the  adaption  of  minority  repr*«entatio  ■»,  2?  7  and  8  of  this  article 
cease  to  be  a  part  of  the  cons  itution.  Under  2  12  of  die  schedule,  and  the  vote 
of  adoption,  the  following  section  relating  to  minority  representation  is  substi- 
tuted for  said  sections : 

MINORITY  REPE3ENTATION. 

II  7  and  8.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  consist  of  three 
times  the  number  of  the  members  of  the  senate,  and  the  term  of 
office  shall  be  two  years.  Three  representatives  shall  be  elected 
in  each  senatorial  district  at  the  general  election  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord,  1872,  and  every  two  years  thereafter.  In  all  elections 
of  representatives  aforesaid,  each  qualified  voter  may  cast  as 
many  votes  for  one  candidate  as  there  are  representatives  to  be 
elected,  or  may  distribute  the  same,  or  equal  parts  thereof,  among 
the  candidates,  as  he  shall  see  fit;  and  the  candidates  highest  in 
votes  shall  be  declared  elected. 

TIME  OF  MEETING  AND  GENERAL  RULES. 

\  9.  The  sessions  of  the  general  assembly  shall  commence  at 
12  o'clock,  noon,  on  the  Wednesday  next  after  the  first  Monday 
in  January,  in  the  year  next  ensuing  the  election  of  members 
thereof,  and  at  no  other  time,  unless  as  provided  by  this  cons.'i- 
tution.  A  majority  of  the  members  elected  to  each  house  shall 
constitute  a  quorum.  Each  house  shall  determine  the  rules  of 
its  proceedings,  and  be  the  judge  of  the  election  returns  and 
qualifications  of  its  members;  shall  choose  its  own  officers;  and 
the  senate  shall  choose  a  temporary  president  to  preside  when 
the  lieutenant-governor  shall  not  attend  as  president  or  shall  act 
as  governor.  The  secretary  of  state  shall  call  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives to  order  at  the  opening  of  each  new  assembly,  and 
preside  over  it  until  a  temporary  presiding  officer  thereof  shall 
have  been  chosen  and  shall  have  taken  his  seat.  No  member 
shall  be  expelled  by  either  house,  except  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds 
of  all  the  members  elected  to  that  house,  and  no  member  shall 
be  twice  expelled  for  the  same  offence.  Each  house  may  punish 
by  imprisonment  any  person,  not  a  member,  who  shall  be  guilty 
of  disrespect  to  the  house  by  disorderly  or  contemptuous  beha- 
viour in  its  presence.  But  nosuch  imprisonment  shall  extend  be- 
yond two  hours  at  one  time,  unless  the  person  shall  persist  in 
such  disorderly  or  contemptuous  behaviour. 

§  10.  The  doors  of  each  house  and  of  committees  of  the  whole, 
shall  be  kept  open,  except  in  such  cases  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
house,  require  secrecy.  Neither  house  shall,  without  the  consent 
of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  two  days,  or  to  any  other 
place  than  that  in  which  the  two  houses  shall  be  sitting.  Each 
house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  which  shall  be  pub- 
lished.  In  the  senate  at  the  request  of  two  members,  and  in  the 
house  at  the  request  of  five  members,  the  yeas  and  nays  shall  be 
taken  on  any  question,  and  entered  upon  the  journal.     Any  two 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


397 


members  of  either  house  shall  have  liberty  to  dissent  from  and 
protest,  in  respectful  language,  against  any  actor  resolution  which 
they  think  injurious  to  the  public  or  to  any  individual,  and  have 
the  reasons  of  their  dissent  entered  upon  the  journals. 

STYLE  OF  LAWS  AND  PASSAGE  OF  BILI.8. 

111.  The  style  of  the  laws  of  this  State  shall  be  :  Be  it  en- 
acted by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  represented  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

|  12.  Bills  may  originate  in  either  house,  but  may  be  altered, 
amended  or  rejected  by  the  other;  and  on  the  filial  passage  of  all 
bills,  the  vote  shall  be  by  yeas  and  nays,  upon  each  bill  sepa- 
rately, and  shall  be  entered  upon  the  journal ;  and  no  bill  shall 
become  a  law  without  the  concurrence  of  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers elected  to  each  house. 

$  13.  Every  bill  shall  be  read  at  large  on  three  different  days, 
in  each  house  ;  and  the  bill  and  all  amendments  thereto  shall  be 
printed  before  the  vote  is  taken  on  its  final  passage;  and  every 
bill,  having  passed  both  houses,  shall  be  signed  by  the  speakers 
thereof.  No  act  hereafter  passed  shall  embrace  more  than  one 
subject,  and  that  shall  be  expressed  in  the  title,  lint  if  any  sub- 
ject shall  be  embraced  in  an  act  which  shall  not  be  expressed  in 
the  title,  such  act  shall  be  void  only  as  to  so  much  thereof  as 
shall  not  be  80  expressed  ;  and  no  law  shall  be  revived  or  amended 
by  reference  to  its  title  only,  but  the  law  revived,  or  the  section 
amended,  shall  be  inserted  at  length  in  the  new  act.  And  no  act 
of  the  general  assembly  shall  take  effect  until  the  first  day  of 
July  next  after  its  passage,  unless,  in  case  of  emergency,  (which 
emergency  shall  be  expressed  in  the  preamble  or  body  of  the  act  l, 
the  general  assembly  shall,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  all  the 
members  elected  to  each  house,  otherwise  direct. 

PRIVILEGES  AND  DISABILITIES. 

\  1 1.  Senators  and  representatives  shall,  in  all  cases,  except 
treason,  felony  or  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest 
during  the  session  of  the  general  assembly,  and  in  going  to  and 
returning  from  the  same;  and  for  any  speech  or  debate  in  either 
house,  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

<S  15  No  person  elected  to  the  general  assembly  shall  receive 
any  civil  appointment  within  this  State  from  the  governor,  the 
governor  and  senate,  or  from  the  general  assembly,  during  the 
term  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected ;  and  all  such  appoint- 
ments, and  all  votes  given  for  any  such  members  for  any  such 
offices  or  appointment,  shall  be  void  ;  nor  shall  any  member  of 
the  general  assembly  be  interested,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
in  any  contract  with  the  state,  or  any  county  thereof,  authorized 
by  any  law  passed  during  the  term  for  which  he  shall  have  been 
elected,  or  within  one  year  after  the  expiration  thereof. 

PUBLIC  MONEYS  AND  APPROPRIATIONS. 

S  16.  The  general  assembly  shall  make  no  appropriation  of 
money  out  of  the  treasury  in  any  private  law.  Bills  making  ap- 
propriations for  the  pay  of  members  and  officers  of  the  general 
assembly,  and  for  the  salaries  of  the  officers  of  the  government, 
shall  contain  no  provisions  on  any  other  subject. 

|  17.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  except  in 
pursuance  of  an  appropriation  made  by  law,  and  on  the  presenta- 
tion of  a  warrant  issued  by  the  auditor  thereon  ;  and  no  money 
shall  be  diverted  from  any  appropriation  made  for  any  purpose, 
or  taken  from  any  fund  whatever,  either  by  joint  or  separate 
resolution.  The  auditor  shall,  within  00  days  after  the  adjourn 
ment  of  each  session  of  the  general  assembly,  prepare  and  pub- 
lish a  full  statement  of  all  money  expended  at  such  session,  spe- 
cifying the  amount  of  each  item,  and  to  whom  and  for  what 
paid. 

\  18.  Each  general  assembly  shall  provide  for  all  the  appropriations 
necessary  for  the  ordinary  and  contingent  expenses  of  the  govern- 
ment until  the  expiration  of  the  first  fiscal  quarter  after  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  next  regular  session,  the  aggregate  amount  of  which 
shall  not  be  increased  without  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers elected  to  each  house,  nor  exceed  the  amount  of  revenue  au- 
thorized by  law  to  be  raised  in  such  time  ;  and  all  appropriations, 
general  or  special,  requiring  money  to  be  paid  out  of  the  State 
Treasury,  from  funds  belonging  to  the  State,  shall  end  with  such 
fiscal  quarter :  Provided,  the  State  may,  to  meet  casual  deficits  or 
failures  in  revenue,  contract  debts,  never  to  exceed  in  the  aggre- 
gate $250,000 ;  and  moneys  thus  borrowed  shall  be  applied  to 
the  purpose  for  which  they  were  obtained,  or  to  pay  the  debt  thus 
created,  and  to  no  other  purpose  ;  and  no  other  debt,  except  for 


the  purpose  of  repelling  invasion,  suppressing  insurrection,  or 
defending  the  State  in  war,  (for  payment-  or  which  the  faith  of 
the  State  shall  be  pledged),  shall  be  contracted,  unless  the  law 
authorizing  the  same  shall,  at  a  general  election,  have  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  people,  and  have  received  a  majority  of  the  votes 
cast  for  members  of  the  general  assembly  at  such  election.  The 
general  assembly  shall  provide  for  the  publication  of  said  law  for 
three  months,  at  least,  before  the  vote  of  the  people  shall  be 
taken  upon  the  same ;  and  provision  shall  be  made,  at  the  time, 
for  the  payment  of  the  interest  annually,  as  it  shall  accrue,  by  a 
tax  levied  for  the  purpose,  or  from  other  sources  of  revenue; 
which  law,  providing  for  the  payment  of  such  interest  by  such 
tax,  shall  be  irrepealable  until  such  debt  be  paid :  And  provided 
further,  that  the  law  levying  the  tax  shall  be  submitted  to  the 
people  with  the  law  authorizing  the  debt  to  be  contracted. 

?  19.  The  general  assembly  shall  never  grant  or  authorize  extra 
compensation,  fee  or  allowance  to  any  public  officer,  agent,  serv- 
ant or  contractor,  after  service  has  been  rendered  or  a  contract 
made,  nor  authorize  the  payment  of  any  claim,  or  part  thereof, 
hereafter  created  against  the  State  under  any  agreement  or  con- 
tract made  without  express  authority  of  law :  and  all  such  un- 
authorized agreements  or  contracts  shall  be  null  and  void :  Pro- 
vided, the  general  assembly  may  make  appropriations  for  expendi- 
tures incurred  in  suppressing  insurrection  or   repelling  invasion. 

g  20.  The  State  shall  never  pay,  assume  or  become  responsible 
for  the  debts  or  liabilities  of,  or  in  any  manner  give,  loan  or  ex- 
tend its  credit  to,  or  in  aid  of  any  public  or  other  corporation, 
association  or  individual. 

PAY  OF  MEMBERS. 

I  21.  The  members  of  the  general  assembly  shall  receive  for 
their  services  the  sum  of  $8  per  day,  during  the  first  session  held 
under  this  constitution,  and  10  cents  for  each  mile  necessarily 
traveled  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  seat  of  government, 
to  be  computed  by  the  auditor  of  public  accounts  ;  and  thereafter 
such  compensation  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law,  and  no  other 
allowance  or  emolument,  directly  or  indirectly,  for  any  purpose 
whatever;  except  $50  per  session  to  each  member,  which  shall 
be  in  full  for  postage,  stationery,  newspapers,  and  all  other  inci- 
dental expenses  and  perquisites ;  but  no  change  shall  be  made 
in  the  compensation  of  members  of  the  genera!  assembly  during 
the  term  for  which  they  may  have  been  elected.  The  pay  and 
mileage  allowed  to  each  member  of  the  general  assembly  shall 
be  certified  by  the  speaker  of  their  respective  houses,  and  entered 
on  the  journals  and  published  at  the  close  of  each  session. 

SPECIAL  LEGISLATION  PROHIBITED. 

I  22.  The  general  assembly  shall  not  pass  local  or  special  laws 
in  any  of  the  following  enumerated  cases,  that  is  to  say :  for — 

Granting  divorces ; 

Changing  the  names  of  persons  or  places  ; 

Laying  out,  opening,  altering,  and  working  roads  or  highways ; 

Vacating  roads,  town  plats,  streets,  alleys  and  public  grounds ; 

Locating  or  changing  county  seats ; 

Regulating  county  and  township  affairs  ; 

Regulating  the  practice  in  courts  of  justice  ; 

Regulating  the  jurisdiction  and  duties  of  justices  of  the  peace, 
police  magistrates,  and  constables  ; 

Providing  for  change  of  venue  in  civil  and  criminal  cases: 

Incorporating  cities,  towns,  or  villages,  or  changing  or  amend- 
ing the  charter  of  any  town,  city  or  village ; 

Providing  for  the  election  of  members  of  the  board  of  super- 
visors in  township's  incorporated  towns  or  cities ; 

Summoning  and  empaneling  grand  or  petit  juries; 

Providing  for  the  management  of  common  schools; 

Regulating  the  rate  of  interest  on  money  ; 

The  opening  and  conducting  of  any  election,  or  designating 
the  place  of  voting ; 

The  sale  or  mortgage  of  real  estate  belonging  to  minors  or 
others  under  disability ; 

The  protection  of  game  or  fish; 

Chartering  or  licensing  ferries  or  toll  bridges  ; 

Remitting  fines,  penalties  or  forfeitures ; 

Creating,  increasing,  or  decreasing  fees,  percentage  or  allow 
ances  of  public  officers,  during  the  term  for  which  said  officers 
are  elected  or  appointed  ; 

Changing  the  law  of  descent ; 

Granting  to  any  corporation,  association  or  individual  the  right 
to  lay  down  railroad  tracks,  or  amending  existing  charters  for 
such  purpose ; 


398 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


Granting  to  any  corporation,  association  or  individual  any  spe- 
cial or  exclusive  privilege,  immunity  or  franchise  whatever  ; 

In  all  other  cases  where  a  general  law  can  be  made  applicable, 
no  special  law  shall  be  enacted  ; 

■^  23.  The  general  assembly  shall  have  no  power  to  release  or 
extinguish,  in  whole  or  in  part,  the  indebtedness,  liability,  or  ob- 
ligation of  any  corporation  or  individual  to  this  State  or  to  any 
municipal  corporation  therein. 

IMPEACHMENT. 

\  24.  The  house  of  representatives  shall  have  the  sole  power  of 
impeachment;  but  a  majority  Of  all  the  members  elected  must 
concur  therein.  All  impeachments  shall  be  tried  by  the  senate  ; 
and  when  sitting  for  that  purpose,  the  senators  shall  be  upon 
oath,  or  affirmation,  to  do  justice  according  to  law  and  evidence. 
"When  the  governor  of  the  State  is  tried,  the  chief  justice  shall 
preside.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of 
two-thirds  of  the  senators  elected.  But  judgment,  in  such  cases, 
shall  not  extend  further  than  removal  from  office,  and  disqualifi- 
cation to  hold  any  office  of  honor  profit  or  trust  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  this  State.  The  party,  whether  convicted  or  acquit- 
ted, shall  nevertheless,  be  liable  to  prosecution,  trial,  judgment 
and  punishment  according  to  law. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

I  25.  The  general  assembly  shall  provide,  by  law,  that  the  fuel, 
stationery  and  printing-paper  furnished  for  the  use  of  the  State ; 
the  copying,  printing,  binding  and  distributing  the  laws  and 
journals,  and  all  other  printing  ordered  by  the  general  assembly, 
shall  be  let  by  contract  to  the  lowest  responsible  bidder;  but  the 
general  assembly  shall  fix  a  maximum  price;  and  no  member 
thereof  or  other  officer  of  the  State,  shall  be  interested,  directly 
or  indirectly,  in  such  contract.  But  all  such  contracts  shall  be 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  governor,  and  if  he  disapproves 
the  same  there  shall  be  a  re-letting  of  the  contract,  in  such  man- 
ner as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

I  26.  The  State  of  Illinois  shall  never  be  made  defendant  in 
any  court  or  law  of  equity. 

|  27.  The  general  assembly  shall  have  no  power  to  authorize 
lotteries  or  gift  enterprises,  for  any  purpose,  and  shall  pass  laws 
to  prohibit  the  sale  of  lottery  or  gift  enterprise  tickets  in  this 
State. 

§  28.  No  law  shall  be  passed  which  shall  operate  to  extend  the 
term  of  any  public  officer  after  his  election  or  appointment. 

\  29.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  general  assembly  to  pass  such 
laws  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  protection  of  operative  miners, 
by  providing  for  ventilation,  when  the  same  may  be  required,  and 
the  construction  of  escapement-shafts,  or  such  other  appliances 
as  may  secure  safety  in  all  coal  mines,  and  to  provide  for  the  en- 
forcement of  said  laws  by  such  penalties  and  punishments  as 
may  be  deemed  proper. 

\  30.  The  general  assembly  may  provide  for  establishing  and 
opening  roads  and  cart-ways,  connected  with  a  public  road,  for 
private  and  public  use. 

\  31.  The  general  assembly  may  pass  laws  permitting  the  own- 
ers and  occupants  of  lands  to  construct  drains  and  ditches,  for 
agricultural  and  sanitary  purposes,  across  the  lands  of  others. 

(S  32.  The  general  assembly  shall  pass  liberal  and  homestead 
and  exemption  laws. 

\  33.  The  general  assembly  shall  not  appropriate  out  of  the 
Slate  treasury,  or  expend  on  account  of  the  newcapitol  grounds, 
an  1  construction,  completion  and  furnishing  of  the  State-bouse,  a 
sum  exceeding  in  the  aggregate,  $3,500,000,  inclusive  of  all  ap- 
propriations heretofore  made,  without  first  submitting  the  propo- 
sition for  an  additional  expenditure  to  the  legal  voters  of  the 
State,  at  a  general  election  ;  nor  unless  a  majority  of  all  the  votes 
at  such  election  shall  be  for  the  proposed  additional  expenditure. 

ARTICLE  V. 


EXECUTIVE   DEPARTMENT. 


Officers  of  this  Department. 
Of  the  State  Treasurer. 
Time  of  Electing  State  Officers. 
Returns— Tic— Contested  Election 
Eligibility  for  office. 
Governor— Power  and  Duty. 
His  nTiiaaaaa  anil  Statement. 
Convening  the  General  Assembly. 
Proroguing  the  General  Assembly. 
Notntna<  inns  by  the  i  tovernor. 
Vaeaneats  inay'be  filled. 
Removals  by  the  Governor. 
Reprieves,  Commutations,  Pardons 


?  14.  Governor  as  Commander-in-f'htef. 
I  IS.  Impeachment  for    Misdemeanor. 
\  16.  Veto  of  the  Governor. 
4  17.  Lieutenant-Governoras  Governor. 
i  18.  As  President  of  the  Senate. 
i  19.  Vacancy  in  Governor's  Office. 
I  SO.  Vacancy  in  other  State  Offices. 
*  .'1.  Reports  of  Slate  Officers. 
lit  Great  Seal  of  State. 
.'  j::    Fees  and  Salaries. 
§24.  Definition  of  'Office." 
?  -a.  i  lath  of  Civil  Officers. 


EXECUTIVE    DEPARTMENT. 

?  1.  The  executive  department  shall  consist  of  a  Governor, 
Lieutenant-Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  Auditor  of  Public  Ac- 
counts, Treasurer,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  At- 
torney-General, who  shall  each  with  the  exception  of  the  Treas- 
urer, hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  four  years  from  the  second 
Monday  of  January  next  after  his  election,  and  until  his  succes- 
sor is  elected  and  qualified.  They  shall,  except  the  Lieutenant 
Governor,  reside  at  the  seat  of  Government  during  their  term  of 
office,  and  keep  the  public  records,  books  and  papers  there,  and 
shall  perform  such  duties  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

|  2.  The  Treasurer  shall  hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  two 
years,  and  until  his  successor  is  elected  and  qualified  ;  and  shall 
be  ineligible  to  said  office  for  two  years  next  after  the  end  of  the 
term  for  which  he  was  elected.  He  may  be  required  by  the  Gov- 
ernor to  give  reasonable  additional  security,  and  in  default  of  so 
doing  his  office  shall  be  deemed  vacant. 

ELECTION. 

\  3.  An  election  for  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  Secretary 
of  State,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts  and  Attorney-General,  shall 
be  held  on  the  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  November, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1872,  and  every  four  years  thereafter  ; 
for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  on  the  Tuesday  next 
after  the  first  Monday  of  November,  in  the  year  1870,  and  every 
four  years  thereafter ;  and  for  Treasurer  on  the  day  last  above 
mentioned,  and  every  two  years  thereafter,  at  such  places  and  in 
such  manner  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

g  4.  The  returns  of  every  election  for  the  above  named  officers 
shall  be  sealed  up  and  transmitted,  by  the  returning  officers,  to 
the  Secretary  of  State,  directed  to  "  The  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,"  who  shall,  immediately  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  house,  and  before  proceeding  to  other  business,  open 
and  publish  the  same  in  the  presence  of  a  majority  of  each  house 
of  the  general  assembly,  who  shall,  for  that  purpose,  assemble  in 
the  hall  of  the  house  of  representatives.  The  person  having  the 
highest  number  of  votes  for  either  of  the  said  offices  shall  be  de- 
clared duly  elected ;  but  if  two  or  more  have  an  equal  and  the 
highest  number  of  votes,  the  general  assembly  shall,  by  joint 
ballot,  choose  one  of  such  persons  for  said  office.  Contested 
elections  for  all  of  said  offices  shall  be  determined  by  both  houses 
of  the  general  assembly,  by  joint  ballot,  in  such  manner  as  may 
be  prescribed  by  law. 

ELIGIBILITY. 

$  5.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  governor,  or 
lieutenant-governor,  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of  30 
years,  and  been,  for  five  years  next  preceding  his  election,  a  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States  and  of  this  State.  Neither  the  gover- 
nor, lieutenant-governor,  auditor  of  public  accounts,  secretary  of 
State,  superintendent  of  public  instruction  nor  attorney  general 
shall  be  eligible  to  any  other  office  during  the  period  for  which 
he  shall  have  been  elected. 

GOVERNOR. 

J  6.  The  supreme  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  the  gov- 
ernor, who  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed. 

{S  7.  The  governor  shall,  at  the  commencement  of  each  session, 
ami  at  the  close  of  his  term  of  office,  give  to  the  general  assembly 
information,  by  message,  of  the  condition  of  the  State,  ami  shall 
recommend  such  measures  as  he  shall  deem  expedient.  He  shall 
account  to  the  general  assembly,  and  accompany  his  message 
with  a  statement  of  all  moneys  received  and  paid  out  by  him 
from  any  funds  subject  to  his  order,  with  vouchers,  and  at  the 
commencement  of  each  regular  session,  present  estimates  of  the 
amount  of  money  required  to  be  raised  by  taxation  for  all  pur- 
poses. 

g  8.  The  governor  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene 
the  general  assembly,  by  proclamation,  stating  therein  the  pur- 
pose for  which  they  are  convened;  and  the  general  assembly 
shall  enter  upon  no  business  except  that  for  which  they  were 
called  together. 

I  9.  In  case  of  a  disagreement  between  the  two  houses  with 
respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  the  governor  may,  on  the 
same  being  certified  to  him,  by  the  house  first  moving  the  ad- 
journment, adjourn  the  general  assembly  to  such  time  as  he  thinks 
proper,  not  beyond  the  first  day  of  the  next  regular  session. 

§  10.  The  governor  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  senate,  (a  majority  of  all  the  senators  elected 
concurring,  by  yeas  and  nays,)  appoint  all  officers  whose  offices 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


399 


are  established  by  this  constitution,  or  which  may  be  created  by 
law,  and  whose  appointment  or  election  is  not  otherwise  provided 
for ;  and  no  such  officer  shall  be  appointed  or  elected  by  the  gen- 
eral assembly. 

I  11.  In  case  of  a  vacancy,  during  the  recess  of  the  senate,  in 
any  office  which  is  not  eleetiye,  the  governor  shall  make  a  tem- 
porary appointment  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  senate,  when 
lie  shall  nominate  some  person  to  fill  such  office  ;  and  any  person 
so  nominated,  who  is  confirmed  by  the  senate  (a  majority  of  all 
the  senators  elected  concurring  by  yeas  and  nays),  shall  hold  his 
office  during  the  remainder  of  the  time,  and  until  his  successor 
shall  be  appointed  and  qualified.  No  person,  after  being  rejected 
by  the  senate,  shall  be  again  nominated  for  the  same  office  at  the 
same  session,  unless  at  the  request  of  the  senate,  or  be  appointed 
to  the  same  office  during  the  recess  of  the  general  assembly. 

|  12.  The  governor  shall  have  power  to  remove  any  officer 
whom  he  may  appoint,  in  ease  of  incompetency,  neglect  of  duty, 
or  malfeasance  in  office ;  and  he  may  declare  his  office  vacant, 
and  fill  the  same  as  is  herein  provided  in  other  eases  of  vacancy. 

\  13  The  governor  shall  have  power  to  grant  reprieves,  com- 
mutations and  pardons,  after  conviction,  for  all  offences,  subject 
to  such  regulations  as  may  be  provided  by  law  relative  to  the 
manner  of  applying  therefor. 

§  14.  The  governor  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  forces  of  the  State  (except  when  they  shall  be 
called  into  the  service  of  the  United  States) ;  and  may  call  out 
the  same  to  execute  the  laws,  suppress  insurrection,  and  repel 
invasion. 

\  15.  The  governor,  and  all  civil  officers  of  this  State,  shall  be 
liable  to  impeachment  for  any  misdemeanor  in  office. 

VETO. 

\  16.  Every  bill  passed  by  the  general  assembly  shall,  before  it 
becomes  a  law,  be  presented  to  the  governor.  If  he  approve,  he 
shall  sign  it,  and  thereupon  it  shall  become  a  law  ;  but  if  he  do 
not  approve,  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  objections,  to  the  house 
in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  which  house  shall  enter  the 
objections  at  large  upon  its  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  the 
bill.  If,  then,  two-thirds  of  the  members  elected  agree  to  pass 
the  same,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections,  to  the 
other  house,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered;  and  if 
approved  by  two-thirds  of  the  members  elected  to  that  house,  it 
shall  become  a  law,  notwithstanding  the  objections  of  the  gover- 
nor. But  in  all  such  cases,  the  vote  of  each  house  shall  be  de- 
termined by  yeas  and  nays,  to  be  entered  on  the  journal.  Any 
bill  which  "shall  not  be  returned  by  the  governor  within  ten  days 
(Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him, 
shall  become  a  law  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless 
the  general  assembly  shall,  by  their  adjournment,  prevent  its  re- 
turn ;  in  which  case  it  shall  be  filed,  with  his  objections,  in  the 
office  of  the  secretary  of  State,  within  ten  days  after  such  adjourn- 
ment, or  become  a  law. 

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR. 

\  17.  In  case  of  death,  conviction  or  impeachment,  failure  to 
qualify,  resignation,  absence  from  the  State,  or  other  disability 
of  the  governor,  the  powers,  duties,  the  emoluments  of  the  office 
for  the  residue  of  the  term,  or  until  the  disability  shall  be  re- 
moved, shall  devolve  upon  the  lieutenant-governor. 

I  18.  The  lieutenant-governor  shall  be  president  of  the  senate, 
and  shall  vote  only  when  the  senate  is  equally  divided.  The 
senate  shall  choose  a  president,  pro  tempore,  to  preside  in  case  of 
the  absence  or  impeachment  of  the  lieutenant-governor,  or  when 
he  shall  hold  the  office  of  governor. 

\  19.  If  there  be  no  lieutenant-governor,  or  if  the  lieutenant- 
governor  shall,  for  any  of  the  causes  specified  in  \  17  of  this 
article,  become  incapable  of  performing  the  duties  of  the  office, 
the  president  of  the  senate  shall  act  as  governor  until  the  vacancy 
is  filled  or  the  disability  removed  ;  and  if  the  president  of  the 
senate,  for  any  of  the  above  named  causes,  shall  become  incapa- 
ble of  performing  the  duties  of  governor,  the  same  shall  devolve 
upon  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives. 

OTHER  STATE  OFFICERS. 

\  20.  If  the  office  of  auditor  of  public  accounts,  treasurer,  sec- 
retary of  State,  attorney  general,  or  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction shall  be  vacated  by  death,  resignation  or  otherwise,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  governor  tofill  the  same  by  appointment, 
and  the  appointee  shall  hold  his  office  until  his  successor  shall 
be  elected  and  qualified  in  such  manner  as  may  be  provided  by 


law.  An  account  shall  be  kept  by  the  officers  of  the  executive 
department,  and  of  all  the  public  institutions  of  the  State,  of  all 
moneys  received  or  disbursed  by  them,  severally,  from  all  sources, 
and  for  every  service  performed,  and  a  semi-annual  report  thereof 
be  made  to  the  governor,  under  oath  ;  and  any  officer  who  makes 
a  false  report  shall  be  guilty  of  perjury,  and  punished  accordingly. 
I  21.  The  officers  of  the  executive  department,  and  of  all  the 
public  institutions  of  the  State,  shall,  at  least  ten  days  preceding 
each  regular  session  of  the  general  assembly,  severally  report  to 
the  governor,  who  shall  transmit  such  reports  to  the  general  as- 
semlily,  together  with  the  reports  of  the  judges  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  defects  in  the  constitution  and  laws  ;  and  the  gover- 
nor may  at  any  time  require  information,  in  writing,  under  oath, 
from  the  officers  of  the  executive  department,  and  all  officers  and 
managers  of  state  institutions,  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the 
condition,  management  and  expenses  of  their  respective  offices. 

THE  SEAL  OF  STATE. 

$  22.  There  shall  be  a  seal  of  the  State,  which  shall  be  called 
the  "Great  seal  of  the  State  of  Illinois,"  which  shall  be  kept  by 
the  secretary  of  State,  and  used  by  him,  officially  as  directed  by 
law. 

FEES  AND  SALARIES. 

|  23.  The  officers  named  in  this  article  shall  receive  for  their 
services  a  salary,  to  be  established  by  law,  which  shall  not  be  in- 
creased or  diminished  during  their  official  terms,  and  they  shall 
not  after  the  expiration  of  the  terms  of  those  in  office  at  the 
adoption  of  this  constitution,  receive  to  their  own  use  any  fees* 
costs,  perquisites  of  office,  or  other  compensation.  And  all  fees 
that  may  hereafter  be  payable  by  law  for  any  service  performed 
by  any  officer  provided  for  in  this  article  of  the  constitution, 
shall  be  paid  in  advance  into  the  State  treasury. 

DEFINITION  AND  OATH  OF  OFFICE. 

|  24.  An  office  is  a  public  position  created  by  the  constitution 
or  law,  continuing  during  the  pleasure  of  the  appointing  power, 
or  for  a  fixed  time,  with  a  successor  elected  or  appointed.  An 
employment  is  an  agency,  for  a  temporary  purpose,  which  ceases 
when  that  purpose  is  accomplished. 

|  25.  All  civil  officers,  except  members  of  the  general  assembly 
and  such  inferior  officers  as  may  be  by  law  exempted,  shall,  be- 
fore they  enter  on  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  take  and 
subscribe  the  following  oath  or  affirmation : 

I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm,  as  the  ca«e  may  be)  that  I  will  support  the 
constitution  ot  the  United  States,  and  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 

and  that  I  will  faithfully  discharge  tue  duties  of  the  office  of  according 

to  the  best  of  my  ability. 

And  no  other  oath,  declaration  or  test  shall  be  required  as  a. 
qualification. 

ARTICLE  VI. 


JUDICIAL   DEPARTMENT. 


!). 
I  M. 
:  11. 

■■  12, 

■  a. 

'.  it. 

I  15. 
:  16. 

>  in- 


judicial Powers  of  Courts. 

Seven  Supreme  Judges— Four 
Decide. 

Qualifications  of  aSupreme  Judge 

Terms  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Thro-  Grand  Divisions — Seven 
Districts, 

Election  of  Supreme  Judges. 

Salaries  of  the  Supreme  Judges. 

Appeals  and  Writ'*  of  Error. 

Appointment  of  Reporter. 

Clerks  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Appellate  Courts  Authorized. 

Jurisdiction  of  Circuit  Courts. 

Formation  of  Judicial  Circuits. 

Time  of  holding  Circuit  Courts. 

circuits  containing  Four  Judges. 

Salaries  of  the  Circuit  Judges. 

Qualifications  of  Judges  or  Com- 
missioners ' 


!  18.  County  Judges — County  Clerks. 
1 19.  Appea'ls  from  County  Courts. 
:  2d-  l'robate  Courts  Authorised. 
!  21.  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  Consta- 
bles, 
j  22.  State's  Attorney  in  each  County. 

■r.',.  Cook  County  Courts  of  Record. 

24.  Chief  Justice — Power    of  Judges. 

!S.  Salaries  of  the  Judges. 

2ii.  Criminal  Court  of  Cook  County. 

27.  Clerks  of  Cook  County  Court. 
;  28.  Justices  in  Chicago. 

29.  Uniformity  in  the  Courts. 

80.  Removal  of  any  Judge. 
;  81.  Judges  to  make  Written  Reports. 
I  32.  Terms  of   Office— Filling  Vacan- 

fios. 

1 :13.  Process— Prosecutions— Po  p  u  I  a- 
tion. 


2  1.  The  judicial  powers,  except  as  in  this  article  is  otherwise 
provided,  shall  be  vested  in  one  supreme  court,  circuit  courts, 
county  courts,  justices  of  the  peace,  police  magistrates,  and  in 
such  courts  as  may  be  created  by  law  in  and  for  cities  and  incor- 
porated towns. 

SUPREME  COURT. 

§  2.  The  supreme  court  shall  consist  of  seven  judges,  and  shall 
have  original  jurisdiction  in  cases  relating  to  the  revenue,  in 
mandamus,  and  habeas  corpus,  and  appellate  jurisdiction  in  all 
other  cases.  One  of  said  judges  shall  be  chief  justice ;  four  shall 
constitute  a  quorum,  and  the  concurrence  of  four  shall  be  neces- 
sary to  every  decision. 


-111!  I 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


\  3.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  judge  of  the 
supreme  court  unless  be  shall  be  at  least  thirty  years  of  age,  and  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  nor  unless  he  shall  have  resided  in 
the  State  five  years  next  preceding  his  election,  and  be  a  resi- 
dent of  the  district  in  which  he  shall  be  elected. 

|  4.  Terms  of  the  supreme  court  shall  continue  to  be  held  in 
the  present  Brand  divisions  at  the  several  places  now  provided 
for  holding  the  same ;  and  until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  one 
or  more  terms  of  said  court  shall  be  held,  for  the  northern 
division,  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  each  year,  at  such  times  as  said 
court  may  appoint,  whenever  said  city  or  the  county  of  Cook 
shall  provide  appropriate  room  therefor,  and  the  use  of  a  suitable 
library,  without  expense  to  the  State.  The  judicial  divisions 
mav  be  altered,  increased  or  diminished  in  number,  and  the  times 
and  places  of  holding  said  court  may  be  changed  by  law. 

\  5.  The  present  grand  divisions  shall  be  preserved,  and  be 
denominated  Southern,  Central  and  Northern,  until  otherwise 
provided  by  law.  The  State  shall  be  divided  into  seven  districts 
for  the  election  of  judges,  and  until  otherwise  provided  by  law, 
they  shall  be  as  follows  : 

First  District. — The  counties  of  St.  Clair,  Clinton,  "Washing- 
ton, Jefferson,  Wayne,  Edwards,  Wabash,  White,  Hamilton, 
Franklin,  Perry,  Randolph,  Monroe,  Jackson,  Williamson,  Saline, 
Gallatin,  Hardin,  Pope,  Union,  Johnson,  Alexander,  Pulaski  and 
Massac. 

Second  District. — The  counties  of  Madison,  Bond,  Marion,  Clay, 
Richland,  Lawrence,  Crawford,  Jasper,  Effingham,  Fayette,  Mont- 
gomery, Macoupin,  Shelby,  Cumberland,  Clark,  Greene,  Jersey, 
Calhoun  and  Christian. 

Third  District — The  counties  of  Sangamon,  Macon,  Logan,  De 
Witt,  Piatt,  Douglas,  Champaign,  Vermilion,  McLean,  Living- 
ston, Ford,  Iroquois,  Coles,  Edgar,  Moultrie  and  Tazewell. 

Fourth  District. — The  counties  of  Fulton,  McDonough,  Han- 
cock, Schuyler,  Brown,  Adams,  Pike,  Mason,  Menard,  Morgan, 
Cass  and  Scott. 

.  I-ifth  District. — The  counties  of  Knox,  Warren,  Henderson, 
Mercer,  Henry,  Stark,  Peoria,  Marshall,  Putiiam,_Bureau,  Lasalle, 
Grundy  and  Woodford. 

Sixth  District. — The  counties  of  Whiteside,  Carroll,  Jo  Daviess, 
Stephenson,  Winnebago,  Boone,  McHenry,  Kane,  Kendall,  De 
Kalb,  Lee,  Ogle  and  Rock  Island. 

Seventh  District. — The  counties  of  Lake,  Cook,  Will,  Kankakee 
and  Du  Page. 

The  boundaries  of  the  districts  may  be  changed  at  the  session 
of  the  general  assembly  next  preceding  the  election  for  judges 
herein,  and  at  no  other  time ;  but  whenever  such  alterations 
shall  be  made,  the  same  shall  be  upon  the  rule  of  equality  of 
population,  as  nearly  as  county  boundaries  will  allow,  and  the 
districts  will  be  composed  of  contiguous  counties,  in  as  nearly 
compact  form  as  circumstances  will  permit.  The  alteration  of 
the  districts  shall  not  affect  the  tenure  of  an  office  of  any  Judge. 

\  6.  At  the  time  of  voting  on  the  adoption  of  this  constitution, 
one  judge  of  the  supreme  court  shall  be  elected  by  the  electors 
thereof,  in  each  of  said  districts  numbered  two,  three,  six  and 
seven,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  nine  years  from 
the  first  Monday  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1870.  The 
term  of  office  of  judges  of  the  supreme  court,  elected  after  the 
adoption  of  this  constitution,  shall  be  nine  years ;  and  on  the 
first  Monday  of  June  of  the  year  in  which  the  term  of  any  of 
the  judge*  in  office  at  the  adoption  of  this  constitution,  or  of  the 
judge  then  elected,  shall  expire,  and  every  nine  years  thereafter, 
there  shall  be  an  election  for  the  successor  or  successors  of  such 
judges,  in  the  respective  districts  wherein  the  term  of  such  judges 
shall  expire.  The  chief  justice  shall  continue  to  act  as  such 
until  the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  he  was  elected,  after 
which  the  judges  shall  choose  one  of  their  number  as  chief  jus- 
tice. 

\  7.  From  and  after  the  adoption  of  this  constitution,  the 
judges  of  the  supreme  court  shall  each  receive  a  salary  of  $4,000 
per  annum,  payable  quarterly,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law. 
And  after  said  salaries  shall  be  fixed  by  law,  the  salaries  of 
the  judges  in  office  shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished  during 
the  terms  for  which  said  judges  have  been  elected. 

\  8.  Appeals  and  writs  of  error  may  be  taken  to  the  supreme 
court,  held  in  the  grand  division  in  which  the  case  is  decided,  or, 
by  consent  of  the  parties,  to  any  other  grand  division. 

I  9.  The  supreme  court  shall  appoint  one  reporter  of  its  deci- 
sions, who  shall  hold  his  office  for  six  years/subject  to  removal  by 
the  court. 

I  10.  At  the  time  o<"  the  election  for  representative  in  the  gen- 
eral assembly,  happu  in*   next  preceding   the  expiration  of  the 


terms  of  office  of  the  present  clerks  of  said  court,  one  clerk  of 
said  court  for  each  division  shall  be  elected,  whose  term  of  office 
shall  be  six  years  from  said  election,  but  who  shall  not  enter  upon 
the  duties  of  his  office  until  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  his 
predecessor,  and  every  six  years  thereafter,  one  clerk  of  said 
court  for  each  division  shall  be  elected. 

APPELLATE   COURTS. 

I  11.  After  the  year  of  our  Lord  1874,  inferior  appellate  courts 
of  uniform  organization  and  jurisdiction,  may  be  created  in  dis- 
tricts formed  for  that  purpose,  to  which  such  appeals  and  writs 
of  error  as  the  general  assembly  may  provide,  may  be  prosecuted 
from  circuit  and  other  courts,  and  from  which  appeals  and  writs 
of  error  shall  lie  to  the  supreme  court,  in  all  criminal  cases,  and 
cases  in  which  a  franchise,  or  freehold,  or  the  validity  of  a  stat- 
ute is  involved,  and  in  such  other  cases  as  may  be  provided  by 
law.  Such  appellate  courts  shall  be  held  by  such  number  of 
judges  of  the  circuit  courts,  and  at  such  times  and  places,  and  in 
such  manner,  as  may  be  provided  by  law;  but  no  judge  shall  sit 
in  review  upon  cases  decided  by  him  ;  nor  shall  said  judges  re- 
ceive any  additional  compensation  for  such  services. 

CIRCUIT  COURTS. 

I  12.  The  circuit  courts  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  of  all 
causes  in  law  and  equity,  and  such  appellate  jurisdiction  as  is  or 
may  be  provided  by  law,  and  shall  hold  two  or  more  terms  each 
year  in  every  county.  The  terms  of  office  of  judges  of  circuit 
courts  shall  be  six  years. 

I  13.  The  State,  exclusive  of  the  county  of  Cook  and  other 
counties  having  a  population  of  100,000,  shall  be  divided  into 
judicial  circuits,  prior  to  the  expiration  of  terms  of  office  of  the 
present  judges  of  the  circuit  courts.  Such  circuits  shall  be  formed 
of  contiguous  counties,  in  as  nearly  compact  form  and  as  nearly 
equal  as  circumstances  will  permit,  having  due  regard  to  busi- 
ness, territory  and  population,  and  shall  not  exceed  in  number 
one  circuit  for  every  100,000  of  population  in  the  State.  One 
judge  shall  be  elected  for  each  of  said  circuits  by  the  electors 
thereof.  New  circuits  may  be  formed  and  the  boundaries  of  cir- 
cuits changed  by  the  general  assembly,  at  its  session  next  pre- 
ceding the  election  for  circuit  judges,  but  at  no  other  time :  Pro- 
vided, that  the  circuits  may  be  equalized  or  changed  at  the  first 
session  of  the  general  assembly,  after  the  adoption  of  this  eon- 
•  stitutiou.  The  creation,  alteration  or  change  of  any  circuit  shall 
not  affect  the  tenure  of  office  of  any  judge.  Whenever  the  busi- 
ness of  the  circuit  court  of  any  one,  or  of  two  or  more  contigu- 
ous counties,  containing  a  population  exceeding  50,000,  shall  oc- 
cupy nine  months  of  the  year,  the  general  assembly  may  make 
of  such  county,  or  counties,  a  separate  circuit.  Whenever  addi- 
tional circuits" are  created,  the  foregoing  limitations  shall  be  ob- 
served. 

1 14.  The  general  assembly  shall. provide  for  the  times  of  hold- 
ing courts  in  each  county  ;  which  shall  not  be  changed,  except 
by  the  general  assembly  next  preceding  the  general  election  for 
judges  of  said  courts ;  but  additional  terms  may  be  provided  for 
in  any  county.  The  election  for  judges  of  the  circuit  courts  shall 
be  held  on  the  first  Monday  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1873,  and  every  six  years  thereafter. 

|  15.  The  general  assembly  may  divide  the  State  into  judicial 
circuits  of  greater  population  and  territory,  in  lieu  of  the  circuits 
provided  for  in  section  13  of  this  article,  and  provide  for  the  elec- 
tion therein,  severally,  by  the  electors  thereof,  by  general  ticket, 
of  not  exceeding  for  judges,  who  shall  hold  the  circuit  courts  for 
which  they  shall  be  eleeted,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  provided 
by  law. 

g  16.  From  and  after  the  adoption  of  this  constitution,  judges 
of  the  circuit  courts  shall  receive  a  salary  of  $3,000  per  annum, 
payable  quarterly,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law.  And  after 
their  salaries  shall  be  fixed  by  law,  they  shall  not  be  increased  or 
diminished  during  the  terms  for  which  said  judges  shall  be,  re- 
spectively, elected  ;  and  from  and  after  the  adoption  of  this  con- 
stitution,'no  judge  of  the  supreme  or  circuit  court  shall  receive 
any  other  compensation,  perquisite  or  benefit,  in  any  form  whatso- 
ever, nor  perform  any  other  than  judicial  duties  to  which  may 
belong  any  emoluments. 

1 17.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  judge  of  the 
circuit  or  any  inferior  court,  or  to  membership  in  the  "board  of 
county  commissioners,"  unless  he  shall  be  at  least  25  years  of  age, 
and  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  nor  unless  he  shall  have  re- 
sided in  this  State  five  years  next  preceding  his  election,  and  be 
a  resident  of  the  circuit,  county,  city,  cities,  or  incorporated  town 
in  which  he  shall  be  elected. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN    COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


401 


COUNTY  COURTS. 

§  18.  There  shall  be  elected  in  aud  for  each  county,  one  judge 
and  one  clerk  of  the  county  court,  whose  terms  of  office  shall  be 
four  years.  But  the  general  assembly  may  create  districts  of  two 
or  more  contiguous  counties,  in  each  of  "which  shall  be  elected 
one  judge,  who  shall  take  the  place  of,  and  exercise  the  powers 
and  jurisdiction  of  county  judges  in  such  districts.  County 
courts  shall  be  courts  of  record,  and  shall  have  original  jurisdic- 
tion In  all  matters  of  probate  ;  settlement  of  estates  of  deceased 
persons  ;  appointment  of  guardians  and  conservators,  and  settle- 
ments of  their  accounts;  in  all  matters  relating  to  apprentices  ; 
aud  in  proceedings  for  the  collection  of  taxes  and  assessments, 
and  such  other  jurisdiction  as  may  be  provided  for  by  general 
law. 

i  19.  Appeals  and  writs  of  error  shall  be  allowed  from  final 
determination  of  county  courts,  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 

PROBATE  COURTS. 
I  20.  The  general  assembly  may  provide  for  the  establishment 
of  a  probate  court  in  each  county  having  a  population  of  over 
50,000,  and  for  the  election  of  a  judge  thereof,  whose  term  of 
office  shall  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  county  judge,  and  who 
shall  be  elected  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  manner.  Said 
courts,  when  established,  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  of  all 
probate  matters,  the  settlement  of  estates  of  deceased  persons, 
the  appointment  of  guardians  aud  conservators,  and  settlement 
of  their  accounts  ;  in  all  matters  relating  to  apprentices,  and  in 
cases  of  the  sales  of  real  estate  of  deceased  persons  for  the  pay- 
ment of  debts. 

JUSTICES  OF  THE  PEACE  AND  CONSTABLES. 

?  21.  Justices  of  the  peace,  police  magistrates,  and  constables 
shall  be  elected  in  and  for  such  districts  as  are,  or  may  be,  pro- 
vided by  law,  and  the  jurisdiction  of  .such  justices  of  the  peace 
and  police  magistrates  shall  be  uniform. 

STATE'S  ATTORNEYS. 

?  22.  At  the  election  for  members  of  the  general  assembly  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1S72,  and  every  four  years  thereafter,  there 
shall  be  elected  a  State's  attorney  in  and  for  each  county,  in  lieu 
of  the  State's  attorney  now  provided  by  law,  wnosetermof  office 
shall  be  four  years. 

COURTS  OF  COOK  COUNTY. 

_  1  23.  The  county  of  Cook  shall  be  one  judicial  circuit.  The 
circuit  court  of  Cook  county  shall  consist  of  five  judges,  until 
their  Dumber  shall  be  increased,  as  herein  provided.  The  present 
judge  of  the  recorder's  court  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  the  pres- 
ent judge  of  the  circuit  court  of  Caok  county,  shall  be  two  of 
said  judges,  and  shall  remain  in  office  for  the  terms  for  which 
they  were  respectively  elected,  and  until  their  successors  shall 
be  elected  and  qualified.  The  superior  court  of  Chicago  shall  be 
continued,  and  called  the  superior  court  of  Cook  county.  The 
general  assembly  may  increase  the  number  of  said  judges  by  ad- 
ding one  to  either  of  said  courts  for  every  additional  50,000  in- 
habitants in  said  county,  over  and  above  a  population  of  400,000. 
The  terms  of  office  of  the  ju  lges  of  said  courts  hereafter  elected, 
shall  be  six  years. 

I  24.  The  judge  having  the  shortest  unexpired  term  shall  be 
chief  justice  of  the  court  of  which  he  is  judge.  In  case  there 
are  two  or  more  whose  terms  expire  at  the  same  time,  it  may  be 
determined  by  lot  which  shall  be  chief  justice.  Any  judge  of 
either  of  said  courts  shall  have  all  the  powers  of  a  circuit  judge, 
and  may  hold  the  court  of  which  he  is  a  member.  Each  of  them 
may  holds  different  branch  thereof  at  the  same  time. 

I  2).  The  juJges  of  the  superior  and  circuit  courts,  and  the 
State's  attorney,  in  said  county,  shall  receive  the  same  salaries, 
payable  out  of  the  State  treasury,  as  is  or  may  be  paid  from  said 
treasury  to  the  circuit  judges  and  State's  attorneys  of  the  State, 
and  such  further  compensation,  to  be  paid  by  the  county  of  Cook, 
a-  is  or  may  be  provided  by  law  ;  such  compensation  shall  not 
be  changed  during  their  continuance  in  office. 

f)  25.  The  recorder's  court  of  the  city  of  Chicago  shall  be  con- 
tinued, and  shall  be  called  the  "criminal  court  of  Cook  county." 
It  shall  have  the  jurisdiction  of  a  circuit  court,  in  all  cases  of 
criminal  and  quasi  criminal  nature,  arising  in  tlie  county  of  Cook, 
or.  that  may  be  brought  before  said  court  pursuant  to  law ;  and 
all  recognizances  and  appeals  taken  in  said  county,  in  criminal  and 
quasi  criminal  cases  shall  be  returnable  and  taken  to  said  court. ' 
It  shall  have  no  jurisdiction  in  civil  cases,  except  in  those  on 
behalf  of  the  people,  and  incident  to  such  criminal  or  quasi  crim- 
inal matters,  and  to  dispose  of  unfinished  buiincsi.  The  terms 
51 


of  said  criminal  court  of  Cook  county  shall  be  held  by  one  or 
more  or  the  judges  of  the  circuit  or  superior  court  of  Cook 
county,  as  nearly  is  may  be  in  alternation,  as  may  be  determined 
by  slid  judges,  or  provided  by  law.  Said  judges  shall  be  c.v- 
officio  judges  of  said  court. 

I  27.  The  present  clerk  of  the  recorder's  court  of  the  city  of 
Chicago,  shall  be  the  clerk  of  the  criminal  court  of  Cook  county, 
during  the  term  for  which  he  was  elected.  The  present  clerks  of 
the  superior  court  of  Chicago,  and  the  present  clerk  of  the  circuit 
court  of  Cook  county,  shall  continue  in  office  during  the  terms 
for  which  they  were  respectively  elected ;  and  thereafter  there 
shall  be  but  one  clerk  of  the  superior  court,  to  be  elected  by  the 
qualified  electors  of  said  county,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  the 
term  of  four  years,  and  until  his  successor  is  elected  and  qualified. 

$  28.  All  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  city  of  Chicago  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  senate,  (but  only  upon  the  recommendation  of  a  majority 
of  the  judges  of  the  circuit,  superior  and  county  courts,)  and  for 
such  districts  as  are  now  or  shall  hereafter  be  provided  by  law. 
They  shall  hold  their  offices  for  four  years,  and  until  their  suc- 
cesssors  have  been  commissioned  and  qualified,  but  they  may  be 
removed  by  summary  proceedings  in  the  circuit  or  superior  court, 
for  extortion  or  other  malfeasance.  Existing  justices  of  the  peace 
aud  police  magistrates  may  hold  their  offices  until  the  expiration 
of  their  respective  terms. 

GENERAL  'PROVISIONS. 

I  29.  All  judicial  officers  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  gover- 
nor. All  lan7s  relating  to  courts  shall  be  general,  and  of  uniform 
operation  ;  and  the  organization,  jurisdiction,  power,  proceedings 
and  practice  of  all  courts,  of  the  same  class  or  grade,  so  far  as 
regulated  by  law,  and  the  force  and  effect  of  the  process,  judg- 
ments and  decrees  of  such  courts,  severally  shall  be  uniform. 

\  30.  The  general  assembly  may,  for  cause  entered  on  the 
journals,  upon  due  notice  and  opportunity  of  defense,  remove 
from  office  any  judge,  upon  concurrence  of  three-fourths  of  all 
the  members  elected,  of  each  house.  All  other  officers  in  this 
article  mentioned,  shall  be  removed  from  office  on  prosecution 
an  1  final  conviction,  for  misdemeanor  in  office. 
•  |  31.  All  judges  of  courts  of  record,  inferior  to  the  supreme 
court,  shall,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  June,  of  each  year,  re- 
port in  writing  to  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court,  such  delects 
and  omissions  in  the  laws  as  their  experience  may  suggest ;  and 
the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  shall,  on  or  before  the  first  day 
of  January  of  each  year,  report  in  writing  to  the  governor  such 
defe  ts  aud  omissions  in  the  constitution  and  laws  as  they  may 
find  to  exist,  together  with  appropriate  forms  of  bills  to  cure  such 
defects  and  omissions  in  the  laws.  And  the  judges  of  the  several 
circuit  courts  shall  report  to  the  next  general  assembly  the  num- 
ber of  days  they  have  held  court  in  tin'  several  counties  compos- 
ing their  respective  circuits,  the  preceding  two  years. 

|  32.  All  officers  provided  for  in  this  article  shall  hold  their 
offices  until  their  successors  shall  be  qualified,  and  they  shall,  re- 
spectively, reside  in  the  division,  circuit,  county  or  district  for 
which  they  may  be  elected  or  appointed.  The  terms  of  office  of 
all  such  officers,  where  not  otherwise  prescribed  in  this  article, 
shall  be  four  years.  All  officers,  where  not  otherwise  provided 
for  in  this  article,  shall  perform  such  duties  aud  receive  such 
compensation  as  is  or  may  be  provided  by  law.  Vacancies  in 
such  elective  offices  shall  be  filled  by  election  ;  but  where  the 
unexpired  term  does  not  exceed  one  year,  the  vacancy  shall  be 
filled  by  appointment,  as  follows:  Of  judges,  by  the  governor; 
of  clerks  of  courts,  by  the  court  to  which  the  office  appertains,  or 
by  the  judge  or  judges  thereof;  and  of  all  such  other  officers,  by 
the  board  of  supervisors  or  board  of  county  commissioners  in 
the  county  where  the  vacancy  occurs. 

§  33.  All  process  shall  run  :  In  the  name  of  the  People  of  the 
State  of  Illinois :  and  all  prosecutions  shall  be  carried  on:  In 
the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois; 
ami  conclude:  Against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  same.  "Pop- 
ulation," wherever  used  in  this  article,  shall  lie  determined  by  the 
next  preceding  census  of  this  State  or  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

SUFFRAGE. 


1.  Who  are  entitled  to  Vote. 
.'.  Ail  Voting  to  be  by  Ballot. 
8.  Privileges  of  E\< 

1.  A l'*ence  on  Public  Business. 


I  §  5.  Soldier  not  deemed  a  Resident. 
\  0.  Qualifications  f  >r  Offlce. 

i  7.  Persons  Convicted  of  Crime. 


J  1.  Every  person  having  resided  in  this  State  one  year,  in  the 


402 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


county  00  days,  and  in  the  election  district  30  days  next  preced- 
ing any  election  therein,  who  was  an  elector  in  this  State  on  the 
first  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1848,or  obtained  a 
certificate  of  naturalization  before  any  court  of  record  in  this 
State  prior  to  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1870,  or  who  shall  be  a  male  citizen  of  the  United  States,  above 
the  age  of  21  years,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  such  election. 

}  2.  All  votes  shall  be  by  ballot. 

I  3.  Electors  shall,  in  all  cases  except  treason,  felony,  or  breach 
of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance 
at  elections,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same.  And 
no  elector  shall  be  obliged  to  do  military  duty  on  the  days  of 
election,  except  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger. 

J  4.  No  elector  shall  be  deemed  to  have  lost  his  residence  in 
this  State  by  reason  of  his  absence  on  business  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  this  State,  or  in  the  military  or  naval  services  of  the 
United  States. 

I  5.  No  soldier,  seaman  or  marine  in  the  army  or  navy  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  deemed  a  lesident  of  this  State  in  conse- 
quence of  being  stationed  therein. 

J  6.  No  person  shall  be  elected  or  appointed  to  any  office  in 
this  State,  civil  or  military,  who  is  not  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  not  have  redded  in  this  State  one  year 
next  preceding  the  election  or  appointment. 

?  7.  The  general  assembly  shall  pass  laws  excluding  from  the 
right  of  suffrage  persons  convictedof  infamous  crimes. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

EDUCATION. 


1.  Free  Schools  Established. 

2.  Gifts  or  Grants  in  aid    of  Schools. 

3.  Public  Schools  not  to  be  Sectarian. 


\  4.  School  Officers  not  Interested. 
\  5   County  Superintendent  of  Schools. 


§  1.  The  general  assembly  shall  provide  a  thorough  and  effi- 
cient system  of  free  schools,  whereby  all  the  children  of  this 
State  may  receive  a  good  common  school  education. 

\  2.  All  lands,  moneys  or  other  properties,  donated,  granted  or 
received  for  school,  college,  seminary  or  university  purposes,  and 
the  proceeds  thereof,  shall  be  faithfully  applied  to  the  objects  for 
which  such  gifts  or  grants  were  made. 

|  3.  Neither  the  general  assembly  nor  any  county,  city,  town, 
township,  school  district,  or  other  public  corporation,  shall  ever 
make  any  appropriation  or  pay  from  any  public  fund  whatever, 
anything  in  aid  of  any  church  of  sectarian  purpose,  or  to  help 
support  or  sustain  any  school,  academy,  seminary,  college,  uni- 
versity, or  other  literary  or  scientific  institution,  controlled  by 
any  church  or  sectarian  demomination  whatever;  nor  shall  any 
grant  or  donation  of  land,  money,  or  other  personal  property  ever 
be  made  by  the  State  or  any  such  public  corporation,  to  any 
church,  or  for  any  sectarian  purpose. 

%  4.  No  teacher.  State,  county,  township,  or  district  school  offi- 
cer shall  be  interested  in  the  sale,  proceeds  or  profits  of  any  book, 
apparatus  or  furniture,  used  or  to  be  used,  in  any  school  in  this 
State,  with  which  such  officer  or  teacher  may  be  connected, 
under  such  penalties  as  may  be  provided  by  the  general  assembly. 

|  5.  There  may  be  a  county  superintendent  of  schools  in  each 
county,  whose  qualifications,  powers,  duties,  compensation  and 
time  and  manner  of  election,  and  term  of  office,  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

REVENUE. 


Principles  of  Trtx-tion  Stated, 
other  and  further  Taxation. 
Property  Exempt  from  Taxation. 
Sale  of  Real  Property  for  Taxes. 
Right  of  Redemption   tin 


i, 

4 

5. 

fi.  Release  from  Taxation  Forbidden,   g  12.  Limitation  on  Municipal  Indebt 

7.  Taxes  paid  into  State  Treasury.  edaesg. 


g   8.  Limitation  on  County  Taxes. 
t.  v.  Local  Municipal  Improvements 
is  10.  Taxation    of    Municipal    Corpora- 
tions. 
?  11.  Defaulter  not  to  he  Eligible. 

5  ,.i     ■  :  —  :*„.; hm :.  ; i     r_ 


$  1.  The  general  assembly  shall  provide  such  revenue  as  may  be 
needful  by  levying  a  tax,  by  valuation,  so  that  every  person  and 
corporation  shall  pay  a  tax  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  his,  her 
or  its  property — such  value  to  be  ascertained  by  some  person  or 
persons,  to  be  elected  or  appointed  in  such  manner  as  the  general 
assembly  shall  direct,  and  nut  otherwise;  hut  the  general  assem- 
bly shall  have  power  to  tax  peddlers,  auctioneers,  brokers,  hawk- 
ers, merchants,  commission  merchants,  showmen,  jugglers,  inn- 
keepers, grocery  keepers  liquor  dealers,  toll  bridges,  ferries,  insur- 
ance, telegraph  and  express  interests  or  business,  venders  of  pat- 
ents, and  persons  or  corporations  owning  or  using  franchises  and 
privileges,  in  such  manner  as  it  shall  from  time  to  time  direct  by 
general  law,  uniform  as  to  the  class  upon  which  it  operates. 


\  2.  The  specifications  of  the  objects  and  subjects  of  taxation 
shall  not  deprive  the  general  assembly  of  the  power  to  require 
other  subjects  or  objects  to  be  taxed  in  such  a  manner  as  may  be 
consistent  with  the  principles  of  taxation  fixed  in  this  constitu- 
tion. 

|  3.  The  properties  of  this  State,  counties  and  other  municipal 
corporations,  both  real  and  personal,  and  such  other  property  as 
may  be  used  exclusively  for  agricultural  and  horticultural  socie- 
ties, for  school,  religious,  cemetery  and  charitable  purposes,  may 
be  exempted  from  taxation  ;  but  such  exemption  shall  be  only 
by  general  law.  In  the  assessment  of  real  estate  encumbered  by 
public  easement,  any  depreciation  occasioned  by  such  easement 
may  be  deducted  in  the  valuation  of  such  property. 

i  4.  The  general  assembly  shall  provide,  in  all  cases  where  it 
may  be  necessary  to  sell  real  estate  for  the  non-payment  of  taxes 
or  special  assessments  for  State,  county,  municipal  or  other  pur- 
poses, that  a  return  of  such  unpaid  taxes  or  assessments  shall  be 
to  some  general  officer  of  the  county  having  authority  to  receive 
State  and  county  taxes;  and  there  shall  be  no  sale  of  said  prop- 
erty for  any  of  said  taxes  or  assessments  but  by  said  officer,  upon 
the  order  or  judgment  of  some  court  of  record. 

\  5.  The  right  of  redemption  from  all  sales  of  real  estate  for 
the  non-payment  of  taxes  or  special  assessments  of  any  character 
whatever,  shall  exist  in  favor  of  owners  and  persons  interested 
in  such  real  estate,  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  two  years  from 
such  sales  thereof.  And  the  general  assembly  shall  provide  by 
law  for  reasonable  notice  to  be  given  to  the  owners  or  parties  in- 
terested, by  publication  or  otherwise,  of  the  fact  of  the  sale  of 
the  property  for  such  taxes  or  assessments,  and  when  the  time  of 
redemption  shall  expire:  Ffmded,  that  occupants  shall  in  all 
cases  be  served  with  personal  notice  before  the  time  of  redemption 
expires. 

|  6.  The  general  assembly  shall  have  no  power  to  release  or 
discharge  any  county,  city,  township,  town  or  district  whatever, 
or  the  inhabitants  thereof  or  the  property  therein,  from  their  or 
its  proportionate  share  of  taxes  to  be  levied  for  State  purposes, 
nor  shall  commutation  for  such  taxes  be  authorized  in  any  form 
whatever. 

|  7.  All  taxes  levied  for  State  purposes  shall  be  paid  into  the 
State  treasury. 

g  8.  C  itinty  authorities  shall  never  afsess  taxes  the  aggregate 
of  which  shall  exceed  75  cents. per  $100  valuation,  except  for  the 
payment  of  indebtedness  existing  at  the  adoption  of  this  constitu- 
tion, unless  authorized  by  a  vote  of  the  people  of  the  county. 

?  9.  The  general  assembly  may  vest  the  corporate  authorities 
of  cities,  towns,  villages,  with  power  to  make  local  improvements 
by  special  assessment  or  by  special  taxation  of  contiguous  prop- 
erty or  otherwise.  For  all  other  corporate  purposes,  all  munici- 
pal corporations  may  be  Vested  with  authority  to  assess  and  col- 
lect taxes;  hut  such  taxes  shall  be  uniform  in  respect  to  persons 
and  property,  with  the  jurisdiction  of  the  body  imposing  the 
same. 

I  10.  The  general  assembly  shall  not  impose  taxes  upon  muni- 
cipal corporations,  or  the  inhabitants  or  property  thereof,  for  cor- 
porate purposes,  but  shall  require  that  all  the  taxable  property 
within  the  limits  of  municipal  corporations  shall  be  taxed  for 
the  payment  of  debts  contracted  under  authority  of  law,  such 
taxes  to  be  uniform  in  respect  to  persons  and  property,  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  body  imposing  the  same.  Private  property 
shall  not  be  liable  to  be  taken  or  sold  for  the  payment  of  the  cor- 
porate debts  of  a  municipal  corporation. 

\  11.  No  person  who  is  in  default,  as  a  collector  or  custodian 
of  money  or  property  belonging  to  a  municipal  corporation,  shall 
be  eligible  to  any  office  in  or  under  such  corporation.  The  fees, 
salary  or  compensation  of  no  municipal  officer  who  is  elected  or 
appointed  for  a  definite  term  of  office,  shall  be  increased  or  di- 
minished during  such  term. 

\  12.  No  county,  city,  township,  school  district,  or  other  muni- 
cipal corporation,  shall  be  allowed  to  become  indebted  in  any 
manner  or  for  any  purpose,  to  an  amount,  including  existing  in- 
debtedness, in  the  aggregate  exceeding  five  per  centum  on  the 
value  of  the  taxable  property  therein,  to  be  ascertained  by  the 
last  assessment  for  State  and  county  taxes,  previous  to  the  incur- 
ring of  such  indebtedness.  Any  county,  city,  school  district,  or 
other  municipal  corporation,  incurring  any  indebtedness,  as  afore- 
Baid,  shall  before,  or  at  the  time  of  doing  so,  provide  for  the  col- 
lection of  a  direct  annual  tax  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on 
such  debt  as  it  falls  due,  and  also  to  pay  and  discharge  the  prin- 
cipal thereof  within  twenty  years  from  the  timeof  contracting  ihe 
same.  This  section  shall  not  be  construed  to  prevent  any  county, 
city,  township,  school   district,  or  other   municipal   cort  oration 


HISTORY  OF  SCUUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


403 


from  issuing  their  bonds  in  compliance  with  any  vote  of  the 
people  which  may  have  been  had  prior  to  the  adoption  of  this 
constitution  in  pursuance  of  any  law  providing  therefor. 

ARTICLE  X. 


COUNTIES. 


1  1.  Formation  of  New  Counties. 

2.  Division  of  any  Comity. 
1  3.  Territory  stricken  from  a  County. 

4.  Removal  of  a  County  Seat.         *  ' 
1  5.  Method  of  County  Government. 

0.  Hoard    of  County  Commissioners. 

7.  County  attairs  iu  Cook  County. 


\   8.  County  Officers— Terms  of  Office. 

S    9,  Salaries  and  Fees  in  Cook  County. 
I  1(1.  Salaries  fixed  by  County  Hoard. 

\  11.  Township  Officers — Special  Laws. 
i  12.  All  Future  Fees  Uniform. 
$  13.  Sworn  Reports  of  all  Fees. 


\  1.  No  new  county  shall  be  formed  or  established  by  the  gen- 
eral assembly,  which  will  reduce  the  county  or  counties,  or  either 
of  them,  from  which  it  shall  be  taken,  to  less  contents  than  400 
square  miles;  nor  shall  any  county  be  formed  of  less  contents; 
nor  shall  any  line  thereof  pass  within  less  than  ten  miles  of  any 
county  seat  of  the  county,  or  counties  proposed  to  be  divided. 

\  2.  No  county  shall  be  divided,  or  have  any  part  stricken 
therefrom,  without  submitting  the  question  to  a  vote  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  county,  nor  unless  a  majority  of  all  the  legal  voters 
of  the  county,  voting  on  the  question,  shall  vote  for  the  same. 

|  3.  There  shall  be  no  teiritory  stricken  from  any  county, 
unless  a  majority  of  the  voters  living  in  such  territory  shall  peti- 
tion for  such  division  ;  and  no  territory  shall  be  added  to  any 
county  without  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  the  voters  of  the 
county  to  which  it  is  proposed  to  be  added.  But  the  portion  so 
stricken  off  and  added  to  another  county,  or  formed  in  whole  or 
in  part  into  a  new  county,  shall  be  holden  for,  and  obliged  to 
pay  its  proportion  of  indebtedness  of  the  county  from  which  it 
has  been  taken. 

COUNTY  SEATS. 

?  4.  No  county  seat  shall  be  removed  until  the  point  to  which 
it  is  proposed  to  be  removed  shall  be  fixed  in  pursuance  of  law, 
and  three-fifths  of  the  voters  of  the  county,  to  be  ascertained  in 
such  manner  as  shall  be  provided  by  general  law,  shall  have 
voted  in  favor  of  its  removal  to  such  point ;  and  no  person  shall 
vote  on  such  question  who  has  not  resided  in  the  county  six 
months,  anil  in  the  election  precinct  ninety  days  next  preceding 
such  election,  The  question  of  removal  of  a  county  seat  shall 
not  be  oftener  submitted  than  once  in  ten  years,  to  a  vote  of  the 
people.  But  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  remove  the  county  seat 
to  a  point  nearer  to  the  centre  of  a  county,  then  a  majority  vote 
only  shall  be  necessary. 

COUNTY  GOVERNMENT. 

§5.  The  general  assembly  shall  provide,  by  general  law,  for 
township  organization,  under  which  any  county  may  organize 
whenever  a  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  such  county,  voting  at 
any  general  election,  shall  so  determine,  and  whenever  any  county 
shall  adopt  township  organization,  so  much  of  this  constitution 
as  provides  for  the  management  of  the  fiscal  concerns  of  the  said 
county  by  the  board  of  county  commissioners,  may  be  dispensed 
with,  and  the  affairs  of  said  county  may  bo  transacted  in  such 
manner  as  the  general  assembly  may  provide.  And  in  any  county 
that  shall  have  adopted  a  township  organization,  the  question  of 
continuing  the  same  may  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  electors 
of  such  county,  at  a  genera!  election,  in  the  manner  that  now  is 
or  may  be  provided  by  law;  and  if  a  majority  of  all  the  votes 
cast  upon  that  question  shall  be  against  township  organization, 
then  such  organization  shall  cease  in  said  county  ;  and  all  laws 
in  force  in  relation  to  counties  not  having  township  organizations, 
shall  immediately  take  effect  and  be  in  force  in  such  county.  No 
two  townships  shall  have  the  same  name,  and  the  day  of  holding 
the  annual  township  meeting  shall  be  uniform  throughout  the 
State. 

I  6.  At  the  first  election  of  county  judges  under  this  constitu- 
tion, three  shall  be  elected  in  each  of  the  counties  in  this  State, 
not  under  township  organization,  three  officers,  who  shall  be 
styled  "  The.  Board  of  County  Commissioners,"  who  shall  hold 
sessions  for  the  transaction  of  county  business  as  shall  be  provided 
by  law.  One  of  said  commissioners  shall  hold  his  office  for  one 
year,  one  for  two  years,  and  one  for  three  years,  to  be  determined 
by  lot ;  and  every  year  thereafter  one  such  officer  shall  be  elected 
in  each  of  said  counties  for  the  term 'of  three  years. 

I  7  The  county  affairs  of  Cook  county  shail  be  managed  by  a 
board  of  commissioners  of  fifteen  persons,  ten  of  whom  shall  be 
elected  from  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  five  from  towns  outside  of 
said  city,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 


COUNTY  OFFICERS  AND  THEIR  COMPENSATIONS. 

$  8.  In  each  county  there  shall  be  elected  the  following  county 
officers :  County  judge,  sheriff,  county  clerk,  clerk  of  the  cir- 
cuit court,  (who  may  be  ex-officio  recorder  of  deeds,  except  in 
counties  having  60,000  and  more  inhabitants,  in  which  counties 
a  recorder  of  deeds  shall  be  elected  at  the  general  election  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1872,)  treasurer,  surveyor,  and  coroner,  each  of 
whom  shall  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  respectively,  ou 
the  first  Monday  of  December  after  their  election  ;  and  they 
shall  hold  their  respective  offices  for  the  term  of  four  years,  ex- 
cept the  treasurer,  sheriff  and  coroner,  who  shall  hold  their  office 
*  for  two  years,  and  until  their  successors  shall  be  elected  and  qual- 
ified. 

§  9.  The  clerks  of  all  the  courts  of  record,  the  treasurer,  sheriff, 
coroner  and  recorder  of  deeds  of  Cook  county,  shall  receive  as 
their  only  compensation  for  their  services,  salaries  to  be  fixed  by 
law,  which  shall  in  no  case  be  as  much  as  the  lawful  compensation 
of  a  judge  of  the  circuit  court  of  said  county,  and  shall  be  paid 
respectively,  only  out  of  the  fees  of  the  office  actually  collected. 
All  fees,  perquisites  and  emoluments  (above  the  amount  of  said 
salaries)  shall  be  paid  into  the  county  treasury.  The  number  of 
the  deputies  and  assistants  of  such  officers  shall  be  determined 
by  rule  of  the  circuit  court,  to  be  entered  of  record  and  their 
compensation  shall  be  determined  by  the  county  board. 

\  10.  The  county  board,  except  as  provided  in  $  9  of  this  arti- 
cle, shall  fix  the  compensation  of  all  county  officers,  with  the 
amount  of  their  necessary  clerk  hire,  stationery,  fuel  and  other 
expenses,  and  in  all  cases  where  fees  are  provided  for,  said  com- 
pensation shall  be  paid  only  out  of,  and  shall  in  no  instance  ex- 
ceed, the  fees  actually  collected;  they  shall  not  allow  either  of 
them  more  per  annum  than  $1,500,  in  counties  not  exceeding 
20,000  inhabitants ;  $2,000  in  counties  containing  20,000  and  not 
exceeding  3Q,000  inhabitants;  $2,500  in  counties  containing  30,- 
000  and  not  exceeding  50,000  inhabitants;  $3,000  in  counties 
containing  50,000  and  not  exceeding  70,000  inhabitants ;  $3,500 
in  counties  containing  70,000  and  not  exceeding  100,000  inhabi- 
tants ;  and  $4,000  in  counties  containing  over  100,000  and  not 
exceeding  250,000  inhabitants ;  and  not  more  than  $1,000  addi- 
tional compensation  for  each  additional  100,000  inhabitants : 
Provided,  that  the  compensation  of  no  officer  shall  be  increased 
or  diminished  during  his  term  of  office.  All  fees  or  allowances 
by  them  received,  in  excess  of  their  said  compensation,  shall  be 
paid  into  the  county  treasury. 

I  11.  The  fees  of  township  officers,  and  of  each  class  of  county 
officers,  shall  be  uniform  in  the  class  of  counties  to  which  they 
respectively  belong.  The  compensation  herein  provided  for  shall 
apply  only  to  officers  hereafter  elected,  but  all  fees  established  by 
special  laws  shall  cease  at  the  adoption  of  this  constitution,  and 
such  officers  shall  receive  only  such  fees  as  are  provided  by  gen- 
eral law. 

?  12.  All  laws  fixing  the  fees  of  State,  county  and  township 
officers,  shall  terminate  with  the  terms,  respectively,  of  those 
who  may  be  in  office  at  the  meeting  of  the  first  general  assembly 
after  the  adoption  of  this  constitution  ;  and  the  general  assembly 
shall  by  general  law,  uniform  in  its  operation,  provide  for  and 
regulate  the  fees  of  said  officers  and  their  successors,  so  as  to  re- 
duce the  same  to  a  reasonable  compensation  for  services  actually 
rendered.  But  the  general  assembly  may,  by  general  law,  classify 
the  counties  by  population  into  not  more  than  three  classes,  and 
regulate  the  fees  according  to  class.  This  article  shall  not  be 
construed  as  depriving  the  general  assembly  of  the  power  to  re- 
duce the  fees  of  existing  officers. 

\  13.  Every  person  who  is  elected  or  appointed  to  any  office  in 
this  State,  who  shall  be  paid  in  whole  or  in  part  by  fees,  shall  be 
required  by  law  to  make  a  semi-annual  report,  under  oath  to 
some  officer  to  be  designated  by  law,  of  all  his  fees  and  emolu- 
ments. 

ARTICLE  XL 

CORPORATIONS. 


:  1  Established  only  by  General  Laws. 
!  2.  ExistingChartors — How  Forfeited. 
(  3.  Election  of  Directors  or  Managers. 
i  4.  Construction  of  Street  Railroads. 
!  5.  State    Hanks  Forbidden — General 

Law. 
!  6.  Liability  of  Bank  Stockholder.       ' 

7.  Suspension  of  Specie  Payment. 
>  8.  Of  »  General  Banking  Law. 


1  9.  Railroad  Office,Books  and  Records 
j  10.  Personal  Property  of  Railroads. 
1 11.  Consolidations  Forbidden. 
\  12.  Railroads     deemed    Highways — 

Rates  Fixed. 
\  13.  Stocks,  Bonds  and  Dividends. 

1 14.  Power  over  existing  Companies. 

1 15.  Freight  and  Passenger  Tariff  regu- 

lated. 


\  1.  No  corparation  shall  be  created  by  special  laws,  or  its  char- 
ter extended,  changed   or  amended,  except  those   for  charitable, 


404 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER    AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


educational,  penal  or  reformatory  purposes,  which  are  to  he  and 
remain   under  the  patronage  and  control  of  the  State,  but  the 

general  assembly  shall  provide,  by  general  law,  for  the  organiza- 
tions of  all  corporations  hereafter  created. 

2  2.  All  existing  charters  or  grants  of  special  or  exclusive 
privileges,  under  which  organization  shall  not  have  taken  place, 
or  which  shall  not  have  been  in  operation  within  ten  days  from 
the  time  this  constitution  takes  etiect,  shal  1  therealter  have  no 
validity  or  effect  whatever. 

2  3.  The  general  assembly  shall  provide,  by  law,  that  in  all 
elections  for.  directors  or  managers  of  corporated  companies, 
every  stockholder  shall  have  the  right  to  vote,  in  person  or  by  proxy, 
for  the  number  of  shares  of  stock  owned  by  him,  for  as  many 
persons  as  there  are  directors  or  managers  to  be  elected,  or  to 
cumulate  said  shares,  and  give  one  candidate  as  many  votes  as 
the  number  of  directors  multiplied  by  the  number  of  his  shares 
of  stock,  shall  equal,  or  to  distribute  them  on  the  same  principle 
among  as  many  candidates  as  he  shall  think  fit ;  and  no  such 
directors  or  managers  shall  be  elected  in  any  other  manner.      v 

§  4.  No  laws  shall-  be  passed  by  the  general  assembly,  granting 
the  right  to  construct  and  operate  a  street  railroad  within  any 
city,  town,  or  incorporated  village,  without  requiring  the  consent 
of  the  local  authorities  having  the  control  of  the  street  or  high- 
way proposed  to  be  occupied  by  such  street  railroad. 

BAJJKS. 

|  5.  No  State  bank  shall  hereafter  be  created,  nor  shall  the 
State  own  or  be  liable  for  any  stock  in  any  corporation  or  joint 
stock  company  or  association  for  banking  purposes,  now  created, 
or  to  be  hereafter  created.  No  act  of  the  general  assembly  au- 
thorizing or  creating  corporations  or  associations,  with  banking 
powers,  whether  of  issue,  deposit  or  discount,  nor  amendments 
thereto,  shall  go  into  effect  or  in  any  manner  be  in  force  unless 
the  same  shall  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  at  the  general 
election  next  succeeding  the  passage  of  the  same,  and  be  ap- 
proved by  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  at  such  election  for  or 
against  such  law. 

2  6.  Every  stockholder  in  a  banking  corporation  or  institution 
shall  be  individually  responsible  and  liable  to  its  creditors  over 
and  above  the  amount  of  stock  by  him  or  her  held,  to  an  amount 
equal  to  his  or  her  respective  shares  so  held,  for  all  its  liabilities 
accruing  while  he  or  she  remains  such  a  stockholder. 

i.  7.  The  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  banking  institu- 
tions, or  their  circulation,  created  by  the  laws  of  this  State,  shall 
never  be  permitted  or  sanctioned.  Every  banking  association 
now,  or  which  may  hereafter  be,  organized  under  the  laws  of 
this  State,  shall  make  and  publish  a  full  and  accurate  quar- 
terly statement  of  its  affairs,  (which  shall  be  certified  to,  under 
oath,  by  one  or  more  of  its  officers,)  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 

|  8.  If  a  general  banking  law  shall  be  enacted,  it  shall  provide 
for  the  registry  and  countersigning,  by  an  officer  of  state,  of  all 
bills  or  paper  credit,  designed  to  circulate  as  money,  and  require 
Becurity,to  the  full  amount  thereof,  to  be  deposited  with  the  State 
treasurer,  in  United  States  or  Illinois  State  stocks,  to  be  rated  at 
ten  per  cent,  below  their  par  value  ;  and  in  case  of  a  deprecia- 
tion of  said  stocks  to  the  amount  of  ten  per  cent,  belcw  par,  the 
bank  or  banks  owning  said  stocks  shall  be  required  to  make  up 
said  deficiency,  by  depositing  additional  stocks.  And  said  law 
shall  also  provide  for  the  recording  of  the  names  of  all  stock- 
holders in  such  corporations,  the  amount  of  stock  held  by  e;n  h, 
the  time  of  any  trausier  thereof,  aud  to  whom  such  transfer  is 
made. 

RAILROADS. 

?  9.  Every  railroad  corporation  organized  or  doing  business  in 
this  State,  under  the  laws  or  authority  thereof,  shall  haveand  main- 
tain a  public  office  or  place  in  this  State,  for  the  transaction  <  f 
its  business,  where  transfers  of  stock  shall  be  made,  and  in  which 
shall  be  kept  for  public  inspection,  books,  in  which  shal!  be  re- 
corded the  amount  of  capital  stock  subscribed,  and  by  whom;  the 
names  of  the  owners  of  stock  and  amount  by  them  respectively, 
the  amount  of  stock  paid  in  and  by  whom,  the  transfers  of  said' 
stock;  the  amount  of  its  assets  and  liabilities,  and  the  names 
and  place  of  residence  of  its  officers.  The  directors  of  every 
_  railroad  corporation  shall,  annually,  make  a  report,  under  oatli, 
to  the  auditor  of  public  accounts,  or  some  officer  to  be  designated 
by  law,  of  all  their  acts  and  doings,  which  report  shall  include 
such  matters  relating  to  railroaOs  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 
And  the  general  assembly  shall  pass  laws  enlorcing  by  suitable 
pjialties  the  provisions  of  this  section. 

|  10.  The  rolling  stock,  aud  all  other  movable  property  belong- 


ing to  any  railroad  company  or  corporation  in  this  State,  shall  be 
considered  personal  property,  and  shall  be  liable  to  execution 
and  sale  in  the  same  manner  as  the  personal  property  of  individ- 
uals, and  the  general  assembly  shall  pass  no  law  exempting  any 
such  property  from  execution  and  sale. 

{  11.  No  railroad  corporation  shall  consolidate  its  stock,  prop- 
erty or  franchises  with  any  other  railroad  corporation  owning  a 
parallel  or  competing  line;  and  in  no  case  shall  any  consolida- 
tion take  place  except  upon  public  notice  given,  of  at  least  sixty 
days,  to  all  stockholders,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  provided  by 
law.  A  majority  of  the  directors  of  any  railroad  corporation, 
now  incorporated  or  hereafter  to  be  incorporated  by  the  laws  of  the 
State,  shall  be  citizens  and  residents  of  this  State. 

|12.  Riilways  heretofore  constructed,  or  that  may  hereafter 
be  constructed  in  this  State,  are  hereby  declared  public  high- 
ways, and  shall  be  free  to  all  persons  for  the  transportation  of 
their  persons  and  property  thereon,  under  such  regulations  as 
may  be  prescribed  by  law.  And  the  general  assembly  shall,  from 
time  to  time,  pass  laws  establishing  reasonable  maximum  rates 
of  charges  for  the  transportation  of  passengers  and*  freight  on  the 
different  railroads  in  this  State. 

2  13.  No  railroad  corporation  shall  issue  any  stock  or  bonds, 
except  for  money,  labor  or  property  actually  received,  and  ap- 
plied to  the  purposes  for  which  such  corporation  was  created ; 
and  all  stock  dividends,  and  other  fictitious  increase  of  the  capi- 
tal stock  or  indebtedness  of  any  such  corporation,  shall  be  void. 
The  capital  stock  of  no  railroad  corporation  shall  be  increased 
for  any  purpose,  except  upon  giving  sixty  days'  public  notice,  in 
such  manner  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 

2  14.  The  exercise  of  the  power,  aud  the  right  of  eminent  do- 
main shall  never  be  so  construed  or  abridged  as  to  prevent  the  tak- 
ing, by  the  general  assembly,  of  the  property  and  franchises  of 
incorporated  companies  already  organized,  and  subjecting  them 
to  the  public  necessity  the  same  as  of  individuals.  The  right  of 
trial  by  jury  shall  be  held  inviolate  in  all  trials  of  claims  for 
compensation,  when,  in  the  exercise  of  said  right  of  eminent  do- 
main, any  incorporated  company  shall  be  interested  either  for  or 
against  the  exercise  of  said  right. 

2  15.  The  general  assembly  shall  pass  laws  to  correct  abuses 
and  prevent  unjust  discrimination  and  extortion  in  the  rates  of 
freight  and  passenger  tariffs  on  different  railroads  in  this  State, 
and  enforce  such  laws,  by  adequate  penalties,  to  the  extent,  if 
necessary  for  that  purpose,  of  forfeiture  of  their  property  and 
franchises. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

MILITIA. 

I  1.  Persons  composing  the  Military.     )  3  4.  Privilege  from  Arrest 
i  2.  Organization — Equ  ipment— Liis-  \  h.  Records,  Banners  and  Relies, 
ripline.  J  c.  Exemption  from  militia  duty, 

g  3.  Commissions  of  Officers. 

2  1.  The  militia  of  the  State  of  Illinois  shall  consist  of  all  able- 
bodied  male  persons,  resident  in  the  State,  between  the  ages  of 
eighteen  and  forty-five,  except  such  persons  as  now  are,  or  here- 
after may  be,  exempted  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  of 
this  State. 

2  2.  The  ganeral  assembly,  in  providing  for  the  organization, 
equipment  and  discipline  of  the  militia,  shall  conform  as  nearly 
as  practicable  to  the  regulations  for  the  government  of  the 
armies  of  the  United  States. 

2  3.  All  militia  officers  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  gover- 
nor, and  may- hold  their  commissions  for  such  time  as  the  general 
assembly  may  provide. 

2  4.  The  militia  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony  or 
breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  at- 
tendance at  musters  and  elections,  and  in  going  to  and  returning 
from  the-same. 

"  2  5.  The  military  records,  banners  and  relics  of  the  State,  shall 
be  preserved  as  an  enduring  memorial  of  the  patriotism  and 
valor  of  Illinois,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  general  assembly 
to  provide  by  law  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  same. 

2  6.  No  person  having  conscientious  scruples  against  bearing 
arms,  shall  be  compelled  to  do  militia  duty  in  time  of  peace  : 
Provided,  such  parson  shall  pay  an  equivalent  for  such  exemp- 
tion. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

WAREHOU-i:-. 

i,  1.  What  deemed  Public  Ware})  1 'elivery  of  Grain  hy  Railroad*, 

g  2.  Sworn  weekly  statement"  required  i  ft,  Power  and  Dory  of  the  Legislature. 
i  3.  Examination  of  property  stored.  \  7.  Grain  Inspection— Protection  of 
I  4.  Carriers  to  deliver  full  Weight       1  Lealers. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


405 


$  1.  All  elevators  or  storehouses  where  grain  or  other  property 
is  stored  tor  a  compensation,  whether  the  property  stored  be  kept 
separate  or  not,  are  declared  to  be  public  warehouses. 

§2.  The  owner,  lessee  or  manager  of  each  and  every  public 
warehouse  situated  in  any  town  or  city  of  not  less  than  100,000 
inhabitants,  shall  make  weekly  statements  under  oath,  before 
some  officer  to  be  designated  bv  law,  and  keep  the  same  posted 
in  Mime  conspicuous  place  in  the  t  ffice  of  such  warehouse,  and 
shall  also  file  a  copy  for  public  examination  in  such  place  as 
shall  be  designated  by  law,  which  statement  shall  correctly  set 
forth  the  amount  and  grade  of  each  and  every  kind  of  grain  in 
such  warehouse,  together  with  such  other  property  as  may  be 
stored  therein,  and  what  warehouse  receipts  have  been  issued, 
and  are,  at  the  time  of  making  such  statement,  outstanding  there- 
for; and  shall,  on  the  copy  posted  in  the  warehouse,  note  daily 
such  changes  as  may  be  made  in  the  quantity  and  grade  of  grain 
in  such  warehouse;  and  the  different  grades  of  grain  shipped  in 
separate  lots,  shall  not  be  mixed  with  inferior  or  superior  grades, 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner  or  consignee  thereof. 

\  3.  The  owners  of  property  stored  in  any  warehouse,  or  holder 
of  a  receipt  for  the  same,  shall  always  be  at  liberty  to  examine 
such  property  stored,  and  all  the  books  and  records  of  the  ware- 
house in  regard  to  such  property. 

\  4.  All  railroad  companies  and  other  common  carriers  on  rail- 
roads shall  weigh  or  measure  grain  at  points  where  it  is  shipped, 
and  receipt  for  the  full  amount,  and  shall  be  responsible  for  the 
delivery  of  such  amount  to  the  owner  or  consignee  thereof,  at 
the  place  of  destination. 

\  5.  All  railroad  companies  receiving  and  transporting  grain 
in  bulk  or  otherwise,  shall  deliver  the  same  to  any  consignee 
thereof,  or  any  elevator  or  public  warehouse  to  which  it  may  be 
consigned,  provided  such  consignee,  or  the  elevator  or  public 
warehouse  can  be  reached  by  any  track  owned,  leased  or  used, 
or  which  can  be  used,  by  such  railroad  companies;  and  all  rail- 
road companies  shall  permit  connections  to  be  made  with  their 
track,  so  that  any  such  consignee,  and  any  public  warehouse, 
coal  bank  or  coal  yard,  may  be  reached  by  the  ears  on  said  rail- 
road. 

|  (!.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  general  assembly  to  pass  all 
necessary  laws  to  prevent  the  issue  of  false  and  fraudulent 
warehouse  receipts,  and  to  give  full  effect  to  this  article  of  the 
constitution,  which  shall   be  liberally  construed  so  as  to  protect 

Iirodncers  and  shippers.  And  the  enumeration  of  the  remedies 
lerein  named  shall  not  be  construed  to  deny  to  the  general  as- 
sembly the  power  to  prescribe  by  law  such  other  and  further 
remedies  as  may  be  found  expedient,  or  to  deprive  any  person 
of  existing  common  law  remedies. 

\  7.  The  general  assembly  shall  pass  laws  for  the  inspection 
of  grain," for  the  protection  of  producers,  shippers  and  receivers 
of  grain  and  produce. 

"ARTICLE  XIV. 

AMEXDMENT3  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

{  I.  By  n  Constitutional  Convention.     |  \  2.  Proposed  by  the  Legislature. 

\  1.  Whenever  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  each  house  of 
the  general  assembly  shall,  by  a  vote  entered  upon  the  journals 
thereof,  concur  that  a  convention  is  necessary  to  revise,  alter  or 
amend  the  constitution,  the  question  shall  be  submitted  to  the 
electors  at  the  next  general  election.  If  a  majority  voting  at 
the  election  vote  for  a  convention,  the  general  assembly  shall,  at 
the  next  session,  provide  for  a  convention,  to  consist  of  double 
the  number  of  the  members  of  the  senate,  to  be  elected  in  the 
same  manner,  at  the  same  places,  and  in  the  same  districts.  The 
general  assembly  shall,  in  the  act  calling  the  convention,  desig- 
nate the  day,  hour  and  place  of  its  meeting,  fix  the  pay  of  its 
members  and  officers,  and  provide  for  the  payment  of  the  same, 
together  with  expenses  necessarily  incurred  by  the  convention 
in  the  performance  of  its  duties.  Before  proceeding,  the  members 
shall  take  an  oath  to  support  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  to  faithfully  discharge 
their  duties  as  members  of  the  convention.  The  qualification  of 
members  shall  be  the  same  as  that  of  members  of  the  senate, 
and  vacancies  occurring  shall  be  filled  in  the  manner  provided 
for  filling  vacancies  in  the  general  assembly.  Said  convention 
shall  meet  within  three  months  after  such  election,  and  prepare 
such  revisions,  alterations  or  amendments  of  the  constitution  as 
shall  be  deemed  necessary,  which  shall  be  submitted  to  the  elec- 
tors for  their  ratification  or  rejection,  at  an  election  appointed  by 
the  convention  for  that  purpose,  not  less  than  or  more  than  six 
months  after  the  adjournment  thereof;  and  unless  so  submitted 


and  approved  by  a  majority  of  the  electors  voting  at  the  election, 
no  such  revisions,  alterations  or  amendments  shall  take  effect. 

\  2.  Amendments  to  this  constitution  may  be  proposed  in  either 
house  of  the  general  assembly,  and  if  the  same  shall  be  voted 
for  by  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  of  the  two 
houses,  such  proposed  amendments,  together  with  the  yeas  and 
nays  of  each  house  thereon,  shall  be  entered  in  full  on  their  re- 
spective journals,  and  said  amendments  shall  be  submitted  to  the 
electors  of  this  State  for  adoption  or  rejection,  at  the  next  elec- 
tion of  members  of  the  general  assembly,  in  such  manner  as  may 
be  prescribed  by  law.  The  proposed  amendments  shall  be  pub- 
lished in  full  at  least  three  months  preceding  the  election,  and 
if  a  majority  of  electors  voting  at  said  election  shall  vote  for  the 
proposed  amendments,  they  shall  become  part  of  this  constitu- 
tion. But  the  general  assembly  shall  have  no  power  to  propose 
amendments  to  more  than  one  article  of  this  constitution  at  the 
same  session,  nor  to  the  same  article  oftener  than  once  in  four 
years.  t 

SEPARATE  SECTIONS. 


Illinois  Central  Railroad. 
Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal. 


Municipal  Subscription  to  Corpora- 
tions. 


No  contract,  obligation  or  liability  whatever,  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  Company,  to  pay  any  money  into  the  State 
treasury,  nor  any  lien  of  the  State  upon,  or  right  to  tax  property 
of  said  company,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  charter 
of  said  company,  approved  Feb.  10,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1851, 
shall  ever  be  released,  suspended,  modified,  altered,  remitted,  or 
in  any  manner  diminished  or  impaired  by  legislative  or  other 
authority  ;  and  all  moneys  derived  from  said  company,  after  the 
payment  of  the  State  debt,  shall  be  appropriated  and  set  apart 
for  the  payment  of  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  State  govern- 
ment, and  for  no  other  purposes  whatever. 

MUNICIPAL  SUBSCRIPTIONS  TO  RAILROADS  OR  PRIVATE  CORPORA- 
TIONS. 

No  county,  city,  town,  township  or  other  municipality  shall  ever 
become  subscriber  to  the  capital  stock  of  any  railroad  or  private 
corporation,  or  make  donation  to,  or  loan  its  credit  in  aid  of  such 
corporation  :  Provided  however,  that  the  adoption  of  this  article 
shal  not  be  construed  as  affecting  the  right  of  any  such  munici- 
pality to  make  such  subscriptions  where  the  same  have  been  au- 
thorized, under  existing  laws,  by  a  vote  of  the  people  of  such 
municipalities  prior  to  such  adoption. 

CANAL. 

The  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  shall  never  be  sold  or  leased 
until  the  specific  proposition  for  the  sale  of  lease  thereof  shall 
have  first  been  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  of  the  State,  at 
a  general  election,  and  have  been  approved  by  a  majority  of  all 
the  votes  polled  at  such  election.  The  general  assembly  shall 
never  loan  the  credit  of  the  State,  or  make  appropriations  from 
the  treasury  thereof,  in  aid  of  railroads  or  canals  :  Provided,  that 
any  surplus  earnings  of  any  canal  may  be  appropriated  for  its 
enlargement  or  extension. 

SCHEDULE. 


g  t.  Laws  in  force  remain  valid.  I 

j>  2.  Fines,  lVn:Utf's,  and    Forfeitures.1 
\  3.  Recognizances,  Bonds,  Obligsl  i onfl 


4.  Present  county  Courts   continued. 
r».  All  existing  Courts  continued. 

5.  Persons   now  in    Office  continued. 


That  no  inconvenience  may  anse  from  the  alterations  and  amendments  made 
in  the  constitution  of  Otis  Suite  and  to  carry  the  same  into  comple.e  effect,  it  is 
hereby  ordained  and  declared : 

|  1.  That  all  laws  in  force  at  the  adoption  of  this  constitution, 
not  inconsistent  therewith,  and  all  rights,  actions,  prosecutions, 
claims,  and  contracts  of  this  State,  individuals  or  bodies  corpor- 
ate, shall  continue  to  be  as  valid  as  if  this  constitution  had  not 
been  adopted. 

|  2.  That  all  fines,  taxas,  penalties  and  forfeitures,  due  and 
owing  to  the  State  of  Illinois  under  the  present  constitution  and 
laws,  shall  inure  to  the  use  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
under  this  constitution. 

\  3.  Recognizances,  bonds,  obligations,  and  all  other  instruments 
entered  into  or  executed  before  the  adoption  of  this  constitution, 
to  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  to  any  State  or  county  officer 
or  public  body,  shall  remain  binding  and  valid;  and  rights  and 
liabilities  upon  the  same  shall  continue,  and  all  crimes  and  mis- 
demeanors shall  be  tried  and  punished  as  though  no  change  had 
been  made  in  the  constitution  of  this  State. 

\  4.  County  courts  tor  the  transaction  of  county  business  in 
eounucs  not  having  adapted  township  organization,  shall  continue 
in  existence  and  exercise  their  present  jurisdiction  until   the 


406 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


board  of  county  commissioners  provided  in  this  constitution  is 
organized  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  the  general  assembly;  and 
the  count*  courts  in  all  other  counties  shall  have  the  same  power 
and  jurisdiction  they  uow  possess  until  otherwise  provided  by 
general  law. 

i  5.  All  existing  courts  which  are  not  in  this  constitution 
6|>ecially  enumerated,  shall  continue  in  existence  and  exercise 
their  present  jurisdiction  until  otherwise  provided  by  law. 

j  6.  All  persons  now  filling  any  office  or  appointment  shall 
continue  in  the  exercise  of  the  duties  thereof  aceording  to  their 
respective  commissions  or  appointments,  unless  by  this  constitu- 
tion it  is  otherwise  directed. 


J  l*.  All  laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  all  official  writings, 
and  the  executive,  legislative  and  judicial  proceedings,  t-hall  be 
conducted,  preserved  and  published  in  no  other  than  the  English 
language. 

|  19.  The  general  assembly  shall  pass  all  laws  necessary  to 
carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  this  constitution. 
'  {  20.  The  circuit  clerks  of  the  different  counties  having  a  pop- 
ulation over  sixty  thousand,  shall  continue  to  be  recorders  (ex- 
officio)  for  their  respective  counties,  under  this  constitution,  until 
the  expiration  of  their  respective  terms. 

j  21.  The  judges  of  all  courts  of  records  in  Cook  County  shall, 
in  lieu  of  any  salary  provided  for  in  this  constitution,  receive  the 
compensation  now  provided  by  law  until  the  adjournment  of  the 
first  session  of  general  assembly  after  the  adoption  of  this  con- 
stitution. 

|  22.  The  present  judge  of  the  circuit  court  of  Cook  county 
shall  continue  to  hold  the  circuit  court  of  Lake  county  until 
otherwise  provided  by  law. 

{  23.  When  this  constitution  shall  be  adopted,  and  take  effect 
as  the  supreme  law  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  the  two-mill  tax  pro- 
vided to  be  aiinuall  .  I  and  collected  upon  each  dollar's 
worth  of  taxable  property,  in  addition  to  all  other  taxes,  as  set 
forth  in  article  fifteen  of  the  now  existing  constitution, shall  cease 
to  be  assessed  after  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy. 

|  -i.  Nothing  contained  in  this  constitution  shall  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  deprive  the  general  assembly  of  the  power  to  author- 
ize the  city  of  Quincy  to  create  any  indebtedness  for  railroad  or 
municipal  purposes,  for  which  the  people  of  said  city  shall  have 
voted,  and  to  which  they  shall  have  given,  by  such  vote,  their 
assent,  prior  to  the  thirteenth  day  of  December,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine:  Prurided, 
that  no  such  indebtedness,  so  created,  shall  in  any  part  thereof 
be  paid  by  the  State,  or  from  any  State  revenue,  tax  or  fund,  but 
the  same  shall  be  paid,  if  at  all,  by  the  said  city  of  Quincy  alone, 
and  by  taxes  to  be  levied  upon  the  taxable  property  thereof: 
And  provided,  further,  that  the  general  assembly  shall  have  no 
power  in  the  premises  that  it  could  not  exercise  under  the  pre- 
sent constitution  of  this  State. 

$  25.  In  case  this  constitution  and  the  articles  and  sections 
submitted  separately  be  adopted,  the  existing  constitution  shall 
cease  in  all  its  provisions ;  and  in  case  this  constitution  be  adopted, 
any  one  or  more  of  its  articles  or  sections  submitted  separately 
be  defeated,  the  provisions  of  the  existing  constitution  (if  any) 
on  the  same  subject  shall  remain  in  force. 

26.  The  provisions  of  this  constitution  required  to  be  exe- 
cuted prior  to  the  adoption  or  rejection  thereof  shall  take  effect 
and  be  in  force  immediately. 

Done  in  convention  at  the  capital,  in  the  city  of  Springfield, 
on  the  thirteenth  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  seventy,  and  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America  the  ninety-fourth. 

In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names: 

CHARLES  HITCHCOCK,  President 


William  J.  Allen, 
John  Abb  >tt, 
James  C.  Allen, 
Elliott  Anthony, 
"\\"m.  K.  Archer, 
Henry  I.  Atkins, 


Robert  A.  King, 
Jas.  McCoy, 
Charles  E."  McDoweH, 
"William  C.  Goodue, 
Joseph  Medill, 
Clifton  H.  Moore, 


James  G.  Bayne, 
R.  M.  Benjamin, 

H.  P.  H.  Brownwell, 
O   H.  Browning, 
Wm.  G.  Bowman, 
Silas  L.  Brvon, 
H.  P.  Buxton, 
Daniel  Cameron, 
William  Cary, 
Lawrence  S.  Church, 
Hiram  H.  Codv, 
W.  F.  Coolbaugh, 
Alfred  M.  Craig, 
Robert  J.  Cross, 
Samuel  P  Cuminings, 
John  Dement, 
G.  S.  Eldridge, 
James  W.  English. 
David  Ellis, 
Ferris  Foreman, 
Jesse  C.  Fox, 
Miles  A.  Fuller, 
John  P.  Gamble, 
Addison  Goodell, 
John  C.  Haines, 
Elijah  M.  Haines, 
John  W.  Hankins, 
R.  P.  Hanna, 
Joseph  Hart, 
Abel  Harwood, 
Milton  Hay, 
Samuel  Snowden  Hayes, 
Jesse  S.  Hildrup, 


Jonathan  Merriam, 
Joseph  Parker, 
Samuel  C.  Parks, 

Peleg  K  Porky, 

J.  S.  Poage,' 
Edward  Y.  Rice, 
James  P.  Robinson, 
Lewis  W,  B   --. 
William  P.  Pierce, 
N.  J.  Pillsbury, 
Jno.  Scholfield, 
James  M.  Sharp, 
Henry  Sherrell, 
W.  II.  Snyder, 
O.  C.  Skinner, 
Westel  W.  Sedgwick, 
Charles  F.  Springer, 
John  L.  Tincher, 

C.  Truesdale, 
Henry  Tubbs, 
Thomas  J.  Turner, 
Win.  H.  Underwood, 
Wm.  L.  Vandeventer, 
Henry  W.  Wells, 
George  E.  Wait, 
George  W.  Wall, 

R.  B.  Sutherland, 

D.  C.  Wagner, 
George  R.  Wendling, 
Chas.  Wheatou 

L.  D.  Whiting, 
John  H.  Wilson, 
Orlando  H.  Wright 


Attest  : — John  Q.  Harmon,  Secretary. 

Daniel  Shepard,  First  Assist  mt  Szcrctiry. 
A.  H.  Swain,  Second  Assistant  Secretary. 

UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  I  „_     „,  eK.rrfa„ 

STATE  OF  ILLINOIS.  |s8-  t*U*  ef  btertU"T- 

I  C.eorgeH.  Harlow,  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  do  hereby  certify 
that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy *of  the  constitution  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
adopted  in  convention  the  13th  dav  of  May,  ISTo,  ratified  by  a  vote  of  the  peo- 
ple the  2nd  day  of  July,  187(1,  and  in  force  on  the  sth  day  of  Angusr.  IsTm,  and 
now  on  file  in  this  office  In  testimony  whereof  I  hereto  "set  my  hand  and  affix 
the  lireat  Seal  of  State,  at  the  city  of  "Springfield,  the  31st  day  of  March,  A.  L>. 
1873. 

GEO.  H.  HARLOW,  Secretory  of  Slate. 


AMENDMENTS   TO   THE    CONSTITUTION. 

Amending  section  31,  article  4.  Proposed  by  the  General  Assembly,  MIT, 
ratified  by  a  vote  of  the  people  November  5, 1878,  proclaimed  adopted  by  the 
Governor*  November  29, 1878. 

Skctiox  31,  Article  4. 

The  General  Assembly  may  pass  laws  permitting  the  owners  of  lands  to  con" 
struct  drains,  ditches,  and  levees  for  agricultural,  sanitary  and  mining  purposes 
across  the  lands  of  others,  and  provide  for  the  organization  of  drainage  dis- 
tricts, and  ve-t  the  corpora'e  authorities  thereof  with  power  to  construct  and 
maintain  levees,  drains  and  ditches,  and  to  keep  in  repair  all  drains,  ditches 
and  levees  heretofore  constructed  under  the  taws  of  this  State,  by  special  as- 
sessments upon  the  property  benefited  thereby. 

Amending  section  8,  article  10.  Proposed  by  the  General  Assembly,  1879, 
ratified  hy  a  vote  of  the  people  November  2, 1880,  proclaimed  adopted  by  the 
Governor*  November  22, 1880 : 

Sectiox  8,  Articlr  10. 

In  each  connty  ihere  shall  be  elected  the  following  county  officers,  at  the 
general  election  to  be  held  on  the  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November, 
A.  I>.  1S82:  A  county  judge,  county  cterk.  sheriff",  and  treasurer ;  and  at  the 
election  to  be  held  on  the  Tuesdayafter  the  first  Monday  in  November,  A.  I>. 
188*.  a  coroner  and  clerk  of  the  circuit  court,  (who  may  be  ex-offieio  recorder  of 
deeds,  except  in  counties  having  fin.000  and  more  inhabitants,  in  which  coun- 
ties a  recorder  of  deeds  shall  be  elected  at  the  general  election  in  1884).  Each 
of  said  officers  shall  enter  upon  the  dnties  of  his  office,  respectively,  on  the 
first  Monday  of  December  after  his  election,  and  they  shall  bold  their  respec- 
tive offices  "for  the  term  of  four  years,  and  until  their  successors  are  elected 
and  qualified  :  Provided,  that  no  person  having  once  been  elected  to  the  office 
of  sheriff,  or  treasurer,  shall  be  eligible  to  re-election  to  said  office  for  four 
years  after  the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected. 


DECLARATION    OF   INDEPENDENCE. 


AVhen,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necesfnry 
for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  con- 
nected t!n-iii  with  another,  and  to  assume  among  the  powers  of 
the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of 
nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to 
opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes 
which  impel  them  to  the  separation. 

We  hold  those  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  cre- 
ated equal  ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain 
unalienable  rights;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness.  That  to  secure  these  rights,  governments 
are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  lrom  the 
consent  of  the  governed ;  that,  whenever  any  form  of  govern- 
ment becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the 
people  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  govern* 
Hunt,  laving  its  foundation  on  such  principles,  and  organizing 
its  powers  in  such  form  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  ef- 
fect their  safety  and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate 
that  governments  long  established  should  not  be  changed  for 
light  and  transient  causes  ;  and,  accordingly,  all  experience  hath 
shown  that  mankind  are  more  disposed  to  sutler,  while  evils  are 
sutl'erable,  than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to 
which  they  are  accustomed.  But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses 
and  Usurpations,  pursuing  invariably  the  same  object,  evinces  a 
design  to  reduce  them  under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right, 
it  is  their  duty  to  throw*  off  such  government,  and  to  provide 
new  guards  for  their  future  security.  Such  has  been  the  patient 
sufferance  of  these  colonies,  and  such  is  now  the  necessity  which 
•constrains  them  to  alter  their  former  systems  of  government. 
The  history  of  the  present  King  of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of 
repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all  having  in  direct  object  the 
establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  States.  To 
prove  this  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world  : 

He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  wholesome  and 
necessary  for  the  public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  Governors  to  pass  laws  of  immediate  and 
pressing  importance,  unless  suspended  in  their  operation  till  his 
assent  should  be  obtained  ;  and  when  so  suspended,  he  has  utterly 
neglected  to  attend  to  them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommodation  of  iarge 
districts  of  people,  unless  those  people  would  relinquish  the  rigbt 
of  representation  in  the  legislature;  a  right  inestimable  to  them, 
and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

He  has  called  together  leglislative  bodies  at  places  unusual, 
uncomfortable,  and  distant  from  the  depository  of  their  public 
records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into  compliance 
with  his  measures. 

He  lias  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly  for  oppos- 
ing, with  manly  firmness,  his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the  peo- 
ple. 

He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such  dissolution,  to  cause 
others  to  be  elected  ;  whereby  the  legislative  powers,  incapable 
of  annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  people  at  large  for  their 
exercise;  the  State  remaining,  in  the  meantime,  exposed  to  all 
the  danger  of  invasion  from  without,  and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of  these  States  ; 
for  that  purpose,  obstructing  the  laws  for  naturalization  of  for- 
eigners; (erasing  to  pass  others  to  encourage  their  migration 
hither,  and  ra:sing  the  conditions  of  new  appropriations  of  lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice,  by  refusing 
his  assent  to  laws  for  establishing  judiciary  powers. 

He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone,  for  the  ten- 
ure of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  paymentof  their  salaries, 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and  sent  hither 
swarms  of  officers  to  harass  our  people,  and  eat  out  their  sub- 
stance. 

He  has  kept  among  us.  in  times  of  peace,  standing  armies, 
without  the  consent  of  our  legislature. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent  of,  and 
superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

He  has  combined,  with  others,  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction 
foreign' to  our  constitution,  and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws;  giv- 
ing his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legi  lution. 


For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us. 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial,  from  punishment,  for 
any  murders  they  should  commit  on  the  inhabitants  of  these 
States. 

For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world: 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent : 

For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefits  of  trial  by 
jury : 

For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended  of- 
fences: 

For  abolishing  the  free  svstem  of  English  law  in  a  neighbor- 
ing province,  establishing  therein  an  arbitrary  government,  and 
enlarging  its  boundaries,  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an  example 
and  fit  instrument  for  introducing  the  same  absolute  rule  into 
these  colonies : 

For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable 
laws,  and  altering  fundamentally,  the  powere  of  our  govern- 
ments : 

For  suspending  our  own  legislatures,  and  declaring  themselves 
invested  with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by  declaring  us  out  of  his 
protection,  and  waging  war  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burnt  our 
towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is,  at  this  time,  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign  mer- 
cenaries to  complete  toe  work  of  death,  desolation  and  tyranny, 
already  begun,  with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  perfidy  scarcely 
paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the 
head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens,  taken  captive  on  the 
high  seas,  to  bear  arms  against  their  country,  to  become  the  exe- 
cutioners of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves  by 
their  hands. 

He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst  us,  and  has  en- 
deavored to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers,  the  merci- 
less Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare  is  an  undis- 
tinguished destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions,  we  have  petitioned  for  re- 
dress, in  the  most  humble  terms;  our  repeated  petitions  have 
been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A  prince,  whose  charac- 
ter is  thus  marked  by  every  act  which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is 
unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  our  attention  to  our  British 
brethren.  We  have  warned  them  from  time  to  time,  of  attempts 
made  by  their  legislature  to  extend  an  unwarrantable  jurisdiction 
over  us.  We  have  reminded  them  of  the  circumstances  of  our 
emigration  and  settlement  here.  We  have  appealed  to  their 
native  justice  and  magnanimity,  and  we  have  conjured  them,  by 
the  tics  of  our  common  kindred,  to  disavow  these  usurpations, 
which  would  inevitably  interrupt  our  connections  and  correspon- 
dence. They,  too,  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and 
consanguinity.  We  must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  necessity, 
which  denounces  our  separation,  and  hold  them,  as  we  hold  the 
rest  of  mankind,  enemies  in  war,  in  peace,  friends. 

We,  therefore  the  representatives  of  the  UNITED  STATES 
OF  AMERICA,  in  GENERAL  CONGRESS  assembled,  appeal- 
ing to  the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  World  for  the  rectitude  of  our 
intentions,  do,  in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  good 
people  of  these  colonies,  solemnly  publish  and  declare,  That  these 
United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  FBEE  AND 
INDEPENDENT  STATES;  that  they  are  absolved  from  all 
allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  that  all  political  connection 
between  them  and  the  State  of  Great  Britain,  is,  and  ought  to  be, 
totally  dissolved  ;  and  that  as  FREE  AM)  INDEPENDENT 
STATES,  they  have  full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  con- 
tract alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  to  do  all  other  acts  and 
things  which  INDEPENDENT  STATES  may  of  right  do. 
And,  for  the  support  of  this  declaration,  and  a  firm  reliance  on 
the  protection  of  DIVINE  PROVIDENCE,  we  mutually  pledge 
to  each  other,  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor. 

JOHN  HANCOCK. 


407 


CONSTITUTION    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES. 


We,  the  people  of  the  U  litel  State--,  in  orler  to  form  a  more 
perfect  Union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity, 
provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare, 
and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  pos- 
terity, do  ordain  and  establish  this  Coxstitctiox  for  the 
United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  I. 

Section  1.  All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall    be 
1  in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of 
a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives. 

Section  2,  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed 
of  members  chosen  every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  sev- 
eral S:ate-.  and  the  electors  iii  each  State  shall  have  the  qualifi- 
cations requi»ite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the 
State  Legislature. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  at- 
tained to  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven  years  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be 
an  inhabitant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among 
the  several  Suites  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  ac- 
cording to  their  res|>ective  numbers,  which  shall  be  determined 
by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons  including  those 
bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not 
uixed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons.  The  actual  enumeration 
shall  be  made  within  three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within  every  subsequent  term 
of  ten  years,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct.  The 
number  of  Representatives  shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty 
thousand,  but  each  State  shall  have  at  least  one  Representative  ; 
and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be  made,  the  State  of  New 
Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  choose  three,  Massachusetts  eight, 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  one,  Connecticut  five. 
New  York  six.  New  Jersey  four,  Pennsylvania  eight,  Delaware 
one,  Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North  Carolina  five,  and 
Georgia  three. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  from  any 
the  Executive  authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to 
fill  such  vacati' 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  their  Speaker  and 
other  officers,  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeachment. 

Section  3.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  com- 
posed of  two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Leglisla- 
ture  thereof,  for  six  years;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  consequence  of 
the  first  election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into 
three  classes.  The  seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  class  shall 
be  vacated  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  year,  of  the  second 
class  at  the  expiration  of  the  fourth  year,  and  of  the  third  class 
at  the  expiration  of  the  sixth  year,  so  that  one-third  may  be 
ehssBQ  every  second  year;  aud  if  vacancies  happen  by  resigua% 
tion,  or  otherwise,  during  the  recess  of  the  Legislature  of  any 
State,  the  Executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  appointments 
until  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which  shall  then  fill 
such  vacancies. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to 
the  age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the 
T'n         -  ind  who  shall  not.  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant 

of  that  State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

The  Vice  Presides*  of  the  United  States  shall  be  the  President 
of  the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  vote  unless  they  be  equally  di- 
vided. 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers,  and  also  a  Presi- 
dent pro  tempore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice  President,  or  when 
he  shall  exercise  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeachments. 
When  sitting  for  that  purpose  they  shall  be*  on  oath  or  affirma- 
tion. When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried,  the 
Chief  Justice  shall  preside.  And  no  person  shall  be  convicted 
without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present. 

Judgment  ■  in  cases  of  impeachment  shall  not  extend   further 
than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  en- 
403 


joy  any  office  of  honor,  trust  or  profit  tinder  the  United  States ; 
but  the  party  convicted  shall  nevertheless  be  liable  and  subject 
to  indictment,  trial,  judgment  and  punishment  according  to  law. 

Section  4.  The  times,  places  and  manner  of  holding  elections 
for  Senators  and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in  each 
Suite  by  the  Legislature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any 
time  by  law,  make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to  the 
places  of  choosing  Senator-. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  year,  and 
such  meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless 
they  shall  by  law  appoint  a  different  day. 

Section  5.  Each  house  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  election, 
returns  and  qualifications  of  its  own  members,  and  a  majority  of 
each  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business ;  but  a  smaller 
number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to 
compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members  in  such  manner,  and 
under  such  penalties  as  each  house  may  provide. 

Each  house  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  pun- 
ish its  members  for  disorderly  behaviour,  and,  with  the  concur- 
rence of  two-thirds,  expel  a  member. 

Each  bouse  shall  keep  a  journal  of  i's  proceedings,  and  from 
time  to  time  publish  the  same  excepting  such  paits  as  may  in 
their  judgment  require  secrecy ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the 
members  of  either  house  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desire  of 
one-fifth  of  those  present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

Neither  house,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall,  without 
the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor 
to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two  houses  shall  be 
sitting.  — 

Section  6.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  a 
compensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law,  and 
paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall  in 
all  cases,  except  treason,  felony  and  breach  of  the  peace,  l»e 
privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  the  session  of 
their  respective  houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the 
same ;  and  for  any  speech  or  debate  in  either  house  they  shall 
not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place. 

No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  time  for  which 
he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office  under  the  author- 
ity of  the  Uuited  States,  which  shall  have  been  created,  or  the 
emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  increased  during  such 
time ;  and  no  person  holding  any  office  under  the  United  States, 
shall  be  a  member  of  either  house  during  his  continuance  in 
office. 

Section  7.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  con- 
cur with  amendments  as  on  other  bills. 

Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  becomes  a  law,  be  presented 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States;  if  he  approve  he  shall 
sign  it,  but  if  not  he  shall  return  it  with  his  objections  to  that 
house  iu  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  ob- 
jections at  large  on  their  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it. 
If  after  such  reconsideration  two-thirds  of  that  House  shall 
agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objec- 
tions, to  the  other  house,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  recon- 
sidered, if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  that  House,  it  shall  become 
a  law.  But  in  all  such  cases  the  votes  of  both  houses  shall  be 
determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  and  the  names  of  the  persons  vot- 
ing for  and  against  the  bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of 
each  house  res|>cctively.  If  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  by 
the  President  within  ten  days  (Sundays  excepted),  after  it  shall 
have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  law,  in  like  man- 
ner as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their  adjourn- 
ment prevent  its  return,  in  which  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

Every  order,  resolution  or  vote  to  which  the  concurrence  of 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except 
on  a  question  of  adjournment),  shall  be  presented  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States ;  and  before  the  same  shall  take  effect, 
shall  be  approved  by  him.  or  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be 
repassed  by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, accordin"  to  the  rules  and  limitations  prescribed  in  the 
case  of  a  bill. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


409 


Section  8.  The  Congress  shall  have  power — 

To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts  and  excises,  to  pay 
the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defense  and  general  wel- 
fare of  the  United  Slates;  but  all  duties,  imposts  and  excises 
shall  be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States  ; 

To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States; 

To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the 
saveral  States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes; 

To  establish  a  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform 
laws  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United 
States ; 

To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign 
coin,  and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures  ; 

To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securities 
and  current  coin  of  the  United  States ; 

To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads  ; 

To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts,  by  secur- 
ing for  limited  times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right 
to  their  respective  writings  and  discoveries ; 

To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court ; 

To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the 
high  seas,  and  offences  against  the  law  of  nations ; 

To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  make 
rules  concerning  captures  on  laud  and  water ; 

To  raise  and  support  armies,  but  no  appropriation  of  money 
to  that  use  shall  he  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years ; 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy ; 

To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land 
and  naval  forces; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of 
the  Union,  suppress  insurrections  and  repel  invasions ; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming  and  diseipling  the  militia, 
and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States,  respectively 
the  appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of  training 
the  militia  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress. 

To  exercise  legislation  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  over  such  dis- 
tricts (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square),  as  may  by  the  cession  of 
particular  States  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress  become  the 
seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise  like 
authority  over  all  places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of 
forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dock-yards  and  other  needful  build- 
ings;— and 

To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  car- 
rying into  execution  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers 
vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  or  to  any  department  or  officer  thereof. 

Section  9.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as 
any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall 
not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and'eight,  but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on 
such  importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 

The  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  sus- 
pended, unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  public 
safety  may  require  it. 

No  bill'of  attainder  or  ex-post  facto  law  shall  be  passed. 

No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  bo  laid  unless  in  pro- 
portion to  the  census,  or  enumeration  hereinbefore  directed  to 
be  taken. 

No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any 
State. 

No  preference  shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce 
or  revenue  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another ;  nor 
shall  vessels  bound  to,  or  from  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter, 
clear,  or  pay  duties  in  another. 

No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury,  but  in  con- 
sequence of  appropriations  made  by  law ;  and  a  regular  statement 
and  account  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public  money 
shall  be  published  from  time  to  time.  • 

No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States ; 
and  no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  them, 
shall  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  accept  of  any  present, 
emolument,  office,  or  title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  king, 
prince,  or  foreign  State. 

Section  10.  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or 
confederation ;  grant  letters  of  marque  or  reprisal ;  coin  money  ; 
emit  bills  of  credit ;  make  anything  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a 
tender  in  pavment  of  debts;  pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post  . 
facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  or  grant 
anv  title  of  nobilitv. 

'        52 


No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any 
imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be  ab- 
solutely necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws,  and  the  net 
produce  of  all  duties  and  imposts  laid  by  any  State  on  imports 
or  exports,  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States ;  and  all  such  laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  revision  and 
control  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any 
duty  on  tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships  of  war  in  time  of  peace, 
enter  into  any  agreement  or  compact  with  another  State,  or  with 
a  foreign  power,  or  engage  in  war,  unless  actually  invaded  or  in 
such  imminent  danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Section  1.  The  Executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  office 
during  the  term  of  four  years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent chosen  for  the  same  term,  be  elected  as  follows : 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  a  manner  as  the  Legislature 
thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  electors  equal  to  the  whole  num- 
ber of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be 
entitled  in  the  Congress ;  but  no  Senator  or  Representative,  or 
person  holding  an  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  the  United 
States,  shall  be  appointed  an  elector. 

[*The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States  and  vote 
by  ballot  for  two  persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an 
inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall 
make  a  list  of  all  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  number  of  votes 
for  each  ;  which  list  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit, 
sealed  to  the  seat  of  Jthe  government  of  the  United  States, 
directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the 
Senate  shall,  in  the  presence. of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be 
counted.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  shall 
be  the  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole 
number  of  electors  appointed  ;  and  if  there  be  more  than  one 
who  have  such  majority,  and  have  an  equal  number  of  votes, 
then  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  immediately  choose  by 
ballot  one  of  them  for  President ;  and  if  no  person  have  a  major- 
ity, then  from  the  five  highest  on  the  list  the  said  House  shall  in 
like  manner  choose  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the  Presi- 
dent, the  vote  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  representation  from 
each  State  having  one  vote;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose,  shall 
consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds  of  the  States, 
and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 
In  every  case,  after  the  choice  of  the  President,  the  person 
having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  of  the  electors  shall  be  the 
Vice  President.  But  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more  who 
have  equal  votes,  the  Senate  shall  choose  from  them  by  ballot  the 
Vice  President.] 

The  Congress  may  determime  the  time  of  choosing  the  elect- 
ors, and  the  day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  votes;  which  day 
shall  be  the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

No  person  except  a  natural  born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution, 
shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President;  neither  shall  any  per- 
son be  eligible  to  that  office  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  ape 
of  thirty-five  years,  and  been  fourteen  years  a  resident  within 
the  United  States. 

In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office,  or  of  his 
death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and 
duties  of  the  said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice 
President  and  the  Congress  may  by  law  provide  for  the  case  of 
removal,  death,  resignation,  or  inability,  both  of  the  President 
and  Vice  President,  declaring  what  officer  shall  then  act  as 
President,  and  such  officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  disa- 
bility be  removed,  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his  services  a 
compensation  which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished  dur- 
ing the  period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and  he  shall 
not  receive  within  that  period  any  other  emolument  from  the 
United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office  he  shall  take  the 
following  oath  or  affirmation : 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute 
the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  will,  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States." 

*  This  clause  within  brackets  has  been  superseded  and  annulled  by  the 
XII  Amendment. 


410 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN  COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


>i:<tiox  2.  The  President  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the 
several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United 
■s;  he  may  require  the  opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal 
officer  in  each  of  the  Executive  departments,  upon  any  subject 
relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  and  he  shall  have 
power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences  against  the 
United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment.  He  shall 
have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present 
concur  ;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  of 
the  Senate,  shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers, 
consuls,  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other  officers  of 
the  United  States  whose  appointments  are  not  herein  otherwise 
provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established  by  law ;  but  the 
Congress  may  by  law  vest  the  appointment  of  such  inferior 
officers  as  they  think  proper  in  the  President  alone,  in  the  courts 
of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 

The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that 
may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  com- 
missions which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their  next  sessions. 

Section  3.  He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress 
information  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their 
consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  ex- 
pedient ;  he  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  both 
Houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  between 
them,  with  respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn 
them  to  such  time  as  he  shall  think  proper ;  he  shall  receive 
ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers  ;  he  shall  take  care  that 
the  laws  be  faithfully  executed,  and  shall  commission  all  the 
officers  of  the  United  States. 

Section  4.  The  President,  Vice  President  and  all  civil  officers 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  office  on  impeach- 
ment for,  and  conviction  of,  treason,  bribery,  or  otherhigh  crimes 
and  misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE  III. 

Section  1.  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
-vested  in  one  Supreme  Court  and  such  inferior  courts  as  the 
Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish.  The 
judges,  both  of  the  Supreme  and  inferior  courts,  shall  hold  their 
offices  during  good  behaviour,  and  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive 
for  their  services  a  compensation,  which  shall  not  be  diminished 
during  their  continuance  in  office. 

Section  2.  The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases,  in 
law  and  equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under 
their  authority ; — to  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public 
ministers  and  consuls  ; — to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime 
jurisdiction ; — to  controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall 
be  a  party  ;— to  controversies  between  two  or  more  States ; — 
between  a  State  and  citizens  of  another  state ; — between  citizens 
of  different  States; — between  citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming 
lands  under  grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a  State,  or 
the  citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  States,  citizens  or  subjects. 

In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and 
consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  a  party,  the  Supreme 
Court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction. 

In  all  the  other  cases  before  mentioned  the  Supreme  Court  shall 
have  appellate  jurisdiction  both  as  to  law  and  fact,  with  such  ex- 
ceptions, and  under  such  regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall 
be  by  jury ;  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the 
said  crimes  shall  have  been  committed  ;  but  when  not  committed 
within  any  State  the  trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or  places,  as  the 
Congress  may  by  law  have  directed. 

Section  3.  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall  consist 
only  of  levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies, 
giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  of 
treason  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same 
overt  act,  or  on  confession  in  open  court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  w  declare  the  punishment  of 
treason,  but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall  work  corruption  of 
blood  or  forfeiture,  except  during  the  life  of  the  person  attainted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Section  1.  Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State 
t<>  the  public  acts,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings  of  every  other 
State     And  the  Congress  may  by  general  law  prescribe  the  man- 


ner in  which  such  acts,  records  and  proceedings  shall  be  proved 
and  the  effect  thereof. 

Section  2.  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  the 
all  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States, 

A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  treason,  felony  or  other 
crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice  and  be  found  in  another  State, 
shall,  on  demand  of  the  Executive  authority  of  the  State  from 
which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the  State  having 
jurisdiction  of  the  crime. 

No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the 
laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any 
law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or 
labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  the  chum  of  the  party  to 
whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due. 

Section  3.  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into 
this  Union  ;  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State  ;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by 
the  junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  parts  of  States,  without  the 
consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  cencerned,  as  well  as  of 
the  Congress. 

The  Congress  'shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations '  respecting  the  territory  or  other 
property  belonging  to  the  United  States  ;  and  nothing  in  this 
Constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prejudice  any  claims  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

Section  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State 
in  this  Union  a  Republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  pro- 
tect each  of  them  against  invasion,  and  on  application  of  the 
Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive  (when  the  Legislature  cannot  be 
convened)  against  domestic  violence. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem 
it  necessary,  shall  propose  amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or, 
on  the  application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two-thirds  of  the  several 
States,  shall  call  a  convention  for  proposing  amendments,  which 
in  either  case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  a 
part  of  this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of 
three-fourths  of  the  several  States,  or  by  conventions  in  three- 
fourths  thereof,  as  the  one  or  the  other  mode  of  ratification  may 
be  proposed  by  the  Congress.  Provided  that  no  amendment  which 
may  be  madeprior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eight  shall  in  any  manner  "affect  the  first  and  fourth  clauses  in 
the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article  ;  and  that  no  State,  without 
its  consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  suffrage  in  the  Senate. 


ARTICLE  VI. 

All  debts  contracted  and  engagements  entered  into,  before  the 
adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the 
United  States  under  this  Constitution  as  under  the  Confedera- 
tion. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which 
shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all  treaties  made,  or 
which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land ;  and  the  judges  in  every 
State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  Constitution  or 
laws  of  any  State  notwithstanding. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the 
members  of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  Executive  and 
judicial  officers,  both  of  the  Uuited  States  and  of  the  several 
States,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation,  to  support  this 
Constitution :  but  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a 
qualification  to  any  office  of  public  trust  under  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

The  ratification  of  the  Convention  of  nine  States  shall  be  suffi- 
cient for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the 
States  so  ratifying  the  same. 

Done  in  Convention  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  States 
present,  the  seventeenth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven,  and  of  the 
Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  the  twelfth.  In 
Witness  Whereof,  We  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names.  . 

GEO.  WASHINGTON. 
Pretidtnt  and  Dtpuiy .from  Virginia. 


HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND    BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


411 


Xrtc  Hampshire. 

New  Jersey. 

Delaware. 

North  Carolina. 

John  Lang  don, 

WlL.    LIVINGSTON, 

GEO.  Head, 

Wm.  Bi.ofnt, 

Nicholas  Oilman. 

Wm.  Patterson, 

John  Dickinson, 

Hi'.  Williamson, 

David  Hrearly, 

Jacob  Bboom, 

KlCH'D  DlillDS  Sl'AIGHT. 

Massachusetts. 

Jona.  Dayton, 

GCNHING  Bedford, Jr. 

Nathaniel  Gorham, 

Khiiard  Basset. 

South  Carolina. 

Rufgs  Kino. 

Pennsylvania. 

Virginia. 

J.  RUTLEDGE, 
CHARLES  l'lNCKNEY, 

B.  Franklin, 

.I"HN  Hl.AIR, 

(II  \S.('(lTE.s\VORTHl>INCKNEY 

Connecticut. 

Robt.  Morris, 

James  Madison,  Jr. 

1'IERCE   BUTLER. 

Wm.  Saml.  Johnson, 

Tho.  Fitzsimons, 
James  Wilson,  . 
Thomas  Mifflin, 

Muri/land. 

ROGER  SlIEtfMA-N. 
1 

James  M'Menry, 

Georgia. 

Geo.  Clymer, 

Dane.  Carrol, 

William  Few, 

Sew  Ymk. 

J  a  red  Ingersoi.l, 

Dan.  of  St.  Thos.  Jenifer. 

Ann.  Baldwin. 

Alexander  Hamilton. 

(iorv.  Morris. 

Attest: 

WILLIAM  JACKSON,  Secretary. 

^£&&G£&^ 


AMENDMENTS  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Proposed  by  Congress,  and  ratijied  by  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  pursuant  to  the  fifth  article  of  the  origiml  Constitution. 


ARTICLE  I. 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of 
religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging 
the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press  ;  or  the  right  of  the  people 
peacefully  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  government  for  a  re- 
dress of  grievances. 

ARTICLE  II. 
A  well  regulated  militia  being  necessary   to  the  security  of  a 
free  State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not 
be  infringed. 

ARTICLE   III. 
No  soldier  shall  in  time  of  peace  be  quartered  in  any  house 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a 
manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE    IV. 

The  right  the  of  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses* 
papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures, 
shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  warrants  shall  issue  but  upon  prob- 
able cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly 
describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  person  or  things  to 
be  seized. 

ARTICLE  V. 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  otherwise 
infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  by  a 
Grand  Jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces, 
or  in  the  militia  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public 
danger ;  nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to 
be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb  ;  nor  shall  be  compelled 
in  any  criminal  case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  de- 
prived of  life,  liberty  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law  ; 
nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public  use,  without  just 
compensation. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right 
to  a  speedv  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and 
district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  dis- 
trict shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be 
informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation;  to  be  con- 
fronted with  the  witnesses  against  him  ;  to  have  compulsory 
process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the 
assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defense. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
In  suits  at  common  law  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall 


exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  pre- 
served, and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined 
in  any  court  of  the  United  States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of 
the  common  law.  • 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

Excessive  bails  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  im- 
posed, nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishment  inflicted.  • 

ARTICLE   IX. 

The  enumeration  in  this  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shal' 
not  be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the 
people. 

ARTICLE   X. 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

ARTICLE  XL 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed 
to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity  commenced  or  prosecuted 
against  one  of  the  United  States  by  citizens  of  another  State,  or 
by  citizens  or  subjects  of  any  foreign  State. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  President  and  Vice  President,  one  of  whom  at  least 
shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves ; 
they  shall  name  in  their  ballot  the  person  to  be  voted  for  as 
President,  and  in  distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice 
President,  and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted 
for  as  President,  and  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice  President,  and 
of  the  number  of  votes  for  each,  which  list  they  shall  sign  and 
certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The 
President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  presence  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes 
shall  then  be  counted.  The  person  having  tin'  greatest  number 
of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number  be 
a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed  ;  and  if  no 
person  have  such  majority,  then  from  the  persona  having  the 
highest  number  not  exceeding  three  on  the  list  of  those  voted 
for  as  President,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  im- 
mediately, by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the  Presi- 
dent, the"  vote  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  representation  from 
each  State  having  one  vote;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  con- 


412         dt      HISTORY   OF  SCHUYLER   AND   BROWN   COUNTIES,    ILLINOIS. 


if  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a 
majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if 
the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President  when- 
ever the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the 
fourth  day  of  March  next  following,  then  the  Vice  President 
shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  Consti- 
tutional disability  of  the  President.  The  person  having  the 
freatcst  number  of  votes  as  Vice  President,  shall  be  the  Vice 
resident,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of 
electors  appointed,  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from 
the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list,  the  Senate  shall  choose  the 
Vice  President;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall  consist  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a  majority  of  the 
whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  Put  no  person 
constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall  be  eli- 
gible to  that  of  Vice  President  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

Section"  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except 
as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place 
subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

Section  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article 
by  appropriate  legislation. 

ARTICLE   XIV. 

Section  1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  thfe  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State 
shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges 
or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  nor  shall  any 
State  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty  or  property  without  due 
process  of  law,  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the 
equal  protection  of  the  laws. 

Section  2.  Representatives  shall  be  appointed  among  the 
several  States  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the 
whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,   excluding  Indians  not 


taxed  ;  but  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice 
of  electors  for  President  and  Vice  President  of  the  United  Stafi  -. 
Representatives  in  Congress,  the  executive  and  judicial  officers  of 
a  State  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to 
any  of  themale  inhabitants  of  such  State,  being  twenty-one  years 
of  age  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged, 
except  for  participation  in  rebellion  or  other  crimes,  the  basis  of 
representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which 
the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number 
of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

Section  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in 
Congress  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice  President,  or  hold  any 
office  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States  or  under  any 
State  who,  having  previously  taken  oath  as  Member  of  Congress, 
or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any  State 
Legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State,  to 
support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  engaged 
in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid  or  com- 
fort to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may,  by  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  each  House,  remove  such  disability. 

Section  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United 
States  authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment 
of  pensions  and  bounties  for  suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion, 
shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United  States 
nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  of  obligation  in- 
curred in  the  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  orany  loss  for  emancipation  of  any  slave,  but  such  debts, 
obligations  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

Section  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  the  power  to  enforce,  by 
appropriate  legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

Section  1.  The  rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  on  account  of 
race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

Section  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by 
appropriate  legislation. 


